Historic California Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields

Camp Lawrence J. Hearn

 

 

Camp Lawrence J. Hearn is a former United States Army facility located in Palm City, San Diego.

Beginning in 1916,[1] the Third Oregon Infantry established the post during its border service.[2] The United States Army, maintained Camp Lawrence J. Hearn, in honor of Major Hearn of the 21st Infantry Regiment, in response to the Mexican Civil War,[3] and was manned by the 1st Cavalry Regiment.[4] It was abandoned in August 1920, but re-established in October by a troop (less on platoon) of the 11th Cavalry Regiment in October of that same year. The Cavalry Journal showed that the garrison numbered 3 officers and 43 troopers. [5] Brigadier General F.C. Marshall visited the post just before he died in a plane crash, traveling to Tuscon, Arizona.[6] Until 1921, the post had no structures, and consisted of a tent cantonment;[7] soldiers requiring medical care would be sent to Fort Rosecrans for treatment.[8] However, conditions on the post did not improve significantly, and was described by Army Chief of Staff Major General Summerall as being like a "logging camp", composed of "tumbledown shacks".[9] In 1924, cavalrymen from the post assisted local officers, and federal agents in enforcing a 9 P.M. curfew at the international border crossing.[10] It continued to be in use until it was abandoned in 1931.[11][12] Later the former post was considered by the Coastal Artillery Corps for the site of a battery, however this was never built.[13]

References

 

1. "Returns from U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916". U.S. Archives and Records Administration. 1968. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

2. Report, Issues 9-15. Salem, Oregon: Oregon Military Department. 1904. p. 61. Retrieved 1 June 2011.

3. Fetzer, Leland (2005). San Diego County Place Names A to Z. San Diego, California: Sunbelt Publications, Inc.. p. 61. ISBN 9780932653734. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

4. "The First Regiment of Cavalry, United States Army". The Cavalry journal (United States Cavalry Association) 31: 182. 1922. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

5. Richardson Jr., Robert (January 1921). "Eleventh Cavalry". The Cavalry Journal XXX (122): 458. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

6. Bevil, Alexander D. (2005). ""The Service Knows and Will Remember": The Aircraft Crash Memorial on Japacha Ridge". The Journal of San Diego History (San Diego Historical Society) 51 (3). Retrieved 30 May 2011.

7. Army appropriation bill, 1921: Hearings before Subcommittee no. 1 of the Committee on military affairs, House of representatives, Sixty-sixth Congress, second session ... March 25, 1920-April 2, 1920. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1920. p. 330. Retrieved 30 May 2011. "Camp Gen Marshall. Those two camps are along the Mexican border in California, at places where the troops suffer inconvenience due to the very unusual weather conditions that prevail at those places. The temperature goes up as high as 112 or 114 degrees and the humidity is very high. They are living in tents with no comforts or accommodations whatsoever."

8. Annual report of the Secretary of War, Part 1. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1918. p. 444. Retrieved 1 June 2011. "The hospital at Fort Rosecrans is in size entirely inadequate. It is used as a base hospital for the troops at Camp Walter R Taliaferro, San Diego; Camp Lawrence J Hearn, at Palm City; the Signal Corps Aviation School and one company of Infantry at Tecate. The hospital is continually overcrowded and manv of the patients are being cared for in tents. Estimates for the erection of a 24 bed ward are now being prepared."

9. "ARMY & NAVY: Super-Magruder". TIME. 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2011.

10. "Curfew Ban on Tijuana". The Spokesman-Review. 7 March 1924. Retrieved 1 June 2011.

11. Theresa Muranaka; Cynthia Hernandez. "Time Has No Boundaries". California State Parks. State of California. Retrieved 30 May 2011. "From 1916 to 1931, Camp Hearn, established for potential skirmishes with the troops of Pancho Villa, was a military presence."

12. Ruhlen, George. "Fort Rosecrans, California". The Journal of San Diego History (The Journal of San Diego History) 5 (4). Retrieved 30 May 2011. "A troop of the 11th Cavalry was stationed at Fort Rosecrans from October 1931, following the abandonment of Camp Hearn at Imperial Beach. In August 1932 they moved on to Monterey.".

13. Erwin N. Thompson (1991). "Interlude, 1920-1935". Cabrillo National Monument. National Parks Service. Retrieved May 30, 2011. "The board chose a site for one battery of 155mm guns at Point Loma near the new lighthouse, and recommended a location 1,500 yards south of Coronado Heights and west of south San Diego, on the former Camp Hearn site, for the other 155mm battery, which was never built."

 

 

 

Order of Battle of United States Land Forces in the World War (1931-1949)

 

A semipermanent camp located at Palm City, San Diego County. Named in honor of Major Lawerence J. Hearn, 21st Infantry Regiment, the post was established 11 July 1916 for border patrol duties during the Mexican Revolution, 1911-20. Closed 7 April 1920. Part of the Southern California Sector, Mexican Border Patrol.

 

 

Updated 27 September 2015

 

 

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Updated 3 July 2017