Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields
Camp Merritt
(San Francisco
County)
Named after Major General Wesley Merritt.
This camp and the Presidio were a staging area for the Phillipine
Islands Campaign and was the assemby camp for the 8th Corps.
The camp was former "trotting" race track (called the
Concourse) south of Presidio and North of Golden Gate Park. It
was located just south of the Arguello Boulevard Gate at the
southeast corner of the Presidio according to the National Park
Service Brochure and described as the "Bay District"
in a newspaper article. The 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry arrived
there on May 19-20, 1898. Eighteen thousand men were encamped
in Camp Merritt, occupying it only until the fleet upon which
they embarked was assembled and fitted for their reception. There
was considerable sickness, especially measles. Some cases typhoid
fever also appeared
