California State Military
DepartmentCalifornia State Military
Department
The Navy originally acquired the site known as the Oxnard Seacoast
Battery as part of a 325 acre lease approved on 3 December 1942
(U.S. Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks 1942).
The 19 acres Coast Artillery was on the northwestern portion of the 325 acre Advanced Base Receiving Barracks (ABRB) - Military Training Area. This activity remained separated from the main base at Port Hueneme. Other names for the ABRB - Military Training Area included:
- Advanced Training Facilities
Advanced Base Depot - Rifle Range- Camp Rousseau
- Military Training Area, Oxnard Shores
The Navy officially opened the Military Training Area on 3 July 1943 .
The Navy labeled the 19 acre site as an
“Unexploded Ordnance Area” and the “Ordnance Area”
(Civil Engineering Support Center n.d., 1946). The area consisted
of buildings
forming a compound. Research did not determine the specific meaning
of an area labeled “Unexploded Ordnance Area”. Speculation
based o maps, aerial photography analysis, and historical photographs
suggest that the Navy used it for training in ordnance recognition
and demolition.
On 18 October 1943, the Navy granted a use permit to the War Department to use the 19 acres for coastal artillery mounts and personnel. The Army placed two mobile 155mm carriage field pieces, situated on Panama mounts on the 19 acre site. The Army referenced the site as the Tactical Battery 3, Oxnard Seacoast Battery or the Oxnard Panama Mounts. Work on the battery commenced in May 1943 with completion in September 1943. Members of the 56th Coast Artillery Regiment manned the position as part of the Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles (HDLA). The HDLA’s mission involved coastal defense from Santa Barbara to Newport Beach. The War Department transferred the site back to the Navy Department by a letter dated 10 July 1946
In late 1946 or early 1947, the Navy placed the improvements in the Military Training Area for sale. By March 1948, the Navy canceled the leases for the 325 acres, including the 19 acre battery site area. In the early 1950’s, but before 30 June 1953, the Navy re-leased the 325 acre property including the 19 acre area. The Navy rebuilt a limited amount of training facilities on the southern portion of the property, but apparently none on the north end
The Navy terminated the lease for the northern
third, including the 19 acre FUDS, and the owners sold it to Oxnard
Shores Development Company in May 1959. The Navy used the southern
portion of the Military Training Area as late as October 1959.
The Oxnard Shores Development Company acquired the property in
the 1960’s to establish residential subdivision.
Source: US Army Corps of
Engineers