Did you know that Texas had more POW camps than any other state? Remnants of one of the camps can be seen in the town of Hearne. You will find it located at 12424 Camp Hearne Rd., Hearne Texas 77859, off Highway 6 on Highway 485 West.
In May of 1943, the Afrika Korps surrendered. Over 50,000 men were sent to Texas, with around 4700 of those to Camp Hearne, which had just been completed in February of 1943. There were a couple of reasons these particular men were sent to this particular area:
- The climate was hot like they were used to,
- It was remote so they figured the men wouldn’t have anywhere to run,
- The City of Hearne had asked for it hoping to get more men to work the fields.
However, while some of the men worked as laborers, the non-commissioned officers were not allowed to work due to the Geneva Convention. Only about 20% of the prisoners worked as laborers. So, most of the men had a much better life in the camp. Activities had to be provided to keep them from getting bored. They participated in art projects, wood carving, sports, and even educational programs sponsored by Baylor University.
For a short time, Japanese prisoners were held at the camp in the last few months of the war.
The camp closed in 1946, buildings and property were sold. The land was later bought by the City of Hearne.
We hope you’ll stop by and take the opportunity to dig deeper and learn more. Find out about the 3 “escapes” and about the issues the Nazi sympathizers within the camp caused, and the secret way they were able to communicate with all POW’s in the US. See remnants of buildings, recreations of the barracks, and many artifacts depicting life and activities at the camp.
Camp Hearne is open Wednesdays through Saturday 11am-4pm but as always, check the website before you go to make sure it hasn’t changed. Admission is free.
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