Farragut Naval Training Station was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

training center during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. It was located in Northern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

at the south end of

Lake Pend Oreille Lake Pend Oreille ( ) in the northern Idaho Panhandle is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Idaho and the 38th-largest lake by area in the United States, with a surface area of . It is long, and deep in some regions, making it the fifth-deep ...

at Bayview, between Coeur d'Alene and The base was named after the first

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

in the and the leading naval officer during the The site became

Farragut State Park Farragut State Park is a public recreation area in the northwest United States, located in northern Idaho at the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. The state park is east of Athol in Kootenai County, about nor ...

in 1966.

World War II

Ground was broken on the naval reservation in March 1942, and its first phase opened in early August; by September the base had a population of 55,000, making it the largest "city" in the state. At the time, Farragut was the second-largest training center in the world (behind

Naval Station Great Lakes Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only current recruit training, boot camp, located near North Chicago, Illinois, North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois, along Lake Michigan. Important tenan ...

near

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

), and

liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

trains ran three times daily to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, about an hour away. Rail service aboard the station was provided by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

over a 5½-mile (9 km) line that connected to the NP main line at Athol. The first freight train reached the facility on 5 June 1942. A shipment of 75 lifeboats, removed from passenger liners held in port by war restrictions, was received in June 1942, and Wallace-born movie star

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

, who was promoting

War Bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

to base contract employees, made an The installation was formally activated in mid-September; a few days later, it was visited by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Roosevelt, part of a nationwide tour which was kept secret until he returned to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. In 1942, Lt. Commander Henry T. McMaster, supervisor of support services at the station, contracted photographer Ross Hall to produce group and portrait photos of all recruits and companies. Operator of a studio in nearby

Sandpoint Sandpoint is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 9,777 as of the 2022 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, tourism, recre ...

, Hall employed up to fifteen workers in creating a photographic archive of more than 300,000 images. The base was used as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

in 1945, run by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

; nearly 900

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, most captured shortly after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, worked as gardeners and maintenance The POW's removed of snow from the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

field just prior to the game against the visiting

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

on 10 November,

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

. Migrating deer were a traffic hazard and hunting was prohibited on federal property. Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945 and the facility was decommissioned in

Post-war

From 1946–49, it was the site of the Farragut College and Technical Institute, which had copious athletic It ceased operations prior to the fall term in 1949, due to decreased enrollment and financial difficulties. In 1950, were transferred to the

Idaho Department of Fish and Game The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is the Idaho state department which is responsible for preserving and managing Idaho's wildlife, including mammals, fish, birds, plants, and invertebrates. History The Idaho Department of Fish and ...

and became Farragut Wildlife Management Area. In 1964, were transferred back to the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. This land was then deeded back to the state of Idaho and became

A remaining military feature of the state park is the ''Museum at the Brig'', located in the confinement facility of the naval training station. Its displays include boot camp, naval, and war memorabilia as well as historic prison cells. Don Samuelson, a future

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, was stationed at Farragut as a weapons instructor. Originally from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, he stayed in Sandpoint after the war and was elected governor in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. The Drill Hall at the base was shipped to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

after the war and became the

University of Denver Arena University of Denver Arena was a 5,200-seat multi-purpose arena in the western United States, in Denver, Colorado. It was home to the University of Denver Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey, Pioneers ice hockey team, and also hosted several Frozen ...

, which served for nearly a half century as the home of DU Pioneers ice hockey. It was razed in 1997 to make way for the current

Magness Arena Magness Arena is a multi-purpose collegiate sports arena in Denver, Colorado. It was built from 1997 to 1999 as part of the Daniel L. Ritchie Center, the sports complex at the University of Denver. It is home to the Denver Pioneers ice hockey t ...

. The Navy has maintained a presence on

at Bayview with its Acoustic Research Detachment, part of the Carderock Division of the

Naval Surface Warfare Center The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United Sta ...

. In the deep () and isolated waters of Lake Pend Oreille, scaled-down prototypes of submarines are tested; a free-field ocean-like environment is available without the problems

References

External links

Idaho Military Museum
– Farragut, Idaho
Visit Idaho
– Museum at the brig at Farragut State Park
YouTube
– ''America's Landlocked Navy: Farragut's WWII Memories'' – PBS – KSPS Spokane (1999)
Acoustic Research Detachment
{{Authority control Training installations of the United States Navy World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United States Buildings and structures in Kootenai County, Idaho Military installations closed in 1946 1942 establishments in Idaho 1946 disestablishments in Idaho Closed installations of the United States Navy

World War II

Post-war

See also

References

External links