Camp Skokie Valley
| Company type | Military facility |
|---|---|
| Industry | Military |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Fate | Converted from CCC camp to Army post in 1942; closed in 1946 |
| Headquarters | Glenview, Illinois , United States |
Camp Skokie Valley served as a U.S. Army facility located in Glenview, Illinois, just north of Chicago. Its archaeological traces now lie within Blue Star Memorial Woods, an area overseen by the Cook County Forest Preserve District.
Established in 1933 to accommodate workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) engaged in the Skokie Lagoons Project, the camp ceased its original function in 1942 and was converted into an Army post. It became home to the 740th Military Police Battalion, which was charged with safeguarding defense manufacturing plants and government properties in both Chicago and Milwaukee. In 1945, a section of the camp was utilized to detain German prisoners of war.
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Skokie Lagoons initiative began in June 1933 under the CCC in northern Cook County. The project involved excavating seven lagoons and connecting channels aimed at rehabilitating wetlands damaged by flooding. Initially, five CCC companies consisting of 1,150 workers were deployed.
Four of these companies established camps in Winnetka, Illinois, while the fifth—a segregated African American unit—was situated on land owned by the Cook County Forest Preserve District in Glenview at Lake Avenue and Harms Road. Following a rental disagreement with a local Winnetka landowner, all companies were relocated to Glenview.
Starting as a tent encampment, Camp Skokie Valley began erecting wooden barracks on October 9, 1933. By February 1934, the camp comprised 115 structures capable of housing up to 2,000 men across ten companies—making it notably larger than typical single-company CCC camps.
The camp was not without racial strife; in late 1938, twenty-three African American enrollees protested against substandard food and working conditions and were subsequently discharged.
World War II
After the United States entered World War II, the CCC vacated Camp Skokie Valley in March 1942. By September of that year, the site had been repurposed to house the 740th Military Police Battalion. This unit’s responsibilities included securing defense plants, utilities, and maintaining order in the Chicago and Milwaukee regions. Many members also took on part-time roles at local businesses experiencing workforce shortages, including the Baxter Laboratories manufacturing facility in Glenview. The battalion remained active at the camp until its closure in 1946.
Toward the end of the war, from March through September 1945, over 200 German prisoners of war were confined at the northern section of the camp. These detainees provided labor support at various Army facilities and government warehouses throughout Chicago. This prisoner-of-war compound operated as an extension of Fort Sheridan, which housed more than 1,300 POWs during that period.