Camp Crossville was constructed on the site of an abandoned
1930s Civilian Conservation Corp work camp.
It was one of eleven POW camps that existed in the state of Tennessee
during World War II.
Prisoners were treated very well: the mindset being “you
catch more flies with honey.” They were
allowed to order things from the Sears and Roebuck catalogue, and even plant
trees and landscape within the camp walls.
Some were allowed outside of camp to work on local farms. Nearly all the Tennessee POW camps
established educational programs for the prisoners, and Camp Crossville also
offered prisoners piano lessons!
The kindness extended to prisoners had a lasting impression,
as many returned to visit the area postwar, and sent letters expressing their
thanks. Several subsequently chose to
move to the areas where they had been held captive.
The POW Camp was officially closed in 1945. In 1949, Col. N.B. Morgan, District IV 4-H
supervisor; Tim Gowder, Agricultural Extension engineer; and an ex-military
officer first put into motion the plan to transform the facility to a 4-H camp.
Even though it has been many years now since the Clyde M.
York 4-H center was a POW camp, the camp still has many ties to its original
history. Several trees planted by
prisoners remain. An immediately
recognizable landmark is the tall chimney stack of the old cafeteria, known to
4-H’ers as “The Bell Witch Tower.” There
is one remaining building, called “The Hospital,” which overlooks the
Morgan/Jolley Friendship Circle. And
it’s there, during campfires, the ghost story of Herman the German is told to
campers who shiver in fright.