The United States was thrust into World War II in December of 1941 – by the summer of 1942 the war had come to Saline County farmers, forced off their land so a massive U.S. Army camp could be built.

Dr. Boo Hodges joined in on the KSAL Morning News Extra with a look back at the project that spawned a small city near Smolan, Kansas.

According to Hodges, construction ran around the clock as 9,000 workers built hundreds of barracks, a hospital, warehouses, a sewer system, laundry facilities, churches, movie theaters and roads to connect the vast camp that stretched across 45,000 acres.

Camp Phillips operated as a combat training center from late September of 1942 to November, 1944, instructing over 150,000 U.S. Army troops and artillery soldiers.

Before closing, German POW’s were also held there until the end of the war.

Photo courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society