Hempstead County Historical Society Meets

By Staff, 11/30/17 3:58 PM

5AE3F85E-833B-4E93-820B-A99BA670C47F

The Hempstead County Historical Society met Tuesday November 28th at the Washington Presbyterian Church. Keenan Williams gave a report and showed examples of the Bicentennial logos and how they will look on various items. The main program was brought by Peggy Lloyd. She gave a report on the Southwest Proving Grounds, a 50,000 acre government ammunition testing facility that operated in Hempstead County just prior to and during World War II. She noted it took 4,000 to construct the facility and that it employed people from as far away as Nashville and Rosston. Lloyd said the coming of the facility was literally a life-changer for thousands of residents. Many lost their farms and moved into town and never went back to the rural life. Lloyd also talked about the Fort Worth, Texas branch of the National Archives and noted Proving Ground documents are located there and at the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers offices in Little Rock. Lloyd also gave an account of several tragedies that happened during and after the war when people tried to salvage ordinance from the facility.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *