Making Headlines

Twice in the years following World War I, Camp Holabird found itself amidst a media frenzy.

Public attention nation-wide was focused on the motor vehicle camp shortly after the war when it was discovered that 11,000 trucks, rusted and in disrepair, were being "stored" there. The camp fended off a barrage of criticism and, following a congressional investigation, the trucks were sold or scrapped.

Camp Holabird again made news in July 1919 when a Navy aircraft exploded in an empty field nearby. The dirigible was having problems with its rudder mechanism and was directed to land in an open field a mile away.

It landed safely before a crowd of sightseers, but moments later exploded. Although there weren't any fatalities, over 100 people sustained burns.

The explosion, which damaged numerous homes as far as several blocks away, earned national media attention.  One house affected by the explosion still stands today in the 6700 block of Roberts Avenue.