The history between Fort Campbell and Christian County runs deep over the last nearly eighty years.
County Historian William Turner says in 1941 both Hopkinsville and Clarksville, Tennessee were requesting a military installation be built nearby. During the original site selection for the base, there were three areas of land that were being considered by the War Department (now Department of Defense).
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A survey of the land was completed in late 1941, while the survey was being done some Hopkinsville commissioners had cold feet about the idea of having a military installation so close.
Turner adds that led to a series of events that would see the city banned from the base in 1952.
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All the residents who lived in the area that was being taken over by the government were told to move by June 1, 1942, with work to build the base beginning immediately afterward.
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In September of 1942, the first cadre of soldiers was sent in from Fort Knox.
When it comes to the name of the base, Alben Barkley, the vice president to Harry S. Truman wanted to name it after a well-known Kentucky resident.
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The base would drop the Tennessee portion of its address in late 1942.
Turner shared the history during Tuesday’s meeting of the Hopkinsville Rotary Club as they are making preparations for their 69th annual auction.
He also discussed the history behind the War Memorial Building in downtown Hopkinsville and the construction of a secret storage facility that stored atomic weapons on the military base for several years.
Listen to Turner’s entire presentation to the rotary club below:
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