In Processing: Transfer from PenMar Corporation
Newspapers, historical papers, photographs and artifacts from Fort Ritchie, a U.S. Army base located in the northeastern corner of Washington County, Maryland (near the Pennsylvania border). The collection covers the history of the area including the ice industry and Buena Vista Natural Ice Company (1889-1926); Maryland National Guard's creation of Camp Albert C. Ritchie (1926-1941); followed by U.S. Army prescence in June 1942 when Camp Ritchie became a Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) to aid the nation's counterintelligence efforts during World War II. A select group of the soldiers who trained at the fort as military intelligence operatives became known later as "the Ritchie Boys." During the Cold War, Camp Ritchie was renamed Fort Ritchie and it continued to serve a variety of missions including as an army communication center, an infectious diseases hospital, and Women's Army Corps post. Beginning in May 1997 (Chapter 737, Acts of 1997), the Fort property was managed by the PenMar Development Corporation, a public instrumentality of the State, charged with overseeing the development for civilian uses of Fort Ritchie, which closed in 1998. |
