Farragut State Park Information
Farragut State Park is a state park five miles east of Athol, Kootenai County in northern Idaho.
During World War II, it was the "Farragut Naval Training Station," a major training base of the U.S. Navy. The base was named after David Farragut, the first admiral in the U.S. Navy, the leading naval officer during the Civil War.
The 4,000 acre (16 km²) park is located at the southern tip of the Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains, the northwest range of the Bitterroot Mountains. It is about thirty miles from the city of Coeur d'Alene.
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History
Eleanor Roosevelt allegedly noticed the lake on a flight to Seattle. Knowing that President Roosevelt was seeking a location for a secure inland naval training center, she mentioned it to him and he made a secret tour of the area. Ground was broken in March 1942, and by September the base had a population of 55,000, making it the largest city in Idaho. Liberty trains to Spokane ran three times daily. At the time, Farragut was the second-largest naval training center in the world.
Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945 and the facility was decommissioned in June 1946. It was also used as a POW camp; nearly 900 Germans worked as gardeners and maintenance men.
In 1942, Lt. Commander Henry T. McMaster, supervisor of support services at the station, contracted photographer Ross Hall to produce group and portrait photos of all recruits and companies. Operator of a studio in nearby Sandpoint, Hall employed up to 15 workers in creating a photographic archive of more than 300,000 images. [1]
From 1946-49 it was the site of the Farragut College and Technical Institute, which did not re-open in late 1949 due to financial difficulties.
The park adjoins the deepwater Lake Pend Oreille, where the Navy maintains a submarine research center at Bayview, the Acoustic Research Detachment. [2] photos of LSV-2 Cutthroat
The land was transferred to the state of Idaho in 1963 and became a state park the following year.
According to those who volunteer at the Museum at the Brig, there was never any submarine testing while it was a training base.
Scouting history
The park hosted the 1965 National Girl Scout Senior Roundup, 12th World Scout Jamboree in 1967, 1969, 2002 Star Northwest and 1973 National Scout Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of America.
See also
External links
- Idaho State Parks - official site - Farragut
- Idaho Public TV - Farragut naval training base
- U.S. Navy - Acoustic Research Detachment - Bayview, Idaho
- Global Security.org - U.S. Navy ARD - Bayview, Idaho
- U.S. Navy Undersea Warfare magazine - submarine stealth in Idaho
- Nav Source.org - photos of LSV-2 Cutthroat - Navy ARD - Bayview, ID
- Farragut State Park - Wreckreator Disc Golf Course - from GoSleepGo
- "Sailors Ahoy" - Sandpoint Magazine
References
- "Idaho for the Curious", by Cort Conley, ©1982, ISBN 0-9603566-3-0, p.288-292
Coordinates: 47°57′56″N 116°34′57″W / 47.96561°N 116.582408°W
Categories: Idaho state parks | Girl Scouts of the USA | Boy Scouts of America | Disc golf courses | Kootenai County, Idaho | Closed facilities of the United States Navy | Protected areas established in 1964
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