Near Cambridge in Guernsey County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Fletcher General Hospital & WWII POW Camp
Photographed by J. J. Prats, April 9, 2021
1. Fletcher General Hospital & WWII POW Camp Marker, side one
Inscription.
Fletcher General Hospital and world war two POW Camp. . During the Second World War, the U.S. Army constructed a 131-building hospital on level farmland a quarter mile northwest of this marker. The army built the facility as a 1,520-bed hospital in the winter and spring of 1942-43. It was later expanded to 168 buildings with a 2,000- bed capacity, including a German POW camp for 234 prisoners engaged in hospital work. Between June 1943 and March 1946, when the facility closed, 17,608 veterans were treated here, most having returned with injuries received in the European or Pacific theaters of war. Convalescence and rehabilitation were the hospital's primary missions. Most patients returned to active duty when they recovered. After the war, the facility became the Cambridge State Hospital, which treated mentally ill and developmentally disabled Ohioans until 2008. Thereafter, the facility became the privately-operated Cambridge Behavioral Hospital and the state-operated Cambridge Developmental Center.
During the Second World War, the U.S. Army constructed a 131-building
hospital on level farmland a quarter mile northwest of this marker.
The army built the facility as a 1,520-bed hospital in the winter and
spring of 1942-43. It was later expanded to 168 buildings with a 2,000-
bed capacity, including a German POW camp for 234 prisoners engaged
in hospital work. Between June 1943 and March 1946, when the facility
closed, 17,608 veterans were treated here, most having returned with
injuries received in the European or Pacific theaters of war.
Convalescence and rehabilitation were the hospital's primary missions.
Most patients returned to active duty when they recovered. After the
war, the facility became the Cambridge State Hospital, which treated
mentally ill and developmentally disabled Ohioans until 2008. Thereafter,
the facility became the privately-operated Cambridge Behavioral
Hospital and the state-operated Cambridge Developmental Center.
Erected 2018 by Guernsey County Historical Society and The Ohio History Connection. (Marker Number 7-30.)
Location. 40° 4.052′ N, 81° 34.861′ W. Marker is near Cambridge, Ohio, in Guernsey County. It is at the intersection of Old Twenty-One Road (County Route 35) and Toland Drive and Eckleberry Road (County Route 633), on the left when traveling north on Old Twenty-One Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 66715 Old Twenty One Rd, Cambridge OH 43725, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Guernsey County Vietnam Memorial (was approx. 3 miles away but has been permanently removed).
More about this marker. Marker is at Fletcher Memorial Park, which is open to the public. The present facility is beyond the park to the west.
Photographed by J. J. Prats, April 9, 2021
3. Fletcher General Hospital & WWII POW Camp Marker at Fletcher Memorial Park
Close up of photo reproduced on marker
4. The Hospital as it Once Appeared
Credits. This page was last revised on April 15, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 14, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 2,542 times since then and 122 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 14, 2021, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
