Tyrell Park - WWII Prisoner of War Camp

Location of Interest: Tyrrell Park (Beaumont, Texas)

Previous: Prisoner of War Camp - Active 1943 - 1945
Coordinates: 30° 0' 42.85" N, 94° 8' 48.19" W

Tyrrell Park is currently a municipal park in Beaumont, Texas. It includes the Henry Homberg Municipal Golf Course. The entire park consists of about 1500 acres, which was donated to Beaumont in 1923 by prominent businessman and area citizen, W.C. Tyrrell. In addition to the golf course, many area residents enjoy the stables and equestrian trails, hike and bike trails, and the Beaumont Botanical Gardens. But few likely think much of the dilapidated ruin that remains at the center of the property—and who were housed in it from about 1943 to 1945.

Early in its history, the property was under the care of Civilian Conservation Corps Company 845. This evolved during the depression years as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, which included government work efforts to keep men working. In this particular case, the men performed a host of activities to augment the property as a park. They dug drainage ditches and laid roads, erected the park entrance way, horse stables and recreation buildings, as well as carved out nature trails and created the golf course. But America's entry into World War II would modify the usage for Tyrrell Park.

An aerial view showing ruins of primary camp building.

Although the early months of 1942 were not entirely successful ones for US forces, the tides of war changed and the America began advancing on it's enemies. One result was in hordes of German and Italian prisoners. Many, if not most, were sent back to Texas. And when camps began to burgeon as US victories mounted, satellite camps were opened wherever Uncle Sam could locate them—and one was at Tyrell Park in Beaumont.

Texas had around 30 or so of these satellite camps, each housing as few as 35 or 40 prisoners of war. Most of the satellite camps dotted the coastal rice-producing areas of Texas—from Orange and Jefferson counties over to Brazoria and Matagorda counties. Part of the reason was that World War II robbed much of the nation's farmers of badly needed labor, and Texas was no exception. Consequently, the War Department authorized a program using POWs from area camps. And since Texas had so many of the camps, they became resources for badly-needed labor. POWs harvested tons of rice.

The government was paid $1.50 per day per prisoner working. That was the predominant minimum wage of the period. And about eighty cents of that went to the prisoner in canteen coupons. The difference went to the US treasury to pay for the POW program. German officers, like their American counterparts, were not required to work—and most didn't.

      

These images show the dilapidated wing and primary entrance to the 

last remaining building of the WWII POW camp at Tyrrell Park. 

It's not uncommon for Texas farmers to recall their POW laborers in a positive light. Equally typical was for many farmers to maintain friendships with them. The experience for POWs in the US was vastly different from their counterparts in Europe or the Pacific. POWs here were treated to the letter of the Geneva Conventions of War, if not better. Indeed, following the conclusion of hostilities, many German POWs immigrated to Texas and the communities where they were interned.

Episcopal High School - former Catholic convent: HAUNTED

Location of Interest: Episcopal High School (Bellaire, Tx)
Codename: Marian High School/Convent: 1931 - 1983 

Coordinates: 29.7149° N, 95.4576° W

Episcopal High School is a well-known private secondary school that is located among the homes of the independent City of Bellaire, Texas, situated just 6-miles from downtown Houston. The grounds were once home to Marian High School, also a secondary institution, as well as the Mother House (Convent) for the Sisters of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. Although the sisters sold the campus to a developer in the 1980s, local legend has it that a few sisters remain, quite literally, in spirit.

The sisters acquired the property in 1924, and within seven years, the convent and novitiate were built. For non-Catholics, a novitiate is a place where young women go to train and prepare for religious life as nun specific to the order of the Sisters of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. From 1932 to 1955, the campus included boarding school that housed about 50 girls, and day school. Both were for grades 1 thru 8. And then in 1955, the sisters opened Marian High School, a co-ed campus on the north side of the property. Marian operated until late 70's when they decided to close Marian High School and sell the Bellaire property.

The oldest building on campus was the four-story convent—and it is said to be haunted. Indeed, for many, many years the top floor was forbidden to students. There are two separate stories on the hauntings. The first is from a former student of Episcopal High School, reporting that long ago, four of the sisters were murdered on the top floor of the convent. He says that Episcopal’s choir used to practice on the second floor, and at times voices were heard from the abandoned and forbidden fourth floor. Sometimes they were moans, and other times it sounded like singing. Footsteps echoing through the open space were also reported. But no one was ever found to be where the sounds came from.

The worst of the Episcopal student reports centers around two teenagers who thought the top floor would make a good hideout from teachers. That is, until blood pools suddenly formed on the walls and ceiling during their carnal explorations. The incident sent the pair screaming from the building. One hopes they remembered their uniforms.

An older account is from Marian graduates and states that one of the sisters hung herself on the forbidden fourth floor. Students and staff had claimed heard her walk across the hallways and slam doors shut, sometimes even locking them. Some of the school faculty made it a point to never stay after 10:00 pm so they wouldn’t encounter the spirit.

From the 2016 film, Conjuring 2.

The Greenbrier Hotel - Cold War Congressional Bunker

Location of Interest: The Greenbrier (White Sulpher Springs, WVa)
Codename: Project Greek Island: 1959 - 1992
Coordinates: 37.7867° N, 80.3050° W

On the surface, literally, The Greenbrier is a National Historic Landmark and world-class resort that has been in continuous operation since 1778. Surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains, it's 11,000 acre grounds are centered on natural mineral springs that drew the first hotel guests. Yet during the Cold War years from 1959 and 1992, the hotel was an underground partner to the US Government.

The Greenbrier website boasts that 26 US Presidents have stayed at the resort, along with royalty, celebrities and business leaders, offers exclusive services and amenities, such as championship golf, fine dining, designer boutiques, as well as 103,000 square foot gaming and entertainment venue. Can't they just say "casino"? What is doesn't mention is that among the facilities at THE Greenbrier is a massive underground bunker built to house all of the US Congress in the event of a nuclear exchange (presumably between the USSR and the US).

Declassified construction photo.

How this came to be is partly rested on The Greenbrier's reliability for the US Government. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent declaration of war on both Germany and Japan, the resort became an army hospital as well as a relocation center for some of the Axis diplomats interned as enemies of the United States. That is, The Greenbrier became an executive-class prison camp for German, Italian and Japanese diplomatic personnel.

Also making The Greenbrier attractive to Uncle Sam planners is the resort's proximity to Washington DC, while offering the natural protection of the Allegheny Mountains. Most strategists during the 1950s would bet that the two big dogs on the planet would inevitably duke it out. The problem was that the weapons of choice were nuclear. So The Greenbrier was approached, and Project Greek Island was born.

The whole project was highly classified, and construction took place at the same time as the resort's new West Virginia Wing was built. The wing was an above-ground addition to the hotel, For 30 years following completion of construction, The Greenbrier owners maintained an agreement with the federal government that, in the event of an international crisis, the entire resort property would be converted to government use.

Project Greek Island was huge—epic in Greek terms. It was protected by two-foot thick walls made of reinforced concrete designed to withstand a nearby atomic blast. The bunker included a dormitory, kitchen, hospital, and a media center for members of Congress. The largest room in the facility is referred to as "The Exhibit Hall." The space is almost 90 feet by 186 feet with a ceiling 

A simple screen camouflaged one of the blast doors.

height of about 20 feet. One of two smaller auditoriums seats 470 people, which accommodated the 435-member House of Representatives. The other was intended as a temporary Senate chamber. During its active maintenance period, the bunker had a six-month supply of food.

Based on the strategy of hiding in plain sight, Project Greek Island was designed to be incorporated into the public spaces of the hotel to avoid drawing attention. So portions of the bunker space were visible but went unidentified. In fact, spaces used by The Greenbrier guests for business meetings were actually a disguised workstation area for members of Congress. Government workers posed as hotel audiovisual employees, aoperating under a front company called Forsythe Associates. The "company's" on-site employees had the supposed role of maintaining the hotel's 1100 televisions. 

The Greenbriar still maintains the bunker complex, with much of the facility remaining as it was in 1992 when the secret was revealed in the national press. That was the result of a The Washington Post article exposing the bunker. Immediately following, the bunker was decommissioned. Now it is little more than a tourist attraction, although parts of the bunker house private sector data storage.

The Communication Center remains preserved.