All these years I grew up, I never knew there was an army base here... right HERE in Kearns?!

You did not mention that one of the remaining buildings not dismantled was the base gymnasium. It became the cultural hall for a new L. D. S. Stake center withtwo chapels built, one on each side, that became for a time the largest meetinghouse in the Church.

Also, the business of moving all the barracks buildings around to their eventual use as farm buildings, homes and other uses became an assembly line process with truck-trailers adapted for the process rubling every day down Redwood Road, 48th South and other arteries at 30 mph and more, pulling a 25 foot wide building, while traffic headed for the road shoulders.Long 1x4s curved down from roof ridges lifted telephone lines and traffic signal wires up and along the ridge as the building slid under them. That went on for two or three years.

'Shocked', you grew up in Kearns and didn't know it's history? Did you not go to school and listen to your History teachers? Did you not see the remnants of what was left behind and maybe wonder what all those empty warehouses and concrete foundations were? Well, I'm glad now that you know a little bit more of the community that raised you. Visit the local Library for more information.

Interesting bit of local history that was news to me too.

Thanks to Robert Collier for his augmenting comments.

All quite interesting.

The official name of the camp Kearns in 1944 was Kearns Army Air Force Ordinance Depot. On official documents it was Kearns AAFORD. I was born there at the camp hospital while my dad was stationed there. Mom and Dad met there at a USO dance.

I wonder how many others were born there. I've never met anyone else who was.

Lee, A great article on Kearns Base. I have two connections to Kearns. My grandfather retired from his ranch in 1939, moved to Sugarhouse and was kind of taking it too easy. Then when Kearns was built, he went to work at the post exchange. He was in his late 60's and was kind of a "Grandpa" to the boys. I remember when we visited from Idaho how grandpa would tell of his conversations with them.

Then in 1986, my son bought a house in Kearns. I am not sure what part of the base his lot might have been on. He has since moved to Davis County.

Thanks for the great article.

Any airport you see out the airplane window, anywhere in the country, which has three runways forming a triangle, has a good chance of being a WW2 training field.

The airfield that is now Salt Lake Airport #2 used to keep up all three runways - when I learned to fly in 1980, I believe that I used the intersecting runways, on occasion - but the cost of paving eventually overcame any advantage offered by the other two runways, and they are being allowed to deteriorate.

Western Airlines turned it, inadvertently, into an international airport when a plane coming to Salt Lake from Canada landed there by mistake.

Airports are hard to install and, once closed, are impossible to replace anywhere close. I hope Airport #2 does not meet the same fate as Alta Airport or Lehi Airport - it is a wonderful thing not to have to go to the "big" airport with a small plane.

There was a small arms plant there where small calliber ammo was manufactured for the war effort.

I didn't care much for history when a school boy. Now I can hardly get enough of it. Thanks for this glance back.
Our family has lived in or near some old "ghost" towns of Utah. My mother was born and raised in Eureka, Utah. The mines there were richer than the comstock mines in Nevada.
One of the more interesting towns in Utah is Corinne "The Gentile town".
I would love to read from your pages the histories of these famous and infamous Utah towns.
well done. keep it up

Well written history on the reporter’s part, especially when one realizes that the documents which he speaks of have only become unclassified in the last 4 years. I am sure he could fill a whole newspaper on just the history that has been located in the last ten years. It is important also to know that a lot of things and the men that were stationed at Kearns have only been allowed to talk about things in the last 8 years, for example research the “Carpetbaggers” What a lot of people do not realize is that this history was a lost history, going to the library to research this history is impossible, documents are just now being researched after years and years of looking for them. The fact is it has taken 10 years just to locate the lost volumes of history books written by the men of Camp Kearns about Camp Kearns. It’s a sad note to realize also that the only historical area of Kearns has been blighted. Kearns is also one of a very few communities that dose not have a museum to house its history, its time to save it now before its gone forever.

I was stationed at Kearns from 1942-1945, and was shocked when I received a phone call from the Kearns Historical Society asking me what I remembered about Kearns. I thought it was a joke at first, Kearns was one of a few “Air Bases” that lacked a flying strip, and the men marched forever and never left the base, the wind blew all the time. When I went and visited the Kearns Historical Society and talked with Pam, I couldn’t believe all the artifacts that she had, she is a walking book of information. It is depressing to know that this history became lost or destroyed but nice to see that this history is being noted now. I and others in my unit are in agreement that Kearns needs a museum; we have been saving our unit history for Kearns for over 10 years. I hope and pray that someday you can get one; this article isn’t even the tip of what went on out there.
Great article my thanks to the reporter for getting this information out there. Thanks to Pam and her dedication and determination to locate this history enough can’t be said for that. Carry on!

Excellent writing and kudos to the Kearns Historical Society. Pam has done excellent work. I believe people overlook all the good that occurred and that is occurring in Kearns.

I've lived in Kearns for 15 years and my three children are blossoming wonderfully...I love my neighbors and my local Kearns businesses like Harmons, Blockbuster, Subway and more...

My father was stationed at Fort Kearns. I am not sure of the exact dates but he was there when I was born in early 1945. He was being trained to be shipped out to the South Pacific but came down with Rheumatic Fever while on a long march south along the side of the Oquirrh Mountain range. He ended up in the base hospital for quite some time. This is about all the history I know of the base so was very interested to read the article. I would really like to read more or find a listing a the soldiers who were stationed there. Dad was transferred from Dalhart Air Base in Texas to Kearns. I would enjoy visiting a museum about the base. Thanks again for the story.

There are still quite a few of us, who as children, in the area, in the fourties, rode our bike & followed the solodiers, as they marched, on the roads. When they had a rest, they would give us money to go to Walkers store & buy them a candy bar or icecream on a stick; we usually caught them @ thier next rest stop. We watched them, on the obsticale course, by the north fence. Sundays, mother would have a couple of souldiers over for fried chicken dinner, then they would play football, with me. My uncle worked in the mess hall & an aunt drove a truck, on base. When the base was closed, we would sneek in & swim in the pool & as teen agers had drag races on the old airstrip, south of the camp.

Don't worry. If I'm rich enough before anyone else steps up, I'll donate the money to build a museum in my home town.

After being inducted into the US Army Air Force in March 1943, I was sent to Kearns Army Air Base for basic training. After completing basic training I went on to a medical technician school at Camp Grant, Illinois. I do not remember it as being a training center for future pilots. The article mentions gas masks. They were our salvation. It was so dusty that we wore them while training to avoid inhaling all of that dust. When we went to a movie at the Base theater, we could hardly follow the dialog because of all of the coughing.

I have been to Pam’s office and seen the mounds of items she has.
It’s neat to see and find someone that can and is willing to do this research.
Although most of her items came from those that were at Kearns, this article fails
to mention that in the time frame of ten years her research has spanned into nine different countries, and has taken her to 8 different states where she has been a guest speaker at the reunions for these Camp Kearns Men. To date she is also the only one in the state of Utah that has this large of holdings on Camp Kearns and Kearns as a community. I think it is a sad situation that Kearns doesn’t have a museum yet thanks to the efforts of Pam our history is home and it is no longer guess work as to what went on here how and where. To not have a museum now is a real injustice to this community.

Very interesting story, and well written.

Many thanks to the reporter for sharing this with all of us.

Special thanks to Pam for her enthusiastic work preserving all this history, at her own expense, and on her own time. A lot of people appreciate her fine work, honoring those who served, both in uniform and as civilians.

is the community's beginnings the reason why one sees so many trailer houses and double wides in Kearns?

Unbelievable! I grew up on the edge of Kearns and took many trips through the neighborhood to get to the library. I would have gone to Kearns High if Hunter High had not been built. I never knew it was an Army base. The Army had numerous bases during WWII, but only a few remain -- and many still have buildings that were erected during the War.

Note to the author (and Kearns residents): I wouldn't be concerned about the possibility of chemical weapons training residue. I would be much more concerned about the amount of lead that is in probably in the ground! If it was the "second largest firing range in the nation," there may be tons of lead in the ground from all the bullets fired. I would be surprised if the Army did a good job of cleaning it all up.

What a great story. We lived in Kearns for years many many years and always knew it had a wonderful history buried beneath all of the homes. I am surprised that the establishment of the Camp Kearns Film Society did not make the historical record also. But that may have come some years after the war.

This was an accurite article. Well done..

Three books in the Kearns library have the history of camp kearns. "What a wonderful town", "Proud of Kearns", And and my book "Camp kearns through this gate". have a very good covering of the subject.

They say that your past dictates your future. If that is the case, we have a bright future ahead. I for one grew up in Kearns and my roots run deep here. I came back to Kearns to make my home for the last 18 years. Thanks to Pam Todd and her Kearns Historical Society those roots have come to life. Growing up here we all heard the Camp Kearns stories and were intrigued by them all. I have seen Pam's research, items, and spoke to some of the Camp Kearns men or their families. They are all very honored to give to the Kearns Historical Society to make sure this history is preserved. The history she has is amazing. Perhaps someday we will have a museum to display our past and hopes for our future. I am very proud of my Kearns Community and salute all the business that have helped Kearns develop, but most of all the people. Kearns Rocks!!!