From an archaeological standpoint, Camp Adair is a fascinating place. Although the camp itself has been gone for decades, a surprising number of foundations and other remnants of the original buildings can still be found throughout the former camp.

This page is designed to help people who are interested in exploring what remains of Camp Adair and, more importantly, understanding what they are looking at. When I am out at the former camp locating and identifying buildings, I am often asked questions about the foundations people see: What building was here? Was this a barracks? A mess hall? A theater? What did the building look like when Camp Adair was in operation?

The goal of this page is to help answer those questions.

Many of the original foundations are still remarkably intact. Others have been altered over the years. In some areas, the footings have been torn up and piled into the remaining foundation, while in other locations the foundations have disappeared completely. Even when only portions of a building remain, however, those remnants can provide important clues about what once stood there.

One of the most significant changes to the former Camp Adair landscape came with construction of the BOMARC missile site. The missile installation eliminated approximately 80 to 90 percent of the former Ninth Service Command housing and mess halls in that area. As a result, much of the original layout of the Ninth Service Command portion of Camp Adair has been lost.

Ironically, the BOMARC missile site itself remains in remarkably good condition. Many of its foundations and associated structures are still visible, providing a unique opportunity to see a later chapter in the history of the property.

One of the most useful clues when trying to identify a former Camp Adair building is the boiler room. Many of the larger buildings had substantial boiler rooms, and these are often among the easiest features to locate in the field. When a boiler room or other distinctive structural feature survives, it can help establish what type of building once occupied the site.

By combining surviving foundations, boiler rooms, building footprints, wartime maps, photographs, and other historical information, it is possible to reconstruct much of Camp Adair's former landscape.

The purpose of this page is not simply to show where foundations can be found. It is to help bring those foundations back to life—to give visitors an idea of what stood there, what the buildings looked like, and how each structure fit into the larger Camp Adair story.

As long as these remnants survive, they provide a tangible connection to the men and women who lived and worked at Camp Adair during World War II. Hopefully, this guide will make it easier for others to recognize those remnants and understand what they are seeing when they walk across the former camp.