The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Peter Strong Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife converted Camp Adair into E.E. Wilson Wildlife Refuge. Camp Adair served as military training grounds during WWII and later housed Italian and German prisoners of war.

While many in the Corvallis area may be familiar with Camp Adair's military history, they may not be as familiar with its paranormal activity.

Camp Adair, located just north of Corvallis, was once home to thousands of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers. Some believe the spirits of these soldiers may still be roaming the area.

The Albany Regional Museum offers an exhibit on the history of the camp.

Camp Adair was built in during World War II in 1942. Many people were displaced when the camp was built.

Cemeteries in the area were uprooted and relocated to an area south of Monmouth. Around 400 bodies were involved in this move, some dating back as far as the pioneer days, according to the according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The camp started off as a training facility for the military, but eventually became a POW center. Up until 1946, it housed both German and Italian soldiers. It was not common knowledge to the surrounding community that POWs were being held here, said the Albany Regional Museum website.

Most of the paranormal activity captured has been in the hospital, which housed injured soldiers. There were rumors that a large silo next to the hospital was used as a crematorium for the fatalities. In fact, the silo was a smoke stack used by the heat plant to heat the surrounding buildings.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife eventually took over much of the area that the camp covered and turned it into the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Refuge. A lot of websites on paranormal investigations in Oregon have focused on Camp Adair.

According to the Pacific Paranormal Research Society website, some of these investigations have even been able to garner electronic voice phenomenon recordings and photos of misty orbs. Most of the orbs have been dismissed as simply being dust in the air.

The sounds include boot-clad footsteps roaming the halls. There have also been recordings of creaking bedsprings, even though all the beds were removed long ago.

While the evidence of paranormal activity at Camp Adair is limited, at this time of year it does lead both believers and non-believers of the paranormal to wonder what still remains at Camp Adair.

Rebecca Johnson, staff writer

news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231

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