Camp Calvin B. Matthews
Encyclopedia
Camp Calvin B. Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range Camp Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range, La Jolla (prior to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

) or more simply Camp Matthews was a United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 military base from 1917 until 1964, when the base was decommissioned and transferred to the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 to be part of the new University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

 (UCSD) campus. Over a million Marine recruits as well as other shooters (such as Marines stationed at Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar , formerly Naval Air Station Miramar is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force...

) received their marksmanship training at this military base.

Location and Boundaries

Camp Matthews was located in La Jolla, San Diego, California
La Jolla, San Diego, California
La Jolla is an affluent, hilly seaside resort community, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California within the northern city limits of San Diego. La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008 and 2009; the average price of a standardized...

. The base's eastern boundary was present-day Regents Road. Its northern boundary was present-day Voigt Drive (formerly Old Miramar Road) and Matthews Lane and extended westward to Gilman Drive (formerly Coast Highway), which was its western boundary. The bases's southern boundary was near present-day La Jolla Village Drive and a "panhandle" extended southward along what is today Interstate 5
Interstate 5 in California
Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...

 and extended past present-day Nobel Drive.http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/5631803214/CA1110E1_UCSD-Camp_Matthews.pdf United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 base Camp Callan
Camp Callan
Camp Callan was a United States Army anti-aircraft artillery replacement training center that was operational during World War II. It was located in La Jolla, California, but was closed after WWII ended. Few traces of the former base can be seen today....

 was to the west of Camp Matthews. The Marine base at Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar , formerly Naval Air Station Miramar is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force...

 was about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Camp Matthews.

Early years

The Marine Corps leased 363 acres (1.5 km²) of land from the City of San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 in 1917 for use as a marksmanship training facility for Marine recruits being trained at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego...

. However, a permanent detachment of Marines was not stationed at this base until 1923. It was first used as a rifle range in late 1918. The Marines built the first eight targets of "A" range themselves with picks and shovels. In 1925 five more targets were added. The first headquarters buildings were built in 1927 and the first detachment barracks were built in 1928. During the 1930s and 1940s, more buildings and barracks were constructed as well more firing ranges. During these years, the base had no official name but was called Marine Rifle Range, La Jolla. In 1937, the U.S. government terminated the lease and acquired 544 acres (2.2 km²) in fee from the City of San Diego. This acquisition consisted of the formerly leased area as well as additional land to the east. The government also leased an additional 29.75 acres (120,394.1 m²) from the City of San Diego. This newly leased area was in the northeastern corner of the base. The total area of the base was then 573.75 acres (2.3 km²). Except for a few ranch houses, all of the area acquired was undeveloped at the time of acquisition.

World War II and the Korean War Years

After the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 and the entry of the United States into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the base was busier than ever. At the peak of the base's activity in 1944, it put 9,000 recruits through marksmanship training every 3 weeks. Marine recruits marched north from MCRD
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation in San Diego, California. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego...

, completed their marksmanship training and left the camp. This was because MCRD was never suitable for marksmanship training. During this year, the base had 700 permanent personnel stationed there. However, by the mid-1950s only 120 Marines were stationed at Camp Matthews. During World War II and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, more administrative buildings as well as street and utility systems were built.

In 1942, the base was officially named Camp Calvin B. Matthews. It was named after Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 Calvin B. Matthews a famous Marine marksman of the 1930s. The naming officially took place on March 23, 1942.

Closing and Transfer

As the city of La Jolla
La Jolla, San Diego, California
La Jolla is an affluent, hilly seaside resort community, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California within the northern city limits of San Diego. La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008 and 2009; the average price of a standardized...

 expanded after World War II, local people became more and more concerned over the close proximity of a military rifle range facility in their neighborhood. The La Jolla Town Council began trying to get the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to close Camp Matthews in 1956 but the Navy resisted. In 1959, Congressman Bob Wilson
Bob Wilson (US politician)
Robert Carlton "Bob" Wilson was an American politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Biography:...

 introduced a bill in Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 that would transfer Camp Matthews to the University of California for the planned San Diego campus. In 1962, Camp Matthews was determined to be surplus by the Marine Corps. In May 1963, one of the 65 target ranges could no longer be used because of the safety hazard it posed to the encroaching civilian population. The base finally closed in 1964, the same year the first undergraduate class entered Revelle College, UCSD's first undergraduate college. Closing ceremonies took place on August 21, 1964 but the base was not officially closed until October 6, 1964. A monument to the camp was unveiled at this ceremony. Major General B. A. Hochmuth
Bruno Hochmuth
Bruno Arthur Hochmuth was a Major General in the United States Marine Corps who was killed during the Vietnam War. He would be the first and only Marine division commander to be killed in any war...

, the Commanding General of MCRD at the time, fired the ceremonial "last rounds" before the camp closed. The Navy conveyed titles and interest in 544 acres (2.2 km²) and improvements to the Regents of the University of California
Regents of the University of California
The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full members:* The majority are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms....

 on September 23 of this year. The lease on the 29.75 acres (120,394.1 m²) with the City of San Diego was terminated in this year as well. The University of California began developing the base property for use as a campus the following year. After Camp Matthews closed, Marine marksmanship training was conducted further north at Edson Range
Edson Range
Edson Range is a firing range at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is named for Marine "Red" Mike Edson.While located on Camp Pendleton, the range is actually an annex of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, which is home to four of the largest firing ranges on the base. It...

 in Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...

 and continues to be conducted there up to the present day.

Facilities

Camp Matthews contained at least fifteen different shooting ranges as well as various buildings and other infrastructure during its existence. The shooting facilities included:
  • 6 rifle ranges
  • 1 pistol range
  • 1 mortar/flame thrower/hand grenade court/bazooka range (Range H)
  • 3 small bore ranges
  • 1 skeet range
  • 3 school ranges (non-shooting practice ranges)

The base had a number of buildings as well. It had 7 barracks, approximately 270 tents, administration buildings, quartermaster storerooms, magazines, an armory, maintenance shops, a dispensary, a service station, and a main post exchange. Only a few of the original Marine Corps buildings still exist. They are primarily located along Myers Drive in the central part of the present-day campus and were used for administrative buildings, the campus bookstore, as well as other uses over the years. This central location of the UCSD campus was called the Matthews Campus but is now called the University Center and Sixth College
Sixth College
Sixth College is the sixth and newest college of the University of California, San Diego, and is as of yet unnamed. Sixth College aims to prepare its students to become effective citizens of the 21st century — innovative, interconnected and aware. Opened in September 2001, Sixth College seeks to...

. A few locations on campus are named after Camp Matthews. They include Matthews Lane (which is part of the northern boundary of the former base) and Matthews Quad, an area in the center of the UCSD campus bound by Myers Drive, Lyman Walk, Russell Lane, and Rupertus Way. The original flagpole from the base still stands on a grass island in the middle of Myers Drive. A monument commemorating the former base stands there as well as a fountain designed by Michael Asher
Michael Asher
Michael Max Asher is a conceptual artist, described by The New York Times as "among the patron saints of the Conceptual Art phylum known as Institutional Critique, an often esoteric dissection of the assumptions that govern how we perceive art." Rather than designing new art objects, Asher...

 which is part of the Stuart Collection
Stuart Collection
The Stuart Collection is a collection of public art on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. Founded in 1983, the Stuart Collection's goal is to spread commissioned sculpture throughout the campus, including both traditional sculptures and integration with features of the campus...

. The rear entrance sentry booth still stands in a UCSD parking lot. Drawings and graffiti left by Marine recruits still decorate the interior of the sentry booth and are now protected by plexiglas. Another surviving Camp Matthews building is the Ché Café
Che Cafe
The Ché Café is a worker co-operative, social center, and live music venue located on the University of California, San Diego campus in La Jolla, California, USA.-History:Founded in 1980 by UCSD students, the Che originally began its life as a vegan cafe...

.

Current land use

The area Camp Matthews used to occupy has been divided-up for various uses. During the 1960s, UCSD disposed of former Camp Matthews land in the following way: went to the California Department of Transportation
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...

 for the construction of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 5)
Interstate 5 in California
Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...

. were conveyed the Veterans Administration
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...

 for the construction of the VA San Diego Medical Center.
  • Approximately 39 acres (157,827.5 m²) were transferred to private parties for commercial and residential development. This land included areas now occupied by the La Jolla Village Square shopping center and the Mormon temple across Interstate 5 from it and also the Sheraton La Jolla Hotel.

The rest of the land currently belongs to UCSD and much of the current campus is built on this land. The 29.75 acres (120,394.1 m²) that the City of San Diego previously leased to the military are now leased to UCSD.

Safety and environmental effects

During the decommissioning of the camp, the government decontaminated Range H, the grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...

/mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

/bazooka
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...

 range, which was located in a ravine in the “panhandle” area of the base near the present-day I-5. In the early 1960s, a mining company salvaged lead and brass from the Camp Matthews ranges. However, over the years ammunition and even rockets from the former base have turned up during construction on the site. In April 1999, approximately 200 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) practice rockets were discovered in a hillside immediately below the Radisson Hotel La Jolla (which is currently the Sheraton Hotel La Jolla http://www.sheratonlajolla.signonsandiego.com/). This area is 1000 feet (304.8 m) from the Range H area of the former base and is now on the east side of I-5. They were found due to a parking lot expansion project involving the removal of part of a hillside (this hillside is now landscaped). There was no charge in and of the rockets and all the propellant was gone. The hotel hired a private company to survey the area for more ordnance with metal detectors but found none. In February 2003, approximately 40 practice rockets were found at two construction sites on the former base. One 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) rocket was found in the medical complex area of the campus during this year. In 2005, during the construction of student housing units, the following was found: 14 inert rockets (8 2.3–inch M7 series practice rockets and 6 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) M29 series practice rockets), fragments from 60 mm mortars, M9 rifle grenade
Rifle grenade
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade was thrown by hand...

s, Mk II hand grenades
Mk 2 grenade
The Mk 2 defensive hand grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the U.S. armed forces during World War II and in later conflicts including the Vietnam War. The Mk II was standardized in 1920 replacing the Mk I of 1917. It was phased out gradually, the U.S. Navy being the last users...

, and 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) M29 series practice rockets. Small arms projectiles (.30-caliber
30 mm caliber
30 mm caliber ammunition is usually used in autocannon. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30 × 173 mm and 30 × 113 mm and Soviet 30 × 165 mm ammunition widely used around the world....

 and .45-caliber
.45 ACP
The .45 ACP , also known as the .45 Auto by C.I.P., is a cartridge designed by John Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic .45 pistol and eventually the M1911 pistol adopted by the United States Army in 1911.-Design and history:The U.S...

) have been found north of the UCSD Thornton Hospital complex. They were corroded and missing their outer coverings. They were possibly WWI or WWII era munitions.

Over the years, the government has investigated the former Camp Matthews site due to concern over the previous use of the base. The first government inspection of the site took place in 1988 due to an inquiry from a construction contractor regarding the likelihood of finding ordnance and explosives (OE) during construction on a site on a part of the former base east of I-5. The next inspection took place in 1999 when the Defense Environmental Restoration Program – Formerly Used Defense Sites (DERP-FUDS) conducted an Inventory Project Report (INPR) (J09CA111001) on the site.http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/5631803214/CA1110E1_UCSD-Camp_Matthews.pdf Since then, more investigations have occurred in the 2000s. The most recent investigations indicate that high levels of lead and arsenic (as well as other potentially harmful chemicals) are found in the soil and a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) should be conducted.http://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/2602597892/Final%20SI%20Rp%20Camp%20Matthews%20-%202.pdf

See also

  • Edson Range
    Edson Range
    Edson Range is a firing range at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is named for Marine "Red" Mike Edson.While located on Camp Pendleton, the range is actually an annex of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, which is home to four of the largest firing ranges on the base. It...

  • List of United States Marine Corps installations
  • History of the United States Marine Corps
    History of the United States Marine Corps
    The history of the United States Marine Corps began with the founding of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and...

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