First World War I POWs Arrive at Hot Springs, NC

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This article appeared on the This Day in North Carolina History blog on June 8, 2013. It is reposted here with permission.

On June 8, 1917, the first of 2,300 Germans arrived by train at Hot Springs to begin life in a World War I internment camp. Their civilian merchant ships had been docked in various American ports two months earlier when the United States entered the war. At that time, the government seized the German vessels and declared their officers and crews “alien enemies.”

Unable to return the men home while war was raging, the government leased the luxurious Mountain Park Hotel in Hot Springs to house them. Each of the hotel’s 200 steam-heated, electric-lighted bedrooms accommodated between three and five German officers, while rows of barracks and accessory buildings were constructed on the resort’s grounds and golf course to house crew members.

When not farmed out for lumbering or road building projects, homesick internees inside the barbed wire-enclosed camp created a Bavarian village—including houses, a church and even a carousel—using driftwood from the French Broad River, tin cans, and other materials. They also crafted furniture, grew gardens and played sports. A German brass band provided concerts for the townspeople every Sunday afternoon. After living in the camp for 17 months, many internees developed close friendships with local families. Some returned to visit after the war ended.

Other related resources:

The military collection of the State Archives
Memories of World War I: North Carolina Doughboys on the Western Front and North Carolina and the Two World Wars from North Carolina Historical Publications
Military history resource guide from the State Library
Posters from World War I from the State Archives
Saint Francis’ Satyr Butterfly, a poem on veterans by Jospeh Bathanti, North Carolina’s poet laureate
Wildcats Never Quit, a resource on World War I from the State Archives, State Library and N.C. Museum of History
World War I on NCpedia
Veterans records from the State Archives
An ibiblio archive of images and documents from the camp, courtesy of the Madison County Public Library

More articles on WWI in NC:

The Ashe County WWI deserters(Opens in a new browser tab)