On April 6. 1917, the United Slates declared war on Germany. The country did not have a peacetime army large enough to fight the war. The draft was instituted to fill the ranks. Additional training facilities were needed to prepare the men. Word reached Chillicothe that the government was searching for sites for military camps. Recognizing the economic impact a military camp would have on Chillicothe and Ross County. John A. Poland, Chillicothe attorney and president of the Chamber of Commerce, aggressively sought the location of an army base in the area.

It was announced on June 8,1917, that Chillicothe had been chosen for a training camp. The site lay north of town. along the Scioto River. The Government leased the land--approximately 2,000 acres from the farm owners, and on June 29. construction began. Within two and a half months, the work force that ultimately numbered more than 14,000, had ercected a camp for 40,000 men and 12,000 horses and mules. Upon completion, there were 2,000 buildings; the cost of construction was $4,000,000. The camp was named for Civil War general, William Tecumseh Sherman.

The first draftees and recruits from Ohio and surrounding states arrived at Camp Sherman on September 5. By the time the war ended, 123,581 men had received training there. The 83rd Division was the first to complete its training and left for the front June 19, 1918. The 84th Division was trained with that new military weapon-the fighter airplane. Two planes were brought in for that purpose. The 95th and 96th were on their way to becoming fighting units, but the war ended before they could be deployed.

The influx of construction workers and military trainees and personnel had a tremendous impact on Chillicothe. The population was increased from 16,000 to 60,000. There was a flurry of housing construction and opening of new businesses. The community made the soldiers and their visiting families welcome. When the Great War ended on November 11, 1918, the country no longer needed the national cantonments. Discharges at Camp Sherman were completed in July 1920 and the newly created U.S. Veterans Bureau found other uses for the site. War casualties became the first patients of the Veterans Administration Hospital. The Training Bureau taught veterans employment skills for a time. Prisoners housed in the camp's buildings manufactured bricks for the construction of the Federal Reformatory1926-1966, which was completed in 1936.

Gradually, Camp Sherman was dismantled. According to the Ross County Convention and Visitors Bureau, few remnants of the vast military complex remain. Two stone posts on Wharf Street in Chillicothe mark the camp's entrance, while the former swimming pool site is now Camp Sherman Memorial Park, located on State Route 104 north of the city.

Much of the original Camp Sherman is currently occupied by the Veterans Administration, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park and three state correctional facilities.