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Sampson - Major Events |
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Highlights of Period 1942 - 1950 |
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May 14: United States enters W W II, US Navy selects Lake Seneca site as naval training facility. 2,597 acres of farmlands and vineyards were designated for construction of the facility. Construction was completed in 270 days at a cost of approximately $56 million. |
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1943 |
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February 27: 1500 bed hospital commissioned. This facility served as a medical complex for a variety of organizations for the next twenty years. |
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1945 |
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September: New York State authorizes two year junior-community colleges. Sampson selected as a ready made facility as one of three sites in addition to Plattsburg and Utica. |
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1946 |
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July 1: Sampson Naval Training Center decommissioned. More than 411,429 “boots” were trained at this facility |
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1947 |
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December: New York State with the transfer of 1000 elderly patients took over the hospital and named it the |
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1949 |
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July 30: The U.S. Department of Agriculture utilizes various drill halls and warehouses as granaries. More than 110,000 bushels of wheat and 15,000 sacks of beans were stored at Sampson until the Air force took over the base. |
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New York State appropriates $50,000 for the creation of a state park at Sampson. With the start of the Korean War, the need arose for the opening of an additional military training center. With the Air Force establishing Sampson AFB, the park project was cancelled. |
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August: New York State Legislature authorizes the Federal Government to transfer Sampson Air Force Base to the State for use as a public park. |
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1958 |
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Airstrip deeded to the Army to be known as Seneca Army Air Field. |
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New York State purchases and assumes ownership of all tracts of land at a cost of $500,000. Buildings were dismantled and materials were sold for re-usage throughout the Finger Lakes Region. One of the Drill Halls is now in use at Middlebury College, Vermont . Major roads and identification signs remain today. |
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1987 |
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Sampson WW- 2 Navy Veterans Association Inc. is established |
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The State of New York grants usage of the old brig to the Navy Vets for the establishment of a museum. |
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1993 |
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September: The Sampson Veterans Association was incorporated. |
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March: The Association became tenants of the facility. |
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1999 |
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The Association begins renovation of the stockade for use as a museum. |
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The Association contributed a plaque to the Memorial Park, U. S. Air Force Museum, Dayton, Ohio to commemorate the Sampson Air Force Base era. |
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2003 |
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The Air Force Museum approves the loan of a T 33 aircraft to the Association for use as a museum static display. |
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2005 |
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November: The State of New York as committed $500.000 in an effort to create a Veterans Cemetery on 100 acres at Sampson State Park. |