Fort Stewart

Fort Stewart is the largest Army installation east of the Mississippi River. It covers 279,270 acres, which include parts of Liberty, Long, Bryan, Evans and Tattnall Counties. The reservation is about 39 miles across from east to west, and 19 miles from north to south. Stewart has it all: size, terrain, climate, and location. It's close to the East Coast, and two deep water ports: Savannah and Charleston, S.C. Tank, field artillery, helicopter gunnery and small arms ranges operate simultaneously throughout the year with little time lost to bad weather.

A Little History - In June of 1940 Congress authorized funding for the purchase of property in coastal Georgia for the purpose of building an anti-aircraft artillery training center. It was to be located just outside of Hinesville, GA, some 40 miles southwest of Savannah. The coming of the anti-aircraft training center to the area adjacent to the sleepy little community of Hinesville would forever alter its lifestyle. Hinesville, the county seat of Liberty County, was populated by barely 500 people. It wasn’t a particularly prosperous area; however, that had not always been the case.

Liberty County was rich in history, having provided two of GA’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence. The area had always stood proudly for the cause of "Liberty," hence its name. Before the Civil War it had been a very rich and prosperous area. That war had not affected the area much, until the U.S. Army arrived with General William Tecumsah Sherman. In a matter of a few months Liberty County had been devastated. Its economy never recovered from that terrible blow. However, 75 years later the U.S. Army returned, almost as if to make amends for that which they had been responsible for during the Civil War. The new post would mean new jobs, new industry, and a major boost to the local economy, which was still suffering from the Great Depression. Hinesville would never be the same and its fortunes would become entwined with those of the new post.

On 1 July 1940 the first 5,000 acres were bought and subsequent purchases followed. Eventually the reservation would include over 280,000 acres and stretch over five counties. The large expanse of property was required for the firing ranges and impact areas which an anti-aircraft artillery training center would need for live fire training.

In November of 1940 the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Center was officially designated as Camp Stewart, in honor of General Daniel Stewart, a native of Liberty County who had fought with Francis Marion during the Revolution and became one of the county’s military heroes. An announcement of the new post’s name was made in Jan. 1941.