Camp Calvin B. Matthews

The Marine Corps leased 363 acres (1.47 km²) of land from the City of San Diego in 1917 for use as a marksmanship training facility for Marine recruits being trained at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] In 1937, the U.S. government terminated the lease and acquired 544 acres (2.20 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 (120,400 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.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II, 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 three weeks, because MCRD was never suitable for this. Marine recruits from MCRD, completed their marksmanship training at Camp Matthews and marched from the camp back to the Recruit Depot with an over-night bivouac sleeping in shelter-half tents (pup-tents) .[1] During these years, there were 700 permanent personnel stationed at the base. However, by the mid-1950s only 120 Marines were stationed at Camp Matthews. During World War II and the Korean War, more administrative buildings as well as street and utility systems were built. Most recruits lived in 6-man tents during their stay at the range.

In 1960, part of the movie "The Outsider", a film about WW II Marine IRA Hayes, was filmed at Camp Matthews because recruits were being housed in WW II Style hard-back tents. Some Marine recruits served as extras in that filming. (Contributor's personal knowledge - I was there!)

The camp was known as the Marine rifle range, without a formal name until WWII. The base was officially named Camp Calvin B. Matthews on March 23, 1942. It was named after Brigadier General Calvin B. Matthews, a Marine marksman of the 1930s.[2]

In December 1945 an ammunition truck caught fire near Camp Matthews and blew up causing a large crater near highway 101.

As the community of La Jolla 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 to close Camp Matthews in 1956 but the Navy resisted. In 1959, Congressman Bob Wilson introduced a bill in Congress 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, the Commanding General of MCRD at the time, fired the ceremonial "last rounds" before the camp closed.[6] The Navy conveyed titles and interest in 544 acres (2.2 km²) and improvements to the Regents of the University of California on September 23 of this year. The lease on the 29.75 acres (120,400 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 in Camp Pendleton and continues to be conducted there up to the present day.

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:

• 84.7 acres (343,000 m²) went to the California Department of Transportation for the construction of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 5).
• 26 acres (110,000 m²) were conveyed the Veterans Administration for the construction of the VA San Diego Medical Center.
• Approximately 39 acres (160,000 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 (120,400 m²) that the City of San Diego previously leased to the military are now leased to UCSD.