RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT. The Red River Army Depot, also known as the Red River Ordnance Depot, was activated in August 1941 following government purchase of 116 farms and ranches just west of Texarkana. The base includes fifty square miles and approximately 1,400 buildings and structures. Its mission is to receive, store, and issue gun-motor carriages, ammunition, explosives, supplies, and equipment for combat vehicles and various types of demolition equipment and supplies for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The depot also serves as a major army maintenance point for rebuilding combat and general-purpose vehicles and other types of military ordnance.
Construction of the depot was initially hampered by housing shortages and lack of equipment, but final construction was permanent. The depot was consolidated with the Lone Star Ordnance Plant to form the Texarkana Ordnance Center in April 1943. From its activation through December 31, 1945, 2,482,189,387 pounds of material was received and 1,539,954,000 pounds of material was shipped. In the early 1990s the base had a small number of military personnel and some 4,300 civil service employees.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
