Camp Van Camp

Type: General Entry

Published: 1952

Updated: December 1, 1994

Camp Van Camp, near the site of present Newcastle in central Young County, was a United States military outpost of Fort Belknap. It was established on April 30, 1859, and named in memory of Lt. Cornelius Van Camp, a topographical officer in Earl Van Dorn's expedition. Van Camp was killed in a battle at Wichita Village, Indian Territory, on October 1, 1858. The camp was abandoned on August 28, 1859. In 1936 the Texas Centennial Commission placed a marker at the site.

Is history important to you?

We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. Every penny helps.

Please make your contribution today.

Robert B. Roberts, Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1988). Harold Schoen, comp., Monuments Erected by the State of Texas to Commemorate the Centenary of Texas Independence (Austin: Commission of Control for Texas Centennial Celebrations, 1938).

Time Periods:

Antebellum Texas

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Anonymous, “Camp Van Camp,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 28, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/camp-van-camp.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Original Publication Date:: 1952
Most Recent Revision Date:: December 1, 1994

Save to MyTSHA Load a Random Entry Report an Error Request a Revision