Great Lakes Naval Training Station

By Therese Gonzalez

The historic Great Lakes Naval Training Station was authorized as a "training ship on land" in 1904.

The base opened on July 1, 1911, and the first class of 300 U.S. sailors graduated four months later in a grand ceremony attended by Pres. William H. Taft as guest of honor. It has since sent to the fleet over four million sailors, serving the nation through all the conflicts of the 20th century. Today Great Lakes is the sole remaining navy boot camp in the United States. Anchored by the stately Building One, the entire 43-building complex was designated as Great Lakes Naval Training Station on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. This book, with over 200 vintage images, explores its colorful and important history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Apr 14, 2008
• ISBN: 9781439619131

Therese Gonzalez

Therese Gonzalez graduated from Beloit College in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. She then embarked on a 20-year navy career that took her around the world from California, to Iceland, to Japan, to Washington, D.C., and finally to Great Lakes Naval Training Station in North Chicago. Since she retired from the navy as a lieutenant commander in 2001, Gonzalez has continued to work on base as museum specialist of the Great Lakes Naval Museum.

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transferred.

One

CONSTRUCTION

Once the Lake Bluff site was under naval control, Capt. Albert Ross, U.S. Navy, was assigned as the first commandant of the naval station. Captain Ross, while an experienced instructor in the navy’s apprentice program and at the U.S. Naval Academy as well as in a variety of other training duties, was not an experienced base commander and knew little of architecture and engineering. However, Secretary of the Navy Paul Morton brushed aside Captain Ross’s comment that he was just a plain sailorman and [knew] nothing about land construction work.

A short time later, Captain Ross and civil engineer George A. McKay, U.S. Navy, reported to Great Lakes and went to work. Between 1905 and 1911, they met often with Jarvis Hunt, a prominent Chicago architect who was selected to design the layout of the base and architecture of the buildings.

The Lake Bluff site had been carefully chosen and was a beautiful piece of land. Right on Lake Michigan, with a natural harbor, it was crisscrossed by Pettibone Creek, which emptied into the lake. Jarvis Hunt took advantage of this natural division and designed a layout that allowed for different functions on the four natural plateaus created by the creek.

The base was planned to train 1,500 men at any given time with provision for additional buildings should the need arise. Hunt designed a beautiful base, functional yet harmonious with red brick, terra-cotta ornamentation, and designs to create a unifying nautical theme.

The four plateaus were used for (1) the main training camp, (2) the receiving and isolation camp, (3) the naval hospital and (4) for the marine barracks and guardhouse.

BRICK ROW. Seen here are the original senior officers’ quarters at Great Lakes. These homes are still in use by the admirals and captains at Great Lakes. The large home at the left of the picture has always been the base commander’s house and occupied by the senior officer. The large flowered circle in front of it is known as Jarvis Hunt