This adobe compound was constructed by the U.S. military between 1919 and 1923, as part of the War Department's Mexican Border Defense construction project -- a plan to build a 1,200-mile barrier along the border. After the camp closed, the Civilian Conservation Corps used the complex in the 1930s for staging projects in southeast Arizona. Over the next several decades, the property owners used the structures as rental housing. In 1990, VisionQuest purchased the property for a rehabilitation camp for wayward youth. The rezoning was denied and the camp has remained vacant ever since.
VisionQuest donated the property to the Town of Huachuca City in 2006. By that time, the property had been heavily degraded due to neglect. Many of the adobe structures are eroded from exposure to the elements. The roof of one of the barracks has caved in, and other buildings merely ruins. In May 2006, arson destroyed four of the non-commissioned officer buildings and damaged the roof of a fifth. Presently, unchecked vegetation is threatening the foundation of buildings and increasing the danger of fire.
[For more information, contact J.C. Mutchler, chair, Camp Naco Arizona Preservation Committee, at 520-458-8278, ext. 2186 or e-mail.]
November 2007 Update:
- The Center for Desert Archaeology has written an extensive update on efforts to preserve this site. Click here to read their September 2007 newsletter.
- "Asbestos removal to get underway at Camp Naco," Sierra Vista Herald, October 12, 2007
- "Camp Naco preservation continues forward march, makes state endangered list," Sierra Vista Herald, November 26, 2007
