A Brief History of Fort Carson
Fort Carson began as Camp Carson in 1942, when Colorado Springs donated land south of the city for a new Army training installation after the United States entered World War II. Its first headquarters building was completed on January 31, 1942. More than 100,000 soldiers trained at the camp during the war, and a prisoner-of-war camp opened in 1943. Pack mules also supported training for transporting equipment across mountain terrain. The installation was named for Christopher “Kit” Carson and became Fort Carson in 1954. Its history belongs to a military installation and residential community, rather than an incorporated Colorado town.