Camp Floyd rich in history, activities

FAIRFIELD, Utah County — Established in 1958, Camp Floyd flourished for three years with more than 3,500 military and civilian personnel, and Fairfield was home to 7,000 residents.

The camp was disbanded in 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War. Only the military cemetery and a commissary building, now a museum, remain.

Park manager Mark Trotter said Camp Floyd recently acquired a large number of artifacts recovered from the site of the camp's garbage dumps by students from BYU, who have excavated the site for several years.

"We are looking for someplace to put those, but we don't have the property right now," Trotter said.

The artifacts are being stored at Fort Douglas.

Trotter credited the weather for the success of this year's encampment, and the park, 22 miles west of Lehi, attracts groups to a variety of activities, including adventure and history camps for children and field trips where elementary-school children can attend school for a day in a restored 19th century, one-room school.

For more information, visit stateparks.utah.gov/parks/camp-floyd/stuff-to-do.

— Marc Haddock