Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum

4,000 square foot WW II Museum across from Carrabelle Beach!

Tuesday-Saturday 11 am - 5 pm
Free admission, donations warmly accepted.

Camp Gordon Johnston Museum is a World War II museum with over 4,000 square feet of artifacts including military vehicles, weapons, plans and documents, original photos and videos, and a research library including books, documents, and more.  The Museum is dedicated to the Amphibious World War II Soldiers who trained for the D-day invasion at Camp Gordon Johnston from 1942-1945. Admission is free but donations are accepted.

Watch a short video about Camp Gordon Johnston Museum created by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.

The Florida Memory Blog posted a brief History on June 6th, 2014 and can be read by clicking here

Download In Memorium Wilburn "Curley" Messer
Download In Memorium Sidney Winchester
Download In Memorium Michael Horvath

The Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum is funded, in part, by the Franklin County Tourist Development Council. ADA accessible.  

Camp Carrabelle opened in September 1942 and was later named after Colonel Gordon Johnston.  The camp utilized a twenty-mile stretch of Gulf Coast beach from Alligator Point extending west and including St. George and Dog Islands, at 165,000 acres.   It was opened for the sole purpose of training amphibious soldiers and their support groups and provided some of the toughest military training in the world.  The base housed around 10,000 troops at one time and rotated between 24,000 and 30,000 soldiers from 1941 until closing in June of 1946.  A quarter of a million men trained here.

When opened was officially designated the Amphibious Training Center (ATC) and in 1943 was disbanded and replaced with the Armed Service Forces (ASF) Training Center.  This training was geared toward harbor craft companies and amphibian truck (DUKW) companies, which were needed in the Pacific.  Paratroopers from Fort Benning, GA, conducted airborne exercises in the area.

In addition to the training function, German and Italian POWs were moved to this site in March 1944.  Camp Gordon Johnston later became the second largest POW base camp in the state with branch camps at Telogia, Dale Mabry Field, and Eglin Field.  Prisoners housed at this site principally performed work in the military camp.

Museum plus Motor Pool building with vintage military vehicles. A few gift shop items available for purchase as well including t-shirts, hats, insulated travel mugs, coffee mugs, challenge coins and more.

Categories: Associations/Organizations, History, Museums & Attractions, Shopping, Veterans