WWII Prisoner of War Barracks

The brick warehouse and near-by wood frame garage, located just south of Mountainview Cemetery at 725 - 11th Avenue offers a unique peek into Longmont's history.   The quonset-style arch-roofed brick main building and wooden garage were built circa 1938, likely as part of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) programs. It served first as a Boulder County Highway Department garage and maintenance shop.

In October 1944, the site was converted into a barracks for German prisoners of war, who were transferred to Longmont to work in the Great Western Sugar Company's sugar beet harvest. The garage site was chosen because it already was equipped with fences, had heat, water and sewer, and a concrete floor. Kitchen space and sanitary facilities were added. Lee Wamsley, then the supervisor for the Longmont highway district commented, "It will cause a little inconvenience, but these are war times and we must expect inconveniences." Approximately half the prisoners were also housed at an old "dormitory" at 3rd Avenue and Kimbark Street.

On June 18, 1945, Nazi prisoner Sergeant Wilhelm Buchalik escaped from the detention facility. He was captured a day later in Denver. Newspaper accounts of the plans for the prisoner-of-war camp, arrival of military police, and the escape and subsequent manhunt are available in Longmont Times-Call newspaper stories printed from 1944 to 1945.

Following WWII, the building was again used by Boulder County Highway Department. In the early 1960's it was acquired by the City of Longmont for use as a municipal garage and warehouse. A sign painted over the main entrance to the brick building still reads "City of Longmont Dept. of Public Works." The garage at the south end of the facility has been used as a mowing shop where the city's mowers are repaired and stored.

Also see http://bcn.boulder.co.us/housing/innbetween/innbetweenhistory.htm#_Prisoners

Source:  Glenn Sherwood, CORPS, September 2005 Newsletter