Images of America: Aberdeen
Proving Ground
by Bill Bates
with a foreword by Major
General John C. Doesburg, Former Installation Commander, APG
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Includes Edgewood Arsenal! |
Now available!
On the cover:
“Toonerville Trolley”
Aberdeen Proving Ground had over 40 miles of railroad track,
some of which is still visible today. Three gauges, or different
widths, of track carried trains that hauled everything from
passengers between the gates and work areas to the heaviest of
materials and weapons. The passenger train, seen here, was
called the “Toonerville Trolley” after a newspaper cartoon of
the time.
Many people have asked if the book includes Edgewood Arsenal.
Yes. Although Edgewood Arsenal became incorporated into APG in
1971 and is today known as Edgewood Area, the parallel stories
of APG and Edgewood Arsenal are covered. Also included is Fort
Hoyle.
The opening chapter covers the move of the Ordnance Command from
Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, New Jersey to Harford County in
1917. If you ever wanted to see what the properties that became
APG looked like when Harford had an agricultural economy, this
chapter will amaze you with before and after images and other
rare photos.
Read the back cover book summary on the right side of this page
for more of a taste of the contents. |
Harford County Executive David Craig receives first copy
of Aberdeen Proving Ground from author Bill Bates |
Sample photos
from the book
Bonus! Click photos to enlarge |
Ordnance testing at Sandy Hook, Fort Hancock, 1917(?) |
Fields of sweet show peg corn in Michaelsville, 1917 |
Completed shell filling plants and power plant at
Edgewood Arsenal, 1918 |
Filling canisters at Edgewood, WWI |
Motor crew at APG WWII |
Making cluster bombs, WWII |
Reworking bombs, WWII |
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best-selling books, click here
for contact info.
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From the back cover of Images
of America: Aberdeen Proving Ground
Situated in southeastern Harford County, Maryland, and
edged by the Chesapeake Bay and the Bush and Gunpowder
Rivers, the U.S. Army bases known as Aberdeen Proving
Ground, Edgewood Arsenal, and Fort Hoyle have been home
to ordnance, chemical, technology, and artillery
commands.
Over 200 photos in this book include scenes of the
fertile farmlands of Aberdeen, Edgewood, and
Michaelsville and their transformation, beginning in
1917, into the military base known today as Aberdeen
Proving Ground, or APG. Views of daily life on base
include the “Toonerville” Trolley, a small-scale train
that shuttled commuting personnel between the main gate
and the buildings on post. The book documents changes in
the ways wars have been fought, and changes in society
as a result of war. Brave officers voluntarily tested
the effects of mustard agent and other chemical weapons
on protective clothing and gas masks. Local women sewed
gas masks for troops and civilians. Women moved into key
jobs on base during World War Two, manufacturing and
maintaining tanks and weapons systems as the need for
great numbers of troops depleted the workforce of
civilian males. APG scientists led the way into the
Computer Age when they developed ENIAC, the first
electronic digital computer.
In his fifth book for Arcadia, Bill Bates presents
images and stories gleaned from unparalleled access to
leading U.S. Army historians and records, and from
current and retired Army and civilian personnel, to give
the reader an unprecedented look behind the gate of APG. |
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