Please visit https://www.sandhillsveteransfestival.com/ to register to participate in the Parade. Deadline for entry is October 25, 2022.
Join us this Saturday November 5, 2022 for the Southern Pines Veterans Parade. Rain or Shine! Event starts at 9:30AM - 11:00AM
VETERANS PARADE HISTORICAL FACTS AND SHORT STORIES
HISTORY OF FORT BRAGG
In 1918, the Chief of Field Artillery, General William J. Snow, seeking an area having suitable terrain, adequate water, rail facilities and a climate for year-round training, decided that the area now known as Fort Bragg met all of the desired criteria.
Consequently, Camp Bragg came into existence on Sept. 4, 1918. Camp Bragg was named for a native North Carolinian Gen. Braxton Bragg for his actions during the Mexican-American war. Prior to its establishment as a military reservation, the area was a desolate region. Huge forests of Longleaf and Loblolly pines covered the sandy area. About 1729 Highland Scots began cultivating the land in the Longstreet Presbyterian Church area in what was to become part of Fort Bragg.
At the beginning of World War I, only seven percent of the land was occupied. The population consisted of approximately 170 families. During the first year of its existence, $6 million was spent in purchasing land and erecting cantonments for six artillery brigades. Although cessation of hostilities came in November 1918, work was rapidly pushed to a conclusion, and Feb. 1, 1919 saw the completion of Camp Bragg. As soon as World War I was over, the artillery personnel and material from Camp McClellan, Alabama, were transferred to Camp Bragg in order accommodate testing the new long-range weapons developed during the war.