Landmarks, Memorials, Buildings and Street Names of ... - CECOM

Camp Coles/Coles AreaOff PostWorld War II brought significant change to the Signal CorpsLaboratories at Fort Monmouth. On June 30, 1940, the organizationhad a staff of just eight officers, fifteen enlisted men, and 234 civilians.By June 30, 1941, the civilian strength had grown to 1,227.Fifteen months later, in December 1942, the Labs had 14,518 militaryand civilian employees on board.Clearly, growth of the magnitudeexperience by the Labs betweenJune 1940 and December 1942could not be achieved without acorresponding expansion offacilities. To this end, in 1941, thegovernment acquired severalremote sites. For Field Laboratory#1, later designated “Camp ColesSignal Laboratory,” the governmentCamp Coles Areaacquired rights to 46.22 acres ofland west of Red Bank, at Newman Springs and Half Mile Roads. TheOffice of the Chief Signal Officer earmarked more than $700,000 forconstruction on the site, which the government purchased in June1942 for $18,400. This laboratory was primarily responsible forground communications technologies (radio and wire).Camp Coles was dedicated on October 1, 1942, in honor of ColonelRoy Howard Coles, Executive Officer for the Chief Signal Officer of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces in World War I. War DepartmentGeneral Orders Number 24, dated April 6, 1945, redesignated the siteas “Coles Signal Laboratory.” R&D activities at Coles SignalLaboratory ended about 1956, when the missions and personnel of theorganization were moved to the newly constructed “Hexagon” in theCharles Wood Area. The site was occupied next by the U. S. ArmySignal Equipment Support Agency, at which time (December 18,1956) it was formally renamed “The Coles Area.” Subsequently, untilcompletion of the “Command Office Building” in Tinton Falls, theColes Area served as the home of the U. S. Army ElectronicsCommand’s Procurement Directorate. The government disposed ofthe property in the mid-1970s.Landmarks and Place Names at Fort Monmouth