Camp Nelson

Location: Jessamine county, 20 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky

Initially established as a Union army supply depot and hospital in 1862, Camp Nelson became a recruitment and training center for African American soldiers, and a refugee camp for their wives and children during the American civil war.

Camp Nelson quickly became the largest of the eight African American recruitment centers in the state of Kentucky and the third largest recruiting center in the entire nation. Once all restrictions on enlistment were removed in June 1864, the number of black enlistees skyrocketed. By joining the Union army, the formerly-enslaved enlistees were able to gain their freedom.

More than 500 enrollees in the US Colored Troops (or USCT, as African American regiments were called at the time) arrived to serve during June 1864, and a record 1,370 new troops enlisted at the camp in July. By the time the 13th amendment was finally ratified on 6 December 1865, ending slavery throughout the United States, roughly 10,000 African American men had enlisted in the USCT and became emancipated at Camp Nelson.

Today, the site remains one of the best civil war-era landscapes associated with the African American military and refugee experience. It includes more than five miles of trails and a visitors center showing the role the camp played as a military installation, supply depot, hospital, recruitment center and refugee camp.