Camp Polk Heritage Families

Fort Polk has carried three names in a few years. Camp Polk honored Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal bishop and Confederate general. In June 2023 the Army renamed it Fort Johnson for Sgt. William Henry Johnson, the Harlem Hellfighter awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously; in June 2025 it became Fort Polk again, now for Gen. James H. Polk, who served from 1933 to 1971. Construction began in 1941 as thousands of wooden barracks rose for the Louisiana Maneuvers. The post now covers about 198,000 acres, roughly half of it national forest.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Wolf Rock Cave — 5.4 mi
• Llano Del Rio — 5.9 mi
• Life Along The Sabine River — 6.8 mi
• Phillip Nolan — 7.7 mi