Vicksburg’s newest historical marker was dedicated Monday as three former Mississippi State National Guardsmen, local elected officials and history buffs gathered to remember Camp Williamson.

Five years ago, George Cronia, Sam Price and Lucius Dabney, the last living members of the 106th Engineer Battalion’s Company B, began collecting information on the camp in hopes of preserving its memory with a historical marker.

“There’s been a lot of work that’s gone into this,” said Cronia, a retired National Guard brigadier general. “Today is mission accomplished.”

The marker is west of U.S. 61 South, on a crest less than a mile south of Bowmar Baptist Church.

Founded in 1906, Camp Williamson was the first dedicated rifle range for the Mississippi State National Guard and was considered one of the premier 1,000-yard rifle ranges in the nation.

Three former guardsmen and Warren County residents — Brooks Bogan, Charles Gastrell and Grover Sanders — shot at the range before World War II and were on hand for the dedication.

“We came here in 1939,” Sanders said. “They sent us to Camp Landon in Jacksonville for training, but we got back and would come out here.”

Sanders described how, at the time, U.S. 61 was west of the rifle range. When shooting, the guardsmen would face southeast, firing into what is now Cain Ridge.

“We actually came in from the other direction toward where we are now,” Sanders said in reference to the marker’s position. At the time, the area where U.S. 61 now runs was wooded hills, with a steeper embankment than exists now.

“This ridge was higher,” Sanders said. “It was covered in timber. People used to come out on the hills and fill up buckets of shells and bullets.”

The camp’s founding dates to 1903 when Congress approved the Militia Act, which required money be made available to state national guards to supplement state appropriations that purchased rifles and uniforms and created rifle ranges and training schools.

When the Mississippi State National Guard began advertising for rifle range locations, Jackson, Tupelo, Gulfport and other towns sought to bring the range to their cities.

Vicksburg had chosen the area around the Stout Family Farm on Signal Hill, which was one of the highest spots in the county before being graded for construction. Low embankments along Signal Hill made the area a safe spot to shoot without danger from errant shots.

The Vicksburg Business League, an organization similar to today’s Chamber of Commerce, purchased the property. On June 12, 1907, the VBL gave the 53.4 acres to the state. The VBL also raised $1,500 to build a bridge over Big Bayou, known today as Hatcher’s Bayou.

The range was named in honor of Judge Advocate General C.M. Williamson, who fired on the first set of targets on Nov. 25, 1907.

Initially, every company of the Mississippi State National Guard came to Camp Williamson to practice marksmanship. This proved to be a boon for Vicksburg, the state’s largest city at that time. Dormitories were added to the camp, and trains were run to the range for the weekend tournaments.

Between 1907 and 1936, Williamson was the premier rifle range in the Southeast besides a brief hiatus during World War I when Camp Shelby, just south of Hattiesburg, was commissioned. Shelby was decommissioned at the end of World War I, and Williamson resumed its status until 1934, when Shelby was recommissioned.

Between 1935 and 1953, the rifle range was used primarily by locals and the Vicksburg 155th National Guard, who practiced on the weekends.

In 1953, the State Building Commission conveyed a large portion of the land to Spencer Chemical Company to build a new plant. A portion eventually went to Bowmar Baptist Church.