Fort McPherson (Ga.)

Fort McPherson is a former United States Army installation located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Army Forces Command; the U.S. Army Reserve Command; and U.S. Army Central at the time of its closure. Named after Major General James Birdseye McPherson, the fort was founded by the U.S. Army in 1867. During the Reconstruction Era, it served as a post for U.S. troops enforcing regulations after the American Civil War. With the end of Reconstruction, the barracks were closed and sold off in 1881, though the site continued to be used during summers by U.S. troops stationed in Florida. In 1885, the land was again purchased by the Army at which to station ten Army companies. During World War I, Fort McPherson was used as a camp for Imperial German Navy prisoners of war and as a training site for the Active Army and Georgia National Guard. Fort McPherson's nearest Army neighbor, and its sub-post, was Fort Gillem, previously established as the Atlanta Army Depot in 1941, is located in Forest Park, Georgia, approximately 11 miles to the southeast. Fort Gillem was a logistical support base, housing some Army, Department of Defense, and other government agencies. After the closure of Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem was reduced to the Gillem Enclave partnership with Fort Gordon, both due to the 2005 BRAC commission. In 2007, 2,453 active-duty soldiers and 3,784 civilian employees were at both forts, with a total active duty and civilian employee payroll of $529,874,972. With only 102 family quarters and 272 single soldier billets at Fort McPherson, and 10 family quarters at Fort Gillem, the active-duty military and Department of the Army civilian employees lived in civilian housing in the surrounding Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Fayette, and Henry Counties. Other important users of the fort facilities were the 98,700 or more Atlanta area military and naval retirees and their family members. These residents live mostly in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Clayton, Fayette, Gwinnett, and Henry counties.