National Register #14000305
Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital
2872 5th Avenue
Marina
Built 1941

As war threatened Europe in 1939, the Quartermaster Remount Service of the United States Army anticipated that 200,000 horses and mules would be needed if the United States become involved.

Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital was built in January 1941. Located where the mild climate and varied terrain provided a peerless training ground, Fort Ord Station symbolizes the final years of the war horse.

The 76th Field Artillery Regiment was transferred from Monterey to Fort Ord. The Army built twenty-one stables for the 1,400 horses of the 76th. To the northeast of the stables were barracks and the station veterinary hospital.

The 76th trained with horses and howitzers at Fort Ord from June 1940 until December 1941. Days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 76th was mechanized and deployed to the Bay Area to protect the California coast, and from there to France. The horses were shipped to San Rafael, Jolon or Bay Meadows Race Track in San Mateo.

After the war, the buildings housed equestrian recreation for officers and men until Fort Ord closed in 1994.

When we photographed the buildings in 2018, five of the buildings were managed by the city of Marina as the Marina Equestrian Center, linked by trails to Fort Ord National Monument. The former barracks were vacant and owned by the Marina Coast Water District.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 2014.