September 25, 1944

Senator John McClellan and Representative Oren Harris announced that a $60,000,000 U.S. Navy ordnance plant would be built near Camden (Ouachita County). It was named the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot after Captain Samuel R. Shumaker, a naval ordnance officer who had served thirty-three years before being killed in the Pacific Area during World War II. The plant, which produced all types of rocket bombs, was situated northeast of Camden and covered 68,417.82 acres in Calhoun and Ouachita counties.