Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital
historic place
The Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital, a historic place in Marina, California, was completed in January 1941. This facility was constructed by the United States Army, based on the Quartermaster Remount Service's projection of needing 200,000 horses and mules for World War II. The hospital was designed to provide veterinary care for Army horses, such as those of the 76th Field Artillery Regiment, which trained at Fort Ord with horses and howitzers from June 1940. However, the era of the war horse was rapidly concluding. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the 76th Regiment was mechanized, and by 1942, the Station Veterinary Hospital was converted to other uses. This complex is historically significant as one of the nation's last constructed and surviving equestrian veterinary hospitals of the U.S. Army. It is recognized as a complete, intact, and unique Series 700 World War II mobilization-type veterinary hospital. The hospital symbolizes the final years of horse-dependent warfare. Today, five of its original buildings are managed by the City of Marina as the Marina Equestrian Center.