Camp Calvin B . Matthews Camp Calvin B . Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range Camp Matthews or Marine Corps Rifle Range , La Jolla ( prior to World War II ) or more simply Camp Matthews was a United States Marine Corps military base from 1917 until 1964 , when the base was decommissioned and transferred to the University of California to be part of the new University of California , San Diego ( UCSD ) campus . Over a million Marine recruits as well as other shooters ( such as Marines stationed at Miramar ) received their marksmanship training at this military base . Location and Boundaries . Camp Matthews was located in La Jolla , San Diego , California . The base ' s eastern boundary was present - day Regents Road . Its northern boundary was present - day Voigt Drive ( formerly Old Miramar Road ) and Matthews Lane and extended westward to Gilman Drive ( formerly Coast Highway ) , which was its western boundary . The bases ' s southern boundary was near present - day La Jolla Village Drive and a " panhandle " extended southward along what is today Interstate 5 and extended past present - day Nobel Drive . United States Army base Camp Callan was to the west of Camp Matthews . The Marine base at Miramar was about east of Camp Matthews . History . Early years . The Marine Corps leased of land from the City of San Diego in 1917 for use as a marksmanship training facility for Marine recruits being trained at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego . However , a permanent detachment of Marines was not stationed at this base until 1923 . It was first used as a rifle range in late 1918 . The Marines built the first eight targets of " A " range themselves with picks and shovels . In 1925 five more targets were added . The first headquarters buildings were built in 1927 and the first detachment barracks were built in 1928 . During the 1930s and 1940s , more buildings and barracks were constructed as well more firing ranges . During these years , the base had no official name but was called Marine Rifle Range , La Jolla . In 1937 , the U . S . government terminated the lease and acquired in fee from the City of San Diego . This acquisition consisted of the formerly leased area as well as additional land to the east . The government also leased an additional from the City of San Diego . This newly leased area was in the northeastern corner of the base . The total area of the base was then . Except for a few ranch houses , all of the area acquired was undeveloped at the time of acquisition . World War II and the Korean War Years . After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II , the base was busier than ever . At the peak of the base ' s activity in 1944 , it put 9 , 000 recruits through marksmanship training every 3 weeks . Marine recruits marched north from MCRD , completed their marksmanship training and left the camp . This was because MCRD was never suitable for marksmanship training . During this year , the base had 700 permanent personnel stationed there . However , by the mid - 1950s only 120 Marines were stationed at Camp Matthews . During World War II and the Korean War , more administrative buildings as well as street and utility systems were built . In 1942 , the base was officially named Camp Calvin B . Matthews . It was named after Brigadier General Calvin B . Matthews a famous Marine marksman of the 1930s . The naming officially took place on March 23 , 1942 . Closing and Transfer . As the city of La Jolla expanded after World War II , local people became more and more concerned over the close proximity of a military rifle range facility in their neighborhood . The La Jolla Town Council began trying to get the United States Navy to close Camp Matthews in 1956 but the Navy resisted . In 1959 , Congressman Bob Wilson introduced a bill in Congress that would transfer Camp Matthews to the University of California for the planned San Diego campus . In 1962 , Camp Matthews was determined to be surplus by the Marine Corps . In May 1963 , one of the 65 target ranges could no longer be used because of the safety hazard it posed to the encroaching civilian population . The base finally closed in 1964 , the same year the first undergraduate class entered Revelle College , UCSD ' s first undergraduate college . Closing ceremonies took place on August 21 , 1964 but the base was not officially closed until October 6 , 1964 . A monument to the camp was unveiled at this ceremony . Major General B . A . Hochmuth , the Commanding General of MCRD at the time , fired the ceremonial " last rounds " before the camp closed . The Navy conveyed titles and interest in and improvements to the Regents of the University of California on September 23 of this year . The lease on the with the City of San Diego was terminated in this year as well . The University of California began developing the base property for use as a campus the following year . After Camp Matthews closed , Marine marksmanship training was conducted further north at Edson Range in Camp Pendleton and continues to be conducted there up to the present day . Facilities . Camp Matthews contained at least fifteen different shooting ranges as well as various buildings and other infrastructure during its existence . The shooting facilities included : The base had a number of buildings as well . It had 7 barracks , approximately 270 tents , administration buildings , quartermaster storerooms , magazines , an armory , maintenance shops , a dispensary , a service station , and a main post exchange . Only a few of the original Marine Corps buildings still exist . They are primarily located along Myers Drive in the central part of the present - day campus and were used for administrative buildings , the campus bookstore , as well as other uses over the years . This central location of the UCSD campus was called the Matthews Campus but is now called the University Center and Sixth College . A few locations on campus are named after Camp Matthews . They include Matthews Lane ( which is part of the northern boundary of the former base ) and Matthews Quad , an area in the center of the UCSD campus bound by Myers Drive , Lyman Walk , Russell Lane , and Rupertus Way . The original flagpole from the base still stands on a grass island in the middle of Myers Drive . A monument commemorating the former base stands there as well as a fountain designed by Michael Asher which is part of the Stuart Collection . The rear entrance sentry booth still stands in a UCSD parking lot . Drawings and graffiti left by Marine recruits still decorate the interior of the sentry booth and are now protected by plexiglas . Another surviving Camp Matthews building is the Ché Café . Current land use . The area Camp Matthews used to occupy has been divided - up for various uses . During the 1960s , UCSD disposed of former Camp Matthews land in the following way : The rest of the land currently belongs to UCSD and much of the current campus is built on this land . The that the City of San Diego previously leased to the military are now leased to UCSD . Safety and environmental effects . During the decommissioning of the camp , the government decontaminated Range H , the grenade / mortar / bazooka range , which was located in a ravine in the “ panhandle ” area of the base near the present - day I - 5 . In the early 1960s , a mining company salvaged lead and brass from the Camp Matthews ranges . However , over the years ammunition and even rockets from the former base have turned up during construction on the site . In April 1999 , approximately 200 practice rockets were discovered in a hillside immediately below the Radisson Hotel La Jolla ( which is currently the Sheraton Hotel La Jolla ) . This area is from the Range H area of the former base and is now on the east side of I - 5 . They were found due to a parking lot expansion project involving the removal of part of a hillside ( this hillside is now landscaped ) . There was no charge in any of the rockets and all the propellant was gone . The hotel hired a private company to survey the area for more ordnance with metal detectors but found none . In February 2003 , approximately 40 practice rockets were found at two construction sites on the former base . One rocket was found in the medical complex area of the campus during this year . In 2005 , during the construction of student housing units , the following was found : 14 inert rockets ( 8 2 . 3 – inch M7 series practice rockets and 6 M29 series practice rockets ) , fragments from 60 mm mortars , M9 rifle grenade s , Mk II hand grenades , and M29 series practice rockets . Small arms projectiles ( . 30 - caliber and . 45 - caliber ) have been found north of the UCSD Thornton Hospital complex . They were corroded and missing their outer coverings . They were possibly WWI or WWII era munitions . Over the years , the government has investigated the former Camp Matthews site due to concern over the previous use of the base . The first government inspection of the site took place in 1988 due to an inquiry from a construction contractor regarding the likelihood of finding ordnance and explosives ( OE ) during construction on a site on a part of the former base east of I - 5 . The next inspection took place in 1999 when the Defense Environmental Restoration Program – Formerly Used Defense Sites ( DERP - FUDS ) conducted an Inventory Project Report ( INPR ) ( J09CA111001 ) on the site . Since then , more investigations have occurred in the 2000s . The most recent investigations indicate that high levels of lead and arsenic ( as well as other potentially harmful chemicals ) are found in the soil and a Remedial Investigation / Feasibility Study ( RI / FS ) should be conducted .