Camp Murphy Southern Signal Corps School The United States Army Signal Corps established Camp Murphy , a top - secret radar training school in 1942 . Camp Murphy was located between Stuart and Jupiter in what is now Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County in southeastern Florida , at coordinates . History . In 1942 the federal government opened Camp Murphy . It was the home of the Southern Signal Corps School during World War II and served as a US Army base for instruction in radar operation in the early course of the war . The post was named in honor of Col . William Herbert Murphy , a pioneer in the development of radio beams and equipment for military aircraft . Camp Murphy consisted of and accommodated 854 officers and 5 , 752 enlisted men . The camp had close to 1 , 000 buildings that included a bank , movie theater , church and bowling alley . Camp Murphy was officially decommissioned in 1944 and used for migrant housing during the fall and winter of 1945 . Buildings not already dismantled after the camp ' s deactivation were sold and carted away beginning in 1948 . On 9 June 1947 , the property was transferred from the US Govt . to the State of Florida for a State Park . In 1950 Jonathan Dickinson State Park opened to the public . The camp included over 1 , 000 buildings and housed more than 6 , 000 officers and soldiers . The camp was deactivated in 1944 after less than two years of operation . All but three of the camp buildings have been torn down or removed but some of the building foundations remain . One foundation structure still to be seen is the vault to the First Atlantic Bank that was in the Provost building . This is an intact two - room walk - in vault although the vault doors have been removed . One of the vault doors apparently had to be forced open from inside — there is a man - sized hole in the roof immediately above the doorway with the concrete rebar bent inward . In addition , on the western side of the railroad tracks , the remains of the water treatment facility are still visible , although very run down . Throughout the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach , there are still former Camp Murphy buildings in use which were obtained as surplus shortly after the war . Also , the former USO club buildings are still standing in nearby communities of Hobe Sound and Stuart . Currently , one of the few buildings still in use is now the Road to Victory Military Museum , located next to Memorial Park / tennis courts in Stuart . One of the Jonathan Dickinson camping areas is located in the area that was the Camp Hospital . One interesting fact is that local legend Vince " Trapper " Nelson was actually assigned to the base as a member of the military police . There are several sites you may observe . The former ammunition dump is just to the east of the train tracks , it has been sealed shut but you can see the top of the structure . The building across from Hobe Hill is a former barracks . The park office , located just west of the camp area , was a secret bomb shelter for government persons during the Kennedy administration . Walking south along the tracks , the former gun range still has a wall standing ; walking along the hills you can find bullets . In the back of the park ' s riding trail you can see a steam engine that was used in the 1800s to cut cypress logs for the F . E . C . railway . Also the small home near the maintenance shed was the former camp commander ' s quarters . The ammo dump was used as a fallout shelter for years by park employees ; it had 2 rooms and a second level accessed with a stairwell . The state park . The property was transferred to the State of Florida in 1947 and opened as the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in 1950 . See also . Signal Corps ( United States Army )