Marine Corps Base Quantico, also known as MCB Quantico, is a United States Marine Corps
installation located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly 55,148 acres of southern Prince
William County, Virginia, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County.
Used primarily for training purposes, MCB Quantico is known as the "Crossroads of the
Marine Corps". Quantico Station is a census-designated place
in Prince William County and Stafford counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population
was 4,452 at the 2010 census. The designation Quantico Station is not in widespread local
use, but is simply a name used by the Census Bureau to describe base housing on Marine
Corps Base Quantico. The U.S. Marine Corps' Combat Development
Command, which develops strategies for U.S. Marine combat and makes up most of the community
of over 12,000 military and civilian personnel is based here. It has a budget of around $300
million and is the home of the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The Marine Corps
Research Center at Quantico pursues equipment research and development, especially telecommunications,
for the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Brig, a military prison, is also located at Quantico.
The FBI Academy, the principal research and training facility of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the principal training facility for the Drug Enforcement Administration
are also located on the base. In 2001, the base was designated as part of
the Quantico Marine Corps Base Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places.
This district includes 122 buildings, two landscapes, a sculpture, and a water tower
located within the Mainside area of the base. The contributing properties with separate
entries include Tennessee Camp, Camp French, Commanding General's Quarters, and Rising
Hill Camp.
Geography Quantico Station is located at 38°30′07″N
77°18′21″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of
8.1 square miles, of which, 7.2 square miles of it is land and 1.0 square miles of it
is water. The name "Quantico Station" is most often
used to designate the metro station in Quantico, Virginia where commuters use the Virginia
Railway Express. Climate
Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 6,571
people, 1,389 households, and 1,351 families residing in the CDP. The population density
was 918.9 people per square mile. There were 1,645 housing units at an average density
of 230.0/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 73.25% White, 16.01% African American,
0.46% Native American, 2.15% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 3.91% from other races,
and 4.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.37% of the population.
There were 1,389 households out of which 77.2% had children under the age of 18 living with
them, 91.3% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband
present, and 2.7% were non-families. 2.1% of all households were made up of individuals
and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household
size was 3.57 and the average family size was 3.57.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 32.3% under the age of 18, 29.9% from 18 to
24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 2.2% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 158.6 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 196.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $41,429, and the median income for a family
was $41,288. Males had a median income of $24,478 versus $20,676 for females. The per
capita income for the CDP was $14,563. About 5.5% of families and 5.7% of the population
were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and none of those age
65 or over. History
Before the establishment of the Marine base The Quantico base is close to the Potomac
River. The area was originally inhabited by the Patowomacks in the 16th century. The name
"Quantico" is credited to come from a Native American term, and has been translated to
mean "by the large stream." Accounts show that the area was first visited by European
explorers in the summer of 1608 with settlement beginning later that year.
After the start of the 18th century, the area became popular because of tobacco trade in
Aquia Harbor. Because traveling on muddy roads in those days was slow, many villages sprung
up along the river and its inlets. Additionally, the area was a bustling stopping point on
the north-south routes between New York and Florida.
Early settlements and plantations rooted along the flatlands bordering the Potomac. The hills
west of the river remained essentially uninhabited until the early 18th century. Prince William
County was organized in 1731, when the "Quantico Road" was also opened. This road gave vital
access from the western part of the county to this area. By 1759, the road stretched
across the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley.
The first military presence at Quantico came during the American Revolutionary War, when
the Quantico Creek village became a main naval base for the Commonwealth of Virginia's 72-vessel
fleet on which many state militia served. The land was first visited by the Marine Corps
in 1816, when a group of Marines traveling by ship to Washington were stopped when their
vessel was halted by ice in the Potomac, forcing them to debark and march to the town of Dumfries,
Virginia. Here they met a young Captain Archibald Henderson who lived close by. A generous-natured
man, Henderson hired a wagon for them and sent them on their way.
During the American Civil War, control of the Potomac River became very important to
both sides of the two armies. The Confederates picked the Quantico Creek area on the Potomac
to set up their gun batteries. This enabled them to make full use of several points where
their artillery could reach anything on the water, thus deterring Union use of the water
highway. One of these sites included "Shipping Point," the present day site of the Marine
Corps Systems Command. Another site is Tennessee Camp, listed on the National Register of Historic
Places in 2008. While battles took place in Manassas, Virginia
and Fredericksburg, Virginia, the gun positions around Quantico were used until the end of
the war. After a 12-day battle at the Spotsylvania Courthouse where the Union lost about 25,000
soldiers, the war moved out of the Quantico area.
Following the war, railroads became a more integral part of transportation. In 1872,
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was formed when several railroads north and
south met at Quantico Creek. This railroad still runs through the Base and is used daily.
The village came to be called "Quantico" and was built by the Quantico Company. This was
the start of a thriving tourist and fishing town that would later be encompassed by Marine
Corps Base Quantico. Establishing the base
Prior to the base's establishment, the land was owned by the Town of Quantico. Around
the start of the 20th century, the Quantico Company was formed on Quantico Creek. By the
beginning of the twentieth century, Quantico was being advertised as a recreational day
trip. The Quantico Company promoted the town as a tourist and excursion center, and brought
in tourists from Washington and Richmond by the steamer St. Johns and trains using the
RF&P railroad lines and depot developed at Quantico in 1872. A beach was developed with
dressing rooms and refreshment stands. In one week in 1916, Quantico was visited by
2,600 visitors who came by steamer or train. By 1916, the Quantico Company began advertising
Quantico as "The New Industrial City," and pushed for industry to come to the area. At
the same time, the Quantico Shipyards were established on Hospital Point to build ocean
freighters and oil tankers. With growing tensions of war in Europe, the construction of U.S.
Navy ships was a major money-maker for the Quantico Shipyards. While the Town of Quantico
was rapidly growing as a fishing village, excursion center and a shipbuilding center
in early 1917, the town was not large or significant, and was suffering many financial difficulties.
Around the same time, Major General George Barnett, then Commandant of the Marine Corps,
sent a board to find possible sites for a new Marine Corps base in the Washington, D.C.,
vicinity. In 1917, Marine Barracks, Quantico was established
on the land currently occupied by today's base. Marine Barracks personnel consisted
of 91 enlisted men and four officers. Thousands of Marines were trained here during World
War I. The Commanding General's Quarters was built in 1920 and added to the National Register
of Historic Places in 2009. By 1920, the Marine Corps schools were founded, as Colonel Smedley
Butler put it, "to make this post and the whole Marine Corps a great university."
These schools eventually developed into today's Marine Corps University. Virtually all Marine
officers receive their basic training here, as well as enlisted technicians from many
different disciplines. The first Marine Aircraft Wing was developed
at Quantico, as well as the Corps' first helicopter squadron, Marine Helicopter Squadron One,
the first helicopter squadron to provide rapid transportation for Presidents of the United
States. It continues that mission today. In 1934, Amphibious Warfare Doctrine, along
with special amphibious landing crafts for World War II were developed here.These Amphibious
Warfare techniques, developed in the years before World War II, made victory possible
in the Pacific theater. Quantico trained over 15,000 USMC and other service officers in
these techniques. In 1942, over 50,000 acres were purchased
by the federal government and added to Quantico, making up what is now the base west of Interstate
95. The expansion was needed for additional range and maneuver training areas during World
War II. In 1987, the Marine Corps Development and
Education Command here was changed to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
Soldier Bradley E. Manning, accused of disclosing classified information was detained in the
Quantico brig in 2010-2011. Demonstrators blocked a gate on Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Thirty were arrested. On the night of March 21, 2013, a Marine opened
fire killing two other Marines before killing himself.
Units and commands The Corps' Combat Development Command, which
develops strategies for Marine combat and makes up most of the community of over 12,000
military and civilian personnel is based here. It has a budget of around $300 million and
is the home of the Marine Corps Officer Candidates School. The Marine Corps Research Center at
Quantico pursues equipment research and development, especially telecommunications, for the Marine
Corps. The Marine Corps Brig, a military prison, is also located at Quantico.
The base was designated as part of the Quantico Marine Corps Base Historic District by the
National Register of Historic Places in 2001. This district includes 122 buildings, two
landscapes, a sculpture, and a water tower located within the Mainside area of the base.
The contributing properties with separate entries include Tennessee Camp, Camp French,
Commanding General's Quarters, and Rising Hill Camp.
It is the site of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and Marine Helicopter
1 HMX-1. HMX-1 was the first helicopter squadron to provide rapid transportation of U.S. Presidents,
a mission they have continued to carry out to the present day.
Marine Corps Embassy Security Group Marine Corps Marathon
Marine Corps Combat Development Command Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory
Marine Corps Recruiting Command Manpower and Reserve Affairs Division, Headquarters
Marine Corps Marine Corps Systems Command
Marine Corps Training and Education Command The Basic School
Marine Air-Ground Task Force Staff Training Program
Marine Corps University Officer Candidates School
Marine Corps Network Operations Security Command Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment
Tenant activities
The base is the home of major training institutions for both the Marine Corps and federal law
enforcement agencies, including: Defense Intelligence Agency
Drug Enforcement Administration training academy FBI Academy, the principal research and training
facility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the principal training facility for the
Drug Enforcement Administration are also located on the base.
FBI Hostage Rescue Team FBI Laboratory
Marine Raider Museum Naval Criminal Investigative Service Headquarters,
Army CID Headquarters, AFOSI Headquarters A replica of the United States Marine Corps
War Memorial, depicting the 2nd U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima, stands at the entrance to the
base. Marine Corps Base Quantico and the Potomac
River surround the town of Quantico. Access to the town is possible only through the base,
the Amtrak train station, or from the river. See also
List of United States Marine Corps installations Chopawamsic Island
Breckenridge Reservoir
References This article incorporates public domain
material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
External links MCB Quantico website
The National Museum of the Marine Corps USMC Base Quantico Overview & PCS Information