Sampson State Park slopes gently above the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. Formed over 12,000 years ago during the Ice Age, Seneca Lake is the largest and deepest of the Finger Lakes with charted depths over 630 feet. It is rated as excellent for fishing and is especially known for lake trout with a National Lake

Prior to World War II the area within Sampson's boundaries was predominantly farmland but the outbreak of war brought a large need for facilities to train military personnel for the war effort. On May 14, 1942 President F.D. Roosevelt approved construction of a Naval Training Station. The base was named in honor of a local native, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, from Palmyra, NY, a hero of the Battle of Santiago during the Spanish-American War. At the peak of construction, there were 15,500 people employed here. The base was constructed in 270 days, contained 498 buildings, over 50 miles for roadway, covered over 2500 acres, and cost S56 million. The largest drill halls were 600 feet long and 120 feet wide. The base closed in May of 1946 after training 411,000 sailors.

During the Korean War the land was converted to the Sampson Air Force Base and over 300,000 airmen received their basic training here from November 1950 until April 1956. In 1960 the land was transferred to the State of New York for use as a State Park. Former military buildings, drill halls, parade grounds and roadways have given way to grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees on flat, rolling woodlands surrounding ravines.

To help preserve the park's proud military history, Navy and Air Force veterans have established a military museum in the original base brig (jail) facility. An excellent opportunity to learn about the proud history of Sampson and to see many outstanding exhibits both indoors and out doors. Visitors can look through an actual periscope from a nuclear submarine, sit at the controls of a WWII 5 inch gun or take a seat in the cockpit of a jet simulator. The museum is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 5 days a week, Wednesday through Sunday 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM and weekends only from Labor Day until Columbus Day. For more information you can call the Navy museum at 315-585-6203 and the Air Force museum at 315-585-9555.

Sampson served the U.S. Air Force as a recruit training base during the Korean War period of 1950-1956. Recruits at Sampson were drawn from all over the Eastern United States. Sampson AFB was also home of the largest USAF Hospital. The Base located in Seneca County in the Finger Lakes of New York, is now a State Park. Over a quarter million men and women were stationed there in the five and a half years of operation.

Originally built in 1942 as a Naval Training Station, closed at the end of WWII, Sampson was reactivated as a USAF Training Base and was alive with young Air Force Men and Women training to serve their country. During the period we believe over 300,000 men received their basic training and another 50,000 men and women were stationed here as permanent party. 


 I have put a collection of webpages about Sampson for your viewing. This is a important piece of history . I hope that you will visit this park with your family and see and learn in the musuem from some of the original military soliders. The musuem is free.