Neosho is the home of Fort Crowder. Originally established as Camp Crowder south of town in 1941 at the height of World War II, the post was to serve as an armored training center. By 1943 the army had acquired in Newton and McDonald counties. As the facility was constructed, it was re-designated as a U.S. Army Signal Corps training center. It was named for Enoch Crowder, a Missouri general who was instrumental in developing the draft for World War I and the Selective Service. The post also served as an infantry replacement center; later in the war, it had a small German prisoner-of-war detention facility.