Sheboygan Co Historical Research Center

Camp Haven Sheboygan Co Historical Research Center

Situated along the western shore of Lake Michigan, just a bit north of Sheboygan in the township of Mosel is a tiny burg called Haven. Settled by German immigrants from the Moselle Region, the area was originally known as Seven Mile Creek. Until the late 1940s, the area was strictly farmland, but because of its remote location, buffered by 118 miles of water to the east toward Michigan, it proved a suitable site for a military anti-aircraft training facility. For a decade, from 1949 to 1959, it would be home to Camp Haven. With air defense options changing constantly, by the late 1940s, weapons like 40mm to 120mm caliber guns were fired at towed targets and radio-controlled R-cats were used. Army Reserve and National Guard units from across the county required a couple of weeks of training each year, so summers were filled with citizen soldiers making the rounds in Sheboygan County.