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Grand Army of the Republic and Kindred Societies: A Guide to Resources in the General Collections of the Library of Congress

National Encampments

The following is a list of national encampments for which documentation exists. Some reunion years have multiple items found in our collections. Unless otherwise noted, the Library of Congress does not have official guides, souvenir programs, badges, flags, or other types of G.A.R. ephemeral materials.

Information concerning specific national encampments can be found in the Journal of the National Encampment for the year the encampment was held.

  • No meeting was held in 1867.
  • There are no official records of membership prior to 1878.
  • Beginning with 1914, issued in the congressional series as House Documents.
  • Title varies: 1866-80, 1893, Proceedings of the National Encampment (varies slightly)--1949, Final journal. Other slight variations in title.
  • Vol. 83 contains final report of the finances from 1949 to the closing of the organization in 1956.

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

First National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (November 20, 1866)

Second National Encampment

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (January 15, 1868)

Third National Encampment

Cincinnati, Ohio (May 12-13, 1869)

Fourth National Encampment

Washington, D.C. (May 11-12, 1870)

Fifth National Encampment

Boston, Massachusetts (May 10-11, 1871)

Sixth National Encampment

Cleveland, Ohio (May 8-9, 1872)

Seventh National Encampment

New Haven, Connecticut (May 14-15, 1873)

Eighth National Encampment

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (May 13, 1874)

Ninth National Encampment

Chicago, Illinois (May 12- 13, 1875)

Tenth National Encampment

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 30, 1876)

Eleventh National Encampment

Providence, Rhode Island (June 26-27, 1877)

Twelfth National Encampment

Springfield, Massachusetts (June 4, 1878)

Membership: 31,016

Thirteenth National Encampment

Albany, New York (June 17-18, 1879)

Membership: 44,752

Fourteenth National Encampment

Dayton, Ohio (June 8-9, 1880).

Membership: 60,634.

Fifteenth National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (June 15-16, 1881).

Membership: 85,856

Sixteenth National Encampment

Baltimore, Maryland (June 21-22-1882).

Membership: 134,701

Seventeenth National Encampment

Denver, Colorado (June 25-26, 1883).

Eighteenth National Encampment

Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 23-25, 1884).

Nineteenth National Encampment

Portland, Maine (June 24-25, 1885).

Membership: 294,787

Twentieth National Encampment

San Francisco, California (August 4-6, 1886).

Membership: 323,571

Twenty-first National Encampment

St. Louis, Missouri (September 28-30, 1887).

Membership: 355,916

Twenty-second National Encampment

Columbus, Ohio (September 12-14, 1888).

Membership: 372, 960

Twenty-third National Encampment

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (August 28-30, 1889).

Membership: 397,974

Twenty-fourth National Encampment

Boston, Massachusetts. (August 13-14, 1890).

Membership: 409,489.

Twenty-fifth National Encampment

Detroit, Michigan (August 5-7, 1891).

Membership: 407,781.

Twenty-sixth National Encampment

Washington, D.C. (September 21-22, 1892).

Membership: 399,880

Twenty-seventh National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 6-7, 1893).

Membership: 397,223

Twenty-eighth National Encampment

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (September 12-13, 1894).

Membership: 396,083.

Twenty-ninth National Encampment

Louisville, Kentucky (September 11-13, 1895).

Membership: 357,639

Thirtieth National Encampment

St. Paul, Minnesota (September 3-4, 1896).

Membership: 340,610

Thirty-first National Encampment

Buffalo, New York (August 25-27, 1897).

Membership: 319,456

Thirty-second National Encampment

Cincinnati, Ohio (September 5-6, 1898).

Membership: 305,603

Thirty-third National Encampment

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (September 6-7, 1899).

Membership: 287,918

Thirty-fourth National Encampment

Chicago, Illinois (August 29-30, 1900).

Membership: 276,612.

Thirty-fifth National Encampment

Cleveland, Ohio (September 12-13, 1901).

Membership: 269,507

Thirty-sixth National Encampment

Washington, D. C. (October 9-10, 1902).

Membership: 263,745

Thirty-seventh National Encampment

San Francisco, California (August 20-21, 1903).

Membership: 256,510

Thirty-eighth National Encampment

Boston, Massachusetts (August 17-18, 1904).

Membership: 247,340

Thirty-ninth National Encampment

Denver, Colorado (September 7-8, 1905).

Membership: 232,455

Fortieth National Encampment

Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 16-17, 1906).

Membership: 235,823

Forty-first National Encampment

Saratoga Springs, New York (September 12-13, 1907).

Membership: 229,932

Forty-second National Encampment

Toledo, Ohio (September 3-4, 1908).

Membership: 225,157

Forty-third National Encampment

Salt Lake City, Utah (August 12-13, 1909).

Membership: 220,600

Forty-fourth National Encampment

Atlantic City, New Jersey (September 22-23, 1910).

Membership: 213,901.

Forty-fifth National Encampment

Rochester, New York (August 24-25, 1911).

Membership: 203,410

Forty-sixth National Encampment

Los Angeles, California (September 9-14, 1912).

Membership: 191,346

Forty-seventh National Encampment

Chattanooga, Tennessee (September 18-19, 1913).

Membership: 180,227

Forty-eighth National Encampment

Detroit, Michigan (September 3-4, 1914).

Membership: 171,335

Forty-ninth National Encampment

Washington, D.C. (September 30-October 1, 1915).

Membership: 159,853

Fiftieth National Encampment

Kansas City, Missouri (August 28-September 2, 1916).

Membership: 140,074

Fifty-first National Encampment

Boston, Massachusetts (August 20-25, 1917).

Membership: 135,931

Fifty-second National Encampment

Portland, Oregon (August 18-24, 1918).

Membership: 120,916

Fifty-third National Encampment

Columbus, Ohio (September 7-13, 1919).

Membership: 110,357

Fifty-fourth National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 19-25, 1920).

Membership: 103,258

Fifty-fifth National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 25-29, 1921).

Membership: 93,171

Fifty-sixth National Encampment

Des Moines, Iowa (September 24-29, 1922).

Membership: 85,621

Fifty-seventh National Encampment

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (September 2-8, 1923).

Membership: 76,126

Fifty-eighth National Encampment

Boston, Massachusetts (August 10-15, 1924).

Membership: 65,382

Fifty-ninth National Encampment

Grand Rapids, Michigan (August 30-September 5, 1925).

Membership: 55,817

Sixtieth National Encampment

Des Moines, Iowa (September 19-25, 1926).

Membership: 47,179

Sixty-first National Encampment

Grand Rapids, Michigan (September 11-16, 1927).

Membership: 38,801

Sixty-second National Encampment

Denver, Colorado (September 16-21, 1928).

Membership: 32,614

Sixty-third National Encampment

Portland, Maine (September 8-13, 1929).

Membership: 26,219

Sixty-fourth National Encampment

Cincinnati, Ohio (August 24-28, 1930).

Membership: 21,080

Sixty-fifth National Encampment

Des Moines, Iowa (September 13-18, 1931).

Membership: 16,587

Sixty-sixth National Encampment

Springfield, Illinois (September 18-24, 1932).

Membership: 13,066

Sixty-seventh National Encampment

St. Paul, Minnesota (September 17-22, 1933).

Membership: 10,138

Sixty-eighth National Encampment

Rochester, New York (August 12-18, 1934).

Membership: 7,807

Sixty-ninth National Encampment

Grand Rapids, Michigan (September 8-14, 1935).

Membership: 6,244

Seventieth National Encampment

Washington, D.C. (September 20-26, 1936).

Membership: 4,391

Seventy-first National Encampment

Madison, Wisconsin (September 5-10, 1937).

Membership: 3,325

Seventy-second National Encampment

Des Moines, Iowa (September 4-9, 1938).

Membership: 2,443

Seventy-third National Encampment

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (August 27-September 1, 1939).

Membership: 1,701

Seventy-fourth National Encampment

Springfield, Illinois. (September 8-13, 1940).

Membership: 1,039

Seventy-fifth National Encampment

Columbus, Ohio (September 14-19, 1941).

Membership: 763

Seventy-sixth National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 13-18, 1942).

Membership: 518

Seventy-seventh National Encampment

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (September 19-24, 1943).

Membership: 393

Seventy-eighth National Encampment

Des Moines, Iowa (September 10-15, 1944).

Membership: 249

Seventy-ninth National Encampment

Columbus, Ohio (September 30-October 4, 1945).

Membership: 163

Eightieth National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (August 25-30, 1946).

Membership: 103

Eighty-first National Encampment

Cleveland, Ohio (August 10-14,1947).

Membership: 66

Eighty-second National Encampment

Grand Rapids, Michigan (September 28-30, 1948).

Membership: 28

Eighty-third National Encampment

Indianapolis, Indiana (August 28-September 1, 1949).

Membership: 16