Like most things in Frederick County, Fort Detrick was built on farmland. The military installation started as a small, privately owned airport established in 1929 and later named after World War I squadron flight surgeon Major Frederick L. Detrick. The site was used as an airfield up until the United States entered World War II. In 1943 it was rechristened Camp Detrick and made base of the newly-established U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories.
Over the years the site expanded, eventually becoming the largest employer in Frederick County. Along with its expansion grew the rumors and stories, some true and some urban legends.
I grew up in Beltsville, Prince George’s County, near the the US Agricultural Research Center. I know all about how a gated site can serve as the nexus for intriguing lore for children and adults. Whether it was the legendary Goat Man, or the alleged sprawling lush marijuana fields hidden away on the Ag Center campus, the “Beltsville Farms” provided fodder for stories just as it provided salaries for friends’ parents.
My spouse similarly grew up in the shadow of Fort Detrick. He spent his summers in its swimming pool while his parents worked in laboratories. And at school, he heard tales of the menacing “Tower of Doom.”
There are a few grains of truth to those stories, however. In 2019, Stephen Kinzer wrote an article for Politico entitled “The Secret History of Fort Detrick, the CIA’s Base for Mind Control Experiments,” detailing a creepy past of germ warfare and LSD experiments on unwitting victims. Frank Olson is the most famous of them, and he spent his career working at Fort Detrick. He began to have moral qualms about the work, especially the experimentation on animals and with interrogation torture techniques. After an LSD dosing as part of the CIA’s MKUltra program, he was left with psychological scarring. His subsequent fall from a 10th-story window was ruled a suicide, but suspicions abound about the manner of his death and the things he knew.
And then there is the “Tower of Doom,” also known as the Anthrax Tower, officially known as Building 470. Anthrax experimentation certainly took place there. The urban legends pile on additional conspiracies, the death of several workers, and whether the building was still contaminated with anthrax when it was demolished in 2003. The official story is that it was contaminated primarily with asbestos and lead paint at that point. I imagine that local kids were disappointed to see the source of so much intrigue leveled to rubble.
There is plenty of wholesome activity associated with Fort Detrick, such as a barbershop quartet known as the Chem-Tones, and a handful of cookbooks. Although my in-laws did not work in military labs, they came in possession of some of these books, including “All American Week 1986 Cookbook: The Favorite Recipes From Employees at Fort Detrick.” The recipes appear to be primarily from Detrick’s military personnel.
All is not completely normal here, however. One recipe, for Gloria Crowl’s “Spring Salad,” is for a fairly standard jello salad except for the name implying any kind of fresh or seasonal ingredients. But then the salad is topped with a cooked sauce, making things unnecessarily complicated. A sprinkling of grated cheese brings a little more weirdness. I enjoyed it just fine.
In addition to Spring Salad, I made Taco Salad, combining two very similar recipes for cooked ground beef, onions, tomatoes, cheese, and Doritos. One recipe from Philip Masser contained a can of kidney beans and an entire bottle of Russian Dressing. The other, by Wendy Tresselt, specifically called for Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos. The dressing on that one is Kraft Miracle French Dressing. Again, an entire bottle. I used Russian dressing. I also used “only” half the bottle.
These aren’t the only recipes in the book that haven’t aged well. One recipe, for “Cheese Corn,” contains only two ingredients: a pound of frozen corn and a block of Cracker Barrel X-Sharp Cheddar Cheese. There are multiple recipes for dessert pizzas. There is a lasagna made with canned pork & beans as sauce.
This quirky cookbook is a nice complement to the exaggerated legends surrounding the labs at Fort Detrick. It’s also evidence of the perfectly mundane side of the place. Working, eating, and quietly living life in the footprint of the “Tower of Doom.”
Recipes:
Spring Salad
- 1 3 oz package gelatin, lemon
- 1 3 oz package gelatin, orange
- 2 Cups hot water
- 1.5 Cups cold water
- 1 #2 can crushed, drained, pineapple, reserve liquid for topping
- 3 bananas, sliced thin
- .5 package miniature marshmallows
- 1 beaten egg
- .5 Cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 Cup drained pineapple juice
- .5 Pint whipped cream
- grated cheese, Cheddar
Slice bananas in bottom of 9×13 pan. Sprinkle pineapple and marshmallows over bananas. Pour slightly thickened jello over all. When almost set, cover with topping.
Topping: Cook egg, sugar, flour and juice over low heat until thickened. Cool fold into whipped cream, put on top of jello. Top with grated cheddar cheese. Set overnight.
Taco Salad
- 1 head shredded lettuce
- 1 15oz can kidney beans, drained
- 2-3 diced tomatoes
- 6-8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 Lb ground beef
- 1/2-1 diced onion (depending on taste)
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 1 bottle Russian dressing
- 1 bag Doritos
Brown ground beef and drain off excess fat. In a large bowl, combine everything except dressing and Doritos until ready to serve. Toss. Enjoy!
Recipes adapted from “All American Week 1986 Cookbook: The Favorite Recipes from Employees at Fort Detrick,” 1986