Found In The Archives: Trinidad POW Camp Coffee Sack

Coffee sack, between 1943 and 1946. Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618)

Continuing on the theme of all things brewed (September is BrewHaHa at the Denver Public Library), today's archival object is a simple, canvas coffee sack.

This is not an ordinary coffee sack, however. This one comes from the Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618) and helps document the story of a WWII camp that housed 3,000 German enlisted troops and 1,000 officers from Rommel’s Afrika Corps captured in Tripoli, Libya. In operation from 1943-1946, the camp was staffed by 1,000 U.S. soldiers and 140 civilian personnel.

The camp itself was located eight miles east of Trinidad, Colorado. Prisoners worked on area farms cutting firewood and harvesting potatoes, onions, and sugar beets. Today, only outlines of building foundations and stone markers remain.

DPL's Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection contains not only correspondence, publications, reports, programs, and photos, but also an interesting array of ephemera, including tokens, a handmade desk set, and a coffee sack stamped "Enemy Alien Internment Camp, Trinidad."

Coffee sack, between 1943 and 1946. Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618)

Another stamping on the sack indicates that the coffee came from the E.B. Millar Coffee Company in Denver.

Click to learn more about the Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618) housed in DPL's Western History/Genealogy Department.

View of coffee dealers at 1822 Blake Street, during a fire, in Denver, Colorado; shows brick storefronts, cars, trucks, a fire truck, a fireman on a ladder, and signs: "The E. B. Millar Coffee Co."

E. B. Millar Coffee Co.

1964, June 14

Reverse side of coffee sack, between 1943 and 1946. Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618)

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so how come when i click on

so how come when i click on the "learn more about the Trinidad camp" link it says Server Error in '/' Application.

Runtime Error
??

Hi Bill,

I'm sorry to hear you're getting that error message. Testing the link on our end, we did not receive that message. Here is the link again, which goes to the Trinidad Prisoner of War Collection's catalog record:

http://catalog.denverlibrary.org/view.aspx?cn=412873

Please try clearing your

Please try clearing your cache or temporary internet files to remove any old connections that might be stored in your browser or device. Here's a helpful site for how to clear your cache on a variety of browsers and devices.

Also: Sometimes Run Time Errors happen when too many processes are running on your computer or device at the same time.

I thought the Internment camp

I thought the Internment camp was 8 miles North West of Trinidad. Were there more than one of them there?

Hi, Beth! The camp site is

Hi, Beth! The camp site is located just beyond the outer boundary of Cougar Canyon Golf Resort.

Hi, I have a friend, now

Hi, I have a friend, now deceased, who was a POW at Trinidad. Is there a way to find information about him?

Thanks for reading, Carl!

Thanks for reading, Carl! You may want to take a look at the finding aid for the Trinidad Prisoner of War Camp Collection (WH618). The National Archives also has records of this camp:

https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/389.html#389.4.7

Thanks so much !!

I grew up sleeping on

I grew up sleeping on bunkbeds from this camp; tracked down the IS Officer whose brass tag was on the bunks and returned bunks to him years later. Are there any markers on the road so you can find where it was?

<p>Hi Gary,</p>

<p>The site is located just beyond the outer boundary of Cougar Canyon Golf Resort. As far as I know, there aren't any road markers for the site. You may want to be in touch with <a href="http://historycolorado.org">History Colorado's State Preservation Program for Roadside Markers</a>.</p>