Built in 1943 by the U.S. War Department, Camp Ashford at White Sulphur Springs was one of two camps in West Virginia that housed prisoners of war during World War II. Camp Ashford prisoners worked on local farms and at nearby Ashford General Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility operated by the U.S. Army in what previously had been The Greenbrier hotel. The camp and hospital were named for Col. Bailey K. Ashford, an army doctor.

The 165-acre POW camp could accommodate up to 1,000 prisoners in former Civilian Conservation Corps buildings located on the property. Italian prisoners occupied the camp first; they were moved on October 23, 1943, when German prisoners arrived. The German prisoners stayed at Camp Ashford until after the war's end.