Fort Devens, MA

Fort Devens is a military base located in northern Massachusetts near the town of Ayer, MA. It opened in 1917 as the principal training ground for new recruits in World War I. In a publicity stunt, during the 1918 World Series, inning-by-inning scores were relayed from Boston, MA to the base by carrier pigeons, over a distance of 58 miles. At a time when the U.S. was ramping up recruiting for its participation in the war, this served as a demonstration of how well-treated recruits were.

The base was originally closed in 1996 and most of its land sold off, but was reactivated in 2007 as a training area for reserve forces and mostly serves as a shooting range.