Geospatial andgt; The Layer File andgt; Ellis City

Nestled in the rural expanses of western Illinois, the remnants of Camp Ellis stand as a testament to a bygone era. This World War II training camp, located near the small town of Ipava in Fulton County, was a bustling hub of activity with a population of over 50,000 military andamp; civilian personnel. We at Maurer-Stutz Geospatial Services have revived the old footprint of Camp Ellis and used it as a demonstration location for our GIS data, solutions, and applications. We call it: Ellis City

Construction of Camp Ellis began in 1942, in response to the urgent need for training facilities for the U.S. Army. Named after Sergeant Michael B. Ellis, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War I, the camp quickly transformed from tranquil farmland into a sprawling military installation. Covering approximately 17,000 acres, it included barracks, training grounds, firing ranges, a hospital, and even a prisoner of war camp.

At its peak, Camp Ellis housed over 35,000 soldiers, providing them with comprehensive training in various military disciplines. Infantry, engineer, and medical units all cycled through the camp, honing their skills in preparation for deployment to the European and Pacific theaters. The camp’s vast training areas were ideal for exercises in maneuver warfare, marksmanship, and engineering projects, making it a versatile training ground and even included a simulated German village. There is a great Museum about Camp Ellis in Ipava Illinois, You can even read hundreds of newspapers that have been collected andamp; preserved.

Project

During the summer of 2024, we set out on an attempt to create a demonstration city’s GIS that we could use and show off publicly without the fear of exposing sensitive or personal data. Armed with four historic USGS 7.5 minute topo quads and the assistance of several interns, MSGS digitized what was once a sprawling city in the hills and farm fields of Fulton County. Buildings, roads and a few points of interest were placed as accurately as possible according to the old maps and aerial photography. Features like zoning classifications, parcels lines, street signs, garbage pickup days, and municipal utilities were all created from industry expertise and a few assumptions. Specific road names, speed limits, and addresses were ‘embellished’ from the creative minds of our staff and there may be a few easter eggs in the data. It was an enjoyable experience to create GIS data from nothing and our Civil Engineering interns learned quite a bit about GIS editing tools. We also created parks, businesses, and a cemetery.

Result

After the land information, utility data, facility features, and other civic layers were created, we began to build applications to display what ArcGIS can do. The creative liberty that we took in creation of these layers made it necessary to change the name of this new urban center. In an attempt to divest affiliation with the historical aspect of Camp Ellis but still maintain an honorable recognition of the military activities and accomplishments, we chose ‘Ellis City’ as the name of our new demonstration municipality. We created a logo, slogan, bought a URL, and with the help of AI, a few paintings and images of this new city. The city’s website is hosted on an ArcGIS Hub. The GIS solutions are downloaded from the Esri Solutions page but customized a bit, because none of them work out of the box with your own data. All the data, solutions, and applications have been created by our MSGS team with customizations only when needed. They all should be open and available without a login required. We could simply not do this with any client data or existing city. As we have time, the Hub site will continue to evolve and improve. We plan on adding some Survey123, Field Maps, and Story Maps. As technology improves, so will our exhibition.

elliscity.info

Let us know if you want assistance doing any of these things or if you have a question on how we did it.