On Sept. 24, 1918, over 100 soldiers near Louisville were reported to have influenza, from which the outbreak would grow in the region. At the time, it was the largest World War I Army training camp in North America.

Just a day later, that number had more than doubled to 262. By the end of the month, the camp hospital was caring for more than 2,100 cases of influenza.

The hospital was so overcrowded that 15 barracks of the “C” Section – a section of camp located east of the Lincoln Avenue overpass – had to be converted to temporary hospital wards