It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation,[1] with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their way overseas or returning for demobilization after the war.

The camp opened on October 8, 1942 and was named in honor of Myles Standish who was the first military commander of the Plymouth Colony region.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took over the site from the federal government to create the Myles Standish State School for the Mentally Retarded.

In 1951, Governor Paul A. Dever was instrumental in providing for over two dozen new brick buildings on the south part of the former army camp site.

The City of Taunton acquired over 700 acres (2.8 km2) of the former army camp in 1973 for the purpose of constructing a modern industrial park.