[3] The camp is located in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near South Mountain, within the Michaux State Forest.

It was initially settled as farmland, known as the Bunker Hill Farm, which was approximately 250 acres (100 ha) in size.

This resulted in the sale of the property belonging to the South Mountain Iron Company to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1912.

As the involvement of the United States in World War II was becoming significant, the need for CCC diminished and Camp S-51-PA closed in February 1942.

In particular, United States military officials believed that some of the prisoners were in possession of information of strategic value to the war effort.

Construction work to convert the facility into a POW interrogation camp began on February 22, 1943, with construction carried out by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, using a design from the architectural firm William S. Lozier, Inc.[3]: 29–74 Pine Grove Furnace Prisoner of War Interrogation Camp supplemented previously established interrogation facilities at Fort Hunt in Virginia and at Camp Tracy in California.

Military Police Officer Captain John F. Houck was the first commander of the camp, serving until Fall 1944.

As such, most prisoners stayed at the Pine Grove Furnace POW Interrogation Camp for a time period of days to weeks.

[3]: 29–74 Treatment of the prisoners of war at the Pine Grove Furnace POW Interrogation Camp was reported to be consistent with the mandates of the 1929 Geneva Convention.

At that time, the camp was returned to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the Michaux State Forest.

[2] On July 1, 1947, the site that had been the Pine Grove Furnace POW Interrogation Camp was acquired jointly by the Mercersburg Synod of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Synod of Pennsylvania of the United Presbyterian Church, as a lease from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

[3]: 75–80 While the new operators made improvements to the camp, they used many of the same facilities built to house prisoners of war.

[3]: 75–80  The Cumberland County Historical Society provides a guide to a self-guided walking tour of the grounds.