Right y ou are, Bob! As WWII came to an end, an influx of veterans sent enrollment numbers skyrocketing, and the UW erected two trailer parks near Camp Randall Stadium to mitigate the campus housing crisis. According to The Buildings of the University of Wisconsin, Randall Park Trailer Camp became the first campus-based “vetsville” in the country upon its construction in August 1945. The park included 64 standard-sized trailers and 27 larger trailers, with rent set at $25 and $32.50 a month, respectively. The units were reserved solely for married student veterans and their families. (This dad and his baby didn’t seem to mind being neighbors with a Civil War-era canon.) Trailer amenities were scarce — take a look. Each one had a hot plate for cooking, but no running water, and the community shared four toilet units and two laundry units. Still, the trailers were in such high demand that campus installed the Monroe Trailer Camp in January 1946, a nearby park with an additional 113 units. Randall Park was removed in 1951 to make room for the east wing of the Engineering Building, and the Monroe camp was dismantled in 1955. Today, campus is again experiencing a student housing crunch, but we’re hoping the proposal for a new residence hall may help put the issues to bed.