Camp Morton (also known as Camp Douglas) was a coal mining encampment on Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. It was located on the northern shores of Van Mijenfjorden, near the sea entrance. It was part of an effort by British investors and entrepreneurs to extract resources from Spitsbergen, at that time open to various nations' claims for development.[1]
Located above the Arctic Circle, the camp was set up in the early 20th century by Ernest Mansfield, a prospector staking claims on behalf of a British investment company set up to mine for resources on the island. A major backer of the Spitzbergen Mining and Exploration Syndicate (SMES) was Sholto Douglas, 19th Earl of Morton, and the camp was named for him. The company in 1910 was renamed as Northern Exploration Company Ltd (NEC). The coal mine operated from 1906 into the mid-1920s. About half of the huts owned by NEC remain; the major building, now called Camp Morton, has been restored by the Norwegian government.[1]