Come, Sit A Spell: Civilian Conservation Corp

3/28/2019

Come, Sit A Spell: Civilian Conservation Corp Contribution To Alabama and Our Nation's Parks, Forest, People, and Tourism

Celebrating the Alabama Bicentennial 2019 Theme: Our Stories

The Civilian Conservation Corp, often called “Roosevelt’s Tree Army” or “CCC” for short, was part of the New Deal Package granted under the Emergency Conservation Work Act to help get the United State back on its feet after World War I. The CCC was in operations throughout the nation from 1934-1942, only ending when war was declared following the bombing of

Come, Sit a Spell...

A Southerner's invitation to take a seat with them, relax, swap some stories, experience Southern hospitality, enjoy the slower pace of life, and live in the greatness unfolding around you.

Pearl Harbor. This depression-era program primarily took young men and put them to work on projects that included planting trees, building flood barriers, fighting forest fires, and maintaining forest roads and trails.

The architecture of the organization mirrored several aspects of the military. The CCC recruited men as young as 17 and eventually grew to include World War I veterans into their 40’s who were U.S. citizens. Recruits served 6-month terms and were allowed to re-up for additional terms up to two years. The command positions were staffed by military officers in the camps and everyone lived by a regimented schedule.

Camps were created...

Photo from Limestone County Archives

... with barracks; the CCC recruits were provided food, medical care, work clothes and boots, old military uniform for dress needs and other necessities. Their monthly allotment was $30.00 for their work - $5.00 of which they kept for their basic needs and $25.00 of which was sent home to support the family. This may not sound like much to modern comparison but in a time of the Great Depression, nearly 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed, the other remainder were forced to adjust for deflation causing salaries to fall by 40 percent and industrial wages to fall by 60 percent.

Life in the CCC Camp wasn’t all work though. The CCC recruits would play games, read, study, practice and take evening classes in their recreation halls – with 90% of the recruits participating in class that taught them to read and write as well as future job-seeking skills. They cobbled together baseball teams or took to the ring for boxing. Local communities would take on the CCC teams in competitions as well as neighboring camp teams. The doors of the recreation hall were often swung open for Saturday night dances with invitations to the community to attend.

The local Civilian Conservation Corp group was the TVA-6 Athens Company 286 Company 5401, also known as TVA-CCC Camp Houston and was open May 25, 1934. TVA-CCC Camp Houston was one of twenty-three TVA-CCC Camps located in Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia. The humble camp with barracks and canteen was nestled at the edge of Athens on the corner of West Market Street and Hines Street where the present day United States Post Office sits.

TVA-CCC Camp Houston opened its doors to the Limestone County community in 1941 for an open house to mark the eighth anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corp’s creation. Lieutenant Charles H. Orrick, commander, announced via the local paper that the visitors would have the opportunity to inspect the barracks, mess hall and educational projects at the camp from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m by guided tour. Lieutenant Orrick also invited the public to spend time with members of the camps who would be holding brief talks about camp life, explaining the organization and demonstrating some of the work already accomplished.

Courtesy National Archives - Atlanta

This was more than a public relation stunt, this was a chance to connect progress with the camp’s activities in the face of overwhelming discussion of Tennessee Valley Authority dam development and the practices associated with them – relocation of communities and cemeteries and flooding prime farm land along the Tennessee River basin. TVA-CCC Camp Houston worked hard to development anti-erosion methods in the county as well. Many considered the unproven terrace emplacements unconventional in comparison to old methods placing of riff-raff rock piles or planting grass cover.

The Superintendent of TVA-CCC Camp Houston, John W. Oxford, reported the Athens’ based camp’s accomplishments in an October 1, 1934 Annual Report of the U.S. Forest Service TVA Units in the Knoxville, Tennessee jurisdiction. He alluded to techniques the camp was developing to fight erosion in passing, his report of the camp’s activities were as followed (archives.gov/atlanta/exhibits/item365-exh.html):

The erosion control work being done by this camp is somewhat different from that of any other camp under the jurisdictions of the Knoxville office. It has largely been the construction of masory [sic] terrace outlets.
- Land benefitted … 11,926 acres
- Timber stand improvement … 22 acres
- Truck trails … 2.2 miles
- Vehicle bridges … 5
- Rock dams … 1,334
- Log dams … 2
- Brush dams … 29
- Matting … 17, 979 square yards
- Diversion Ditches … 1,298 linear yards
- Bank Protection … 25,126 square yards
- Nursery … 279 man-days
- Landscaping … 3 acres
- General Clean-up 10 acres

Courtesy of National Archives - Atlanta

One of the main projects of combating erosion saw TVA and the CCC plant eroding areas with trees. Working in tandem with the newly created Soil Conservation Service, the CCC worked to educate farmers to the importance of crop rotation, contour plowing to follow the natural topography, terracing, cover crops to protect topsoil, erosion-controlling check dams, and planting trees on unused farm lands.

Courtesy of National Archives - Atlanta

The Civilian Conservation Corp helped sculpt much of America’s and Alabama’s infrastructure including Tennessee Valley Authority’s waterway and dam system including sites in Limestone County. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) goal of establishing dams to manage flooding, produce electricity, improve river navigation, improve soil was boosted by the partnering with the CCC’s efforts. One of TVA-CCC’s unconventional approaches was to create recreational facilities along riverfronts creating greater access to the public including parks on the banks of the Tennessee River and establishing game-breeding refuges like Wheeler Wildlife Refuge that spans the river into both Limestone and Morgan Counties. The efforts didn’t end with greenspace but continued with the construction of pavilions, stairs on hiking trails and overlooks that are enjoyed to this day.

It gave young men a means to support their families in the face of the Great Depression and contribute to the creation of national and state parks facilities and attractions boosting tourism and travel’s economic impact and the adjacent community’s financial futures. Between 1933 and 1942, 30 CCC Camps operated each year in Alabama employing 66,837 men. The contribution to the State of Alabama was 1,800 miles of roads, 61 lookout towers, 490 bridges, 188 buildings and 1,430 miles of telephone wire.

The CCC in Alabama was tasked with constructing the archaeological museum of Moundville by excavating the land to help in the telling of the story of the Mound Builders. Additional improvements to the newly established Alabama State Parks including trails and infrastructure and developing the Natchez Trace Parkway also benefitted from the CCC’s presence. Cheaha Lake was constructed and land management and recreational facilities were erected in Bankhead National Forest and Conecuh National Forest to encourage the use and preservation of public lands. Gulf State Park, Cheaha State Park, Chewacla State Park, Flagg Mountain, DeSoto State Park, Muscle Shoals Reservation, Little River State Park and Monte Sano State Park still feature CCC created structures for public enjoyment including museums, towers, trails and cabins. The recruits of Alabama’s CCC unknowing laid the foundation for some of the most popular parks and natural attractions in Alabama’s tourism and travel industries.

The CCC efforts of reforestation and conservation of state and national forest addressed the dwindling timber stands from over-logging by commercial harvesters, preservation of native species, wildlife conservation and combating erosion but also engaged them as the first-line defense forest fire fighting. The CCC Camps in Alabama constructed firebreaks to prevent sweeping fires from destroying acres of land. They inventoried forest resources across the state and help develop infrastructure for managing forest. By 1943, Alabama had more than nine million acre of forested land under the protection of the State Division of Forestry – increasing Alabama timber crop value to $150 million annually.

Many of the Civilian Conservation Corp generation have passed on with little heralding of their efforts to rebuild America’s economy in the face of the Great Depression or their hard work that created points of natural beauty that we appreciate today. However, their legacy to Limestone County, the State of Alabama and our nation survive in the national and state parks, national and state forest, the Tennessee Valley Authority continued mission, and lessons of conservation and preservation they left behind for us.

Civilian Conservation Facts:

Within 5 days of its creation on April 1, 1933 – 25,000 men from 16 cities signed to participate

Within 9 days, the CCC opened to Native Americans adding an additional 80,000 recruits

90% of CCC recruits participate in evening educational programs -- the necessity of which recognized because the majority of recruits dropped out at 8th grade to support their families

40,000 men learn to read and write over the course of the CCC’s nine year existence

By July 1, 1933 – 34,000 recruits work in 172 camps in 35 states

By Sep 1933 – 1,468 camps exist across the nation

Sep 1933 – 18 CCC Camps established in Alabama including 3 in William B Bankhead Forest (formerly Alabama National Forest) to improved roads and help with reforestation

Summer 1934 – Park Serve estimates the work in all state parks at over $27 million for the first two years of the program – and advancing forestry and park development by two decades by 1935

Summer 1934 – CCC Camp is established in Fort Payne and work was started to construct DeSoto State Park on Lookout Mountain. The CCC Camp recruits built roads, trails, culverts, 9-hole golf course, stone and wood structures like pavilions, bbq pits, cabins and group lodges.

September 1934 – 30 CCC Camps in Alabama including five under the oversight of the Tennessee Valley Authority focused on soil erosion, park development, and timber improvement

In 1935 – 500,000 men in 2,600 camps in all states and US protectorates

April 1935 – Emergency Relief Appropriation extends CCC to 1937.

Sep 1935 – Steps begin to make the CCC a permanent organization

1936 sees the CCC recruits help flood victims in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.; Tornado victims in Georgia and Alabama; and assist with flood mitigation in Arkansas and Tennessee.

June 28, 1937 – the Civilian Conversation Corp officially receive their name

1938 – The CCC develops over 3 million acres for parks use in 854 state parks. Some parks see a jump of 500% in visitation

July 1938 sees the Great Depression slowly ending dropping camp population to 142 men.

June 1939 King George VI of Great Britain tours the CCC camps

August 31, 1939 sees Germany invade Poland – Canada and much of Europe declares war within days.

December 1939 – CCC program winds down in the face of an improving economy

June 1940 – France falls to Germany. Roosevelt allows CCC camp recruits on military bases begin the construction of airfields, obstacle courses, artillery ranges and training structures.

August 1941 – CCC recruits begin drilling in military formation and spend 20 hours doing general defense drill training

December 7, 1941 – The United States enters World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Any camps not supporting the war effort are closed.

January 1942 – CCC camps reduce to 800

July 1, 1942 – Although never officially terminated, the House and Senate approve funding to cover the cost of the shuttering all CCC camps and the dividing of all resources and equipment.

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