WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) IN WASHINGTON COUNTY
ORGANIZATION
Enrollees signed up for six month terms with the option of extending for a second six month term. Later, enrollees were allowed to reenlist for additional six month terms. There were 19 such terms during the life of the program. Enrollees were paid $30 per month (raised to $50 in the later years), of which $25 ($42-43 in the later years) was sent home to their parents. They were also given room, board, clothing, leadership, and training. They were organized into "Companies" and lived in military style "Camps" administered by the War Department (Army).For every ten unskilled young enrollees, they would hire one slightly older experienced worker from the local population, called Local Experienced Men (LEMs). The LEMs would set up the camps and guide the junior enrollees in their work assignments.
The CCC enrollees and LEMs would work on projects administered by subsidiaries of the Departments of Agriculture and of the Interior (Technical Service Agencies).
Company Number: A number given by the federal government to each company.
The Corps Area (Washington County is in the 9th Corps Area) is indicated by the first digit (for 3-digit Company Numbers) or second digit (for 4-digit Company Numbers).
Some company numbers have a letter following the number:
"C" stands for colored meaning the company was made up of African-Americans.
"V" stands for veterans meaning the company was made up of veterans of World War One.
"X" or "Mix" stands for integrated camp.
Project Number: A number given by the state to the project and camp.
"BR" stands for Bureau of Reclamation.
"DG", "G", or "GS" stands for Division of Grazing (later the U.S. Grazing Service).
"F" stands for the Forest Service.
"NP" stands for National Park Service.
"PE" stands for Private Erosion.
"SE" stands for Soil Erosion.
"SP" stands for State Park.
"SCS" stands for Soil Conservation Service.
Project: DG-45
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: St. George
Project: DG-160
Company: 2558
Starting Date: 11/17/1939
Location: Hurricane
Project: F-14
Company: 585
Starting Date: 11/11/1933
Location: Leeds
Project: F-17
Company: 1335
Starting Date: 5/25/1933
Location: Pine Valley
Project: F-31
Company: 1923-V
Starting Date: 10/30/1935
Location: Veyo
Project: F-31
Company: 959
Starting Date: 10/5/1939
Location: Veyo
Project: F-32 [Not listed at the Legacy CCC 2011 Conference]
Company: 4777
Starting Date: Summer 1932
Location: Pine Valley
Project: F-46
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: Pinto
Project: NP-1
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: Zion and then Blue Springs (Zion)
Project: NP-2
Company: 1966
Starting Date: 7/23/1934
Location: Zion
Project: NP-4
Company: 2887
Starting Date: 11/29/1941
Location: Bridge Mountain (Zion, Springdale)
Project: NP-4
Company: 962
Starting Date: 9/1/1939
Location: Bridge Mountain (Zion, Springdale)
Project: PE-213
Company: 961
Starting Date:
Location: St. George
For details, click here
Project: PE-215
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: Santa Clara
Project: PE-216
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: Washington
Project: PE-217
Company:
Starting Date:
Location: LaVerkin
Project: S-204 [Not listed at the Legacy CCC 2011 Conference]
Company: 1254
Starting Date: 6/14/1932
Location: Springdale
Project: SCS-2
Company: 585
Starting Date: 10/25/1935
Location: Gunlock
Project: SCS-7
Company: 585
Starting Date: 6/8/1937
Location: Leeds
Project: SE-213
Company: 961
Starting Date:
Location: St. George
For details, click here
Spike Camps: Temporary remote "spike" camps (also known as fly camps, side camps, or spur camps) were established near many of the actual construction projects.
HISTORY
The Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) program was authorized on March 31, 1933. Its purpose was to provide work and training for unemployed young men while accomplishing useful public works. It was renamed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937. The separate Indian Division (ECWID) became the CCC-ID. The program lasted until September 1942. By then, enrollment had dropped way off due to job availability in public and military sectors.In 1934, the Department of the Interior's Soil Erosion Service was replaced by the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service (SCS).
In September of 1935, as a result of declining enrollment with the improving economy, the enrollment age of 18-25 was expanded to 17-28 year olds. In July 1937, the maximum age was reduced to 23.
In 1939, the Division of Grazing was renamed the U.S. Grazing Service.
The Leeds Camps worked in conjunction with the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and the U. S. Forest Service (F). The Pinto Camp worked in conjunction with the U. S. Forest Service (F) and the Enterprise Camp may have just been a spike camp of the Pinto or Leeds Camps.
PHOTOS
WCHS photos:WCHS-01053 Photo of the bunks in the CCC Company 959 barracks
WCHS-01054 Photo of a CCC Camp mess hall
WCHS-05481 Photo of a patch that might have been worn on a CCC uniform in the 1930s
WCHS-05482 Photo of a patch that might have been worn on a CCC uniform in the 1930s
Other photos on the web:
Photo of a building and surrounding land at the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of a tent and a building at an unknown CCC camp
Photo of a tractor from the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of a tractor from the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of an enrollee operating a large piece of equipment at a CCC construction site
Photo of an enrollee operating a large piece of equipment at a CCC construction site
Photo of a crew of CCC enrollees trying to get a D-7 Cat out from being stuck in the Virgin River
A CCC truck stuck in a river somewhere in Utah
Photo of a group of CCC enrollees at Mountain Meadows, lined up behind a flat bed truck to get their lunch
Photo of a dam being constructed by the CCC on the Santa Clara River on the Shivwits Indian Reservation
Photo of a large rock dam which has been built by a company of CCC enrollees from a Utah camp
Photo of a small rock dam built by a crew of CCC enrollees from the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of a retaining wall and aqueduct, probably constructed by enrollees from the Leeds CCC Camp
Photo of a group of CCC enrollees under an entrance sign to Dixie National Forest
Photo of three enrollees in front of their barracks at the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of five enrollees in front of their barracks at the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of four enrollees in front of their barracks at the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of two enrollees in front of their barracks at the Leeds, Pinto, or Enterprise CCC camps
Photo of a CCC enrollee posing under a rock arch
Photo of a group of enrollees in front of their tent at an unknown camp
Photo of an unidentified CCC enrollee
REFERENCES
Wikipedia article about the CCCList of CCC projects and camps in Utah
List of CCC projects and camps in Utah
List of photos in the Jerome Bernstein Photograph Collection of Civil Conservation Corps Camps in the Intermountain West
Nine Years of Achievement: The CCC in Utah
by Kenneth W. Baldridge
Ph.D. Dissertation, Brigham Young University, May 1971
List of photos in the Jerome Bernstein Photograph Collection of Civil Conservation Corps Camps in the Intermountain West
The Civilian Conservation Corps Was a Boon to Utah
Utah History to Go article by W. Paul Reeve
History Blazer, February 1995
The Civilian Conservation Corps
???, Chapter 14, pp. 201-226
Article: The CCC in St. George, Utah and the Blizzard of 1936-37
Article: The CCC in Utah's National Parks
Article: Special Purpose in Utah - Drought Relief
Article: Erosion Control CCC Camps in Utah
Three articles about the CCC Legacy Gathering in St. George
Article: Shovel Ready, Remembering the CCC in St. George
CCC reference information from the National New Deal Preservation Association
Brief history of the CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy organization website
Book: "With Picks, Shovels & Hope: The CCC and Its Legacy on the Colorado Plateau"
Book: "A History of Washington County From Isolation to Destination", pp. 228-230
Video: "From Depression to Destiny, The CCC in Southern Utah and the Arizona Strip"
Poem by a CCC enrollee: "Hitch in Hell"
New Deal day; relics and remembrances of the Civilian Conservation Corps
Article by Reuben Wadsworth, St. George News, May 21, 2017