The Civilian Conservation Corps at Guernsey State Park

CCC Worker Statue Number 53 of 65 in America

As I look at society and the world of work in our country now, I am amazed at what was accomplished by the CCC in the 1930s. Two camps worked nearly four years in putting together, what today is, Guernsey State Park. Camp Nine was located between the Museum and the Spillway on the east side. Camp Ten, the west side camp, was situated on the south side of Skyline Drive at the foot of Mae West Hill.

Plaque on the Statue Base

The following three paragraphs are from my book – The Civilian Conservation & the Building of Guernsey State Park – With Folktales and Stories of the Park. Take a look at a free sample here.

  By 1935 there were 2,650 CCC camps in the United States with camps located in all of the forty-eight states. Young men, most with their first real job earned thirty dollars a month. Although a good number of people called this salary a dollar a day, it is not strictly accurate as weekends were off for the CCC men.  This would mean most worked twenty to twenty-five days per month, making their pay slightly more than a dollar a day. On a national level, there were some protests, thinking this salary too low, even for what many believed was a government handout. For the most part, the men were happy to have work and no records, which I have run across, report organized protests from workers in any of the Civilian Conservation Corps camps.

The Magnificent CCC Museum Built by Camp Nine

Of the $30.00 the men were paid, each month, they were allowed to keep $5.00, the rest was sent home as relief for CCC member families. The $25.00 each worker's family received every month was one of the first real attempts in America to jump start the economy during the hard times of the Great Depression.

America's Most Elaborate Picnic Shelter - The Castle - on the Parks North Bluff

 The five dollars the workers kept each month might not sound like much in present day, but in the 1930s the men were able to buy camp, vouchers used to purchase articles at the camp store.  Any money left was used during weekend trips to town.

Here I Am Talking About My Book and Guernsey State Park

Want to see more? Take a look at a free sample here. 

The View From Mae West Hill on Skyline Drive