CCC Company 850
Mesquite, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the Great Depression, Hicks Jobson set aside eight acres of his farm to allow the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal work relief programs, to establish a local camp. Located 1/4 mile east of Mesquite, Company 850 welcomed 250 enrollees in June 1935. The site included 24 barracks, a mess hall, health facility, bath house and recreation hall. Under Project SCS-36-T, the men worked on soil conservation and engaged more than 300 farmers in Dallas and surrounding counties on over 40,000 acres until 1941. Work included terracing, fencing, check dams and levees along the east fork of the Trinity River. The camp land was later donated to Mesquite ISD.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During the Great Depression, farmer Hicks Jobson set aside eight acres near Mesquite so the Civilian Conservation Corps — one of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal work-relief programs — could establish a camp. From June 1935, Company 850's 250 enrollees lived in a small city of barracks, a mess hall, and a bath house while working with more than 300 area farmers on soil conservation across 40,000 acres. Their terracing, fencing, check dams, and levees along the Trinity River continued until 1941, after which the land was donated to the local school district.
Why it matters
The CCC put a generation of jobless young men to work healing the land, and camps like this one left a lasting mark on both the American countryside and the New Deal's promise of dignity through work.
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Related people
- · Hicks Jobson
- · Franklin D. Roosevelt
Related events
- · Great Depression
- · New Deal
- · Civilian Conservation Corps
Themes & tags
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