Civilian Conservation Corps Camp at Trinity
Trinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A PUBLIC WORK RELIEF PROGRAM FROM 1933 TO 1942, THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) PROVIDED JOBS FOR YOUNG, UNEMPLOYED OR UNMARRIED MEN DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION. PART OF THE NEW DEAL, THE CCC IMPLEMENTED A GENERAL NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION PROGRAM IN EVERY STATE AND TERRITORY. SUPPLYING MEN WITH SHELTER, CLOTHING AND FOOD, CCC PAID EACH MAN THIRTY DOLLARS PER MONTH, TWENTY-FIVE OF WHICH HAD TO BE SENT BACK HOME TO AID THEIR FAMILIES. THE TRINITY CAMP WAS ONE OF 17 CCC CAMPS THAT COMPRISED THE LUFKIN DISTRICT, 8TH CORPS AREA. ON MAY 26, 1933, FIFTY MEN UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN CHARLES H. BRAMMEL ARRIVED IN TRINITY AND NAMED THE CAMP COMPANY 839, P-59-T. THE COMPANY MOVED TO ITS PERMANENT LOCATION AT THIS SITE ON JUNE 8, 1933. THE CAMP SUPERINTENDENCE WAS CAPABLY HANDLED BY MAJOR CHARLES C. “PAPPY” DUFF AND W. D. HARALSON. DR. H.H. THORNTON DIRECTED THE MEDICAL AND SANITARY DEPARTMENTS. MEMBERS PARTICIPATED IN EROSION PREVENTION, CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF FIRE LANES, FIRE TOWERS, AND FIRE BREAK ROADS IN TRINITY, HOUSTON AND WALKER COUNTIES, FURNISHING FIRE PROTECTION TO OVER 320,000 ACRES. THE MEN BUILT BRIDGES, CULVERTS AND ROADS TO ACCESS REMOTE PARTS OF THE FOREST. IN THE LUFKIN DISTRICT, CCC MEN PLANTED MILLIONS OF SEEDLINGS, PLANTING 80-100 SEEDLINGS PER ACRE OF LOBLOLLY AND LONGLEAF PINE. THESE LARGE PLANTED SECTIONS BECAME THE AREA’S NATIONAL FORESTS. IN ADDITION, THE CCC ERECTED MILES OF TELEPHONE LINES THAT ESTABLISHED QUICK MEANS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN NEARBY TOWNS. THE TRINITY CAMP ALSO TRAINED MEN AS TRACTOR GRADERS, PILE DRIVER OPERATORS, MECHANICS AND BLACKSMITHS, ENSURING LIFELONG VOCATIONAL SKILLS. PRINCIPAL BENEFITS FOR THE MEN INCLUDED IMPROVED PHYSICAL CONDITION, HEIGHTENED MORALE AND INCREASED EMPLOYABILITY. IMPLICITLY, THE CCC ALSO LED TO GREATER PUBLIC AWARENESS AND APPRECIATION FOR THE OUTDOORS AND THE NATION’S NATURAL RESOURCES. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the Great Depression left young men without work, the Civilian Conservation Corps put them to labor on the land, and one of its camps stood here at Trinity. Company 839 arrived in May 1933 under Captain Charles H. Brammel, settling at this permanent site that June as part of the Lufkin District. The enrollees fought erosion, cut fire lanes, strung telephone lines, and planted millions of pine seedlings that grew into the region's national forests, while gaining vocational skills as mechanics, graders, and blacksmiths. Each man earned thirty dollars a month, most of it sent home to his family.
Why it matters
The CCC was among the New Deal's most beloved programs, simultaneously relieving Depression hardship and building the conservation ethic and forests that Americans still enjoy.
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Related people
- · Charles H. Brammel
- · Charles C. "Pappy" Duff
Related events
- · Civilian Conservation Corps
- · New Deal
Themes & tags
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