Weches CCC Camp
Weches, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Weches Camp P-58-T was established by the Federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on June 19, 1933. Manned by Company 888, the Weches camp was the first CCC camp established in Houston County. It contained barracks, a mess hall, recreation area, post office and medical infirmary. Camp enrollees helped restore and develop the Davy Crockett National Forest and the Historic 118-acre San Francisco Mission State Forest. They planted trees, built roads, developed park facilities and erected log structures and fire observation towers. The camp closed in November 1935. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On Juneteenth 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, the federal Civilian Conservation Corps opened Camp P-58-T at Weches, the first CCC camp in Houston County. Its Company 888 enrollees lived in barracks with a mess hall and infirmary while planting trees, cutting roads, and building park facilities and fire towers in the Davy Crockett National Forest. The camp closed in late 1935, leaving a reforested landscape behind.
Why it matters
The camp is a local chapter of the New Deal's vast conservation army, which put young men to work and reshaped America's public forests during the Depression.
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