Camp Mess Hall, Kitchen and Well

Camp Mess Hall, Kitchen and Well. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1475, Camp S-67, Tracy City. Hard work required good "grub..." , The camp's Dining Hall, or "Mess" (a military term adopted by the CCC, perhaps because the camp's administrative leaders came from the U.S. Army) was one of the largest buildings in the camp. Feeding 200 hungry young men, plus staff, required a large facility with a substantial kitchen operation, including a chef, assistant cooks, dishwashers and many others., As such, it was a bustling and large operation. The camp's Mess, like many of the CCC's portable buildings, was built on wooden pilings with a suspended floor-joist system. As a result, once the company moved away in 1937, almost no evidence remained of the enormous 20-by-180-foot building that was once here. It is believed that the Mess was at this location, based partially on photographic evidence and partially on the nearby evidence of what are believed to be the kitchen's grease trap and ice house; they are explained on nearby interpretive panels. You would be standing just behind the kitchen, which was at the end of the long but narrow dining hall. It is thought that the dining hall ran from here back toward the perimeter road, where a large "dinner bell stood proudly in front of the front entrance (photo at right)., The kitchen had a great need for water, both for food preparation and for washing pots, pans, and dishes. While the Bath House had its own water supply in the form of pumped creek water, inspection reports confirm that the kitchen had a well, providing potable water that was reported as being "clean and safe." Thus, it is probable that the cement structure with the twin metal pipes, just to your left, was a well-head for the kitchen's water supply, equipped with a submersible electric pump., According to those same inspection reports, the men of Company 1475 ate well, and regarded the food here as being good. The menu, a sample of which is at far right, was appealing, and rich with hearty foods that would keep the CCC Boys well-fueled for their days of hard work., Photo caption (center, top): ABOVE The camp's kitchen. Where you are standing would be just outside the rear windows in this photo, looking in on the bustling and busy kitchen operation BELOW: The crew in Company 1475's kitchen were a "force" to be reckoned with! , Photo caption (center, bottom):The cement structure with the metal pipes, to your left, may have been the well-head for the kitchen's water supply. Originally, a third section of pipe, suspended horizontally across the two you see here, may have supported a submersible electric pump that piped the water to the surface, as do many modern wells., Photo caption (right, top): ABOVE: Cover of a CCC recipe book, used to train kitchen personnel new to the culinary arts. , LEFT: Company 1475's chef goes "alfresco" to pose for this somewhat unusual photo. , BELOW: A typical Company 1475 menu. Local farmers were sought out to provide fresh produce and vegetables, most canned or preserved foods came from the CCC regional warehouse in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.