Camp Dismal Hollow

Camp Dismal Hollow. . , The Corps Comes to Virginia , In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the creation of a nationwide program intended to alleviate unemployment resulting from The Great Depression. Unmarried men ages 18-25 were offered construction jobs in exchange for 3 meals a day, clothing, and $30 wages a month ($25 of which was sent directly to their families). The first camp, Camp Roosevelt, opened in Virginia in June 1933 and thousands of camps followed throughout the country. Camp Dismal Hollow opened in 1935 on the land on which you are currently standing. The Dismal Hollow men built the Front Royal Golf Club; worked on the overlook and roadbed of Skyline Drive; planted trees in Shenandoah National Park; tended plant nurseries; and helped construct the Warren County Courthouse, lawn of Front Royal Town Hall, and Warren County Fish Hatchery., Life at Camp , Most camps housed about 200 men, many of whom arrived malnourished and under-educated due to economic hardship. A typical day started at 6:00 a.m. with breakfast and bunk inspection. Then, they were off to work from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. followed by dinner and lights out at 10:00 p.m. Enrollees thrived on regular meals, military-like discipline, physical labor, and educational opportunities provided by the CCC. In their free time, the men often played sports, visited nearby towns, and went on the occasional date., National CCC Legacy , Between 1933 and 1942, 3 million CCC men planted over 3 billion trees, developed 800 state parks, built 125,000 mile of road, and taught more than 40,000 illiterate enrollees to read and write.