The Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps. The Civilian Conservation Corps of Fort Ancient. , The Civilian Conservation Corps. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government established the Civilian Conservation Corps, known as the CCC or triple C's under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program. Nearly three and a half million men between the ages of 18-25 were employed throughout the nine-year program and worked on projects that included road construction, flood control, reforestation, and soil erosion prevention and creating state and local parks. The CCC had other names like "Roosevelt's Tree Army," "Tree Troopers," and "Soil Soldiers." CCC workers were paid $30 a month for a forty-hour workweek, with $25 of the salary being sent back to the workers' homes. The CCC remained in effect until 1942 after the Great Depression had ended and unemployment was down due to the creation of jobs associated with World War II., The Civilian Conservation Corps of Fort Ancient. Work on constructing Camp Fort Ancient, SP-13, began in September 1933 in the activity field south of this historical marker and was completed in December. Company 588 consisted of up to 210 African American men from Ohio, and since the Civilian Conservation Corp was organized in military fashion, the men were led by a captain, infantry reserve officer, Marine Corps Reserve captain, and Fort Ancient Reserve second lieutenant. In 1935, the National Parks Service added a lieutenant from the infantry and an educational advisor. A total of 56 projects were completed by the time the camp was dismantled in October 1935. Some of the projects included the stone shelter house, latrines, tree planting, overlooks, and grill shelters all of which are still visible today and are lasting legacies of the Corps' work.