CCC Camp in Leeds, Utah

Friday, March 22, 2019

Hi Blog!

We've spent the last couple days here in Leeds, Utah, stuck inside the RV while heavy rain passed through the area. This afternoon the sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds. We took the opportunity to walk around the block and explore the remnants of an old CCC Camp.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public works relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 for unemployed, unmarried men. The CCC was a major part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal that provided unskilled manual labor jobs related to the conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. The CCC was designed to provide jobs for young men and to relieve families who had difficulty finding jobs during the Great Depression. Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a wage of $30 per month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families).

The Leeds CCC camp opened in October 1933 under the direction of the Dixie National Forest Service on the site of an existing ranger station. Stone was recovered from the neighboring silver mining ghost town of Silver Reef to build the CCC administrative buildings.

There are four remaining buildings from the old Leeds CCC Camp. Three are on the road level and one is on the top of the hill. The first building on the right was the infirmary.

Building 2 was a dispensary/supply facility,

Building 3 was a blacksmith shop. This was the only building that was locked.

Much of the camp was demolished when I-15 came through the valley. However, this old tree managed to survive. We're pretty sure its an Ent!

The building at the top of the hill was the camp commanders office.

On a clear day, the commander could look over his camp all the way down the valley to Saint George.

Leeds, a town of less than 200, more than doubled with the opening of this camp. Two hundred young men from all over the country resided and worked at Camp #585. Townspeople were reluctant at first about the impact the camp would have on local life, but support grew as the CCC camp clearly provided a boon to the struggling economy of Leeds. The community became even more accepting as the men worked on local projects, like a swimming pool, in their off-duty hours.

Now that the weather is improving, we hope to get out again tomorrow and explore more the red rock wonders in this area. Stay tuned.