Genealogy of the Woodcock Valley

Civilian Conservation

Corps in

Huntingdon County

When I was a junior at Juniata College, I took Professor Dave Hsiung's history class called "Exploring Local History." Being a local student AND a history nut, the class was perfect for me. Our assignment was to explore one area of Huntingdon County history and write a paper about our topic and present it during a public presentation. I chose to explore the role of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Huntingdon County during the Great Depression. At that time, I was able to interview some local residents who had worked for the CCC. I also interviewed the historian for the C. H. Miller Hardware Company, as well as the district forester, and historian at Greenwood Furnace State Park. It was quite an experience! I am including the paper below as well as information on the seven camps that were located in Huntingdon County. I have created a database of information on people who worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps across the U. S.; the link to the database is below. If you know of someone who served in the CCC, please send me his information on the contact form.

To read my college paper on the CCC, click on the title of the paper below:

Relief From the Great Depression: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Huntingdon County

The Civilian Conservation Corps camps in and around Huntingdon County included:

To see a list of the workers at the CCC camps in Huntingdon County as well as across the U.S., please click on the link below:

List of Civilian Conservation Corps Workers - UPDATED 9/14/2013

If you know of a person who worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps anywhere in the U. S. who is not listed on the link above, please send me his information using the

Civilian Conservation Corps Roll Call

To see photos and paperwork from the Civilian Conservation Corps, please click on the photo links below:

Civilian Conservation Corps Photo Album for Huntingdon County, PA

Civilian Conservation Corps Photo Album for Pennsylvania and the US

If you are on Facebook, "Like" my page:

Civilian Conservation Corps Reunion

where you can post photos, names of those who served, or any other Civilian Conservation Corps related material.

Civilian Conservation Corps Songs

"What We Did For a Dollar a Day"

by John Derden

In the depth of the Great Depression in 1933,

President Roosevelt created the CCC.

For our nation, he had a plan ---

To give young men jobs, improve our forests, and build state and federal parks

Throughout the land.

From the country, villages, towns, large cities, and the ghettos, by the

Thousands we came.

We were eager to participate in FDR's CCC game.

Our uniforms and equipment were 1917 Army style.

And every time we went to town, the girls would point to our pistol-legged trousers and smile.

We lived in tents and barracks and had to sweep the floors and make up our bed.

We shined our shoes, brushed our teeth, and combed our head.

To heat the barracks we built our own fires and cut our own wood.

The need for dry kindling was well understood.

They taught us to lay rock, or cement, and build lakes for wild geese and ducks,

To operate bulldozers and drive trucks.

We dug ditches, built roads, and sloped banks,

Built campgrounds, log cabins, and water tanks.

We worked in the rain, the snow, and the mud,

To crush rock, cut logs, and rescue people from the Mississippi flood.

Our camps were located all across the land

From Alaska to Death Valley's burning sand.

We were often stationed far from home in places we had never been

To perform hard work with very little money to spend.

When in town, if we asked girls for a date they would say, "No thanks, we go out

With railroad men,

Because you CCC boys only have five dollars all month to spend."

With axes, rakes, saws, and leaking fire pumps on our back,

We climbed mountains to fight fire all day with only a sandwich in a paper sack.

If we ever went home for a visit, we always had a short time to stay,

Because we had to hitch-hike or walk all the way.

Working in the kitchen would have been a good deal,

But they had too many pots and pans to wash and too many spuds to peel.

In the evening before we could eat,

We lowered the flag and had retreat.

We did our work well all across the land; our forest roads are stil lined with

Our shrubs and trees.

And as people ride by and enjoy the scenery, they always say, "These roads and trees were put here by the CCCs."

And we are proud to say,

We did this all for just a dollar a day.

~Taken from the Penn Lines, April 2008

Sedgley Thornbury is at the right. He served as a second lieutenant at S-61, Diamond Valley. This photo was taken at the flag pole in 1933. To view more Civilian Conservation Corps photos from the Huntingdon County area, click on the link.