Oregon Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps

Oregon and the Great Depression

The economic crisis of the Great Depression was enormous.  One third of the U.S. workforce was unemployed. Millions of people were hungry, hopeless and increasingly angry.

In Oregon, local relief agencies were overwhelmed. County and local taxes went unpaid. Some government agencies, including schools, shut their doors.  Families lost their homes and relied on soup kitchens to eat.

Many tried working as migrant farm laborers, living in tents or shacks in the countryside. While shantytowns, called “Hoovervilles” for U.S. President Herbert Hoover, sprung up Portland. The largest were along the Willamette River under the Ross Island Bridge, at Sullivan's Gulch, and at the old Guild's Lake site.