“Civilian Conservation Corps Camp – Alcester”

camp scs-3 (dpe-211 in 1934): located in city park of NE Alcester. Companies: 2746-8/3-10/1/34 & 6/27/35-8/14/41; 4725V-8/15/41-5/27/42

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal work-relief program during the Great Depression. From 1933-1942, the CCC provided work for 31,097 jobless men in South Dakota - - about 1700 war veterans, 4554 American Indians, and 2834 supervisors. The U.S. Army provided 200-man camps, food, clothing, medical care, and pay, and educational, recreational, and religious programs. The Office of Indian Affairs provided similar services for units on Indian reservations.

Work of SCS-3 was done on private land under the supervision of the Soil Erosion Service and Soil Conservation Service. Enrollees in Company 2746 and WWI veterans in Company 4725V demonstrated the value of soil and water conservation practices with terraces, pasture furrows, gully controls and contour farming to reduce run-off and erosion. They planted shelterbelts, cleaned wood lots, used strip cropping and rough tillage to reduce wind erosion, and built stock dams to conserve water and improve grazing utilization. In 1937 the men planted 7,050 trees in Constitution Grove of Union County State Park and established a tree nursery at Vermillion.

Tours showing results aided in the organization of conservation districts in Clay, Union, Bon Homme and Lincoln Counties.

Erected in 1990 by CCC Alumni, the South Dakota State Historical Society, the South Dakota Department of Transportation and the Soil Conservation Service.

Union County, Northeast of Alcester City Park