ARCHIVAL RESULTS

The CCC camp in Niceville, Florida existed from 1933 until 1942. When established in May 1933, the purpose of the camp (known as Camp F-3 or Camp Bigby) was to assist the Forest Service in developing and maintaining the Choctawhatchee National Forest. In the initial weeks of the camp, personnel occupied tents, but formal structures were completed before the end of 1933. The purpose of the structures varied little during the history of the camp and the layout of the camp similarly did not significantly change. The landscape of the camp included recreational areas such as a baseball diamond and tennis courts and also open green space, parking areas, and unimproved roads. Camp F-3 was the home and headquarters of Company 1402 as it labored in the Forest performing numerous tasks such as forest stand improvements, road building and maintenance, fire patrol, and fire suppression. As the United States increased preparations for potential involvement in World War II, the CCC vacated the camp for the period from October 1939 until October 1940 when a new company arrived that was devoted to developing Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Range, later known as Eglin Field. Known in the 1940-1942 period as Camp AF-1, the Niceville camp was the largest of its kind in the State of Florida. The camp was deactivated by July 1942.

Camp F-3, 1933-1940

Company 1402, which was to occupy the Niceville site, was organized at Fort Benning on 30 April 1933. The commander was Capt. Walter Bigby of the 67th Infantry of the US Army. The ranks of the company were 172 young men from the northern and northwestern counties of Florida. To enroll in the company, men had to be between the ages of 18 and 25, unemployed, and unmarried. Also, their family members had to be on relief rolls. Prior to transfer, the men underwent a conditioning period at Fort Benning for approximately two weeks, during which time they were fed well and trained (Pasquill 2013).

The men reached the camp on 19 May 1933. Dubbed Camp Bigby, the camp was located on land that belonged to the school in Niceville; however, it appears the land was not in use at the time of the camp’s establishment (Pasquill 2013). A temporary camp, consisting of Army-style tents, was set up and the men were immediately put to work in the Choctawhatchee National Forest and on building a permanent camp which was adjacent to the existing Jackson Ranger Station. Forty local men who were employees of the Forest Service joined the company as advisors, bringing the number of men in the company to 212 (Pasquill 2013). An aerial flyover photograph dating to 1933 (Figure 11) shows what the camp looked like in its initial weeks. Near the center of the camp are a number of tents and to their left is a diamond-shaped, cleared area that most likely was a baseball field. Several structures are shown to the northwest. Figure 12 is a photograph of the first supervisors of the camp and Figure 13 shows a 1936 photograph of the members of Company 1402. Figure 11. Camp F-3 of the CCC, Niceville, Florida, 1933. Source: Florida Photographic Collection.

Figure 12. Supervisors of Camp F-3, 1933. Source: Bob Pasquill. Figure 13. Company 1402, 1936. Source: Pasquill 2013.

Beginning in May 1933, the enrollees constructed Camp F-3. Fourteen structures were built. All of the structures were wood frame buildings. The function of these structures has not yet been identified, but they most likely included several barracks, a mess hall, a school building, an infirmary, a kitchen, and workshops. Recreational facilities included the above mentioned baseball diamond and also tennis courts, volleyball courts, a handball court, and a boxing ring (Pasquill 2013).

The camp was approved on 23 September 1933. The work of the camp was to be year-long as opposed to seasonal. A panoramic photograph taken in August 1935 (Figure 14) provides an illustration of the camp as it appeared approximately two years into its existence. The photograph apparently was taken from atop a pine tree. No people are seen at the camp, and thus it is assumed that the photograph was taken during work hours when the men were in the Forest. In general, the camp appeared to be clean and well-organized. Twelve substantial structures can be seen in the photograph. There are several small outbuildings as well. Nearly all of the structures had a chimney that appears to be aluminum. The entire property was enclosed by what appears to be a wire fence. Within the camp, there was a smaller “fence” of sorts that consisted of short posts spaced several feet apart. This small fence kept vehicles off green areas. In general, there is very little grass on the grounds of the camp. There was a small structure that appears to be a guard gate. The road leading into the camp had a cattle

Figure 14. Camp F-3 panoramic photograph, 1935. Source: Eglin AFB Cultural Resources. gap (CCC n.d.). An oblique aerial photograph from September 1935 (Figure 15, top) provides an alternative view of the camp from the same period. The blow-up view in Figure 15, bottom, shows the structures identified.

Among the numerous forestry techniques that the men of the CCC camp learned was fire suppression. Their adept training was valuable not only in the Choctawhatchee National Forest. In 1934, a fire broke out in the business district of Niceville. The structures were engulfed in flames. The men from Camp F-3 rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire, saving the town from further disaster (Shofner 1987).

Camp newsletters, several of which survive, provide details of life at the CCC camp as well as information on the setting of the camp. The earliest newsletter dates to March 1936 and states that there were 220 men in the camp. At this time, the camp was setting up a baseball team and a fishing group. An array of night classes was available for the men, including Algebra, Chemistry, Current Events, elementary English, Forestry, Arithmetic, Geography, and woodwork. Other classes held on Saturday mornings were landscaping and carpentry. Cooking was taught in the kitchen, mechanics in the Forest Service shop. A recent District Educational Adviser had visited and called Niceville the best looking camp in the district (Scrappy Daze 26 March 1936).

Another camp newsletter from 1936 was published in April. The newsletter noted that the Company was about to be reduced to 157 men. The men who were to be extracted were those who were not in the Educational Program and did not hold a First Aid Certificate. If the number of men meeting these criteria did not reach 50, then the next to be pulled were those not engaged in athletics. The newsletters clarified that the extractions would be “men who neither contributed greatly to the Camp Program nor [have] taken advantage of opportunities to better themselves.” The accompanying list of candidates for removal includes men who appear in later lists of personnel, so this expulsion event may have been a farce intended to compel the men to participate in classes and sports (Scrappy Daze 8 April 1936).

The April 1936 newsletter also announced three new classes: drawing, tree identification, and botany. One of the goals of the latter course was to collect and document rare wildflowers from the Forest. Later newsletters published the results of this effort. Several additional snippets of information provide insight into the work that the camp was doing in the spring of 1936. The camp had planted about 110,000 trees in the Forest. A 40-foot tower at Metts was being moved to Sandy Mountain. A 100-foot steel replacement at Metts was being constructed. The Forest Service was constructing 22 miles of telephone line and the first concrete culvert to be built was being put on Forest Road 211 on Gopher Creek (Scrappy Daze 8 April 1936).

The next available newsletter dates to 10 July 1936 and reports on general events at the camp. A new mess hall had recently been delivered to the camp and was to be constructed 75 feet away from Barrack 4. The existing mess hall was to be converted into a school building that would house the twelve classes that were taught at the camp. There also were efforts to Education Administration Recreation Infirmary Building Hall Building Garage

Infirmary

Barracks

Kitchen/ Mess Hall

Figure 15. Camp F-3, 1935. Top: Oblique view; Bottom: Blow-up with structures identified. Source: Eglin Air Force Base Cultural Resources. beautify the camp. “By removing the garbage house and sterilizing vat and beautifying the side lawn the appearance of our Camp site will be materially improved,” the newsletter reported. Camp Superintendent Kirkland, the new camp Superintendent, moved with his wife into a house formerly occupied by the camp surgeon. It is unclear if this house was located on the camp grounds or elsewhere (Valparaiso News 1936a).

Several additional camp newsletters from July 1936 offer valuable details of camp activities. The 10 July newsletter announced that new men soon would arrive at the camp. These men, like all new arrivals to the camp, were to be worked around the grounds of the camp itself for two weeks. Captain Pruitt, a new company Commander, recently arrived as a replacement for the previous Commander, Harold W. Gourgues. Captain Pruitt had rented “the Willie house on the hill for his family” (Valparaiso News 1936b). This residence was off the camp site. The 17 July newsletter described the educational level of 47 new arrivals as far above the average of past CCC enrollees. Six were high school graduates, twenty had one, two, or three years of high school, fifteen had a seventh- or eighth-grade level education, and only six were fifth-grade level or below. All could write their name. Many were baseball players. The editor of the CCC newsletter, which was at this time published in the Valparaiso News, was John O. Boynton. In the 17 July issue, he made a statement that expressed his pride in the camp: “We have much to be proud of and if we don’t know what it is we have that much to be ashamed of” (Valparaiso News 1936c).

The CCC’s mission to build character in American youth is evident in the 24 July 1936 newsletter which was published after several of the new arrivals resigned from the camp due to homesickness. The writer most likely was Boynton. He beckoned camp enrollees to make something of themselves. “Make the most of what you find and improve yourself by observation and new experience,” he wrote. “These are the rules for success for a self-made man” (Valparaiso News 1936d:2). He continued:

The inner man needs to be fed. Ego demands nourishment. Do something. Write a poem, catch a fish, cast a bold and independent vote, reach a decision, turn over a new leaf, make a new friend, serve a need and watch the fulfillment of mothers fondest dreams (Valparaiso News 1936d:3).

In other news from later July, some of the men had fished in Juniper Creek. The baseball team, known as the Camp Bigby Bulldogs, had recently beaten the CCC camp from Chipley (Valparaiso News 1936e).

Newsletters from January and February 1937 detail events in the camp. The primary work projects in this period were on Rocky Creek and Silver Creek. Little Rocky consisted of relocation and construction of a fill and bridge. At Silver Creek, the company had completed an iron culvert. Within the grounds of the camp, beautification efforts consisting of trellises, flower beds, and new “parks” had been completed. “Parks” may have referred to parking areas (Camp Bigby News 1937a).

An inter-barracks basketball tournament and a shuffle board tournament took place during this period. The award for the winning basketball team was a carton of cigarettes. Two new buildings, one for a radio and one for the camp woodwork shop, were underway. Lights had been installed on the basketball court. The basketball team had recently played the Chipley CCC camp, the Crestview High team, the Pensacola YMCA, and a team from Laurel Hill (Camp Bigby News 1937a, 1937b).

Camp inspection reports are a valuable source of information on the activities of Camp F-3 and the evolution of the camp landscape. In October 1937, CCC Inspector Howard B. Morse wrote a report about the National Forest camps in Florida, of which Camp F-3 was one. The Forest’s additional camps were at Apalachicola, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests. Camp F-3 had 153 enrollees at the time. Seventy-one were working on road maintenance, fills, and bank sodding. Fifty were involved with Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) work. Ten were repairing the Jackson Ranger Station and two were towermen. The remaining men were involved in tower ground maintenance, camp overhead, and developing the Little Bayou recreational site. Camp F-3 clearly was the largest of the CCC Forest Service camps in Florida with 153 enrollees. The contemporary number of enrollees at other forests in Florida was 51 (Ocala), 85 (Apalachicola), and 133 (Osceola) (Morse 1937).

Camp F-3 enrollees also assisted the Forest Service in developing the Little Bayou recreational area which offered picnic facilities, a boat ramp, fishing, swimming, and a playground (USDA 1939). This work began no later than the summer of 1938. Figure 16 is a collection of several photographs (dated 1937) of some of the completed facilities at the Little Bayou Recreational Area. Other ongoing projects from that summer were a bridge on Forest Road 200, erosion control on Little Rocky Creek, and sodding on Milligan Creek. Completed projects included a new tower in the Forest, claying of Forest Road 254, and the demolition of Pinchot Tower. Additional work mentioned in the 1938 report (Morse 1938) was broken down by the number of men working: tool repairs: 4; repair shop: 8; office and garage construction: 9; lookouts: 4; overhead: 3; Little Bayou Area Maintenance: 3; Road Construction: 12; Telephone pole maintenance: 4; road surfacing: 23; Timber Stand Improvement: 27; and Administrative Site Maintenance: 10 (Morse 1938).

An August 1939 CCC inspection report of Camp F-3 (Parkman 1939) contains one of the most thorough inventories of structures for the camp (Table 3). This list, which provides details for 25 structures, is considered the best representation of the late 1930s setting of the camp. In general, the structures are categorized as rigid, portable, and semi-portable, and their dimensions are provided. Later inventories from January and February 1940 (Troy 1940) list these same structures with the exception of the chicken house.

By 1940, the CCC had also built at least one hunting camp in the Forest. Lord (1940) provided a description of the camp in a Forest guidebook. The shelter was in a clearing near an unidentified creek and had been completed ca. 1939. A Harvard graduate in landscape architecture planned the camp and a local Forest ranger, with labor from the CCC, constructed Figure 16. Various photos of Little Bayou Recreational Area, 1937. Source: top left: USDA (1939); remaining: National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 95. the camp. Native timber was used in its construction. The camp consisted of a wooden lean- to, a fire mound, a toilet, a shallow well pump, and a raised rack for firewood (Lord 1940).

In October 1939, the CCC transferred Company 1402 to Otter Creek (Levy County), Florida. The impetus for the move may have been the pending transfer of the Choctawhatchee National Forest to the War Department for the expansion of the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Range. The camp was empty for approximately a year. A November 1939 document created by the CCC regarding Camp F-3 noted that the camp, including 24 structures, was to remain in place for future occupancy (CCC 1939). A January 1940 inventory indicated 24 structures, and thus it is clear that the camp layout and structures remained intact to the start of 1940. Through February, CCC correspondence indicates that the fate of the camp was uncertain. There were discussions of dismantling all of the structures and transferring them elsewhere (Troy 1940). A March letter noted that the camp was being held for potential re-occupancy (Fuller 1940). In April, some of the structures were relocated. Two portable buildings (the mess hall/kitchen and the garage) were partially dismantled and transferred to the CCC camp in Robertsdale, Alabama. Then, in June, portions of the mess hall/kitchen that remained were Table 3. Structural Details as Described by the CCC in August 1939. Structure Dimensions Style barracks [1] 20' x 144' Rigid barracks [2] 20' x 144' Rigid barracks [3] 20' x 144' Rigid barracks [4] 20' x 144' Rigid bathhouse 20' x 70.5' rigid; had flush-type toilets car shed 16' x 55' rigid; ; attached to one side of car shed chicken house 15' x 12' rigid cook shack 20' x 27’ rigid fire tool house 14' x 14' rigid forestry quarters 20' x 102' portable infirmary and school building 20 x 142' rigid lumber shed 10' x 18' rigid mess hall and kitchen 20' x 142' portable Night Guard Quarters 8' x 10' rigid office (Forestry) 20' x 48 ' rigid office building (Army headquarters) 32' x 35.5' rigid Officers Quarters (Army) 16' x 73' rigid oil house 16' x 16' rigid; attached to one side of car shed Radio and Supply Room 20' x 60' semi-portable sterilizer shed 10' x 16' rigid Supply and Paint House 13' x 16' rigid; attached to one side of car shed truck shed (Army) 24.5' x 61' portable welfare building 32' x 130' rigid wood shed 16' x 30' rigid Woodwork Shop 20 x 50 semi-portable Source: Parkman 1939. stored at Jackson Guard for potential use at a side camp on Santa Rosa Island (FL) (Wright 1940). Thus, in June 1940, the structures at the camp were identical to the list in Table 3 with the exception of the chicken house and the garage. Also, the mess hall/kitchen apparently was smaller.

Camp AF-1, 1940-1942

By the fall of 1940, the decision had been made to reactivate the camp. The camp was to fulfill labor needs of the US Army in expanding Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Range. On 1 October 1940, Company 1413 arrived to establish what became known as Camp Army-1 (also known as Camp AF-1) (CCC n.d.).

Correspondence from 1941 provides information on the activities of Company 1413. The strength of the company was 217 men. Of the several Army CCC camps in Florida, the one at Niceville was the largest. Lt. Charles A. Rowland, Jr., who apparently occupied the Jackson Guard station, was the supervisor of Camp AF-1. He worked closely with camp officials in executing project work, similar to the Forest Ranger during the Camp F-3 period. In the summer, the company was involved in logging “on the aerial bombing range” and preparing roads for Army operations. In general, the work of the Army camp appears to have been similar to the prior camp and included fire tower maintenance, road maintenance, fire suppression training, equipment repair, overhead, and bridge maintenance. Material that the CCC used to maintain and repair bridges came from an Army-operated sawmill that Lt. Rowland oversaw and also CCC funding (Thurmond 1941).

Company 1413 at Niceville camp AF-1 had a strength of 211 men at the time. A 13 November inspection report specified that 156 of the men were working off-site on work projects. Twenty-six worked in the camp itself. Nineteen men were reported as Absent Without Leave (AWOL), possibly because they had abandoned the camp for the military. The Commander of the Company was Capt. H.R. Heminger, who had sixty months of service in the CCC under his belt. The camp had a contract surgeon named F.D. Wilder. The Camp Superintendent was Elbert C. Smith, who had held the position since transferring from the Ocala National Forest in November 1940 (Billups 1941).

Educational programs continued at the camp during the Camp AF-1 period. Alex P. Lewis, who apparently was the educational director, outlined the accomplishment of the camp in 1941 as (1) elimination of illiteracy; (2) development of skilled workmen; (3) responsibility of citizenship; (4) vocational guidance; (5) development of moral and religious ideals; (6) national defense training. Sixty-five men had enrolled in the classes which included such varied subjects as US History, first aid, woodworking, photography, and bee culture (Lewis 1941).

The November 1941 inspection report gave some indications of life as a member of Camp AF-1 at that time. Weekly recreational trips were taken to Crestview. Educational and feature films were shown weekly in the camp. Basketball, baseball, horseshoes, pool, checkers, ping pong, and boxing were available. More than half of the company attended local churches. J.S. Billups, the CCC officer who compiled the November report, provided a positive review of the camp at this time, although he was concerned about the discharge rate. “This camp impresses me as being in a clicking condition,” he wrote. “Unquestionably there has been considerable progress made since its installation. The work being accomplished in the field impressed me” (Billups 1941:n.p.). The accomplishments of the camp were detailed in a report by Superintendent Smith. Among them were the clearing of 3,200 acres for a bombing site, the maintenance of 900 miles of roads and trails, the maintenance of fire towers and guard cabins, the construction and maintenance of telephone lines, firefighting, and wildlife activities (Smith 1941).

Following the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ declaration of war against the Axis Powers, the development of Eglin Field rapidly progressed. The manpower of Camp AF-1 appears to have shrunk during 1942. In May of that year, the company strength was stated as 100 and the camp was experiencing high turnover, possibly because of military enlistments (Rainey 1942). Though reduced in number, the men of the camp remained busy, as is indicated in correspondence from 1942, and their contribution to the development of Eglin Field is evident. They were building fire lines, constructing buildings for Eglin Field, clearing land, and logging. In January, for example, Foreman Manuel Atwell (who had been at the Niceville camp since 1939) was working with a crew of 20 at bombing area No. 3 where they were piling pine sticks of 5 and 6 inches in diameter for processing into pulp wood. Also, Foreman G. Field Womble with a crew of 13 was burning firebreaks on the north boundary of the reservation. Foreman Joe Broxson, who had been a member of Camp F-3, worked with a crew of four on projects in the administration area of Eglin Field. Elsewhere, Foreman Andrew M. Barlow worked a crew of fourteen in logging the auxiliary field and machine gun range. When not working on projects off-site, the men of Camp AF-1 could take training courses in mechanics and carpentry (Reichard 1942).

CCC activities in Florida generally ceased in June 1942 (Shofner 1987). Camp AF-1 in Niceville thus was evacuated no later than 18 July 1942 (CCC n.d.).