CCC Legacy Journal:   September - October 2009, Vol. 33 Issue 5

Co. 274, P-99 Huntington, Long Island, New York 1934-38 

By: Timothy Ivers

 the existence of a CCC Camp in South Huntington, Long Island, New York. The former camp site is now a residential housing development of lovely manicured suburban homes. Directly across the street the sprawling Walt Whitman Shopping Mall has been a presence for many years. But from 1934 to 1938, this area was exclusively farm country, two lane roads, and the location of vegetable farms and estates. Today the only indicator of its past life is an historic marker, standing like a lone sentinel on New York Avenue, with the brief message, “Site of CCC Camp 1934-1938”. Unlike other Long Island CCC camps at Camp Upton and Mitchel Field which were established on military bases, or the camp started at Bethpage State Park, this camp (274) was begun on private property.

 On Friday, May 25, 1934. Company 274 moved from Sag Harbor, Long Island to its new camp site on the John T. Leiper estate, a 100 acre horse ranch in South Huntington, which was located on New York Avenue one quarter mile south of the Jericho Turnpike. Mr. Leiper leased six acres of the property to the Army from 1934 to 1938. Initial construction was to occupy six acres. A year later, the camp expanded to about 10 acres. 192 boys, three officers and 19 New York State Forest Rangers were accommodated there in army tents, with six men to a tent.  Captain E.G. Henschel, U.S. Army was the officer in charge of the camp, and he had 11 years experience in the U.S. Army, with 15 months in WWI. He was assisted by Lieutenants Frank Seitz, of Buffalo, New York and Harold Theilhelm of New York City. Charles Johnson was top sergeant of the company. Of the 192 boys, 18 were from Huntington, and the majority of boys were between 18 and 25 years of age. The group was to make its first public appearance on Memorial Day in a local parade and service.

 In a press interview, Captain Henschel indicated the boys would be lodged in the tents until wooden barracks could be constructed. Local workmen were going to be hired to build the barracks and other buildings. CCC policy dictated that materials and supplies for the camp be purchased locally. This would amount to over $3,000 per month.

 From eight in the morning until four in the afternoon the members of the camp were under the charge of the 19 New York State Foresters, who were transferred to the Federal payroll for the time. Each Ranger took 10 young men and their object was to fight the gypsy moth and other pests, among those being tent caterpillars and canker worms. The boys would line up, 10 deep, at the edge of a woodland, with a Ranger behind them. They worked straight up, through the forest, examining each tree and marking it. The boys would take with them a light lunch, consisting of 3 sandwiches and fruit. In winter, hot coffee was taken to them in huge thermos bottles.

 From four in the afternoon until eight the following mornings, the Army officers were in charge of the youth. Evening meal was at five, and the boys were free after that to play ball, read, study, or go into town (Huntington village). When leaving camp, the boys were required to sign out and state where they might be found. Lights out was at ten o’clock, but boys were permitted out past that if they “returned quietly”.  Six boys each day, chosen in alphabetical order, were assigned to kitchen police duty, working under direction of a head cook. In the barracks cots were arranged on each side of a center aisle. The boys were their own maids, and before leaving the barracks each morning, they had to make their own cot and leave everything in excellent order. There was a daily inspection of the barracks, and the barracks as a whole was rated. The boys in the three barracks rated the highest were relieved of all work on Saturday mornings, and those in the two highest got a pack of cigarettes. (How would that fly today?) About 30 boys would remain in the camp each day for ‘home duty’ while the remainder were taken out in trucks to the area woods, which extended a radius of 20 to 30 miles from the base camp.

The forest was to be cleared of insects and pests were from Huntington to Coram. The emphasis was on the gypsy moth insect, which was devastating to trees. Hunting gypsy moth egg clusters was known as “bug hunting”. Loose bark on trees was scraped off during an inspection and if eggs were found, the spot was sprayed with a small can of creosote. Gypsy moths were a menace to hardwood trees, particularly oak. Elimination of pests and insects was not the only function of the camp. During the last week of January, 1935, a detail of 150 boys from the camp provided assistance in snow removal after a heavy snowfall in Huntington. The boys were assigned to local schools, churches and Huntington hospital. Their work was greatly appreciated during the snow emergency.

Monthly dances were held in the camp’s recreation hall, and each boy could invite a lady friend and sometimes 50 or 60 girls were invited from Huntington village.

A few of the boys were paid $45 per month, and a few more received $36. The larger number got $30, and they sent at least $25 per month home, leaving them little spending money.

POLITICS AND THE “SEVENTY-ONE”

In October, 1934, there were 71 members (potentially eligible to vote) in the camp. At the approach of the local elections in Huntington, the landlord of the property on which the camp was established, Justice of the Peace John Leiper, arranged for these 71 young men to register in the Twenty-third District in order that they would be eligible to vote. There was an immediate reaction by the voting public to this registration, and suspicions of electioneering arose. On October 25th a show cause hearing was held at State Supreme Court in Riverhead seeking to nullify the registration of “The 71”.

The court’s decision resulted in the names of the 71 were to be stricken from the rolls in Huntington, but they would be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in their home districts.

SICKNESS IN THE CAMP

In early April, 1935, a quarantine was maintained at the camp following the discovery of a case of scarlet fever. Two other suspect cases were discovered and the individuals were removed to a hospital at Fort Totten. In addition, there were 15 cases of measles, which resulted in eight more patients being sent to the Fort Totten hospital. The remaining seven were taken care of in the camp’s hospital. The Suffolk County Health Commissioner and Commander Wicks of the USN Medical Corps inspected the camp and determined that the danger of an epidemic was very slight.

GUEST DAY AT CAMP -MAY 1935

Captain J.A. Noxon, US Army, was then the camp’s commanding officer, and Captain O.D.Swank was chaplain. Other officers in 1935 included First Lieutenants W. Smith and R. Visco, and Second Lieutenant M. Primoshic, who also acted as mess officer. Edward Morrison was camp superintendent and Murray Gilman was educational advisor.

Visitors’ Day at the camp allowed a large number of residents of Huntington and neighboring villages to tour the camp. Guides were furnished to all who attended, and the work and living conditions of the young men were thoroughly explained. One of the buildings of interest was the recreation hall. It had nothing except benches along the wall. Realizing that in many homes in Huntington there was suitable furniture stored away where it was doing no one any good, and which would help equip this hall so that it might be more comfortable and enjoyable to the CCC boys, an appeal was made through the churches and other places for furniture. Marshall Field, a nearby owner of a large estate was one of many who pledged their support. A $300 billiard table had already been presented.

ROTARIANS ENJOY VISIT

The Huntington Rotary Club held its weekly luncheon in October, 1935, at the camp. The club members were escorted about the grounds in groups under the direction of First Lieutenant Walter Smith, of the 28th U.S. Infantry. The general layout of the camp reminded one of a college setup. The buildings were around a large campus with a flag pole in the center. There were 17 buildings arranged in systematic order about the landscaped area. They consisted of an administrative headquarters building, officers’ quarters, U.S. Rangers’ quarters, mess hall, cook’s quarters, hospital, recreation hall, two garages, and five barracks, a machine shop and shower room.

The entire landscaping was done by the boys with supplies donated by Hicks Nursery in nearby Westbury, and Colonel Stanley Todd, who donated some evergreen trees. On the south side of the camp was an athletic field for baseball and football. An outdoor boxing ring also provided recreation. Boxing instruction was provided by Lieutenant Primoshic, who also organized a sport tournament to decide a champion boxer. Educational instruction was provided in biology, English literature, Spanish, French, chemistry, forestry, civics, and radio theory. A radio transmitting and receiving station was also installed. Arts and crafts instruction consisted of wood carving, art metal work, leather, and model building. A large dramatic club was established, under the direction of William Howard of the Federal Writers Project of New York, who was a volunteer dramatic instructor at the camp, and the club wrote and produced an original play, “He Who Brags”, with the boys of the camp also serving as actors and the audience. At the time, there were 207 members of the camp including 18 forest rangers.

The Rotarians enjoyed a luncheon in the mess hall at the conclusion of their tour. One of the boys in the camp, Tex Card, who used to be a Texas cowboy, sang songs for the entertainment of the guests.

PRESIDENT’S BALL --1936

A President’s Birthday Dance was held on Friday, January 31st, 1936 in the camp recreation hall, which was gaily decorated , and a mural especially prepared by enrollee John DiMauro was unveiled in honor of the occasion. Music was furnished by the Fort Totten dance orchestra. Dancing was continuous until 11:30 P.M. when all were invited to partake of refreshments in the camp mess hall. Dancing resumed at midnight and continued until 1:30 A.M. These dances were a regular monthly feature. The proceeds from this dance were turned over to the Warm Springs Foundation, to help establish the soon to become Warm Springs, Georgia treatment center for infantile paralysis (polio) begun by president Franklin Roosevelt.

THIEVES AMONG US

In December 1937, six camp youths were arrested for petty larceny after a few of them turned in their uniforms and declared they were leaving the camp. Instead of leaving they remained in the camp, and when all the others went out to work,

they stole clothing owned by those remaining in the camp. Two of the boys were charged with bartering clothing which did not belong to them. Four of the youths were given five days in jail. Two received suspended sentences. Those sent to jail were also dismissed from the CCC ranks. Those receiving suspended sentences got another chance to make good.

CLOSING OF THE CAMP--1938

 October 10th 1938, Camp 274 closed and was moved to Poughkeepsie, New York under the direction of Lieutenant Wilyen. During its stay in the four years in South Huntington, the camp personnel had systematically covered all wooded areas as far west as Roslyn, eliminating practically all of the gypsy moth pest. It was not known at that time what would be done with the camp buildings.

 But by the following March, the former camp became the Huntington Work Center, under the direction of the National Youth Administration. It was open to young men 18 to 25 who were out of school and unemployed. Woodworking, cabinet making and the metal and carpentry trades were courses offered. The work center hoped to employ 40 young men for 50 hours a month for which they would be paid $18 per month.

 The original house at this location was built in 1858. It was purchased by John Leiper in 1903. The house remained until June, 2009, when it was deemed to be not salvageable, and was demolished to make way for a new house. The former camp grounds had begun to be subdivided in the 1950’s. Mr. Leiper died in 1960.

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 My thanks go to the following people for their assistance in providing information, inspiration and encouragement for this article:

Robert C. Hughes, Huntington Town historian, New York

Karen Martin, Huntington Town Historical Society, New York

Bonnie Sauer, National Archives and Records Administration, New York

David Haberstich and Marcia Rodwin, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.

Joan Sharpe, President, CCC Legacy

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 Editors Note:  Thanks to Timothy Ivers for being a curious commuter.  Tim’s interest in the CCC was sparked by a historical marker on New York Avenue about a block away from where family lives.  He says, “I enjoy local history, and until I spotted this marker, I would never have guessed this location held historical significance.” 

 Tim, thank you for sharing your time and your  research so all of us can continue to learn more about the CCC.