CCC Camp Site

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Now, the New Deal era gave birth to a lot of things across this country, and one of them landed right here in Madisonville, Madison County, Texas. They called it Camp Sam Houston, and it was part of the national Civilian Conservation Corps program.

A soil conservation camp, to be specific. The kind of place where the work was real, the hours were long, and the land itself was what needed saving. Come July of 1935, they broke ground and got things started.

One month later, workers were moving in, setting up, and getting down to business. One hundred and ninety-six men, all told. That's not a small number.

That's a community with a purpose. Now what did those men actually do out here? They worked alongside area farmers and ranchers, getting their hands in the soil, demonstrating techniques of erosion control and pasture management.

The kind of knowledge that doesn't come from a book alone, it comes from standing in a field and showing somebody how it's done. And they covered ground, literally. Twenty-one miles in every direction from this spot.

All of Madison County fell within their reach, and they didn't stop at the county line either. Portions of Grimes County, Leon County, and Walker County all saw the work of Camp Sam Houston's men. That is a lot of Texas earth tended to, a lot of fence rows and hillsides and pastures given a fighting chance against the slow patient damage of erosion.

The camp kept on working right up until 1941, when it was closed. Six years of sweat and soil, stretched across four counties. Not a bad run for a campsite in Madisonville.

What the marker says

A part of the national Civilian Conservation Corps program of the New Deal era, Camp Sam Houston in Madisonville was a soil conservation camp. Begun in July 1935 and occupied by workers one month later, the camp provided jobs for 196 men. Members of the camp worked with area farmers and ranchers, demonstrating techniques of soil erosion control and pasture management. Covering a radius of 21 miles, CCC improvement projects included all of Madison County, as well as portions of Grimes, Leon, and Walker Counties. The camp was closed in 1941.