CCC Barracks: Living Was Sparse

CCC boys hanging out in their barracks

In the beginning, the official requirements for being a CCC enrollee were to be a man between the ages of 18-25, unmarried, and in need of assistance. (Although some older WWI veterans were also allowed to enroll.) Unofficially, some of the CCC boys lied about their ages to enter the Corps.
CCC enrollees earned 30 dollars a month, a dollar a day, but $25 were automatically deducted and sent back home to their families, thus spreading the economic benefits of the program to the whole country. The remaining five dollars were often spent at the camp store or when they were out for a night on the town.
Initially, some local towns were hesitant to have CCC camps built nearby, fearing the consequences of having so many newcomers to the area. But as the economic benefits of having a CCC camp also spread to the local communities, and the work projects started to show concrete results, opposition often faded away. Ultimately, over 6,500 boys and men worked at the CCC camps in Shenandoah National Park.