Administration Building of Shakopee’s Camp No. 5 as of 1960. Photo from the SCHS Collections.
Minnesota just endured a week of icy chill brought on by the epic polar vortex. With temperatures dropping into the deep negatives, there was much concern for our state’s most vulnerable citizens. Throughout the state, buses, libraries and other public buildings were designated as warming centers, and lists of open homeless shelters made the rounds on social media. No one wanted a neighbor to be caught out in the cold.
This is not a new phenomenon. During the Great Depressions, the number of people without a stable home or shelter exploded in this country. Hoovervilles, homeless encampments named in satirical honor of the US President, sprang up around the nation. In 1921 unemployment was holding at 3.2%. By 1933 it had risen staggeringly to almost 25%
Scott County was not unaffected by this national tragedy. On June 21, 1934 the Shakopee Argus reported that 520 acres near Shakopee had been purchased as a “Transient Relief Headquarters”. Camp land was composed of what once were several adjoining farms, owned by the families Donovan, Pond and Kelly respectively. The sale was conducted by the highway department and totaled $46,000. Once secured, the land was to be used for one of five camps in the Minnesota River Valley used to house homeless men. At the time of purchase a camp in Mendota (creatively named Camp No.1) was already providing shelter for 225 men, and a temporary camp in Savage (Camp No. 3) was housing an astonishing 525 more- ranging in age from 17 to 87. The hope was that the camp near Shakopee (Camp No. 5) would provide additional housing and act as a headquarters for transient relief in the area. The other three camps in development, according to the Argus, were No. 2 at Cedar Ave, No. 4 between Savage and Shakopee.
The plans for Camp No. 5 in Shakopee were not small. The supervisor of the camps, J.T. Giascock told the Shakopee Argus that the camp would include a “fifty-bed hospital, dental quarters, diet kitchen, and isolation ward”. The plan for the camp was as follows: “Every man is assigned to some camp duty such as messenger, first aid, kitchen duty, clerical work, doctor and dental assistants, landscaping, gardening, carpentry and other occupations. Each man works 36 hours a week – from 8am to 11am and from 1pm to 4pm daily. Thirty-three hours of work apply for food shelter and clothing and for each of the remaining three hours each man draws thirty cents”.
Before 1934 ended, camp No. 5 was home to more than 200 men. While there is no former employment data for the Shakopee camp in particular, The Shakopee Argus reported on June 21, 1934 that the 5 camps across the valley were home to “200 ex-service men, several college graduates, electricians, once-prominent bankers, former thriving business-men, and a number of highly skilled laborers”. These camps were federal efforts. In fact, the Argus noted that although they interviewed 7 camp residents, none of them were residents of Minnesota. The writer also noted that this was not a problem as the camps were put in place to help “take care of relief for all transients, local homeless, state homeless and federal homeless “
In spite of extensive planning, the Transient camps were a short-lived affair. By August 22, 1935, barely a year after their inception, it was announced that government transient camps across the nation would be closing. The plan was for the Civilian Corps and other successful New Deal programs to absorb those able to work, and for state and community services to help the remaining residents. Emptying the camp was a drawn-out affair. A month later, in September of 1935 the Argus reported that the men from Camp No. 5 had been moved to Camp No. 4. Although the camp was not accepting new residents, 170 men still lived there. By Halloween, 1935 the population at Camp No. 4 was down to 92, and 10 men had been moved back to Camp No. 5. On December 5th 1935 it was reported that Camps No. 4 and 5 would both be “completely and definitively closing by Saturday”.
Slightly more than a year later, on Christmas Eve 1935, the front page of the Shakopee Argus Tribune read “Shakopee, Savage Camps Not Closed: Continuation of Program Assured, 560 Homeless Men Being Cared For”. In spite of this, the make-up of the camps had changed. Now, “less than 10” of the 560 residents were from states other than Minnesota, and rather than federal dollars, funding was “now provided by the county from which the individual comes or through self-support”
Eventually the camps did close, but they did not lay vacant long. By 1938 plans were announced to turn the Shakopee facility into a destination for another New Deal program- the National Youth Administration Camp. The Shakopee NYA camp will be profiled in next week’s SCHS blog post.