Tent Colony at the TVA

Tent Colony at the TVA

Tent Colony; TVA; CCC; Colbert, County;

Once the TVA was formed during the New Deal, men were needed to work on building Wilson Dam and to work in the Nitrate Factory No. 2. Many of these men were a part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. Many of the original workers were being relocated from the Northwestern United States. The first groups of men established camps to live in while they were working for the TVA. These campsites eventually became known as the Nitrate Villages. The men's jobs included preventing erosion, working on the dam, planting saplings, and working on building the nitrate factory.These men were soon introduced to educational training in April of 1936. This training focused on business, soil conservation, agriculture, mechanics, journalism, radio, first aid, and practical science. For those who needed it, basic education on reading and writing was also taught to the men in the camps.

Carrie Keener, University of North Alabama

Carle, J.F. 'US Nitrate Plant No. 2, Muscle Shoals, Alabama'. Paper. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
'FDR, TVA, And CCC Federal Influence In The Shoals: The Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XIX'. 2015. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
KIng, Gail. 2010. 'Wilson Village No. 2 1918-1950'. Book. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.
'Sheffield History And Recollections: Journal Of Muscle Shoals History Volume XVIII'. 2011. Florence. William Lindsey McDonald Collection. UNA Special Archives.

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

December 1, 2015

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