Civilian Conservation Corps Camp - Presho

Camp SCS-2 was a tent camp in the Presho city park, with only its headquarters, infirmary, mess hall and latrine in wooden buildings, and its companies came by the season, one each summer of 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1938. Their work was water for a dry county: three dams that made two recreation lakes and the city supply for Kennebec. One is Byre Dam, the surname cast on the White River marker's foot line. The bronze tracks the tools too, from shovels and horse-drawn machines to excavators by 1938.

What the plaque says

Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Camp SCS-2 (DPE-222 in 1934): in city park at SW corner of Presho. Companies: 2756--8/1/34-10/20/34; 758--5/29/35- 10/25/35; 2737--4/30/36-10/15/36; 4726--5/15/38-10/15/38; 2770 detachment from Huron--late 1935 and early 1936. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal work-relief program during the Great Depression. From 1933 to 1942, the CCC pro- vided work for 31,097 jobless men in South Dakota -- about 22,000 enrollees (single men aged 17-25), about 1,700 veterans, 4,554 American Indians and 2,834 supervisors. The U.S. Army provided 200-man camps, food, clothing, medical care and pay, and educa- tional, recreational and religious programs. The Office of Indian Affairs provided similar services for units on Indian reservations. SCS-2 was a tent camp; however, the headquarters, infirmary, mess and latrine were in wooden buildings. Byre Dam 3 miles N of Kennebec, Fate Dam 3 miles N of Presho and Brakke Dam 5 miles E of Presho were built under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service (1934) and Soil Conservation Service. The dams provided two recreational lakes and the city water supply for Kennebec. Equipment evolved from shovels, wheelbarrows, horse- drawn machines and a few 1-1/2-ton trucks in 1934 to graders, loaders, packers, excavators and several 3-ton trucks in 1938. Erected in 1990 by CCC Alumni, the South Dakota State Historical Society, the State Department of Transportation and the Soil Conservation Service.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Medicine Creek Rest Area — steps away
• Presho — 7.2 mi