Great Depression Work Camps

By Guy Scott

While the 1920s were known as the ‘Roaring Twenties,’ the next decade was labelled the ‘Dirty Thirties.’ Following the Wall Street Stock Market Crash in October 1929, a decade of hard times gripped Canada. Unemployment rose to 25%, prices for goods fell ever lower and the economy contracted as industries closed, exports dried up and demand for goods collapsed.

By 1932, waiting it out was clearly not working and the pressure on governments grew to do ‘something.’ One of the somethings was a series of public works projects where government spent money to kick start the economy. The most common project was road building. The number of motor cars had multiplied during the prosperous Roaring Twenties, but the network of public roads seemed stuck in the horse and buggy era. Therefore, the government of Ontario decided to rebuild the old road system into something more modern and employ some of the army of unemployed men at the same time.

The current Highway #35 was one of the major road projects in our area. A series of ‘work camps’ was set up along its course to house the workers. From the Haliburton-Victoria border, work camps were set up every 10 miles along the road from Moore’s Falls to Dorset. This new Highway #35 was built over portions of the old Cameron Colonization Road to Minden, and then followed portions of the Bobcaygeon Road between Minden and Dorset. Since the Bobcaygeon Road between Minden and Dorset wound through some rough and uninhabited terrain, a new route was planned east of the old road on a more favourable route. Thus Highway #35 was created as a make-work project during the Great Depression. Here are the locations of the 14 camps:

Camp 1: Victoria-Haliburton boundary

Camp 2: Miner’s Bay

Camp 3: Hounsell’s Farm on Gull Lake

Camp 4: Cameron Road and Hulbig Sideroad (now Ravine Rd)

Camp 5: Minden Village

Camp 6: Mountain Lake

Camp 7: Twelve Mile Lake

Camp 8: Carnarvon

Camp 9: Boshkung Lake

Camp 10: Saskatchewan Lake

Camp 11: Pine Springs – Ox Narrows

Camp 12: Wren Lake

Camp 13: South of Dorset

Camp 14: Dorset

Camps 5 & 14 never had a special work camp site, as they were situated in villages. The men simply boarded in the village or went home for meals and at night. While the other camps were never far away from a village, they stayed right in camp for the whole week. The only option was walking and the only day off was Sunday!

The camps were set up in the fall and winter of 1932-1933. Wages started at $5 per month. Yes that is correct! But this included meals and board. This wage was low even for the time and place. Men were free to come and go, but many were content just to have any job. Others with families had their employment linked to welfare payments; and early form of workfare. In a normal month there were 26 work days, which equated to about 16 cents a day or 2 cents an hour! Yikes! It was tough times!

The average work camp contained the following staff: 1 Foreman, 1 Timekeeper (clerk), 4 straw bosses (crew foremen) 1 powderman (for blasting), 6 teamsters (and teams), 8 cooks and helpers, 6 woodcutters (to supply firewood and clear right of ways) and between 75-80 general labourers. In winter, each camp had a fireman who did nothing but fill woodstoves throughout the night. But then firewood was plentiful and handy in Haliburton County.

Since most of the men were not local, there was little to do on their day off each week. The locals could go home, but the city men were usually stranded. On Christmas Day, 1932, 87 men in one work camp (out of 100) spent the day in camp. It was impractical for them to go home, if they had a home to go to!