- City:
- Socorro, TX
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Federal Facilities, CCC Camps
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Description
Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as underway in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was “the County Farm building program, which will provide 13 permanent structures.”
NPS.gov:
“The facility, established as the El Paso County Poor Farm in 1916, continued in that function until 1964. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Texas Transient Bureau began construction of a multi–building labor camp on part of the poor farm grounds in 1935. The Transient Bureau soon ceased operations. Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the previously planned construction in 1936, intending the new buildings for expanded poor farm uses.”
“Construction resumed in December 1935, and when completed in 1936 encompassed eleven dormitories, two recreation halls, an infirmary, and a sewage system. To provide water, an elevated water tank that appeared in a 1940 photograph was also added.”
“In June 1936, in order to remove the perceived stigma associated with the term “poor farm,” the facility was renamed “Rio Vista Farm.””
Furthermore, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated here for several months: “From April to August 1936, the facility housed members of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp 889.“
Source notes
"WPA Finishes 53 Projects," El Paso Times, June 7, 1936 (pg. 13): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/433234517/
National Historic Landmark Nomination Form: https://home.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/upload/2021-Fall-Rio-Vista-Bracero-Reception-Center-NHL-NOM-FINAL-508-for-LC.pdf (accessed May 24, 2022)
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on May 24, 2022.
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