Historic Walker County

uy their groceries and personal items from his
store. Andrew Martinez disagrees, however,
pointing out that many local businesses did not
serve the Hispanic community, and that
Boettcher was simply interested in providing his
employees with a convenient place to shop. 74
F R A N K L I N D . R O O S E V E L T
A N D T H E N E W D E A L
As the presidential election of 1932
approached, most Walker County residents
supported the Democratic candidate, New York
Governor Franklin Roosevelt, over the
Republican incumbent, Herbert Hoover. Many
people blamed Hoover’s tariff and tax policies for
worsening the Depression and held him
personally responsible for their economic
calamity. Although Roosevelt’s promise of a New
Deal for America remained a “nebulous phrase”
his boisterous spirit and positive attitude pushed
him over the top in the November election. 75
Following his inaugural address in March
1933, Roosevelt called Congress into special
session, and Democratic majorities in both
houses passed a dramatic series of laws that had
a direct impact in Walker County. For instance,
the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA),
implemented in 1933, paid farmers for reducing
their production of cotton and wheat in hopes
that a decrease in supply would raise prices to
pre-Depression levels. Between 1933 and 1935,
the Agricultural Adjustment Administration paid
Walker County farmers $259,371. The resulting
reduction in supply did produce a modest boost
in prices, but the Supreme Court declared the
AAA unconstitutional in 1935, and farmers
continued struggling throughout the period. 76
In 1933, Congress attempted to address the
unemployment problem by creating the Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC), which gave jobs to
young, able-bodied men between the ages of 18
and 25. By removing young, unmarried
individuals from the national economy, it was
hoped that older men with families could more
easily find employment. On October 1, 1937,
approximately 200 workers from the CCC
arrived in Huntsville to initiate work on
Huntsville State Park. The workers were part of
Company 1823, consisting of African American
veterans from World War I and the Spanish-
American War. They constructed a dam creating
Lake Raven, a stone recreation hall called Raven
Lodge, and stone culverts and roadways.
Despite their work, on November 24, 1940, a
violent storm flooded the area and destroyed the
dam. The park was closed for more than a
decade while state and local leaders monitored
❖
A layout plan of Huntsville
State Park.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, DENVER.
C h a p t e r V I ✦ 3 5