Stony Brook, schools, roads, dams: How New Deal work programs changed Steuben County

During World War II, almost 17 million Americans went into uniform, and we still needed more.

But even in that dire danger, between a fourth and a fifth of the volunteers and draftees were rejected. They were the children of the Great Depression ... grown up without a proper diet, proper medical care, proper dental care, proper housing. And they suffered all the rest of their lives.

With millions out of work, and no prospect of work, the Depression rocked everyone. And most of us cannot really “get” how dreadful the conditions were.

So – imagine. The company you work for went broke. You're a good worker, so you try to get a new job, but there AREN'T any. A chance of one job opening means a line of 200 people applying. You had money in your checking and savings accounts, but you lost every penny when the bank went broke. You have a house – but you can't pay the mortgage, or the taxes. The kids fall asleep crying, because you couldn't give them enough to eat.

Here in Steuben County, two of Hornell's three banks went broke, taking depositors' money with them. So did banks in Atlanta and Avoca. Hornell teachers got pay cuts, and Avoca road workers went on three-day weeks.

In 1934 the Hornell office of the Transient Bureau (for homeless, and for those in distress while “passing through”) served 1,548 people, Bath's office served 1,280, and 269 resided at a transient camp in Stony Brook ... which gives us 3,100 people, PLUS however many were served in the Corning office.

When Franklin Roosevelt became president, he announced a “New Deal” set of programs to attack the Depression. One way was by creating or supporting massive public works projects. That helped — a lot! But besides putting people to work temporarily, it has continued to benefit us ever since.

New York state was pushing school centralization at the time, so federal grants and low-interest loans made new schools achievable. Arkport built a new K-12 central school, and so did Cohocton, and so did Avoca.

Canisteo got a new high school, while Howard got a new grade school. Irving (a Hornell grammar school) burned in 1938 and was replaced, with New Deal help, a year later. Jasper got an enlargement.

Irving was built into the current Hornell High School when that was created in 1955. Howard School is now a business location, and Jasper is still closed due to recent flood damage. The others are all still schools, almost 90 years later. So besides putting people to work in the 1930s, most of these projects are still serving our Steuben community.

Of course, it wasn't all just schools. Almond and North Cohocton got improved water systems. New bridges went up in Avoca, at Antlers and at Big Creek. Wayland and Cohocton both got many miles of street and road improvements, some of them as part of a farm-to-market campaign. (Most roads were dirt, and most farmers were close to broke.) Paving, re-routing, culverts, bridges and guard rails all made the roads safer, and easier to use ... which also stimulated travel and tourism.

New York's newly-acquired Stony Brook State Park still lay mostly undeveloped, but state and federal governments both poured dollars in. Much of the park as we know it was created during those Depression years. Besides the obvious local recreational benefit, it still brings in travel and tourism dollars.

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The New Deal took a new course after the July flood of 1935 killed 44 people. Arkport, Hornell, Canisteo and Addison all flooded. So did Cohocton, Avoca, Kanona, Bath, Campbell, Painted Post, and Corning, not to mention every community on Keuka Lake. Now flood control, reforestation, and soil conservation became major goals.

The most spectacular of these projects was the Arkport Dam, on the Canisteo River. Avoca became a showcase for new farming and soil conservation techniques. Reforestation also helped, including thousands of trees planted in the shape of a giant “A” overlooking Avoca.

Believe it or not, the 1972 flood would have been far, far worse without the New Deal.

All that construction work saved many families back in the 1930s. Forty years later, it saved their children's lives.

Nine decades after the New Deal, our kids still go to the same schools. Visitors from miles around enjoy the gorges in Stony Brook State Park. Dikes and dams still hold back the floods. Love it or hate it ... love Roosevelt or hate him! ... the New Deal is still hard at work. Right here.

-- Kirk House is a Steuben County historian. On Friday, March 1, House will give an illustrated presentation, “Our Great Depression, Our New Deal.” The free Steuben County Historical Society program takes place at 4 p.m. in the Bath fire hall.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: How New Deal work programs continue to impact Steuben County today