1093 - Frisco Campsite

Oklahoma was hit hard during the Great Depression, and while the symptoms started at the beginning of the 1930’s, the economy hit a new low in the winter of ‘32-33 when nearly a third of the urban population was unemployed. Rural communities were hit even harder, as over a million people lived in the country. Those farmers saw their profits drop by sixty-four percent, and the majority of them were tenant farmers.

Prior to the attempted assistance of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, state relief was limited. Across the nation, “Hoovervilles,” shacktowns or homeless encampments nicknamed as such to criticize President Hoover and his lack of relief efforts for their conditions, sprung up. In Oklahoma, these makeshift towns became a part of cities with Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Lawton all having their own “Hoovervilles”.

Some of these camps were set up by the county themselves, such as the Frisco Campsite in Lawton. Comanche County established the encampment right next to the Frisco railroad line. A mission nearby aided residents, and some relied on odd jobs or scavenging to survive.

Although the state didn’t immediately recover, the New Deal, federal programs and various pieces of legislature were important in helping the area bounce back. However, this aid still couldn't help everyone, and the population saw a decline of about 15% in large part due to people migrating out of state. Comanche County ordered the Frisco campsite to close in 1945, and it and its neighboring Hooverville had to be emptied out a year later.