Tag: Great Depression

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A sawmill saved the town of Ola, Idaho from disaster – see pictures of the men who saved the town

The Great Depression hit Idaho hard. From 1929 to 1932, the income of the average Idahoan dropped nearly fifty percent. Photographer Dorothea Lange visited Gem County’s Squaw Creek Valley, Ola, Idaho in October and November 1939 and took many pictures of the residents. These photographs reveal Idaho’s social history during the Depression and early war years. […]

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The people of Ola, Idaho rallied together during the Great Depression and built themselves a better life.

The picturesque town of Ola, Idaho was an isolated community due to impassable roads much of the winter and this created significant problems for them during the Great Depression. Ola is an unincorporated community in Gem County, Idaho, United States. It is located approximately 30 miles north of Emmett.  Carroll Baird homesteaded along Squaw Creek, less than […]

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Circleville, Ohio in 1938 – Have the Industries changed? [vintage photographs]

During the Depression, Circleville, Ohio still had some business operating. Eshelman’s Feed Mill employed 150-200 men the year ’round. The pay averaged about eighty-five cents an hour. Another business, Container Corporation of America made paper out of straw and absorbed the by-product of all neighboring farms. In addition, there were still a number of canneries and […]