5. The camps were built near communities in mostly rural areas
Most of the camps were built near communities of all sizes, but the meager amount of pay which enrollees were allowed to retain limited their ability to avail themselves of the entertainments offered. Some of them were offered in the camps themselves. Mess halls could double as movie theaters or stages for live productions. So could recreation halls, which offered various entertainments and gym facilities. Medical facilities and a dispensary were part of the camp structure. Most camps eventually had a camp store or commissary where cigarettes, chocolate bars, soft drinks, and magazines could be purchased. Alcohol was not allowed in the camps – though it frequently found its way in.
The men in the barracks kept their clothes in footlockers near their bunks, and were required, upon rising in the morning, to make their beds in the approved army fashion before starting out upon their day. It was their responsibility to ensure that the cleanliness of their barracks and the grounds around them were maintained by army standards, while the mess halls and recreational facilities were maintained by the men assigned to staff them. The camps were fully integrated during the first weeks, a fact intolerable to powerful southern Senators, and by mid-1935, at their insistence, reinforced by their control of funding, the CCC camps were segregated.