Barn at Fort St. Clair in Eaton

Dated September 11, 1936, this photograph shows a barn at Fort St. Clair Park in Preble County in Eaton, Ohio. The photograph's caption reads "Preble County, Eaton, Ohio, Sept. 11, 1936. Barn at Fort St. Clair Park (Being remodeled)." The original Fort St. Clair was built in 1792 and used as a garrison and supply depot strategically placed between Fort Washington and Fort Jefferson. The main objective of the fort was to assist American troops as they tried to gain control of the Northwest Territory. In 1923 Fort St. Clair Park in Eaton was created to preserve this historic site. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939