Fridley page 91



[no source, June 19, 1941]

HOUSING PROBLEM CAUSING WORRY IN ST. CHARLES
Chamber of Commerce Officials Visited Major Dutton and Got His Views On the Question
TRAILERS SUGGESTED
If Houses Cannot be Built In Time For the 4500 Men Needed At the Plant In September

            Construction of barracks to house the single men and trailer camps for the married people was predicted by Major C. R. Dutton, commander of the Weldon Spring Ordnance plant, unless something is done to relieve the housing shortage for defense workers in this area. Dutton made his statement to Chamber of Commerce officials who visited him recently to determine the needs in this area.
            The commanding officer said by September there will be 4500 men working in construction at the plant and about 3000 in the production end. He predicted that at least 3000 men would be employed at the plant for the next five years and during peace time a force of from 700 to 1000 men would be needed.
            The figures are for employees only, indicating at least 9,000 persons including the workers and their families, will have to find living quarters in this area.
            Within two weeks work on 140 homes in St. Charles and sixty in the county will be started but the 200 homes is only half the number Major Dutton recommended to the Government and that was before the capacity of the local plant was doubled. At present, the Major said, 800 homes would be necessary to house the employees who will be [?] permanently.
            [one or more lines missing] we may [?] temporary barracks for the single men and provide trailers to care for the others, the Major was quoted as saying.
            About seventy per cent of the production workers at the plant will be in the $1800-$2500 a year salary bracket another twenty-five per cent receiving up to $3000 and the balance more than $3000.
            As was told in this newspaper Wednesday, the Chamber of Commerce will appoint a committee of six to investigate housing conditions here and may send a delegate to Washington to confer with Government officials.
            When the committee gets to Washington they will find that city worrying about the shortage just like we are here.

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[no source, May 12, 1941]
HOUSES FOR T N T WORKERS TO BE BUILT IN ST. CHARLES
60 of 200 Government-Financed Homes to Be In O’Fallon and Cottleville.

            The 200 houses to be constructed by the Government for workers at the TNT plant at Weldon Springs will be built in St. Charles, O’Fallon and Cottleville, instead of along the roads between the towns and the plant site, Congressman Clarence Cannon announced today in a letter to the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce.
            Cannon said 140 of the houses will be built within the city limits of St. Charles or in an area to be annexed by the city. The remaining 60 will be divided between O’Fallon and Cottleville. The Government will pay the towns a fee, not yet determined, on the income of the property in lieu of taxes, Cannon added.
            The Farm Security Administration has taken options on several acres of land at the junction of State Highway 94 and U. S. Highway 40 west of the city limits of St. Charles. The city will vote May 28 to determine whether the tract will be annexed. It is estimated the construction of the 200 houses will cost about $750,000.