Babbitt, Nevada

Babbitt was a government housing facility in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. It was established in 1941, expanded throughout World War II, had additional housing (Title 3) added during the Korean War, and then gradually diminished and was dismantled over subsequent decades. The last residents left in 1987, and only a school and a bowling alley remained in operation for some years afterwards. The neighboring Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Dept (now the Hawthorne Army Depot) was the economic base.

Geography

Babbitt was located at coor dms|38|31|31|N|118|37|23|W|city (38.53816, -118.623053)GR|1.

Name & Zip Code

Babbitt was named for the 2nd Commander of NAD Hawthorne, H.S. Babbitt.

During its existence, Babbitt was assigned the ZIP code of 89416.

History

The wartime expansion of the Naval Ammunition Depot at Hawthorne, Nevada required housing that the town could not provide. In response to this need, the Navy undertook a number of projects, including a Naval Battalion facility capable of housing 2000 sailors, conversion of an old CCC camp into a housing facility for single men called Camp Jumbo, adding a Construction Camp west of Jumbo, as well as a trailer park near Hawthorne. The biggest of these projects was the community of Babbitt, built to accommodate the civilian civil service workers.

The first phase of Babbitt consisted of 25 duplex units on a single block built in 1941. These 25 units This quickly expanded, to 400 duplexes in 1942, and 487 by 1943. By the final stage of duplex construction Babbitt encompassed approximately 40 blocks and 579 duplexes by the end of World War II. All duplexes were on the same 10 room plan, with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, and two living rooms. Varying arrangements allowed for one, two, and three bedroom single units, or four bedroom double units.

West to East Avenues were named for aircraft carriers, including Essex, Lexington, Wasp, Ranger, Saratoga, Yorktown, Hornet, Enterprise, and Langley Avenues. North to South streets were numbered from 10th to 30th. The first street with housing on it was 11th. The numbering was probably started at 10 because nearby Hawthorne had 1st through 10th streets, thus avoiding confusion.

During the Korean War, additional housing—in the form of 65 two bedroom and 35 three bedroom single family units—were added to Babbitt's western corner. These 100 units were located along the Z shaped Dahlgren Drive, to which three other drives connected, Jones, Dewey, and Perry; all apparently named for U.S. Navy figures.

At its peak, Babbitt contained 2551 bedrooms, which indicates a minimum baseline population for that period.

After the Korean War, the base's operations scaled back, and the number of workers diminished. Sections of Babbitt were closed off, and, eventually, the buildings were sold and moved to other locations and communities. By 1960 171 duplexes and 51 single units were gone, and by 1970 an additional 114 duplexes had been moved out. In the 70s and 80s, additional sections were closed and dismantled. Residency of Babbitt ended entirely by June 1987.

As of 2008, nothing remains of the Babbitt community except for a school building at the intersection of 21st Street and Yorktown Avenue, and numerous concrete building foundations. The school building is being renovated for use by soldier for high risk security training.

Discrimination

Babbitt was a segregated community for the first half of its history. Initially, a three block long gap of approximately 150 feet between 26th and 27th Streets separated one end of from the rest of the community. This area housed African-American workers and their families, and was sometimes referred to by locals as "Coloredtown".

The movie theater, the bowling alley, and the soda fountain were also segregated. African-Americans did not have the freedom to choose where they would sit to watch a movie. The "colored" area of the Babbitt Theater was sectioned off with a rope, and the bowling alley had two separate wings. Many businesses in nearby Hawthorne refused to serve African-American customers. This led to NAACP action [ [http://www.clan.lib.nv.us/content.asp?id=592 Nevada Riches: The Land and People of the Silver State ] ] .

Even as late as 1970 the majority of minorities in Babbitt lived at one end of the community, but this may not have been deliberate.

References

External links