CHAPTER
8
PROSPERITY WITH A PRICE:
1940-1960 DesPite New Deal programs, economic depression lasted until World War II brought full recovery in Iron County as in much of the rest of the state and nation. Most of those who grew up during the 1930s recall being poor. But change was coming. There was increased interest in county iron deposits; US Steel was already demanding more iron ore for its plant at Ironton, Utah County. Like most Americans, Iron County residents were not interested in getting involved in another war in far-off Asia and Europe. When involvement became unavoidable, however, they responded wholeheartedly even though the loss of manpower hurt farms, crippled a number of local businesses, and almost caused the closing of the Branch Agricultural College (BAC). The location of an army air corps training program on the BAC campus saved the college and, like the earlier CCC program, brought into the community a number of single young men. As they marched to the campus from their quarters at the El Escalante Hotel and Utah Parks Company garages, they brought a military presence to community life. Only at the iron mines did the work force grow; but that growth 128
