Palisade Migratory Labor Camp

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View of Mt. Garfield from Riverbend Park in Palisade.

An early photo of the Palisade Labor Camp

An explanation of the Palisade Labor Camp (text below):

"You are standing on the site of the former Palisade Migratory Labor Camp. The camp was established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1941 in an effort to provide decent housing for migratory farm labor laborers. 

Since the early 1900's, local peach growers and packers in the Grand Valley have used temporary labor to help during the peach harvest. As more orchards were established, more and more labor was required. Thousands of people would come to the Grand Valley for two weeks a year to help pick, sort, and pack and ship peaches. 

The Palisade Migratory Camp was built for the laborers and their families to improve living conditions. Prior to the Labor Camp these groups would camp all over the Grand Valley during their stay. In 1948, the federal government sold the Labor Camp to several local agricultural commodity groups who immediately transferred it to the Palisade Peach Board of Control. The Board of Control managed the Camp until it was closed in the early 1960's. There are still several old building foundations on this site, but most of the buildings were sold to growers and moved onto their property."

A picture of one of the original buildings

The cement slabs along the trail are all that remain.
The view looking west.

 

The view looking northeast.

A map of the old labor camp as it stood from 1941-1961.

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