Veterans of World War I had been promised a bonus, but during the Great Depression of the early 1930s the government lacked funds. With Roosevelt as president, the Florida Emergency Relief Administration was formed to create jobs for those out of work, and in Nov., 1934, the government sent 600 veterans to build bridges to replace the ferries. The main and largest camp stood here where the Boy Scout Sea Base is today. On Sept. 2, 1935, the great Labor Day hurricane, with 200 mph winds and 20’ waves, destroyed the camp and the railway. The road was rebuilt on the railway bridges, leaving the unfinished piers as a memorial to the hundreds who lost their lives.