At Chilo Lock and Dam, children called the central field the Rye Field, where they played games and held picnics. Life there offered unusual stability during the Great Depression because their fathers had steady jobs, and families did not have to mow lawns or paint houses. Each family received garden space, with an understanding that the first four rows belonged to the river, meaning the vegetables would be shared with shanty boat families who often camped there during the Depression. To children from the Village of Chilo, the paved curbs, indoor plumbing, and whitewashed trees gave the Lock and Dam a city-like feel. The water tower supplied water to the powerhouse and the houses, though residents remembered the water as very rusty. Its pump was in the powerhouse, and the tower held 10,000 gallons. When the tower was periodically flushed, hundreds of gallons poured onto the ground, and boys searched the soaked earth for nightcrawlers.