Trailwood:

"City of Trailers"

The NC State Veterans Association played a crucial role in securing housing for married students, who represented nearly a third of the veteran population. Couples and children were not allowed in the dorms, and hardly any private apartments were available in Raleigh. In February 1946 the association petitioned the university administration and state politicians to solve the housing crisis. Specifically, they pressured the college to lease 150 surplus trailers from Camp Lejeune. By January 1947, two makeshift communities had formed on campus: Trailwood, with 220 trailers housing 550 people; and Vetville, with 125 prefab units housing 375 people. Eight months later, the emergency housing camps had grown to 250 trailers and 360 prefab units. Before they were explicitly barred from setting up trailers on campus, single veterans parked 20 trailers on a spot named "Bachelor's Corner."

The nearly 600 residents of Trailwood brimmed with civic spirit, forming a town council, planting flower gardens, and chatting with their neighbors over picket fences. Their community was short-lived, however. In late 1948, a third of the trailers moved farther south on campus to make way for Williams Hall, and in 1949 the rest of the trailer park closed. A second trailer park known as Westhaven or Trailpark was established in April 1948 on the present site of Miller Field and remained there until August 1953. According to Lawrence Apple, "Life in Trailwood was rustic and spartan but sociable. All residents (around 200 families) shared two community bathhouses. A common sight early each morning were residents headed for the bathhouses with soap and towel in one hand and the family chamber pot in the other. So the bathhouses were the 'Trailwood Community Commons' -- where everyone had to go and where community events and, yes, even some gossip were communicated."

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Building a campus home.

A few veterans literally took matters into their own hands. In the winter of 1946, Charles C. Elder Jr., age 24, gathered timber and sheet iron and set to work building his own trailer home.

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Credit: State College News, August 1946.

Early overview of Trailwood.

The central bath house and laundry are shown at the extreme right. The students are on their way to and from class.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

The trailer home of Mr. and Mrs. Von Autrey.

Residents often personalized their homes in Trailwood. Note the picket fence and two bottles of milk at the door indicating that the milkman has just made his regular delivery.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Mrs. David Clifton prepares dinner.

This trailer was equipped with a gas stove, electric refrigerator, and "the other conveniences of modern living."

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

One of Trailwood's many children, Ray Barnes, plays outdoors.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Emmett U. Dillard, his wife Della, and his children.

Dillard served as mayor of Trailwood between 1946 and 1947 and as an NC State professor of animal science until 1979.

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Credit: State College News, August 1946.

Otis Johnson, Jr. types up an academic assignment in his trailer home.

 

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Trailwood residence of Otis Johnson, Jr.

Many veterans continued to wear parts of their uniforms until they were able to buy civilian clothing.

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Credit: Special Collections Research Center, NCSU Libraries.

Overview of Trailwood, NC State's "City of Trailers."

"Many strong and life-time friendships were forged in Trailwood because we had so much in common with many of our fellow students in background, circumstances, and objectives for the future."

–Professor Emeritus Lawrence Apple, B.S. 1949, M.S. 1953, Ph.D. 1955.

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Credit: State College News, August 1946.

A feature article about life in Trailwood from the State College News, August 1946.

 

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