Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot, Babbitt Housing Area, U.S. Highway 95, Hawthorne, Mineral County, NV

Significance: Built during the 1940s, the Babbitt area was a comprehensively planned community constructed to house workers at the Hawthorne ammunition facility in support of the war effort. The Babbitt area was laid out adjacent to Highway 95 southeast of the ammunition plant's "Industrial Area" and northwest of Hawthorne, the seat of Mineral County. The Babbitt area housing consisted of wood-framed, prefabricated, gable-roofed duplexes clad in asbestos composition shingles. Built on concrete perimeter footing walls, the structures were erected as temporary housing. The real significance of the Babbitt Community comes from the fact that the community was a planned, segregated facility which, through the perseverance of the black residents, became an integrated facility during the 1960's and 1970's.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N102
Survey number: HABS NV-23
Building/structure dates: 1942 Initial Construction