Shantytowns were houses made out of scraps found around the area. They were eventually renamed Hoovervilles after the President Herbert Hoover. They called them this, because they blamed him for not sensing the Great Depression havocs.
Many Hoovervilles were constructed out of cardboard, glass, tar paper, lumber and tin. Some shantytowns were even dug into the ground so that the government couldn't burn them out for being unclean.
There were many causes for making people migrate to Hoovervilles, but the main cause was due to unemployment and a los of funds.
When the economy recovered in 1940 a lot of the Hoovervilles were burned by the government. The biggest Hooverville was located in Central Park which had 15000 inhabitants. How long do you think that took to burn?
A man named Jesse Jackson was someone who found himself short of funds. He was forced to move to a Hooverville and was one of the first 20 to build in the Seattle Sea Porte.
Jesse Jackson and the rest of Hooverville people were burned out for being unclean. They came back and rebuilt and were burned out again. He then went back a dug a hole so hey couldn't burn his home.