An implementation of createStructure:

use strict;
use warnings;
use File::Path;

my %structure = (
    dirs    => {
        albemarle    => {
            dirs    => {
                chatauqua    => {},
                cattaraugus => {},
            },
            files    => [ qw( washington adams jefferson ) ],
        },
        beverly        => {
            dirs    => {
                ataturk    => {},
                bonaparte => {},
            },
            files    => [ qw( madison monroe jackson ) ],
        },
        cortelyou        => {
            dirs    => {
                peoria    => {},
                paducah => {},
            },
            files    => [ qw( vanburen harrison tyler ) ],
        },
    },
    files    => [ qw( alpha beta gamma ) ],
);

createStructure ('./delme', \%structure);


sub createStructure {
    my ($root, $hash) = @_;

    mkdir ($root) if ! -e $root;
    
    return if ! defined $root || ! keys %$hash;
    
    if (exists $hash->{dirs}) {
        for my $dir (keys %{$hash->{dirs}}) {
            createStructure ("$root/$dir", $hash->{dirs}{$dir});
        }
    }
    
    if (exists $hash->{files}) {
        for my $file (@{$hash->{files}}) {
            next if -e "$root/$file";
            open NEWFILE, '>', "$root/$file";
            close NEWFILE;
        }
    }
}
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