Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Sites

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees made many improvements at Yosemite Village and Curry Village at the east end of Yosemite Valley, in the heart of Yosemite National Park. At the time, these were known as the Old Village, New Village and Camp Curry. At Yosemite Village, the CCC teams installed log curbing, laid out new paths, and planted ferns, trees, and shrubs around the administration building, new hospital, residences, and Yosemite Museum. Some of the landscaping was done with native plants transplanted from various places outside the valley.  CCCers placed flagstones around the telescopes in front of the museum. Under the direction of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completely reconstructed the public campgrounds at the head of Yosemite Valley, which are today known as the North, Upper and Lower Pines campgrounds. There had long been camping all over Yosemite Valley, but it had been an unrestricted free-for-all with cars driving across meadows and people camping wherever they liked. The damage to the valley's meadows and streams had been extensive before the National Park Service (NPS) brought a halt to the anarchy.   First, the NPS restricted camping to designated campgrounds at the head of the Valley in the late 1920s.  It then implemented a new...

Zilker Metropolitan Park is located at the confluence of Barton Creek and the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. The 351 acre park is administered by the Austin Parks and Recreation Department and is considered "Austin's most-loved park." Starting in 1917, local businessman Andew Jackson Zilker began donating land to the Austin School Board with the stipulation that the City of Austin purchase the land from the school board for use as a park. The money would then be used to create the Zilker Permanent Fund, an endowment fund for industrial education and home economics training in the schools. Architect Charles H....

"The historical buildings and structures of Zion National Park represent a variety of buildings, interpretive structures, signs and infrastructure associated with the National Park Service's operations in Zion National Park, Utah. Structures vary in size and scale from the Zion Lodge to road culverts and curbs, nearly all of which were designed using native materials and regional construction techniques in an adapted version of the National Park Service Rustic style. A number of the larger structures were designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, while many of the smaller structures were designed or coordinated with the National Park Service Branch of Plans...

The bridge abutments at the Emerald Pools and Angel's Landing trailheads along the Virgin River display rock work that was clearly done by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  The abutments and foundations have survived even though the original bridges have been washed-out several times by the river and replaced.

The Canyon Overlook Trial at Zion National Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933.  It runs about a half mile from the east portal of the famous Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel to an overlook at the Great Arch.  Sections of the trail are cantilevers over sheer stone cliffs.  The trail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The East and South Entrance Signs were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934 and 1935 and are made of locally-quarried red sandstone pillars, with horizontal logs supporting the signs. The signs were designed by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs in 1936 and made by CCC workers from Camp NP-2. They were altered in 1940 to the design of Park Service architects H.W. Young and A.C. Kuehl and the south entrance sign was rotated in 1960 so that it stuck out of the pillar on the east side rather than the west side in order...

The smaller of the two check-in stations at Zion National Park is the East Entrance check-in.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed the entrance in 1935.  (The North Entrance check-in was added in the 1990s.)  In 1934, the CC constructed a small ranger residence across the road from the check-in station.  The National Park Service designed the residence. Both the residence and the check-in have not been significantly modified or rehabilitated in over 80 years.  The residence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

In 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a path on the east side of the main road up to a viewing platform.  The CCC built the construction in stones that face west toward the Throne of the Patriarchs.  It is still intact, with modest rock work and the original concrete pathway.  The Great White Throne Overlook was the last CCC project in Zion before Congress cut the CCC funding.

Mormon farmers excavated the Pine Creek Irrigation Canal at the turn of the century, using water from Pine Creek to irrigate farmland on the west side of the Virgin River near Bridge Mountain.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built new headworks in 1934.  The CCC used a 15-foot sandstone boulder as an anchor to draw water directly from the Virgin River 1/4 mile upstream from the Pine Creek, conveying the water over Pine Creek in a flume.  The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the South Campground Amphitheater in 1934-35 in typical stonework for the stage, walls, walkways and steps.  Red sandstone was used in accordance with National Park Service rustic design principles.  The original wood benches, set on stone blocks, were replaced with metal seats in 1956.  The amphitheater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 1987.

The higher elevation portions of the East Rim Trail at Zion National Park were originally completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  They were intended as a government road and truck trail.  Vehicular use quickly diminished and it became a foot trail. Although the CCC did not built any other roads and trails in the park, CCC men did significant work on slope stabilization and retaining walls along all of the trails and roads.  Typical CCC stonework can be seen in several places shoring-up trails and roads.

Several revetments (rock flood walls) along the Virgin River in Zion National Park's main canyon were installed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Unfortunately, this kind of flood control work was a hopeless endeavor and most of the revetments were washed-out. Where they remain, however, they channelized the river, which is even worse because it has altered the deposition regime of the river and affected the ecology of the flood plain through the bottom of the canyon.

"The Zoo Amphitheater was the first project completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Oklahoma City. CCC Companies 875 and 895, consisting of about 400 young men of Oklahoma, lived in tents and later wooden barracks on the land north and south of Lincoln Park, adjacent to the amphitheater. Between 1933 and 1936, they laid the groundwork for the park, zoo, lake and this amphitheater. ... The amphitheater is large and will hold thousands of concert-goers. The sloped theater has native rock terracing, with wide grass areas where people can sit on blankets or chairs."   (waymarking.com)