Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Sites

Contributing improvements in forest management and recreation development, CCC Camp Belknap operated in the Willamette National Forest for five years. From spring 1933 to summer 1938, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees strung phone lines through the forest, and constructed roads and trails. They built lookouts and guard stations with water systems, and fought several major fires. They opened new parts of the forest to camping and other recreation opportunities, building campgrounds, picnic areas, and ski lodges and ski runs. Perhaps the most distinctive of the projects completed by Camp Belknap's "CCC boys" is the Dee Wright Observatory near McKenzie Pass. Although...

One of three Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps located in the Columbia River Gorge, CCC Camp Benson occupied what was then the City of Portland's Benson Park between 1933 and 1935. Enrollees at this early CCC camp made significant contributions to the development of recreational amenities in the Columbia River Gorge. Camp Benson provided workers for much of Eagle Creek Campground's construction in the Cascade Locks area, as well as improvements at the picnic areas at Wahkeena Falls and Benson Park itself.  Commenting on the progress of Camp Benson enrollees at Benson Park, The Oregonian reported: "Crews of CCC workers assigned to...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp along Berry Creek in eastern Nevada during the 1930s. Berry Creek drains South Schell Mountain in the Schell Creek mountain range,, about 30 miles northeast of Ely, Nevada. From Camp Berry, CCC enrollees worked on projects all around the area, both for the US Forest Service (Toyaibe National Forest) and the National Park Service. “Within six months, the men of Camp Berry Creek developed new campgrounds in the Duck Creek area, and improved existing facilities at East Creek, Bird Creek, Berry Creek, and Steptoe Creek. The men improved the recreational area...

CCC company 2503 was stationed at Camp BR-57, one mile southeast of Ballantine, beginning in 1935. One of the camp's projects most likely included the CCC built Anita Dam and Reservoir located just five miles away. Whether remnants or historical markers remain at the campsite is unknown to the Living New Deal at this time.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Company #1193, Camp Britton, was based at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Windsor, Connecticut. It operated from Sept. 12, 1935 to May 26, 1937. Work included planting trees, insect eradication, forest improvements, road building, and clean-up work after the flood of 1936.

Initiated by the Roosevelt Administration in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps aimed to implement reforestation measures (for example, by planting pine seedlings) in places that suffered from the consequences of lumbering. The CCC situated camps in a rather permanent way by constructing buildings, including at Pineland. These buildings, while an architectural landmark from the 1900s, symbolize the permanence and lasting effects of the services they provided. According to the Timpson Daily Times, 40 camps were allocated to Texas and more than 16,000 men were enlisted in Roosevelt’s “Tree Army” not only to plant trees, but also to fight forest fires...

In October 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1231 arrived in Grant County, Oregon to assume responsibility for work in the Malheur National Forest. The camp was located sixteen miles south of John Day on Canyon Creek, immediately adjacent to Highway 395. By the conclusion of their work at the beginning of World War II, the CCC workers had built fences, lookout towers, cattle guards, corrals, two new campgrounds (Idlewild and Wickiup) and maintained fourteen other Forest Service camps as well as improved forest stands. The one-hundred-and-fifty CCC workers built their camp, which consisted of educational and supply buildings, barracks, a...

On April 5th, 1933, the day that the executive order forming the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was signed, officials of the U.S. Forest Service announced that they would select land near Cape Perpetua for one of the largest of the CCC camps in the Siuslaw National Forest. The site selected was approximately two miles south of Yachats just east of US Highway 101 on the banks of Cape Creek. Construction of the camp began in June 1933 with a crew of twenty-five local CCC recruits. With its completion, the number of CCC workers residing at Cape Creek Camp grew to...

Cascades Camp in Yosemite Valley was one of the two hubs of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) activity in Yosemite National Park from 1933 to 1941; the other was Camp Wawona.  There were around a dozen smaller CCC camps (seasonal and stub camps) added around the park, as well.  Overall, around 7,000 enrollees served in Yosemite. Camp Cascades was officially camp YNP 6 (the 6th camp established in Yosemite) or NP 20 in the western region.  CCC Companies 920 and 942 operated out of Camp Cascades during the decade.  (Co. 942 was integrated up to 1935, as seen in the photograph) The first Camp...

Camp Cascadia, in the Willamette National Forest (WNF), housed members of Civilian Conservation Corps Co. #2907 from June 20, 1934 until their move to Detroit, Oregon in June 1938. Camp Cascadia was one of four major CCC camps located in the WNF, housing approximately 200 enrollees. The camp was located at the confluence of Canyon Creek and the South Santiam River. As summarized on a plaque at Longbow Organization Camp that honors the enrollees' service: (Members of #2907) ". . . built 35 miles of forest road, 8 bridges, 80 miles of trails and 17 miles of telephone line. Buildings erected by Co....

In May 1935, The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began building housing and auxiliary structures in Goliad for CCC Company 3822(V), a military veterans unit. Built on land that belonged jointly to the city and the county, the camp consisted of forty cottage-style barracks, each to house six men, and nine larger buildings that included a wood shop and metal shop. The camp opened in August 1935, and housed former military enrollees veterans of the Spanish American War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, and World War I. According to a 2001 National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form: "The Goliad Camp was...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted substantial work at Shenipsit State Forest in northern Connecticut. Work was undertaken by Camp Conner, housing Company #1192, which operated from Sept. 5, 1935 to May 23, 1941. The physical camp resided south of Chestnut Hill Rd., at Thomas Rd. The prime remnant of the camp is the former camp officer / officers' office building, now the CCC Museum (which has its own page on our site). Additional structures that are still extant include the forest ranger's house and garage, located just east of the CCC Museum, which were constructed "from wood salvaged after the Hurricane of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Cross housed Co. 182, S-51, and operated from June 20, 1933 to Apr. 1, 1941. It was based "in the rock-strewn valley of the Housatonic River." According to the CCC Museum, work included the "creation of 12 miles of truck trails, including Gold Road and Titus Road," and "clean-up work after the 1936 flood of the Housatonic River." CCCLegacy.org: "For eight years Camp Cross was set up in the Housatonic Meadows State Park in Sharon. The enrollees were World Was I veterans who pitched their tents across the road from the Housatonic River. They built 12...

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed Camp Emigrant Springs for their use while improving the State Park at that location. Approximately twenty-five miles southeast of Pendleton near the summit of the Blue Mountains, the park marked a historical stop on the Oregon Trail when it became part of the state's park system in the mid-1920s. CCC enrollees, however, were significant in development of the park for day-use. As noted in an Oregon State Parks report, these improvements included: "constructing camp buildings, clearing away unnecessary brush, constructing park roads, trails, and car parking areas, drilling a 6-inch well 370 feet...

In 1933, Company 832 of the Civilian Conservation Corps built CCC Camp F-17-W at Chimney Park in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest. CCC enrollees at the Chimney Park camp worked on ranger stations, trails, and roads in addition to establishing and measuring timber research plots. Some of the CCC enrollees went on to study forestry in college following their service. One sent a letter to the U.S. Senate that was cited in government discussions of deforestation in 1971 (“Statement of Hon. Teno Roncalio”).   Camp F-17-W operated continuously until July 20, 1942 and was one of the last CCC camps to close...

The Civilian Conservation Corps built CCC Camp F-3-W in the Bighorn National Forest, in 1939.  

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up Camp F-30 in Hobble Creek Canyon, about six miles east of Springville.  It was a summer season camp, consisting only of tents on wooden platforms.  Hobble Creek Camp (F-30) was located in what is now Cherry Campground (moving there from another nearby location in 1934). The US Forest Service website says that F-30 only operated in 1934-36, with operations shifted to Camp F-40 in Provo, a few miles north of Springville, up to 1941. Baldridge (p 122) contradicts this, saying that F-30 continued to be used as a summer spike camp until...

The Civilian Conservation Corps built Camp F-37-W, Company 4803, in Douglas, Wyoming in 1936.

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) Company 3340 worked out of camp F-38 at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake County Utah, from the summer of 1935 through 1942.  Camp F-38 was under the direction of the US Forest Service. The hundreds of CCC enrollees assigned to camp F-38 made many improvements to recreational facilities along the Wasatch Front east of Salt Lake City, including work in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Little Cottonwood Canyon and Mill Creek Canyon. They built trails, roads, bridges, campgrounds, shelters, ski facilities, amphitheaters and more, and even carried out a couple rescue operations, as well. A panel near...

In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up Camp F-40 at the Provo Fairgrounds (now the Provo Airport).  It was a permanent camp with wooden buildings that operated until 1941.  It housed CCC Company 958, which moved there from Camp F-30 in Hobble Creek Canyon -- first in the winters of 1934 and 1935, then full time from 1936 on. The letter F meant that CCC projects at this camp were carried out under the direction of the US Forest Service, in what was then the Wasatch National Forest (now Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest). The name "Rock Canyon" may be a...

The Civilian Conservation Corps built camp F-42 at the Saint Joe National Forest, Idaho.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established Camp F-5 in Timpanogos Cave National Monument in the summer of 1933. Company 940 was sent there from training at Fort Douglas, with its 200-man contingent including both young enrollees and a large complement of "experienced men" from Salt Lake City. During summer 1933 and through the winter of 1933-34 (Baldridge, p. 164), the CCC made many improvements to the national monument. Baldridge (p. 33) states that:  "..much was accomplished, as the men built roads, bridge, and trails; poisoned rodents; construct picnic tables for many campsites; and constructed Forest Service facilities, including the South Fork Ranger...

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up one of the first camps in Utah in Salt Creek Canyon a few miles east of Nephi, near what is now the intersection of highway 132  and FR015 (the Mount Nebo Scenic Byway).  The camp number was F-9, meaning it worked under the US Forest Service. Working out of Camp F-9, various CCC companies carried out extensive improvements around the southern flank of Mt. Nebo.. The first, in 1933, was building the central section of Mt. Nebo Loop Road (that was company 958, which subsequently operated out of Camps F-30 and F-40...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Fechner, which housed Company #2102 at Wooster Mountain State Park in Danbury, Connecticut, conducted the following improvement and development work: "removal and burning of over 80,000 elm trees to control Dutch Elm Disease; construction of roads; forest fire suppression and prevention; forestry work; control the Pine Shoot Moth; assistance in the lower Connecticut River Valley after the Flood of 1936." The camp operated from Sept. 12, 1935 to May 24, 1937.

CCC Camp Four Mile, also known as the CCC Bandon Side Camp, served as a base for Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers from its founding in spring 1937 through 1941. Today the site is occupied by a Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) patrol district, and a CCC building houses the administration office for the CFPA's Four Mile Guard Station. Thus, it continues its association with firefighting and fire prevention services for the area south of Bandon, Oregon. CCC Camp Four Mile offers one example of many "side camps" that provided firefighting services in the Coos Forest Protection Association District. During the...

CCC Camp Frederick Butte (DG 68) was one of seven Civilian Conservation Corps camps established in Oregon to work with the US Grazing Service in the implementation of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. The Taylor Act created grazing districts as a means to regulate use of public lands by Western ranchers with the goal of improving livestock management and the management of watersheds. CCC enrollees arrived at Frederick Butte in Deschutes County in 1937. As with other DG - or Public Domain Grazing - designated camps, the CCC men planted grasses, eliminated pests believed detrimental to the rangeland, managed the...

From 1934 to 1942, CCC Camp Gap Ranch operated in Harney County under the direction of the US Grazing Service, the precursor to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Enrollees at this 200-person Civilian Conservation Corps provided labor on projects designed to manage range land. As noted in a BLM brochure, this included building range improvements such as fences and reservoirs, drilling wells, building roads, and cutting large quantities of juniper posts for fencing projects. CCC Camp Gap Ranch (DG-5) was one of seven Civilian Conservation Corps camps established in Oregon to work with the US Grazing Service in the implementation...

CCC Camp Greene was located on W. 2nd St. in Xenia, OH from 1935 to 1942. CCC boy Harold Kilgore's CCC papers (pictured below) lists some of the activities the CCC engaged in from Camp Greene, including: fence construction, timber stand improvement, tree planting and building temporary dams.

“A former CCC camp is located at the base of Hart Mountain. From this camp, Company 3442 carried out various projects, including fence construction and the installation of telephone lines. The remaining building was the camp infirmary. The CCC campsite will be developed as a campground in the future. Refuge personnel supervised the building of the existing refuge headquarters buildings and residences, which feature CCC-era stonework.” –“CCC Landmarks: Remembering the Past”

In 1935, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers completed Camp Heppner on a site just east of the Morrow County Fairgrounds’ race course and north of the Heppner Highway. From its founding to closure in November 1941, several CCC companies resided there while assisting local ranchers by implementing soil conservation demonstration projects.  No evidence of the camp remains. The Heppner Gazette-Times, the town’s weekly newspaper, reported in early July 1935 that local carpenters and “28 CCC helpers” were running ahead of schedule in completion of the camp. The report also stated that the work had entirely eliminated unemployment in the town given the...

From 1935 to 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted 3,655,090 trees at their camp in Larsmont. “These included 1,842,183 jack pine, 1,600,700 Norway pine, 169,163 white pine, and 42,974 white spruce.”

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp near Lovelock NV during the 1930s, officially BR-36, popularly called Camp Lovelock or sometimes Camp Pershing. It was located near the main road north of town (along what is now Interstate 80). No trace of it remains today. CCC enrollees helped with improvements to the Humboldt River Project of the Bureau of Reclamation and the irrigation system of the Lovelock Valley (then private, but today part of the Pershing County Water Conservation District). They worked on ancillary construction jobs during the final stage of construction of the Rye Patch Dam and Reservoir and...

Camp NA-1 was located in the National Arboretum, Washington, DC, and was home to Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1360, an all African-American unit. Many of the enrollees in Company 1360 were young men from the city itself. Company 1360 formed on June 7, 1933 at Fort George Meade, Maryland and, after initial work assignments in Chester, Virginia (Camp P-61) and Williamsburg, Virginia (Camp SP-9), the men settled into Camp NA-1 in November 1934. From then until 1941 these young African American men made the earliest significant developments to the National Arboretum – a project of the Bureau of Plant Industry...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Navy-1 was created at Yorktown, Virginia, on November 1, 1935, for the purposes of improving the Naval Mine Depot (a 20-square mile area that is now called “Naval Weapons Station Yorktown”). The camp housed Company 2305, one of several African American CCC units in the area. Prior to its involvement at the Naval Mine Depot, and prior to its re-designation as “Navy-1,” the same camp was devoted to soil erosion control along the York River and along Colonial Parkway. This work was part of a larger CCC project (involving at least 4 other African American companies)...

Located nine miles northeast of Wheeler in Tillamook County, Camp Nehalem was the home to Company #2908 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from 1935 to approximately 1941. Company #2908 was known as the "Oregon Company," being made up entirely of Oregon enrollees. Its project designation, P-221, indicates that the company worked primarily on private forest land. When the company was formed in 1933, CCC Camp Boyington near Astoria housed the 200 enrollees of Company #2908. From 1933 - 1936, severe forest fires plagued the area and many of the CCC companies provided forest fighting services. The company was moved from its...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-1 was created at Yorktown, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-1 housed CCC Company 352, which had been formed at Fort Monroe, Virginia, on April 27, 1933. Company 352, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – virtually the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over the job of caring for military and...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-2 was created at Yorktown VA for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-2 housed CCC Company 323, which had been formed in Fort Washington, Maryland, in Spring 1933, before moving to Virginia. Company 323, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over the job of...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-4 was created at Yorktown, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-4 housed CCC Company 1351, a World War I veterans company that had been formed at Langley Field, Virginia, on May 26, 1933. Company 1351, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-5 was created at Williamsburg, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Lake Matoaka area, part of the College of William & Mary campus. Beginning in 1934, Camp NHP-5 housed CCC Company 2303, an African American unit. 2303’s work at Matoaka State Park included “trails and bridges, a boat house, picnic shelters, and an amphitheatre seating 500 persons” (Dist. 4, Third Corps Area history, 1937). Today, it seems this area is no longer called “Matoaka State Park,” but is simply viewed as part of the overall campus and holdings of the college.    Company 2303 also helped four...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp on Mount Tamalpais in October 1933 and CCC enrollees did extensive work around Mount Tamalpais in Marin County CA, north of the Golden Gate.  They carried out improvements in Muir Woods National Monument on the south flank of the mountain, Mt. Tamalpais State Park which encircles the summit and Marin Water District on the north side of the mountain.  The National Park Service says this about the camp: "October 1933: Often called the "busiest month" in the history of Muir Woods, this month saw the arrival of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or the CCC,...