Conservation and Public Lands Sites

The Pear Lake Winter Hut was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939-41 as a ranger station for Sequoia National Park.  It now serves as a ranger station in the summer and as a ski hut for backcountry skiers in winter.  The hut is 17' x 30' and constructed of stone in the national park rustic style.  The steeply pitched gable roof is supported by a framework of log rafters and brackets, with a shake roof.  A gable covers the second-story balcony and a rear gable is covered with board and batten. It sleeps ten people. The Peak Lake Winter...

"Pickwick Landing Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Hardin County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The dam is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to create a continuous navigation channel between the river's mouth and Knoxville, and bring economic development to the area. The dam impounds the 43,100-acre (17,400 ha) Pickwick Lake and its tailwaters are part of Kentucky Lake." (Wikipedia)

In the early 1930s, the Civilian Conservation  Corps (CCC) made improvements to an experimental fire station established by the U.S. Forest Service in the Shasta National Forest, at Pilgrim Creek just east of McCloud Ranger Station. Pilgrim Creek had long been the site of a tree nursery for reforestation projects, but in 1930 an experimental fire station was added to the site. According to a former forest service fire control officer, the experiments concerned fire detection, control and prevention (see document in photograph below).  The same officer recalled that the CCC built a lab and office, a house and a barn, and...

The Federal Works Agency built prefabricated defense housing at Sheffield. “Construction of 250 units was assigned to the Tennessee Valley Authority for industrial workers in the Muscle Shoals area.” The exact location and status of these buildings is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

Prince William Forest Park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), with help from skilled workers of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), from 1935 to 1942.  It was then known as Chopawamsic Recreation Demonstration Area (the name was changed in 1948).  RDAs were meant for getting inner city children out into the country to enjoy the benefits of nature and outdoor recreation. The New Deal programs built permanent structures, including the park headquarters and five cabin camps, extensive roads and trails, and five recreational lakes.  Almost all these improvements are still in use today.  The National Park Service, which operates...

The Provo River Project was initiated under the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of  1933 (almost surely as a Public Works Administration (PWA) funded project) and approved by President Roosevelt in late 1935.  The Salt Lake Aqueduct was approved in 1938.  Construction began in May 1938 and built by the US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Most of the features were begun during the New Deal but completed after the Second World War. The key structure of the project, Deer Creek Dam, is located on the Provo River east of...

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out from 1933 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS).  Some, if not all, was paid for by a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). A new park headquarters and visitors' center had been built in 1931 at the South Entrance to the park, but lacked sufficient housing for rangers and staff.  New Deal aid brought the addition of 4 or 5 additional...

In 1933, U.S. Forest Service workers constructed a ranger residence at 243 West Pine Street in the city of Pinedale, Wyoming. The Colonial-Revival style building follows standard architectural plans created by George L. Nichols, a prominent regional architect whose designs were utilized by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) throughout the 1930s. The building was originally used as both an office and a dwelling for USFS rangers to administer services in the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest. Today, the Pinedale Ranger District uses the dwelling for storage and occasional employee housing.

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out in 1936--40 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The most notable achievement was construction of the Painted Desert Inn in the northern portion of the park (above Route 66, now Interstate 40).  Across Petrified Forest Road from the inn are two residences built for the park staff at the same time. Both were done in...

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942. CCC enrollees worked during summer...

The first Washington DC airport was built during the New Deal.  Long known as National Airport, it was renamed for former President Ronald Reagan in 1998. Most locals still refer to it by its former name. Construction began in 1938, after "President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced at a press conference that he was 'tired of waiting for Congress' to select a site for the new airport and said that it would be built on mudflats on a bend of the Potomac River at Gravelly Point, 4 miles south of the District of Columbia." (Airport Authority website) Several federal agencies were involved in...

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915 to preserve a spectacular section of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  Several new additions to the park have been made over the years, until it reached its present size of 415 square miles. The park saw considerable recreational development in the 1920s under the National Park Service (NPS), but it benefitted enormously in the 1930s from the New Deal.  Most notable of the New Deal agencies was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but the \ park also gained funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), road work by the Bureau of...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded construction of the former Sierra Vista Elementary School in Visalia CA.  That building serves today as the fine arts and foreign language classrooms for Redwood High School (formerly known as Visalia High School). The old central building of the high school burned in 1965 and was replaced by the structure show here. The former elementary school building is part of the Sierra Vista campus of Redwood HS, which is connected to the main campus via a pedestrian bridge  across the street, built in 1996. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) appears to have worked on the completion of a...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942. Among its trail development work, the CCC constructed the Ribbon Falls Trail. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour says: "More challenging projects included a number of inner canyon trails. The Ribbon Falls Trail, a half-mile (0.8 km) spur off the North Kaibab Trail, still leads hikers to a beautiful waterfall." The trail is approximately 2.7 miles south of the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, as the crow flies.

In 1933-36, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Grand Canyon's River Trail at the bottom of the canyon between the Bright Angel and Kaibab trails. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour, discussing various CCC trail development projects, notes: "The Colorado River Trail (also 1933-36), connecting the Bright Angel Trail and the South Kaibab Trail along the south side of the Colorado River, is only two miles (3 km) long, but has the reputation of being the most difficult and hazardous trail construction ever attempted in the canyon. Crew members blasted the trail bed into the schist and granite cliffs...

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out from 1933 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS).  Some, if not all, was paid for by a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Among other works, the CCC enrollees improved and paved the parks' dirt roads, including the main Petrified Forest Road and the Blue Mesa Scenic Road, adding bridges over the washes.  The also built the park's trail system, including...

The planning and construction of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway largely predates the New Deal, but it was only completed in 1933-36 with help from the National Park Service (NPS), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).   The Parkway runs 2.5 miles from the Lincoln Memorial on the Potomac River along Rock Creek to the Connecticut Avenue bridge, just south of the National Zoo.   At that point, the road becomes Beach Drive and the Parkway join Rock Creek Park.  The two are separate units of the National Capital...

The Shoreham Hill bridge was constructed in 1938 as part of the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway project of the 1930s.  It lies just south of the large Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenue bridges.  It is the third and most northerly of three parkway crossings of Rock Creek by the parkway. The Shoreham Hill bridge replaced a steel truss bridge of 1929, which was considered by the National Park Service (NPS) as a traffic hazard and out of keeping with the established look of the parkway and its other bridges. In 1937, the NPS and the DC Board of...

The Works Progess Administration (WPA) did landscape cleanup around Fort DeRussy in Rock Creek Park.  Crews removed underbrush, poisonous plants, and dead trees from the old earthworks, which were then (and are now) heavily forested. Fort DeRussy is a Civil War-era fortification constructed in 1861 on a hilltop on the west side of Rock Creek, as part of the defenses of Washington. It is a trapezoidal earthwork with a perimeter of 190 yards and places for 13 guns. It is maintained today by the National Park Service. 

The New Deal contributed substantially to the betterment of Rock Creek Park in the 1930s.  This involved a number of federal agencies. Rock Creek Park is a key greenway in the District of Columbia and, at 1750 acres, is almost twice the size of Central Park in New York.  It was established by Congress in 1890, making it officially a National Park at the time.  It featured prominently in the far-reaching plans for the District of Columbia by the McMillan Commission in 1901-02 and the Olmsted Brothers report of 1918, which envisioned a major park with a scenic parkway running through it. In...

Bridal paths were a part of Rock Creek Park from the beginning around 1900, but the system of paths and bridges was greatly expanded during the New Deal.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built more than two miles of bridle paths as part of various works done in Rock Creek Park (as well as in Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway). All such work was done under supervision of the National Park Service, which had gained oversight of all DC parks in 1933. The Public Works Administration (PWA) paid for the replacement of eight bridges that had been washed away in a...

The National Park Service, which took over command of the Capitol Parks system in 1934, restored the old Pierce Mill in Rock Creek Park in 1935-36 with the aid of a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) of $26,614 and labor of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees.  The project was completed in March 1936. The old mill building was constructed in 1810 of native split stone taken from a nearby quarry.  It is 50 by 40 feet in size. One gable is stone and the other wood frame.  The floors are wide oak plank and the roofing is wood shingles....

The New Deal provided funding and labor for road improvements in Rock Creek Park.  The primary Depression-era addition to the parks road system was the long-contemplated construction of a direct connection between Bingham Drive and Daniel Road (Davis 1996, p. 94).  This project was undertaken in 1934-1935 by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers. A newspaper report notes that the CCC work in the park included, “Bingham Drive extended to make new entrance to park" (Daily News 1936) Contemporary photographic evidence suggests that the new section of Bingham Drive was constructed with a bituminous macadam pavement and that hand labor was used to smooth the road banks in...

The Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1938 by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the protection of migratory birds and endemic species of the Basin and Range region.  It serves over 220 species of waterfowl and is the largest nesting area in the west for Canvasback ducks. The refuge covers about 38,000 acres, almost half of which consists of marshes created by springs drawing from aquifers coming out of the Ruby Mountains to the west.  The refuge lies at an elevation of 6,000 feet and mostly within Elko County NV, with the southern end in White...

After the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps' (CCC) Camp Brice Creek in 1933, the enrollees undertook development of the Rujada Forest Camp. They constructed the forest camp to provide a recreation facility for visiting family, friends and local residents. CCC workers built the campground's registry and information booth in 1934. It's rustic design includes large diameter peeled logs and poles, a flagstone platform and split shake gable roof. The forest camp's current configuration provides twelve single- and three double-campsites.

The Rye Patch Dam lies in the Humboldt River valley, which crosses Nevada from east to west.  The California Trail went along the Humboldt River and the Lovelock Valley has been a gateway for gold and silver prospectors since the 1860s. It has also been home to irrigated farming, which benefitted greatly from the New Deal of the 1930s. The Bureau of Reclamation constructed Rye Patch dam in 1935-36, as part of the larger Humboldt Reclamation Project.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did ancillary work during the final stage of construction of the dam, clearing acres of brush in and around the reservoir...

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. With funds from Emergency Conservation Fund Act of 1933, the Bureau of Biological Survey purchased the 10,775-acre Spalding Ranch to create what was originally called the Sacramento Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees developed the refuge from 1937 to 1942, working out of Camp Sacramento at the present location of the refuge headquarters. Some of the original buildings may exist in the headquarters complex behind the visitors' center, but this has not been confirmed. Under the supervision of the Bureau of Biological Survey, the CCC...

Development of Saddle Mountain State Park began with the arrival of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company #1258 in 1935. Over a five-year period, the CCC enrollees built the seven-mile access road to the base of Saddle Mountain, picnic grounds and a parking lot at the trail head, and the hiking trail to the mountain's summit. Saddle Mountain is a north coast landmark, known for its colorful wildflowers and rare plants, its basalt formations, and the impressive panoramic views from its 3290-foot summit. Access to these natural amenities still rely on the CCC-built zig-zag hiking trail that rises 1620 feet over a...

Originally named the Willamette Highway Tunnel, the 905 feet-long Salt Creek Tunnel completed the Oregon Forest Highway Project that ran through remote areas of the Willamette National Forest to link US Highway 99 near Eugene with US 97 on the east side of the Cascades. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) designed the tunnel and its masonry rock portals and contracted with the Portland firm Orino-Birkemeier & Saremai to construct the project in December 1937. The length of the tunnel along with the remote location and rugged terrain introduced challenges with its construction. Oregon Department of Transportation historian Robert Hadlow notes...

In July 1939, work began on construction of the Santiam Pass Ski Lodge, using a design developed by Wesley "Buzz" Gilmore under the supervision of William Parke. Gilmore, a former Civilian Conservation Corps enrollee, and Parke were US Forest Service employees in the Willamette National Forest. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from Mary's Creek Camp and Fish Lake Camp built the structure over the course of eight months. Made with local materials, the rustic-style lodge is an excellent example of CCC construction and the favored aesthetic of the era. Stone from nearby Hogg Rock makes up the first floor of Santiam...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a major presence in Yosemite National Park from 1933 to 1942, helping to improve the park for public use.  CCC enrollees carried out a wide range of projects throughout the park, from forestry to construction. More than seven thousand young men and 24 companies cycled through the park during the life of the program (a 25th company arrived just before the program ended, according to Broesamle 2022). The two hubs of CCC activity were Camp Wawona at the south end of the park and Camp Cascades at the foot of Yosemite Valley (see separate pages...

Casper-Alcova Project, Wyoming - The Casper-Alcova Project is being developed initially to irrigate 35,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Casper Wyoming. The more important features are the Seminoe Dam and power plant, the Alcova Dam and the canal system. The revenues from the power plant are expected to repay a large portion of the cost of the project. the Seminoe Dam is of the concrete arch type, with a volume of about 161,000 cubic yards and a maximum height of 161 feet. The storage capacity of the reservoir will be 1,000,000 acre feet. The Alcova Dam on the...

Seney National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the protection of migratory birds and other wildlife. It began under the Bureau of Biological Survey, which morphed into the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1940. Under the reorganization all migratory bird preserves became national wildlife refuges. Seney NWR covers over 95,000 acres, of which 25,000 are wilderness.  The federal government purchased the land in the midst of the Great Depression because, as the official website puts it, "This is a land that was once heavily logged, burned, ditched, drained and cultivated. Despite repeated attempts, the...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working for the US Forest Service, constructed four fire lookout towers around Rocky Mountain National Park.  The one on the summit of Shadow Mountain, overlooking Grand Lake CO in the southwest corner of the park, is the last survivor of the four. Completed in 1933, the three-story lookout was built in the classic Rustic style favored by the US Forest Service and National Park Service at the time.  It consists of a concrete foundation, two stories of stone masonry, and a wooden upper story. It remained in use until 1968 and is today a scenic destination for...

Shasta Dam is the keystone of the Central Valley Project, a complex of several dams, reservoirs and canals across Northern California.  It is a high-arch concrete dam over 600 feet high and almost 3,500 feet wide at the top, situated in the former Iron Canyon. At the time it was built, it was the second largest dam in the world, after Grand Coulee on the Columbia River (another New Deal project), and it is still the 8th highest in the United States.  It impounds the largest reservoir in California, with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet. Shasta Dam had been originally conceived...

The Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1931 in the desert landscape of northern Nevada and eastern Oregon and enlarged by order of President Franklin Roosevelt in December 1936, under the auspices of the Bureau of Biological Survey (Fish and Wildlife Service after 1940).  It now covers 573,000 acres and is part of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which is headquartered in Oregon.  It harbors one of the last reasonably intact examples of a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem in the Great Basin and is known for its populations of bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope and wild mustangs (since removed). The Civilian...

In 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers stationed in the Bridger-Teton National Forest constructed three new buildings for the Sherman Guard Station, including an office, garage/shop, and an outhouse. Originally used as a yearlong headquarters for the Sherman Ranger District, the ranger station became a seasonal work center by 1933. The site was used intermittently throughout the 20th century, and has most recently served as the staging area for fire crews fighting the Mule Forest Fire in 2002. Six buildings remain onsite at the Sherman Guard Station today, and all three of the buildings constructed by the CCC remain in use by...

The early development of Silver Falls State Park can be credited to several of the New Deal programs. A significant portion of the land for the park was purchased by the federal Resettlement Administration (RA) c. 1935, and developed for recreational use through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1942. During that period, a distinction was made between Silver Falls Park, which was accessible to the public, and the area designated as the Silver Creek Recreation Development Area (RDA), which was a special federal program designed to allow urban youth...

The Sims Flat Campground on the Sacramento River occupies the site of a former  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp, known as the Castella Camp (Castella is a larger town just to the north).  The CCC camp operated from 1934 to 1939. It is unknown to us when the US Forest Service opened the campground at this site.  Traces of the CCC camp still remain, such as the stone steps that led up to the former commanding officer's house and administration building. A plaque at the bottom of the steps reads: "CCC Camp (1934-1939). With its wooded valley and beautiful river setting, Sims was...

The fire lookout tower and associated outbuildings at Sinking Creek were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934, probably under the supervision of the US Forest Service (USFS). The complex includes various buildings including a house, garage, and outhouse. Also on site are a water well and presumably a pump beneath concrete tops.   Access to the fire lookout tower is by a metal ladder rather than the stairs that were subsequently used by towers.  Currently, it is not in active use, but is near the sinking Creek Trailhead and part of the extensive Ozark trail system. The complex is located...