Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Sites

From the New England Lost Ski Areas Project: “Beartown Ski Area was a classic, and somewhat long lived CCC area that was originally built as a Ski Train Destination. It was also one of the largest areas to close in Massachusetts (820' drop)- only Brodie Mountain had a larger one (~1250'). With three rope tows and about 10 trails at its heyday, it was quite the happening place... Beartown's genesis begins in 1935, when the CCC began clearing trails and slopes at this area.”  

Big Timber Pioneer reported in early 1937 on a CCC camp at Beaver Creek park south of Havre, Montana. The workers were "developing trails, cabins and other conveniences for the public enjoyment."

“Lincoln County was not far behind Clark County sites in terms of federal funds spent on park developments. The county received approval for a fair share of state-operated recreational facilities that’s to the collective efforts of the county commission, the Caliente Chamber of Commerce, state senator L.L. Burt, and Congressman Scrugham. Lincoln County was anxious to promote its little-known natural attractions, including the intense red spires and erosional features at Cathedral Gorge. After purchasing park properties with federal Public Works appropriations funds, Congressman Scrugham and Senator McCarran secured a CCC camp for Panaca to build new parks. A full company...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to clear the land for / develop the then-new Beaver Island State Park.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Beaver Lake dam in 1936. The dam is part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. It was designed to raise the level of Beaver Lake and create a navigable channel that could be traveled by canoe between Beaver Lake and Lake Alexander. A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places reports on the condition of the dam as of 1992: "The Beaver Lake Dam was built on the outlet stream of Beaver Lake, 75 feet down stream from the lake outlet. Its purpose was to improve the navigability of the canoe route by raising...

"Much of the charm of Beavers Bend Resort Park lies in the fact that when the park was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the materials of choice came from the land itself: slabs of native stone, and hardwood timbers thicker than a man's chest. From them, CCC crews fashioned cabins, staircases, fireplaces, campsites, and even the Forest Heritage Center and Museum, which now doubles as the Beavers Bend Resort Park office."   (https://www.mccurtaincountygetaways.com/beavers_bend.php)

The current Deer Lake Campground in Township34 ME is the location for the Beddington CCC Camp. Excerpt from "Official Annual, 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps": "On May 1935, a cadre of men from Bar Harbor moved into the woods, thirteen miles off the Airline, a road running across country from Bangor to Calais, and pitched tents on the shore of Deer Lake, situated in Township No. 34. The construction began under the command of Lt. Tuttle, assisted by Lt. Wyman. From this cadre grew the 1127th Co., and near the latter part of July the Forestry department moved in under the supervision of...

This fieldstone and wood building (tower with stone base and wood shelter at the top) was erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Fire towers are endangered due to their isolated locations and because they are no longer necessary for fire prevention/control.

From the James F. Justin CCC Museum website: "Belleplain was established in 1928 by the state ... Beginning in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) transformed the Meisle family's cranberry bog into a 26.2 acre reservoir that was first named Meisle Lake and later renamed Lake Nummy (in honor of the last Lenape Sachem, or Chief, to live in the county). Three separate CCC camps operated on the property and the men who served constructed the forest's nature center (formerly the main office) and the maintenance buildings, and created much of the present day road system, bridges, and dams....

In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Clear River Camp (also known as the Norris Camp), which served as the headquarters for the Beltrami Island Project.   The Project was part of a “pioneering experiment in relocation and land-use planning” undertaken nationally, through the Land Utilization Project (est. 1937). Under the Project, “farmers on cutover lands were relocated and the land was reclaimed by the CCC, whose enrollees went to work ‘developing and managing forestry, wildlife and recreational resources.’”   The Clear River Camp is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

"Bennett Spring State Park is located in Bennett Springs, Missouri, approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Lebanon on Highway 64. The park was established in 1923. It is centered around the spring that flows into the Niangua River and gives the park its name... In the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made various improvements to the park. The CCC built the dining lodge, cabins, trails, roads, shelters, gauge station, and the arched stone bridge across the spring branch. The bridge has 3 distinctive sideways “C’s” to memorize the men of the CCC who built it. The CCC also channelized the...

In 1933, the City of Portland gave permission to the federal government to establish a Civilian Conservation Camp (CCC) in its Columbia River Gorge Park. What had been Benson Park became CCC Camp Benson. Between 1933 and 1935, CCC enrollees groomed the surrounding parkland, creating the New Benson Park. Today, the lowland, timbered park serves as a day use picnic area with swimming and fishing in the park’s Benson Lake. It also serves as the western anchor to a system of trails connecting Multnomah Falls to the east and Wahkeena Falls to the south. The work of the CCC established these amenities...

"Kilkenny Camp 2117, 155th Company CCC, Berlin, New Hampshire, was established May 29, 1933, as one of the camps of the White Mountain National Forest Service." Once the Dolly Copp Camp Ground was established, the camp focussed on the Berlin hatchery. "A power house, canals, control dykes, and breeding ponds built at the York Pond Fish Hatchery making it one of the largest hatcheries of its kind in the country." "Berlin National Fish Hatchery in Coos County, New Hampshire, will be operated and funded by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under a memorandum of agreement signed October 19,...

“The Forest Service’s CCC program blazed new roads and trails into prospective campgrounds, existing mines, or susceptible fore zones. The Forest Service with its ample staff of engineers and natural resource specialists provided technical expertise for CCC projects. Similarly, the technical staff assisted the Soil Conservation Service by supervising construction activities on southern Nevada flood-control projects in the lower Moapa Valley, Panaca, and Caliente. Similarities in construction and design in different forests are no coincidence. Most early ranger stations, roads, and campgrounds were built according to standard regional plans prepared by architectural engineer George Nichols in Utah. After 1938, a manual...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Palmer Lodge at Bertha Brock Park.  The park benefited from the work of 94 CCC enrollees working two overlapping 15 hour shifts.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reforested "20,000 acres of drifting sand hills and expanded Bessey Forest Nursery producing 30 million saplings for reforestation." The CCC also "constructed a public campground and picnic area, shelter house, bath houses, and a swimming pool in the park."

Beulah Reservoir, also known as Agency Valley Reservoir, was created with the completion of the Agency Valley Damn in 1935. Throughout 1939, the Bureau of Reclamation supervised enrollees at a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) spike camp. They built a stone parapet wall on the upstream crest of the new damn. The spike camp was CCC Camp Vale, or Company BR-45 which worked on the Vale Project. The basalt stone wall runs on both sides of the road that crosses the top of the damn. The stone signature plaque left to commemorate their work is located on the eastern end of the...

Chico's Bidwell Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. It follows the course of Big Chico Creek for several miles into the foothills.  The park land was originally donated to the city early in the 20th century by the widow of Chico's founder, John Bidwell. New Deal agencies made several improvements to the park in the 1930s. It appears that State Emergency Recovery Agency (SERA) workers did road gravelling in the park, and worked on bathhouses and repair of the superintendent's residence–SERA was funded in part by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FEMA). At the upper end of the park, the Works Progress Administration (WPA)...

With Proclamation 2175, June 15, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Bienville National Forest in Mississippi.  This proclamation was part of FDR’s overall effort to create more national forests in the eastern United States. As with other national forests, the goal of Bienville was “to produce the greatest amount of good for the most people… Fire protection gives the timber a chance to grow so as to produce a merchantable crop; trees are being planted where former logging practise (sic) did not leave the land in a condition to re-seed itself; grazing will be regulated so as to coordinate...

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) installed a camp at Big Basin, California's first state park (1901), and built a variety of facilities for public recreation.   Big Basin was saved through the efforts of Sempervirens Club (now Fund), as one of the last and largest groves of giant coast redwoods left in the Santa Cruz Mountains. CCC men built the park headquarters (1936), an amphitheater of redwood logs, campgrounds, other park buildings and miles of trails, and probably roads and water lines, as well. For 75 years, those facilities remained virtually unchanged (one footbridge across...

A recreation area was constructed in the Biloxi Unit of the DeSoto National forest, including a bath house with water from an artesian well, and nine picnic areas with graveled paths. Tables, chairs and cooking pits were planned from brick or stone, and a picnic shed of “native materials” was under construction. The site was dedicated in June 1937. Located ¼ mile east of old Hwy 49 and 23 miles south of Wiggins, the site was constructed by camp 10, a CCC camp comprised of African Americans. The area cost approximately $14,000 and included the bath house with native cypress...

The National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for the former Big Elk Guard Station (now a camping residence for seasonal rent) tells the history of the garage/storage shed located nearby: "A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)-built Garage/Storage Shed, erected ca. 1938, lies about 50' east of the cabin. This rectangular, single-story building measures approximately 18' x 16' feet in plan and approximately 8' 6" feet from the top of the corner boards at the eaves to the ground. The building has a medium-pitch gable roof with wood shingles and exposed rafter ends. The exterior walls are composed of horizontal "double-run molding"...

From 1933 to 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted 304 acres of “white pine, Norway pine, Scotch pine, and jack pine.”

"Big Meadows Guard Station was constructed between 1933 and 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC) to provide a residence for Forest Service fire patrolmen stationed in that area. In 1964, the Forest Service no longer needed the use of the cabin. The cabin is 900 square feet, single story and consists of 1 bedroom with a closet, 1 bathroom, a living room and a kitchen with a service porch. The original cabinets, living room and bedroom flooring and bath fixtures remain. The interior has been slightly modified. The exterior is constructed of redwood board over 1 X 8 diagonal...

"Big Ridge State Park was one of five demonstration parks developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as an example of public recreation development along TVA lakeshores. The structures on the park reflect the craftsmanship and stonework of the CCC. Along the trails you may see remnants of the  homes and farms that existed here prior to the birth of the TVA."   (https://tnstateparks.com) This park was actually part of the greater Norris Project. "Civilian Conservation Corps Company 4495, which was originally based in Loyston, began work on Big...

"The Big Shaheen Cabin is the only log cabin built by Civilian Conservation Corps workers as part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. Situated on the east shore of Hasselborg Lake, the cabin was intended to serve as a lodge. Originally, it was the only enclosed building along the canoe route. Built for recreation, it is still used for that purpose and has not been substantially altered since its construction in 1935." "The Big Shaheen Cabin is the only cabin that was part of the Admiralty Island Civilian Conservation Corps Canoe Route. It was constructed with horizontal logs about ten inches...

"Dramatic views off of the 200-foot bluff and from the CCC-built loop road are among the featured attractions of this 382-acre park. Early morning or sunset, joggers, walkers and cyclists circle the loop, enjoying these views as they exercise. An elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display is one of the largest in the region. Other activities include picnicking, nature study and sightseeing." CCC construction: Entrance Portals, Park Road 8, Culverts, Bridges, Concession Building (currently park offices), Keeper’s Dwelling, Stone Pavilion, Restrooms, Picnic Tables, Stone Steps, and Retaining Walls. An amphitheater was designed, started, but not completed. A Stone Pump House and...

The Birch Creek Camp was located in Beaverhead County. The ranger station was on Birch Creek, about two miles above the campsite. A group of twenty-five Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers and one officer were first taken to the site location to build the camp in April of 1935. A total of 200 workers ended up at the camp. They arrived about 2-3 weeks after the initial 25 had arrived. Birch Creek was a “show camp,” meaning it was staged to impress dignitaries on tour for the Fort Missoula CCC District. The first major project assigned to the Birch Creek...

The lookout buildings were constructed between 1936 and 1938 by members of Company 2515 of the CCC. The cabin was used for lookout workers until the early 1980s and can now be rented by guests.

“WHIPPANY – The Veterans CCC Camp activities are now centered in Whippany at Hait’s bridge on Route 10. The men are busily engaged in dredging the junction and courses of the Black Brook and Whippany River, cleaning out the silt, logs and stumps and other rubbish that has been washed down the course for the past centuries. The stream beds have never been cleaned out before as far as is known. The men have been working at this for the past several months, partly for the elimination of mosquito breeding places and partly for sanitary reasons. The water had become...

Black Butte is a cluster of peaks in the Shasta National Forest. In the 1930s, the CCC built trails up to the summit as well as the Black Butte lookout tower. The tower was destroyed by a storm in 1962. Another was built in 1963 but removed to another location in 1973.

"The Black Canyon of the Gunnison was established as a U.S. National Monument on March 2, 1933. It became a National Park on October 21, 1999. During 1933-35, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the North Rim Road to design by the National Park Service. This includes fives miles of roadway and five overlooks; it is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as a historic district."   (https://www.hipcamp.com) Funding was provided by the PWA and Emergency Conservation Work.

The Black Hawk State Historic Site, at the intersection of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, was an important site for Native American of the Sauk and Mesquakie tribes long before European settlers forced them off the land. In the late 19th century, the site became part of an amusement park known as the Watch Tower Park. In the 1920s, the amusement park was demolished and the site became the Black Hawk State Park. It was designated as a historic site in 1987. In 1933, two hundred CCC boys moved to the site and constructed the rustic Watchtower lodge, still in use today....

The Black Mountain Lookout Tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and was completed in 1940. The tower is 14′x14′ with a catwalk on a stone foundation. It functioned as the lookout for the north end of Bighorn National Forest. No longer in use, the tower remains a popular hiking destination. In the summer of 2014 the U.S. Forest Service partnered with non-profit HistoriCorps to sponsor extensive rehabilitation work on the tower. Volunteers completed a variety of tasks with the intention of the tower becoming a rental cabin or interpretive site.

From the Plumas National Forest website: "Black Mountain Lookout is situated on the eastern edge of the Beckwourth Ranger District, 10 miles from Highway 395, near Milford, California. The lookout was constructed in 1934 and is a great example of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) architecture. The C-3-type lookout is situated on a single story 10 foot tower and is extremely well-preserved. The lookout offers striking views of Honey Lake to the north, and Last Chance Creek to the south. The rental is available from Memorial weekend through October. The fee for an overnight stay is $60."

This historic Depression-era bridge was built in 1938-9 and reconstructed in 1968. Bridgemeister: It was a WPA and CCC effort. The CCC Camp discipline and logistics were provided by the US Army, but the construction supervision was provided by the WPA. About 200 Men from the Norrie CCC camp (Ironwood, Michigan) participated in the construction of the bridge and surrounding park. They worked during the cold of winter and rode to and from Camp Norrie in open trucks. Each trip took 1 1/2 hours. The architect of the bridge was 'Oakey' Johnson. The WPA construction foreman was 'Charlie' Johnson. Tom Haapoja provided...

The current campground was once the site of the Swift River CCC camp #1177 built 6/19/1935. The nearby Conway Library notes an art exhibit by CCC members in 1936: "Blackberry Crossing is unique in that is was a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp during the 1930's. There is a self-guided tour of the old camp within the campground. The campground has 26 sites that are available on a first come, first served basis. There are hand pumps for water and vault toilets. A short walk from the campground is the Albany Covered Bridge, The Nanamocomuck Ski Trail, and the Boulder Loop...

"Camp Stuart's enrollees built fishing access for disabled veterans of World War I along several pools of the Blackledge River. This was one of the earliest attempts to provide fishing access for the handicapped."

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) achieved considerable infrastructural and land management improvements at the formerly-named Blackwater Migratory Bird Refuge near Cambridge Maryland. Maintained by the U.S. Biological Survey, the refuge covers an area of 8,241 acres, including marshes and waters where black ducks and blue-winged teal breed and mallards and pintails concentrate. The site is also refuge to a variety of shorebirds and other wild animals. In a December 1933 press release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture outlined the role played by CCC workers at the refuge: “C.C.C. camps were established…with a view to making the refuges more attractive...

Blanco State Park is located in historic Blanco, Texas. The park offers camping, hiking, fishing and swimming and scenic views of the Blanco River. In 1933 local landowners donated just over 100 acres for the park. The CCC worked here until 1934; this was one of their first projects. CCC construction in the park includes: "Park Road 23, Culverts and Bridges, Retaining Wall and Steps, Stone Walks, Stone Dams, Picnic Tables, Rock Seats, Benches, Picnic Table and Bench Combinations, Camp Stoves, Rock Wall, Concession House-Café (currently a maintenance building), Concession Building (currently the group pavilion), and Pump House (no longer in use)....