Parks and Recreation Sites

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 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...

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,...

"The camp is located six miles south of Blackduck, Minnesota on County Road 39... Rabideau was built and maintained by Company 3749 out of Bennett Springs, Missouri. They remained here until January 1936 at which time Company 708 of Bena took over the camp. They arrived at Rabideau in open trucks in temperatures as low as 45 below zero and remained there until the program ended in 1942... Camp Rabideau is located in a 112-acre tract that was purchased in 1934. The buildings are situated about 100 feet apart and are surrounded by tall trees forming a large glade on which the original Mess Hall used to stand. This building burned in...

“Camp Recovery” was the first Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Prince William County, Virginia. The former site of the camp is located at the intersection of Dumfries Road (Virginia Highway 234) and Hoadly Road (Virginia Highway 642), where Coles District Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station is now located. Camp Recovery encompassed a tract of 400 acres between Dumfries Road on the west, Hoadly Road on the north, and Independence Drive on the east. This area nine miles south of the city of Manassas, Virginia describes the general boundary area of Camp Recovery and its associated structures, none of which remain...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)’s Camp Roberts, which housed Company #175, was stationed at Black Rock State Park in Thomaston, Connecticut. The camp was established May 30, 1933 and was discontinued Sept. 28, 1937. The camp's "main projects were: building miles of truck trails, survey and boundary work, gypsy moth removal, tree planting."

"The first CCC camp, appropriately named Camp Roosevelt, began operation in the late spring of 1933 on Virginia George Washington National Forest. On April 10 the first quota of 25,000 men was called, and on April 17, the first camp, Camp Roosevelt, in the George Washington National Forest near Luray, Virginia, was occupied. Gerald S. Wheeler was appointed administrator."   (www.foresthistory.org)

Members of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) #1258 arrived at CCC Camp Saddle Mountain near Seaside and Cannon Beach OR in the summer of 1935. The majority of the Company's enrollees were from New York. Although the CCC workers occupied tents upon their arrival, they began construction of bunkhouses, recreational halls, officers' quarters and other camp buildings. With the camp's completion, the encampment grew to its full strength of 200 men. Located near what was then the Nehalem Highway (now US Hwy 26), the camp's site was rented by the state to the federal government. Improvement of that land for Oregon State Park...

Silver Falls State Park's current North Falls day-use and group camp contains the site that once served the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Silver Creek Falls. CCC enrollees occupied this site from 1935 through 1940, working to improve the state park established in 1933. The first company of CCC enrollees to arrive included 215 young men, mostly from Illinois. The Oregonian reported that their quarters were completed at a cost of $10,000. Later enrollees arrived from Tennessee. As acknowledged on the plaque marking the site: " The young men of Camp Silver Creek Falls constructed trails, roads, bridges, buildings and planted thousands of trees....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Sisters (F-110, Company #1454) at Camp Sherman, Oregon operated near the headwaters of the Metolius River in Jefferson County from 1933 to 1942. It was just one of the average 60 CCC camps that worked each year in the state during that period. Originally planned to be near Sisters, Oregon rather than at the unincorporated Camp Sherman site, its name tends to confuse Oregonians. The CCC, however, found this position on the Metolius more in keeping with project needs so located it where the (Camp Sherman) Riverside Campground is found today. The CCC men constructed...

CCC Company 1713 established Camp Smokey in Roaring River State Park in the 1930s and used it as a base from which to make extensive improvements throughout the area. The large CCC camp itself  is still remarkably well-preserved. The camp is within the state park, but it is well-defined as its own area, Camp Smokey.  The buildings are still used at this time.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) maintained a camp on French Creek east of Custer State Park in South Dakota from 1934 to 1941.  It was officially camp SP-3 (meaning State Park #3).  The recruits worked on projects in region under the supervision of Custer State Park rangers and the National Park Service (NPS). The CCC enrollees built many miles of road, telephone lines and boundary fences. To this they added 20 bridges.  They constructed a fire lookout on Mt. Coolidge, along with a ranger's residence there, and fought fires and bark beetle infestations. They developed the Blue Bell Lodge and cabins...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Toumey was stationed at Mohawk State Forest from June 25, 1933 to July 26, 1941. "Named for James W. Toumey, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry, CCC men from this camp lived among the rugged hills and panoramic vistas of northwestern Connecticut. This camp was originally designed as a camp exclusively for veterans of World Was I and, as such, the enrollees were older. But as the veterans' need for employment waned, younger enrollees were gradually added to the camp." Among other projects linked to from this page, accomplishments included: "fighting forest fires; making improvements...

From 1935 through May 1941, the area now occupied by the Trask River County Campground served as the site of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Trask. The enrollees stationed at the camp worked primarily on truck trail construction and other activities related to "fire hazard reduction" on private forest land. As described in the Vancouver Barracks report (1937): "Camp Trask is built in a grove of fir and spruce trees on the bank of the river and affords a very attractive site. The buildings are arranged into a square, with parade grounds and flagpole in the center. Electric lights are provided...

Camp Wawona, at the south end of Yosemite National Park, was one of two hubs for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the park during the New Deal era, 1933-42 (the other hub was at Camp Cascades in Yosemite Valley).  The Wawona area had only been added to the park in 1932 and there was much work to be done to improve that part of the park. The first two camps at Wawona, YNP #1 and 2, were established in May 1933 and were the first CCC camps in the West. These early camps were located at the far end of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp White, which housed Company #106 at American Legion State Forest in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, operated from Dec. 28, 1933 to Jan. 1, 1942. C.C.C. Museum: This camp was named for Alan C. White, who was a leader in the campaign to purchase the land that would become Peoples State Forest. The original site of Camp White is now used as a youth group camping area and the building site and camp roads are still visible. The camp had a tree nursery and built the Stone Museum as a natural interpretive center. The museum, nursery building, and camp office are...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Company #176, Camp Wolcott, was based at Paugnut State Forest in Torrington, Connecticut. It operated from 1933 to 1937. Work accomplished included construction of 8 miles of truck trails and many miles of cross-country ski trails.

Located approximately five to seven miles east of Cascade Locks, CCC Camp Wyeth/Cascade Locks (Camp F-7) was one of the longest operating Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Columbia River Gorge. The US Forest Service's Wyeth Campground currently operates on the site of the former CCC facility. In the summers of 1933 and 1934, tents provided shelter for 200 enrollees put to work on road, trail and campground construction projects. In the summer of 1935, a more permanent commitment to the camp was made when construction of CCC Camp Cascade Locks began on the site located south of Wyeth Road and...

Camp Zigzag, near Zigzag OR in Clackamas County, was the chief Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the Mount Hood National Forest, operating from 1933 to 1942 when the CCC was terminated.  Several of the CCC buildings are still in place and in use at the site, which is now one of four US Forest Service district Ranger Stations in the Mt. Hood NF. Some of the buildings at Camp Zigzag predate the CCC, but most were built by CCC workers and are still standing and in use: the Ranger's Office, Carpenter Shop, Bunkhouse Residence, Ranger's Residence, Gas House, Fire Warehouse,...

From 1933-1937 a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp operated within the Blue Hills Reservation, south of Boston. Over that time the CCC made numerous improvements to the Reservation, including two lookout towers, ski trails, a toboggan run, and any number of road and trail enhancements. Bare remnants of the CCC camp remain today, but are noted with historical markers. Description of C.C.C. activities in the Blue Hills Reservation, per the Metropolitan District Commission 1938 annual report: "The camp work crews assigned to the creosoting of gypsy moth egg clusters continued the work started in the fall of 1936 until the spring hatching...

Several CCC camps performed extensive work in the Chequamegon National Forest: F-11 Camp Beaver at Clam Lake F-43 Camp Cable, Company V-1676 at Cable F-10 Camp Chippewa River at Loretta F-15 Camp Clam Lake, Company 653 Just east of Clam Lake on Hwy 77 F-14 Camp Ghost Creek, Company 652 about 7 miles south west of Clam Lake on Hwy 77 on the south side of the highway. F-24 Camp Loretta, Company 652 3 miles north of Loretta on Conuty Road GG, then Left on Forestry Road 621 for .4 Miles to a trailhead. f-12 Camp Mineral Lake, Company 638 at Marengo F-13 Camp Moose River, Company 3606...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was extremely active in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942.  There were six CCC camps on the North Rim, South Rim and in the canyon itself and seven companies active over the decade: #818, 819, 847, 2543, 2833, 3318 and 4814.   Grand Canyon National Park received more development funds and labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps than any other location in Arizona. CCC enrollees built many of the recreation facilities still in use today, such as paths, trails, roads, shelters, and campgrounds, along with basic infrastructure, such as telephone lines, electric lines, water pipes and sewer...

Humboldt Redwoods State Park was established in 1921 with purchases of some of the last remaining Old Growth stands of Coast Redwoods by the Save the Redwoods League. It has since been expanded several times and now includes over 51,000 acres, of which 17,000 are old growth redwood stands.   California did not establish a state parks system until 1928, and little improvement work had been done at Humboldt Redwoods before the New Deal.  When the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived at Dyerville camp in 1933, the young men got to work right away developing the state park.  There were three CCC...

"The Civilian Conservation Corps played an important role in helping establish the Nicolet National Forest as a viable and productive area... CCC enrollees working on the Nicolet Forest performed many duties, including forest fire control, tree planting, road construction, recreation area construction and maintenance, installation of telephone lines, fish and wildlife habitat improvement, timber stand improvement and surveying. Much of the work done by the CCC is still evident today. Many roads, recreation areas, ranger stations, the Trees for Tomorrow training center and countless timber plantations exist because of the corpsmen's hard work. At the peak of the CCC program, the Nicolet...

"There were 17 permanent CCC camps on the White Mountain National Forest. After establishing their campsites, the men constructed ski and hiking trails, high country shelters, roads, campgrounds and parking areas. Where there was only a foot trail before, the CCC built the road through Evan's Notch. The planting of new trees was not as necessary on the White Mountain as it was in the 1930's on other National Forests. The lasting impact of the CCC camps in the New England National Forests may be seen today as it is on other Forests in the Eastern Region. The CCC work...

Hawk’s Nest State Park began as 31 acres bought by the state of West Virginia and is now an 838 acre park southwest of Anstead, Fayette County, West Virginia. The park overlooks the New River along the Midland Trail (US 60). Ten New Deal era resource types are identified in the park including “stone work; water fountains; fireplaces and picnic pads; trails; a culvert; a multi-use building with a museum, observatory, and residence; a concession building; storage building; picnic shelter; and restroom buildings.” The CCC operated two camps in Hawk’s nest. Camp Lee SP-6 Project 532 (10 July 1935-1942) and Camp...

A CCC monument erected in 1987 commemorates CCC Company 884 which worked out of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. This camp focused primarily on "soil conservation due to the nature of the soil in this area. The work performed here consisted of terracing and other work to deter soil erosion...A granite monument is erected east of the municipal pool on the east side of Jeff Davis Park, on the east side of Rush Springs. CCC Company 884 camp was located in this area between 1933 and 1942." (waymarking.com) The monument inscription includes: "To all the young men who served and to future generations that...

"SCS-10 Camp Cabell was located in Cabell County about two miles east of Milton on bottom land of the Thomas Joseph Berkeley farm, south of US Rt. 60 and between the highway and the railroad tracks... Due to its location, the camp was able to obtain water service from the Town of Milton. The camp was occupied July 31, 1939 by CCC Company 1512 which had been transferred from Camp Crawford, SCS-2, Elizabeth, WV. Work on local farms included fence construction, gully treatment, surveying and land preparation for strip cropping. A major project was the construction of a dam, creating a one...

The CCC carried out a forestation project that involved planting hardwood trees at Clabash Boom, at Johnson Bay on St. John.

From Our Mark on This Land (2011): "If you have driven, hiked, or slept in the Chisos Mountains, you have experienced CCC history. In May 1933, Texas Canyons State Park was established; it was later renamed Big Bend State Park. Roads and trails were needed for the new park, and the CCC provided an ideal workforce. A year after the park was established, 200 young men, 80 percent of whom were Hispanic, arrived to work in the Chisos Mountains. The CCC's first job was to set up camp and develop a reliable water supply. The CCC boys faced many challenges, living...

Beginning in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working from NPS regional office designs, built new structures and cleared “unneeded or undesirable” buildings, lakes, and ponds. Corpsmen also did landscaping work to improve the camp- and picnic grounds, overlooks, and places for parking. Corpsmen also helped restore historic buildings.

In 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers stationed at Camp Fremont in Pinedale, Wyoming built a large system of ponds for environmental and recreational purposes. Additional camp work included a variety of other projects such as reforestation, flood control, and road building. Following the closure of Camp Fremont in 1942, the CCC Ponds went out of use and became derelict. The ponds were reconstructed in the 1990s, however, and were given thematic names after resident wildlife, including the Fish Pond, Duck Pond, Beaver Pond, and Frog Pond. Today, the CCC Ponds are a popular recreation area for fishing, walking, biking and watching...

Cedar Breaks National Monument was created by President Franklin Roosevelt on August 22, 1933, with just over 6,000 acres carved out of Dixie National Forest in southwest Utah. This was Roosevelt's first national monument declaration and it set a precedent that FDR would follow again and again: transferring monuments and parks from the US Forest Service to the National Parks Service – which grew substantially under the New Deal. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sent men from Zion Canyon to set up a 'stub camp' (closed in winter) at Cedar Breaks, where they started working on improvements to the...

In August 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) gave Cedar County a grant for the improvement of the county fairgrounds at Hartington. The grant amounted to $8,040.00.

The New York City Department of Parks announced the opening of Cedar Playground, along with twelve other playgrounds, in December 1935. Although the release does not explicitly mention federal funding, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here why "it is safe to say that every single project completed by the NYC Park Department during the 1930s was federally funded to some degree." After April 1935, the WPA was especially involved in the development of the New York park system.

The creation of the Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Tennessee was a multifaceted joint project of the Resettlement Administration, the CCC, the forestry division, NPS and the WPA: "Project development began in the fall of 1935, with forestry personnel, along with RA and CCC workers, planting new seedlings of juniper cedar, black walnut, black locust, ash, yellow poplar, and mulberry trees. The crews introduced erosion controls and built roads and trails... The WPA constructed recreational facilities, including picnic areas, overlook shelters on the Jackson Cave Trail, and the original park lodge. Lebanon Cedar Forest was officially opened in September 1937...

The nearly 2,700 acres encompassing what is now Cedarville State Forest was originally purchased as a forest demonstration area by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 1930. Located in Charles and Prince George’s County, CCC project S-54 was initiated here in May of 1933, with Camp 335-C building roads and trails for fire protection and increased recreational access within the park. Camp 335-C was one of only a handful of African American units in Maryland. The Cedarville camp numbered 192 men, and a camp work list dated from October 1934 included the construction of truck trails, forest stand improvements,...

From the Albuquerque Journal, April 23, 1935: "A new fire lookout tower, rearing it's steel frame more than 45 feet above the summit of Cedro Peak in the Scandia mountains, and a new automobile road leading to it are rapidly nearing completion, according to Cibola National Forest officials. Visibility will be greatly increased by replacing the antiquated 30 foot pole tower of years past, and within 30 days another important link will be welded into the chain of fire prevention agencies of the Forest Service. CCC boys from Camp Manzano, under Forest Service supervision are pushing construction in preparation for the fire season...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers converted a dumping ground into an athletic field in Gloucester, Mass. on Centennial Ave.

Naperville's Centennial Park beach received a bathhouse during the New Deal, which is still standing today: "In 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the bathhouse, built from limestone taken from the quarry at the facility’s western edge. The completed bathhouse had stone steps leading down to the swimming area. The shallow section included a sandy area and the deep section had three anchored rafts, a 12-foot diving tower, two spring boards and one lifeguard stand." The bathhouse was recently renovated: "One of the top priorities was to preserve the historic bathhouse and much care was taken to ensure that its character remained...