Picnic and Other Facilities Sites

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.  The CCC was active...

Land for Cape Arago State Park was donated to Oregon State Parks in 1932 but lay undeveloped until Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees began improvements in 1934. Over a two-year period, they completed a considerable amount of work.  As noted in a 1965 history of the Oregon State Parks, their tasks included: constructing roads, trails, fire breaks and fire hazard reduction, clearing a picnic area, setting up tables and stoves, constructing a water system and erecting a park foreman's cottage. A CCC camp operated at Cape Arago for the period of time required to provide basic amenities for day use at...

Acquired for state park use in 1935, the State Park plans for this beautiful stretch of coastline in Tillamook County initially focused on its use as an undeveloped, natural preserve. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees built the first major improvement, a 5.2-mile trail to the end of the cape in 1939-1940. They also created a minimal picnic area at Jackson Creek. To provide road access to the park, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers were employed in the early 1940s. Progress on improvement of the primitive road was halted by lack of funds. Work on road access resumed in the early 1950s.

The Works Progress Administration built facilities in Cascades Park in Bloomington, Indiana. The original construction included drinking fountains, shelters, picnic tables of limestone slabs. Today the park spans 68 acres with original features, hiking trails, softball fields.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed greatly to the development of the park system in Woonsocket, R.I. Cass Park benefited as the result of multiple improvements. Woonsocket, RI: A Centennial History, states: The Woonsocket Call of September 28, 1935, reported that "work was started on the first five WPA projects in Woonsocket, giving employment to 300 men. ... Cass Park athletic fields were completed. In addition to other landscaping improvements and the construction of picnic areas and fireplaces, "a swampy area was filled in and rustic bridges built" across a brook (Allaire).

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 (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...

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,...

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...

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...

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,...

According to CCC alumnus Charles E. Humberger, quoted in the Nebraska History journal, “guest cabins were constructed and improvements made at the swimming pool and picnic and recreation area. Roads and trails were improved and drainage structures built. Brush dams were built to control soil and stream bank erosion, and the water supply system at the headquarters area was improved. They also carried out extensive rodent control and soil erosion programs on private property north of Chadron.” According to the city of Hemingford, “, one of Nebraska’s most beautiful, was developed to a large degree, by Civilian Conservation Corporation (CCC) forces…”

Charles R. Adams Park is a 32-acre public city park located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The park is surrounded by the neighborhood of Cascade Heights. Construction of the park began in the mid-1930s, and the dedication ceremony took place in 1940. The park used county funds, federal relief money and Works Progress Administration labor to construct many of the facilities and landscape features. William L. Monroe, Sr., a noted Atlanta landscaper, is credited with the design. "The property consists of a 32-acre designed landscape including passive greenspace, a lake and stream, and active recreational and community facilities. The...

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a campground and picnic area at Charlton Flat in the Angeles National Forest, CA. The same CCC Company was responsible for building the campground, ranger station, and maintenance facilities at nearby Chilao, as well as the fire lookout on Mount Vetter.

Between 1937 and 1939 the WPA made improvements to Chase Park in Seminole, Oklahoma. The improvements included the construction of a wading pool and bathhouse. The Oklahoma Historic Preservation Survey notes that "...The workers who built the bathhouse and pool were drawn from relief rolls and had lost their jobs due to the economic depression. Their labor supplied the city of Seminole with recreational facilities that have been of benefit to many children on the hot summer days of southern Oklahoma. The facilities are unique to Seminole for their type and materials. They also demonstrate the variety of construction undertaken by...

"The park’s history is tied to Camp Morehouse, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was located nearby, and a company of young men who began construction of the park in the 1930s. The Morehouse Enterprise reports June 8, 1933 that CCC Company 1491 under the command of U.S. Army Capt. Ralph L. Ware had arrived in Bastrop via train from Camp Beauregard. The company included 188 enrollees from Morehouse and surrounding parishes. The men would be stationed at Camp Morehouse about 12 miles north of Bastrop  on land owned by the Crossett Lumber Co., where they planned to build a lighting plant,...

" buildings were erected by workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration. Two programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program to pull the country out of the Great Depression. They began working in 1933 — only three years after the park opened on Memorial Day in 1930. Roads were built and drainage systems were put in by those workers in a park designed by Dr. Laurie Coz and students of Syracuse University’s School of Forestry. Using nature and its environs, they carefully sculpted out a park with forested areas for cabins and clear fields for sports fields,...

The CCC was extensively involved in development of the portion of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area formerly known as Platt National Park: "Originally known as Sulphur Springs Reservation, and later renamed Platt National Park, the park was established in 1902 through an agreement with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations and the federal government... Though a number of landscape elements in the Platt District relate to the early period of the park’s establishment, the majority of historic landscape resources relate to the period 1933-1940. During this period, NPS professionals planned and designed extensive park infrastructure which was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)....

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work on the development of a city park, swimming pool, and golf course in January 1939. Bath houses, seats, wading pool, bandstand, rock veneer golf house with showers, and picnic tables of rock veneer and concrete were also constructed. The WPA provided a grant of approximately $45,000 and the city voted $12,000 in bonds to construct the swimming pool and municipal park. Engineer Cecil Hauk drew plans for the project. Frank H. Spicer of the WPA was in charge. The project was estimated to take ten months and initially employed 54 men. The park...

After the discovery of oil here in the 1930s, this site was transformed into a makeshift tent city by thousands of people displaced by a deepening national depression. In an effort to control growth, city officials chose this site as the focus of an ambitious public works program in 1934. The park project, which included extensive rock work, was influenced by the planning and foresight of other Federal "New Deal" projects underway in Kilgore at the time (Kilgore Public Library and Kilgore College Administration Building). The park project was finished about 1936.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop during the 1930s what is now known as Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park. NYSParks.com: "The original core of land around and including Canopus Lake was developed through the use of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps which were established in the park and began development of the picnic area and campground, comfort stations, bridle paths, shelters, roads, and dams at Pelton Pond, Canopus and Stillwater lakes."

Excellent example of recreational development in a state forest constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Co. 513 in 1934.

Some of these buildings may pre-date the New Deal, but between 1933 and 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) engaged in considerable lumber milling activity while encamped here, and weekly built some of the sheds, at least (They built lumber sheds in a hundred of other state forests: Mogen-Monroe, Jackson, Harrison.) Some of the buildings may be post-WWII. They are difficult to document.

During the summer and fall of 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from CCC camps Belknap and Cascadia/Marys Creek developed recreational facilities at Clear Lake. Improvements at the time provided opportunities for camping, picnicking and hiking. Today, the site operates as a day use area only with trails and picnic sites available for use. The CCC laid out campsites with attached picnic facilities above the Clear Lake/Belknap Springs road that are still visible but camping is no longer permitted there. Significant CCC constructed structures that do remain in the Day Use Area include the Clear Lake Picnic shelter and Information Booth. Both...

The park was built by CCC Co. 3804 who were at the park from the spring of 1935 to Aug 1940. According to "Parks for Texas," CCC work includes the dam and lake, a limestone residence and maintenance area, entrance portals, and fireplace units. Additional work was completed by the WPA in 1941, including a bathhouse and concession building, plus a water and sewer system.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a swimming pool in Greenville’s Cleveland Park between 1939 and 1940. The city officially dedicated the pool on June 26, 1940. The total cost of the project amounted to $63,000. Children paid a dime to swim. The pool was but one of several WPA-sponsored projects in Greenville during the Depression, including park improvement and landscaping proposals. In 1961, the NAACP filed a lawsuit targeting segregated recreational facilities, including the Cleveland Park Pool. The following year, courts ruled that segregated park facilities were indeed unconstitutional, and the pool shut down for good in 1963. The city council...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1597 was active at Clifty Falls from November 1933 until 1938. The CCC built roads, trails, gatehouses, shelters, barns, and more. To enhance the outdoors experience projects exhibited designs that were rustic and harmonious with their surroundings, using native materials.

The Lilly Memorial Lookout was completed in 1936 by CCC laborers. The picnic area contains a stone seat that stands 4' high. The picnic area also contains 18" stone fences.

The CCC laborers completed the picnic site in 1936. The site contains stone walls surrounding the picnic benches.

In operation from Dec. 9, 1933 to Jul. 30, 1941, C.C.C. Camp Filley conducted extensive development work in the Cockaponset State Forest in Middlesex County, Connecticut. Camp Hadley, Company #2101, also operated on this site, from Sept. 5, 1935 to Apr. 4, 1941. Projects included tree planting; renovations to the Forest Ranger's house; construction of a lumber shed, garage, brick charcoal kiln, a picnic shelter, and clean-up after the flood of 1936 in the town of Middletown. Work also included development at Chatfield Hollow State Park, designated as such in 1949. It was originally a Civilian Conservation Corps recreation area within Cockaponset State Forest.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out major work at Colossal Cave and the surrounding park north of Vail AZ (now a suburb of Tucson, but far to the east in the 1930s). They improved access to the cave itself, built a large visitors'/administration center, laid out a campground and picnic area, opened roads and trails and built a water supply system.  The Arizona State Park Service oversaw the work. CCC workers constructed La Selvilla campground and El Bosquecito picnic area below the hillside, as well as a pump house to take water up the hill to the cave and visitors'...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out major work at Colossal Cave and the surrounding park north of Vail AZ (now a suburb of Tucson, but far to the east in the 1930s). They improved access for visitors to the cave itself, built a large visitors'/administration center, laid out a campground and picnic area, opened roads and trails and built a water supply system.  The Arizona State Park Service oversaw the work. Work inside Colossal Cave included widening the entrance and passageways, installing rock walkways and handrails, and added lighting and a water pipeline. This work was done in 1934-37 by...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built Cony Park in Eastport ME in 1934. "Cony Park, located adjacent to Shackford Head State Park, boasts beautiful views of Cobscook Bay, a large pavilion with picnic tables, outdoor musical instruments, and 3 horseshoe pits. A porta-potty is provided during the summer months. The park is great for picnics, parties, and many other gatherings and events. There is also a hand carry boat launch." According to the Community Notes in the Bangor Daily News of January 12 1934, " So with 100 men employed at times since last November, seventeen local women now on the payroll...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped construct the Cooper River Park in Pennsauken Township NJ in 1940. “A WPA project to give Pennsauken, N.J., its first public park and recreation facilities costing $350,000 has been approved,” a reporter for Parks & Recreation noted in March 1940. “Included in the plans are provisions for a swimming pool, wading pool, tennis, basketball, volleyball, handball, quoit and shuffleboard courts, picnic grounds, baseball diamonds and playground equipment for children. The Camden Park Commission is sponsoring the project.” According to the Cultural Landscape Foundation, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work crews as well as the WPA “provided design...

The West Virginia Department of Commerce writes: “The forest and its amenities are directly attributable to the development CCC Camp Rhododendron, formerly Camp Preston. A priority for the forest was fire fighting and wildlife food plots to increase hunting and thus, increase state revenues from hunters. The construction work at Cooper’s Rock began in May 1936 with some road and trail development. By the spring of 1937 the men were at work on the permanent structures in the Main Overlook area. The camp was occupied for a total of five years and their projects included road and trail development, picnic shelters,...

The CWA constructed this park at Corlears Hook. From a 1934 New York City Parks Department press release: "Facilities: An open shelter is to be erected. There are four handball, four horse-shoe pitching, one volley ball, two basketball and shuffle board courts. This area, which adjoins a lodging house with accommodation for 1800 men, has been planned to provide recreation for the unusually large number of men residing in this particular district." The amphitheater, known as the East River Amphitheater, was built in 1941. At least one of the playgrounds was replaced in 1969.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees constructed the Arboretum at Cornell University Arboretum in Ithaca, New York between 1935 and 1941.   “Before becoming an arboretum, the area was part of a working farm, and served as a pasture for the Cornell Department of Animal Science’s herd of Black Angus cattle. In 1935, 200 men from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up camp south of Cascadilla Creek and worked in what is now the arboretum for six years. Through all seasons, they cleared and graded the land, constructed stone walls, built roads, and planted trees. By 1941, they had built four...

Atop the hill that is now known as Coronado Heights Park sits an iconic castle, picnic areas, and restrooms that were constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Indeed in 1936 the Lindsborg Historical Society sold the hill for $1 to Saline County so that the WPA could make these improvements. Today the Smoky Valley Historical Association oversees Coronado Heights operations.