Camp Ben McCulloch Improvements – Driftwood TX

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to Camp Ben McCulloch in 1935. The WPA cleared the grounds and created a network of dirt-packed roads leading from the highway to the campgrounds. They modified the open sided gathering hall built in 1904 with a stone facade with a faux cornice to resemble entering a building. The current bathroom was built as a shelter by the WPA and converted to bathrooms in the 1970s.

Camp Ben McCulloch was organized in the summer of 1896 as a reunion camp for Confederate veterans and named for Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch, who was killed at the Battle of Pea Ridge during the Civil War. Annual three-day reunions were held at the 40 acre camp. The last reunion was held on August 9, 1946. Subsequently, the camp became the location of the annual meetings of the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. The campsite also remains a popular picnic area in Texas. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 12, 2004.