CCC Camp Four Mile (former) – Bandon OR

Description

CCC Camp Four Mile, also known as the CCC Bandon Side Camp, served as a base for Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers from its founding in spring 1937 through 1941. Today the site is occupied by a Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) patrol district, and a CCC building houses the administration office for the CFPA’s Four Mile Guard Station. Thus, it continues its association with firefighting and fire prevention services for the area south of Bandon, Oregon.

CCC Camp Four Mile offers one example of many “side camps” that provided firefighting services in the Coos Forest Protection Association District. During the fall of 1936, a number of fires in southwestern Oregon required movement of CCC enrollees into the area for a massive firefighting effort. The destruction of the town of Bandon on September 26, 1936 further heightened concerns for the protection of lives and property in the region. The Bandon side camp was set up the following spring.

As the names suggest, side camps – also referred to as “spike camps” or “fly camps” – allowed the movement of CCC enrollees away from main camps to sites closer to their work. The assumption originally was that a side camp would be seasonal or temporary and, as a consequence, generally even more rustic in its accommodation. The side camp at Four Mile, however, is just one esample of a “temporary” placement of CCC enrollees that lasted years. In this instance, a CCC camp operated at this location for approximately four years.