- City:
- Eugene, OR
- Site Type:
- Forestry and Agriculture, CCC Camps
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Started:
- 1933
- Completed:
- 1934
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
Soon after the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in March 1933, CCC Camp Skinner Butte was established in Eugene, Oregon to serve as the headquarters of CCC camps in what was then the Eugene District. Within a year, regional administrators reconfigured the districts and closed Camp Skinner Butte. During its year of operation, Camp Skinner (as it was dubbed) served as the headquarters for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) as well.
The Camp occupied the former car camping and picnic area in Eugene’s Skinner Butte Park. Although the City of Eugene established a municipal park at Skinner Butte as early as 1914, the CCC enrollees are credited with undertaking significant landscape improvements during their stay. These included planting trees, constructing basalt retaining walls and stairs on the north side of Skinner Butte, and clearing picnic areas.
After it closed, the extensive facility was used to house transient workers for the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) for a period of time.
Source notes
Burton, Leo R. T. (1934) "Album of Eugene District Civilian Conservation Corps." Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society Library & Archive. Photo Album #380.
"Eugene to Have City Park: Business Women Launch Campaign to Improve Skinner Butte," Oregonian. August 29, 1933. p. 6.
Hostick, Robin Alan (2002) Skinner Butte Master Plan. City of Eugene Parks and Planning. January 2002.
Site originally submitted by Jim Reed on April 8, 2022.
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