Chenango Valley State Park – Chenango Forks NY

Description

“[Stone] 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, picnic areas and stables. Much of that original plan remains today.”   (https://archive.pressconnects.com)

Another site with archive photos of the CCC at Chenango Valley State Park identifies “company number 236, camp number 28 in Chenango Forks, N.Y. The camp was commissioned to work at the new state park. Military style barracks were constructed and building a legacy of trees and stone commenced. The men were paid $30 a month… $25 of that amount was automatically sent home to their families.

Real photo postcards preserved these moments in history – the barracks, the men and their accomplishments.  Although the CCC encampment has been gone for decades, the buildings, bridges and cabins all made from local stone, and much of the surrounding forest will survive into the future as a reminder of what government and people can accomplish when they work together.”   (https://www.antiquetrader.com)