- City:
- Hays, KS
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Started:
- 1933
- Completed:
- 1934
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps Veteran’s Camp 1778 comprised of World War I Veterans constructed a state park on the former grounds of the Fort Hays Military Reservation in Hays, Kansas. The camp was located along the banks of Big Creek and the enrollees occupied buildings the present-day Fort Hays State University campus.
The veterans constructed roads, bridges, and picnic areas that included limestone shelters and fire pits. The campers built a small dam in Big Creek to create a recreation area for fishing and boating. Some of these projects including the shelters were completed or maintained by the National Youth Administration.
In honor of the history of Hays, campers built a small cabin made from historic materials around the county. Including stone from the original Fort Fletcher, the lintel stone from the first Ellis County schoolhouse was placed above the fireplace and logs from Big Creek completed the cabin’s exterior.
Source notes
"Story of Development of Frontier Historical Park by Superintendent," The Ellis County News, July 5, 1934.
Gill, Jeremy Michael, Cavalry To Campfires: The Politics Of Preservation In Frontier Historical Park, Fort Hays State University, unpublished Master's Thesis, 2017, 4, (https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/4), accessed August 13, 2018.
Site originally submitted by Jeremy Gill on August 14, 2018.
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