Guy W. Talbot State Park Improvements – Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area OR

Description

Guy W. Talbot State Park, also known as Latourell Falls State Park, entered the Oregon State Park system in 1929 when the Talbot family donated 125 acres of land adjacent to Latourell Falls. Significant development of the park, however, began in 1933 when Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from nearby CCC Camp Benson initiated work. CCC projects improved the park during the second period of the CCC (October 1933 to Arpil 1934), the third period (April to October 1934), and the fifth period (April to October 1935).

As noted in a report completed in 1946 under the supervision of the Oregon State Parks historian, the CCC enrollees completed the following: “one rustic bridge, fourteen rods of guard rail, four fireplaces for cooking, thirteen table and bench combinations, nine tenths of a mile of difficult forest trail, one mile of firebreak, three quarters of a mile of roadside fire hazard reduction, six and one half miles of trailside fire hazard reduction, three acres of other fire hazard reduction and one mile of lineal survey.”