- City:
- Florence, OR
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Paths and Trails, Picnic and Other Facilities, Landscaping and Tree Planting
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Conservation and Public Lands, Work Relief Programs, National Park Service (NPS)
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1937
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Yes
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
From 1936 to 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Honeyman State Park, just south of Florence, Oregon, under the supervision of the National Park Service (NPS). The parkland had been purchased by the state from 1930 to 1936.
Honeyman Park covers over 500 acres along Highway 101 (the Oregon Coast Highway), tucked behind the Oregon Dunes National Seashore. It includes two freshwater lakes, Cleawox Lake within the dunes and the much larger Woahink Lake east of the highway. There is a day-use area on the north side of Cleawox Lake, a large campground south of that lake and water sports facilities on Woahink Lake.
The CCC work lies on the west side of coast highway and includes, “…the stone and log Cleawox Lake bathhouse (1938); the park caretaker’s house and garage (1936-37), now the park office; and several rustic kitchen shelters (1937). Other day-use facilities and landscaped roadways with stone curbings were constructed by CCC, and the sloped cuts on the Coast Highway were planted with shrubs….
Civilian Conservation Corps crews originally developed some of the park’s trails, including the half-mile trail that connects the Cleawox picnic areas and campground. This trail follows portions of the Cleawox and Lily Lake shorelines and features rhododendrons in the spring.” (Oregon State Parks)
The CCC bathhouse with a large terrace on the lakeside, three rustic picnic areas with wooden shelters, trails and a stone drinking fountain are arranged around a parking lot with stone curbs in the Cleawox Picnic Area.
The campground was added in the 1950s.
The park was named after Jesse M. Honeyman, president of the Oregon Roadside Council, who worked closely with Samuel Boardman, Oregon’s first Superintendent of State Parks, to preserve Oregon coastal lands in the 1920s and 30s.
Honeyman State Park’s CCC structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_M._Honeyman_Memorial_State_Park
https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=95
Site originally submitted by Joan Greer on May 30, 2022.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker.
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