Mammoth Cave National Park – Mammoth Cave KY

City:
Mammoth Cave, KY

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Description

Mammoth Cave National Park in central Kentucky encompasses portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world.

The National Park Service website describes CCC work on the park:

“…the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived on the scene to begin developing the property for use as a national park. The roads were little more than wagon ruts, impassable in wet weather. The trails within the cave remained rough, the same flagstone paths Stephen Bishop and others laid out almost a hundred years before. No communications were available; there was no housing; the water system was crippled. Four camps of CCC workers worked for $1 per day building housing, roads, cave trails, communications systems, water systems, restrooms, showers, and a service elevator to the famous Snowball Room in the cave.”

From Pass The Word: A Project of the Kentucky Oral History Commission:

“The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to provide conservation work for unemployed young men during the Great Depression, played a significant role in the development of Mammoth Cave National Park…including road construction, stonemasonry, fire fighting, fire tower duty, truck driving, telephone system installation, and erosion control and other conservation work…”

Source notes

(1) National Park Service, at https://www.nps.gov/maca/historyculture/anotherdayanotherdollar.htm, accessed June 30, 2013 (2) Pass The Word: A Project of the Kentucky Oral History Commission, at https://passtheword.ky.gov/collection/civilian-conservation-corps-and-mammoth-cave-national-park, accessed June 30, 2013.

Site originally submitted by Brent McKee - wpatoday.org on June 30, 2013.

Location Info


1 Mammoth Cave Pkwy
Mammoth Cave, KY 42259

Coordinates: 37.186988, -86.10054

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3 comments on “Mammoth Cave National Park – Mammoth Cave KY

  1. Along with others interested we are looking for info regarding personnel that was employed at the Mammoth Cave National Park = employed by the CCC program and instrumental in creating trails and bridges in the park and also inside the Cave. From beginning to end of the program.

  2. Curtis Wheeler

    How and where do I go too access a full listing of men involved in ccc at park and the projects and pictures?

  3. Andrew Laverdiere

    Hello Curtis.

    Finding out the names of members requires finding original literature or camp newsletters. Back in California, the Fresno library had a CCC yearbook for their district for instance. Contact local libraries or historical societies.

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3 comments on “Mammoth Cave National Park – Mammoth Cave KY

  1. Along with others interested we are looking for info regarding personnel that was employed at the Mammoth Cave National Park = employed by the CCC program and instrumental in creating trails and bridges in the park and also inside the Cave. From beginning to end of the program.

  2. Curtis Wheeler

    How and where do I go too access a full listing of men involved in ccc at park and the projects and pictures?

  3. Andrew Laverdiere

    Hello Curtis.

    Finding out the names of members requires finding original literature or camp newsletters. Back in California, the Fresno library had a CCC yearbook for their district for instance. Contact local libraries or historical societies.

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.