Parker Meadows Shelter – Butte Falls OR

Description

Built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps company quartered at Camp South Fork, the Parker Meadows Shelter is typical of “rustic” style trail shelters or fire guard shelters constructed on the National Forest during the period. Constructed along an important Forest road, the shelter was intended for recreational purposes and associated with a nearby campground. The shelter was open for use by anyone and probably contained a fire-tool cache in a locked box, for potential fire emergency use (LaLande, August 4, 1999).

Records of CCC activity associated with Camp South Fork refer to five man-months of labor at Parker Meadows Campground in 1936. A side camp from Camp South Fork F- 104 developed “1 unit” at the site. No specific description or material costs are indicated in existing records. The shelter still fulfills its original function yet it has additional value as a cultural resource. Simple camp shelters such as this one continue to provide eating and sleeping shelter for small groups of people. At one time the Forest had over half a dozen of the Adirondack-style camp-shelters at places such as Stuart Falls, Grass Lake, Blue Lake, and the Union Creek area. In the 1960s the campground at Parker Meadows was substantially enlarged. As the one remaining representative example of its type on the Rogue River National Forest, Parker Meadows Shelter is tangible evidence of recreational development during the historic period.

Shelter is located at GPS coordinates: N 42.36.018 / W 122.19.478