Parvin State Park and CCC Camp – Pittsgrove NJ

Description

“In 1930, the State purchased 918 acres of land and a 108 acre lake.  On September 12, 1931 the property was dedicated as Parvin State Park.

The new Park continued to be a popular recreation area, adding camping to its list of activities.  Water festivals with swimming races were held each summer during the early years of the Park.  Joe Truncer was appointed as the first Park Superintendent and Bob Seymour, who had been the caretaker under the previous owner, became a Park employee.  Between 1932 and 1933 Almond Road was moved about 50 yards north of its earlier location in order to enlarge the beach area.

This was at the height of the depression and President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps to employ young men between the ages of 16 and 21 from needy families.  On October 30, 1933 Company 1225 was formed and assigned to SP-4, the Parvin State Park Project.  Company 1225 was moved into a camp, built by the CCC of Belleplain State Park, located about three-fourths of a mile west of the main beach at Parvin State Park.  The camp, which included barracks, a mess hall and a recreation hall, was run by the Army in a Quasi-military fashion.  The young men were provided food, clothing and lodging and were paid $30 per month, $25 of which they were required to send home to their family.

Company 1225 remained at Parvin State Park until 1937 during which time they cleared portions of the forest for campsites, created trails and roadways, and constructed gates, campsite markers, tent platforms, and pavilions.  These pavilions survive at Jagger’s Point, Island Point and at Second Landing.  Company 1225 also built the main beach complex including an enlarged beach, the brick buildings at the beach entrance, and the parking lot across the road.  They built several bridges across the Muddy Run and dug the southern branch to the lake transforming the peninsula at the northeast corner of the lake into an island, which they then connected to the mainland by constructing a bridge.  The island is now known as Flag Island for the American Flag the Scouts displayed there, and the bridge today is called White Bridge.  One of Company 1225’s biggest and most difficult tasks was the removal of fallen trees and digging out of the muck in the swamp which would become Thundergust Lake.

In October 1937, Company 1225 was transferred to Fallon, Nevada and the newly formed Company 2227V, comprised of World War I veterans, was established at the Park.  These skilled workers put the finishing touches on Thundergust Lake, building the adjoining picnic area and completing the landscaping throughout the Park.  They constructed all the rental cabins and the caretaker’s cabin, most of which are still in use.  They also replaced the southerly bridge to Flag Island with what is known today as White Bridge.

During the flood of September 1^st 1940, Company 2227V labored unsuccessfully to save the dam, and later built the new concrete dam.  Completion of the new dam coincided with the disbanding of the Civilian Conservation Corps as the U.S. entered WWII.  This allowed all able-bodied men to join the armed services.  The CCC Camp at Parvin State Park was officially closed on May 15, 1942″