Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park: Lodge and Cabins - Big Sur CA

City:: Big Sur, CA
Site Type:: Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers, Parks and Recreation, Shops and Auxiliary Buildings
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1933
Completed:: 1941
Quality of Information:: Good
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Partially Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use. The state parks commission acquired the land in 1933, but had no funds for development. The CCC worked in the park from 1933 to 1941, but the sources do not always specify exact dates for each improvement.

The most important building constructed by the CCC enrollees is the Big Sur Lodge, which still stands just inside the main entrance to the park. The front portion of the building has been replaced, however, making the lodge appear more modern. The rear, two-story portion of the building is original, to judge by the rustic craftsman interior of the large dining room.

The CCC men also added 15 new cabins for the lodge and 7 older cabins were remodeled. The cabin area is on a side road up the hill from the main lodge building. At some time, most of the old cabins were replaced by a set of motel-like rustic buildings with several rooms. Only a handful of the old cabins remain.

The original parking area at the lodge was developed by the CCC.

Engbeck (2002, p 90) says that the CCC also built a post office and service station. Neither survives (and the post office may have been part of the lodge).

Source notes

Joseph H. Engbeck, Jr., By the People, For the People: The Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in California State Parks, 1933-1941. (Sacramento: California State Parks, 2002), pp. 89-94.

Site originally submitted by Richard Walker on February 19, 2023.
Additional contributions by Joan Greer.