Ranger Station Compound – Union Creek OR

Description

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.  

There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942. CCC enrollees worked during summer from 1933 to 1942 out of the seasonal Upper Rogue River CCC camp (a Forest Service camp). 

Throughout their time at Union Creek, the CCC men worked on the ranger station compound just south of the Union Creek resort. Overall, they added almost a dozen structures, including 3 residences, 3 garages, and 3 utility sheds, plus a horse barn and fire warehouse.  These were built in the Rustic Style favored for national parks and forests at the time, with stone (lava rock) foundations, wood framing, and either board-and-batten or shiplap siding.  The roofs were peaked and gabled in the larger buildings, then covered with wood shakes. 

All these CCC structures were still intact and little altered at the time of the National Historic District designation in 1980 and we believe they are still there, but this needs to be confirmed.