Visitor Center - Walnut Canyon National Monument AZ

City:: Flagstaff, AZ
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation, Lodges, Ranger Stations and Visitor Centers
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1938
Completed:: 1942
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942. They made several improvements to the monument for public recreational use.

One was to build the original visitor center at Observation Point from sandstone blocks cut from a nearby quarry. The visitor center was completely altered during the 1960s by adding a new floor on top of the original building; the new second floor is where visitors’ enter today to find information, displays and the tourist shop. The lower floor is used for offices and storage now.

The original ground floor is clearly visible as you descend the exterior stairs to the observation terrace and then down to the Loop Trail. One piece of sandstone wall remains in the upper part building along the interior stairway down to the ground floor.

There is a display panel about the CCC and their work on the lower terrace.

Source notes

Arizona Chapter of the National New Deal Preservation, "The New Deal in Arizona: Connections to Our Historic Landscape." University of Arizona Library.Association.
https://content.library.arizona.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/NewDeal/id/229/rec/52

Display panel on lower terrace of visitors' center, Walnut Canyon NM.

Site originally submitted by Shaina Potts on January 6, 2013.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker.