Sign to Wildrose (road closed for winter) - Death Valley National Park CA
Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in the newly-minted Death Valley National Monument from 1933 to 1942. As one of their many projects, the CCC ‘boys’ constructed a summer headquarters and residential area for the National Park Service at Wildrose, high in the Panamint Mountains.
Summer heat made the regular headquarters and CCC camp at Cow Creek unliveable, so another CCC camp was added at Wildrose in 1935 so that the men could work year-round (at that time there were not permanent NPS staff in the monument yet). As the monument gained a permanent staff, the Superintendent made plans to upgrade the new camp from tents to permanent structures that could be used by NPS staff; these bore fruit in 1939.
The new Wildrose camp included wooden barracks, a mess hall, infirmary and recreation hall, shower hall, laundry and sports field. The focal point was a summer office, and on Pinon Mesa the CCC built a summer residence for the monument Superintendent. The roads in and out of Wildrose were also improved and the old charcoal kilns nearby restored.
Of these, the workshop and generator building, plus three residences, remain. All the rest were removed when the CCC ended in 1942. The site is now Wildrose campground.
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Charcoal-Kilns at Wildrose - Death Valley National Park CA
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Wildrose camp - Death Valley National Park CA
Source notes
Smith, Linda Greene and Judy Palmer, 2011. The Civilian Conservation Corps in Death Valley (1933-1942): A Brief CCC History and Visitor Guide. Amargosa Conservancy.
National Park Service webpage on the CCC in Death Valley
Our Mark on This Land: A Guide to the Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in America's Parks by Ren & Helen Davis (McDonald & Woodward Publishing, Granville, OH, 2011)
Project originally submitted by Richard A Walker on January 31, 2019.
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