- City:
- Furnace Creek, CA
- Site Type:
- Campgrounds and Cabins, Parks and Recreation, Picnic and Other Facilities, Comfort Stations (Restrooms)
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1934
- Completed:
- 1942
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in Death Valley National Monument from 1933 to 1942. Among their many projects in the monument, the CCC ‘boys’ created five campgrounds and picnic areas.
Texas Spring campground was the first and largest, and it remains the best preserved; it includes seven stone picnic tables and stone comfort station (restroom). Two other campgrounds areas are also located around Furnace Creek, the park headquarters and visitors center. The Sunset area on the east side of highway 190 serves mostly trailers and Furnace Creek campground and picnic area lies the visitors’ center.
Emigrant Junction campground is in the western part of the park, across the road from Emigrant Junction ranger station. It includes a fine stone comfort station (restroom). Wildrose campground in the Panamint Mountains is closed in winter (and is not shown here).
Other campgrounds have been added in the park over the year. Campgrounds in Death Valley are quite spartan compared to those built by the CCC in other regions, given that Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in the country.
Death Valley was proclaimed a national monument by President Herbert Hoover on February 11, 1933, just before he left office. Hoover set aside almost two million acres (8,000 km2) of southeastern California and small parts of southwestern Nevada. Death Valley became a National Park in 1994, in part due to the massive scarring of the landscape produced by continued surface mining allowed by Congress in national monuments. Public outcry led to greater protection for all national park and monument areas in the country at the end of the 20th century.
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)
Site originally submitted by Richard A Walker on January 27, 2019.
Additional contributions by John Stehlin, Alberto Velasquez.
At this Location:
- Roads and Trails - Death Valley National Park CA
- Other Park Infrastructure - Death Valley National Park CA
- Administrative & Support Buildings - Death Valley National Park CA
- Timbisha Shoshone Village - Death Valley National Park CA
- Emigrant Junction Ranger Station - Death Valley National Park CA
- Harmony Borax Works - Death Valley National Park CA
- Wildrose Summer Headquarters - Death Valley National Park CA
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