Malheur National Forest Warehouse Shop - John Day OR

City:: John Day, OR
Site Type:: Forestry and Agriculture, Administrative Buildings, Auxiliary Facilities
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Conservation and Public Lands, US Forest Service (USFS), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Started:: 1936
Completed:: 1942
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

From 1936 to 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a large operational compound for the U.S. Forest Service’s Malheur National Forest division. The site has had several names: John Day Compound, Government Hill, Malheur Forest Warehouse Shop. The CCC men who worked at the site were stationed at CCC Camp Canyon City, a few miles south of John Day.

The compound has about a dozen buildings, including offices, garages, shop, warehouse, gas station and residences. The buildings are all rustic wooden clapboard or shingle structures and are in relatively good condition but showing their age. There is excellent signage on the CCC.

The State of Oregon’s Historic Preservation database has this to say about the compound: “The John Day Compound, Supervisor’s Warehouse is a complex of work buildings, employee residences, and related infrastructure owned an operated by the Malheur National Forest in John Day, Oregon, United States. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936–1942, it is the headquarters for field operations in the national forest and is typical of projects carried out by the CCC on behalf of the Forest Service. It represents that era’s shift in the Forest Service’s architectural vision toward comprehensive site planning, as well as its policy evolution from custodial superintendence of the national forests toward active natural resource management.” (Wikipedia)

Although a new complex of Malheur National Forest administrative buildings have been constructed to the west of John Day, the Warehouse Shop complex continues to serve as the operations center for Malheur National Forest.