- City:
- Furnace Creek, CA
- Site Type:
- Archaeology and History, Forestry and Agriculture, Resettlement Communities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in Death Valley National Monument from 1933 to 1942. The main CCC camp was at Cow Creek, just north of the park headquarters and visitors center at Furnace Creek.
Among the many projects undertaken in the park was building a permanent Shoshone Village on a 40-acre site just south of Furnace Creek. The National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs selected the site. We do not know more about how that decision was made and what input the Shoshone had in it.
The CCC built nine adobe houses, a washroom/laundry and a trading post. The trading post has recently been replaced by a new structure, and there are only a few remnants of the houses and other buildings.
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 Alberto Vasquez on January 27, 2019.
Additional contributions by John Stehlin, Richard A Walker, Joan Greer.
At this Location:
- Roads and Trails - Death Valley National Park CA
- Campgrounds and Picnic Areas - Death Valley National Park CA
- Other Park Infrastructure - Death Valley National Park CA
- Administrative & Support Buildings - 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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