Start Year: 1934

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-5 was created at Williamsburg, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Lake Matoaka area, part of the College of William & Mary campus. Beginning in 1934, Camp NHP-5 housed CCC Company 2303, an African American unit. 2303’s work at Matoaka State Park included “trails and bridges, a boat house, picnic shelters, and an amphitheatre seating 500 persons” (Dist. 4, Third Corps Area history, 1937). Today, it seems this area is no longer called “Matoaka State Park,” but is simply viewed as part of the overall campus and holdings of the college.    Company 2303 also helped four...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-4 was created at Yorktown, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-4 housed CCC Company 1351, a World War I veterans company that had been formed at Langley Field, Virginia, on May 26, 1933. Company 1351, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over...

Although the State's initial acquisition of land for the park occurred in 1931, the early development of Silver Falls State Park can be credited to several of the New Deal programs. A significant portion of the land for the park was purchased by the federal Resettlement Administration (RA) c 1935, and developed for recreational use through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1942. As shown on the map below, a portion of the land that became Silver Falls State Park was once Silver Falls city. Surrounding this old logging town, the...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-2 was created at Yorktown VA for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-2 housed CCC Company 323, which had been formed in Fort Washington, Maryland, in Spring 1933, before moving to Virginia. Company 323, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over the job of...

A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established west of the Baker-Barry tunnel on the Marin Headlands, probably in 1934. The camp consisted of twelve barracks, a mess hall, two shower and toilet buildings, three storage sheds, a cold storage house, and an open garage. Enrollees built the Baker-Barry Tunnel, a single-lane through the Marin Headlands, in 1935.   The CCC camp was closed and turned over to the U.S. Army Ninth Corps in 1936, and used as temporary housing for troops practicing at the Fort Barry rifle range. = As far as we know, nothing of this CCC camp remains today. The site...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted 10,000 street trees around Berkeley CA in 1933-34 and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) followed with 5,000 more, c. 1938-39.  (Gazette, 3/11/39) According to the city manager of Berkeley, 15,000 flowering fruit trees had been planted by April 1939 (Gazette, 4/4/1939) Street tree planting was a major, if unappreciated, aspect of the New Deal. Determining which trees were planted on which streets is impossible at this point, and most of the trees (particularly short-lived fruit trees) have passed on by this time.  Nevertheless, there are several streets, such as Hopkins Street, where elm, camphor and ash trees of...

On May 2, 1934, Public Works Administration (PWA) director and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, “announced today he had signed a contract covering a loan of $36,000 to the Midland Continental Railroad company in North Dakota for the purchase of a new Diesel-electric locomotive” (Argus-Leader, 1934). This PWA-funded locomotive would become No. 310 in Midland Continental Railroad’s (MCR) small roster of equipment.  It would also be the first Diesel-electric engine assigned to road service in the western United States.  Prior to this, diesel locomotives were relegated to “switcher” service (i.e., moving train cars short distances, usually within the confines of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the fire lookout tower on Cinnamon Butte in 1934.   Cinnamon Butte lies 5 miles north of Diamond Lake, east of highway 138, and west of the Mt Theilsen Wilderness Area. The lookout tower is 35 feet high with a 14x14 foot observation cabin, all built entirely of wood. This was a standard form and size of lookout tower.  It still stands. The CCC built several fire lookouts for the US Forest Service in Umpqua National Forest, dozens around Oregon and hundreds across the country.    

  In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) initiated the development of Humbug Mountain State Park. From their camp, located on park property, the CCC enrollees undertook construction of roads and a trail to the top of Humbug Mountain, benches and fireplaces, park buildings, and provision of a water system. At the time, the trail to the top of the 1750-foot-tall Humbug Mountain distinguished the park and the CCC enrollees' accomplishments there.    

Between 1934 and 1940, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (then called the St. Marks Migratory Bird Refuge) located about twenty-five miles away from Tallahassee FL. Overseen by the U.S. Biological Survey, the work was done by enrollees at Camp BF-1 – one of the first African American CCC camps in Florida. CCC teams constructed roads, cut fire lines, built structures, and facilitated the establishment of the refuge as it stands today. According to the Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, “lmost everything was fabricated by the CCC men. Poles that carried the power...