Marked Sites

Originally constructed as Cary High School in 1938-39 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building, which replaced a 1913 school, was built at a cost of $132,000. The building now houses the Cary Arts Center.

During the 1930s, with the help of Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Cascade Playground. Among these improvements was the construction of a small brick comfort station in the northeast corner of the playground. The comfort station consisted of two structures, one on either side of the diagonal path leading into the playground, and included rooms for the playground caretaker, a playground instructor, and storage, as well as men's and women's restrooms. Work on the two structures began in 1937 and was completed in 1938. A plaque on the north side of...

The push for construction of a playground in Seattle's Cascade neighborhood began during the 1920s. In 1926, using funds from a 1924 bond issue, the Seattle Park Department acquired the proposed Cascade Playground site, which covered nearly the entire block between Harrison and Thomas Streets, and Minor and Pontius Avenues. The property remained largely unimproved for the next nine years. Beginning in 1935, however, a series of Works Progress Administration projects upgraded the site into a fully developed urban playground. As part of the first project, begun in 1935, WPA workers built concrete retaining walls around the perimeter of the site,...

In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) implemented a camp at the Spruce Creek State Park for drought relief by Robert E. Fechner (p.4, The Minneapolis Star), who was selected by President Roosevelt to direct the CCC (Roosevelts tree army). The Spruce Creek Camp established its camp ground at the Cascade River on the North shore. From there they started to build the Cascade River Overlook, which is the largest structure built by the Spruce Creek CCC camp. The CCC camp worked on the overlook for one year between 1934-1935, The Cascade River Overlook is Minnesota’s first example of a...

The current Castro County Courthouse was constructed in large part with labor provided by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Text from the state historical marker reads: "This site was set aside as the Dimmitt town square in 1891, the year Castro County was formally organized. Temporary court facilities were set up in J. N. Morrison's office while the first courthouse was built. An ornate two-story structure, it burned in 1906 after being hit by lighting. A brick courthouse with a central dome, built in 1908, was dedicated at a community picnic. It served until the 1930s, but was razed to make...

In 1933, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp opened in Leeds, UT, at the site of a Dixie National Forest Service ranger station. Stone from Silver Reef, a nearby silver mining ghost, was used to construct the camp's four administrative buildings, which are now the only surviving CCC camp structures in Utah. According to the Washington County Historical Society, "A large crowd attended the dedication of this camp on November 11, 1933. The American Legion conducted the program and the Dixie College Band played the music. Leeds, a town of less than 200, more than doubled with the opening of...

A sign marks the site of a former CCC camp at Linden: "As part of the New Deal's efforts to offer unemployed workers jobs on public projects, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the United States Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in March 1933. Three months later, Company 1814 was organized in Fort Logan, Colorado, to serve in reforestation and other conservation efforts. After transfers to Groveton and Austin, Texas, the company was transferred to Linden on June 4, 1937. The CCC enrollees in Linden established their camp here on the nearby hillside. Working closely with the U. S. Forest...

A marker erected in 1988 explains the Madisonville CCC camps history: "A part of the national Civilian Conservation Corps program of the New Deal era, Camp Sam Houston in Madisonville was a soil conservation camp. Begun in July 1935 and occupied by workers one month later, the camp provided jobs for 196 men. Members of the camp worked with area farmers and ranchers, demonstrating techniques of soil erosion control and pasture management. Covering a radius of 21 miles, CCC improvement projects included all of Madison County, as well as portions of Grimes, Leon, and Walker Counties. The camp was closed in...

A Winnsboro Preservation League sign in front of the Gilbreath Memorial Library, 916 N Main St, Winnsboro, TX, notes that a segregated Civilian Conservation Corps Company (#2884-C) was located here from 1935 to 1942. "BLACK Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Co. 2884 (C) Camp SCS-22T, Winnsboro, X, Camp consisted of 6 barracks, mess hall, bathhouse, rec-hall & headquarters, 250 enlisted men, 2 officers and 30 civilian personnel fro 1935-1942  Winnsboro Black CCC Camp continued operations until 1942, when manpower demands of WWII brought it to an end."

North Higgins Lake State Park near Roscommon MI is built on what was once the world's largest seedling nursery, established by the Michigan State Forester in 1903.   December 5, 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp at Higgins Lake, briefly on the Hanson Military Reservation and then on US-27 midway between Roscommon and Grayling. The camp operated from 1933-42, and a big part of the CCC activities was forest-related, planting trees and fighting forest fires across the northern part of the state.  The Higgins Lake tree nursery and CCC camp were central to this effort. By 1942, when the CCC ended,...

Contributing improvements in forest management and recreation development, CCC Camp Belknap operated in the Willamette National Forest for five years. From spring 1933 to summer 1938, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees strung phone lines through the forest, and constructed roads and trails. They built lookouts and guard stations with water systems, and fought several major fires. They opened new parts of the forest to camping and other recreation opportunities, building campgrounds, picnic areas, and ski lodges and ski runs. Perhaps the most distinctive of the projects completed by Camp Belknap's "CCC boys" is the Dee Wright Observatory near McKenzie Pass. Although...

On April 5th, 1933, the day that the executive order forming the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was signed, officials of the U.S. Forest Service announced that they would select land near Cape Perpetua for one of the largest of the CCC camps in the Siuslaw National Forest. The site selected was approximately two miles south of Yachats just east of US Highway 101 on the banks of Cape Creek. Construction of the camp began in June 1933 with a crew of twenty-five local CCC recruits. With its completion, the number of CCC workers residing at Cape Creek Camp grew to...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted substantial work at Shenipsit State Forest in northern Connecticut. Work was undertaken by Camp Conner, housing Company #1192, which operated from Sept. 5, 1935 to May 23, 1941. The physical camp resided south of Chestnut Hill Rd., at Thomas Rd. The prime remnant of the camp is the former camp officer / officers' office building, now the CCC Museum (which has its own page on our site). Additional structures that are still extant include the forest ranger's house and garage, located just east of the CCC Museum, which were constructed "from wood salvaged after the Hurricane of...

From 1934 to 1942, CCC Camp Gap Ranch operated in Harney County under the direction of the US Grazing Service, the precursor to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Enrollees at this 200-person Civilian Conservation Corps provided labor on projects designed to manage range land. As noted in a BLM brochure, this included building range improvements such as fences and reservoirs, drilling wells, building roads, and cutting large quantities of juniper posts for fencing projects. CCC Camp Gap Ranch (DG-5) was one of seven Civilian Conservation Corps camps established in Oregon to work with the US Grazing Service in the implementation...

Located on the western edge of the Ochocho National Forest, approximately twenty miles from Prineville, Oregon, Camp Mill Creek served as a major Civilian Conservation Corps worksite from 1933 to 1942. The entrance to the camp's location is marked in honor of the hundreds of young men who worked on projects in this national forest. As described on the roadside plaque: "The young men of Camp Mill Creek did reforestation work, fought forest fires and constructed and maintained roads, trails, telephone lines and campgrounds." CCC workers, under the supervision of the US Forest Service, are credited with constructing several buildings located...

Located nine miles northeast of Wheeler in Tillamook County, Camp Nehalem was the home to Company #2908 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from 1935 to approximately 1941. Company #2908 was known as the "Oregon Company," being made up entirely of Oregon enrollees. Its project designation, P-221, indicates that the company worked primarily on private forest land. When the company was formed in 1933, CCC Camp Boyington near Astoria housed the 200 enrollees of Company #2908. From 1933 - 1936, severe forest fires plagued the area and many of the CCC companies provided forest fighting services. The company was moved from its...

Silver Falls State Park's current North Falls day-use and group camp contains the site that once served the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Silver Creek Falls. CCC enrollees occupied this site from 1935 through 1940, working to improve the state park established in 1933. The first company of CCC enrollees to arrive included 215 young men, mostly from Illinois. The Oregonian reported that their quarters were completed at a cost of $10,000. Later enrollees arrived from Tennessee. As acknowledged on the plaque marking the site: " The young men of Camp Silver Creek Falls constructed trails, roads, bridges, buildings and planted thousands of trees....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Sisters (F-110, Company #1454) at Camp Sherman, Oregon operated near the headwaters of the Metolius River in Jefferson County from 1933 to 1942. It was just one of the average 60 CCC camps that worked each year in the state during that period. Originally planned to be near Sisters, Oregon rather than at the unincorporated Camp Sherman site, its name tends to confuse Oregonians. The CCC, however, found this position on the Metolius more in keeping with project needs so located it where the (Camp Sherman) Riverside Campground is found today. The CCC men constructed...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) maintained a camp on French Creek east of Custer State Park in South Dakota from 1934 to 1941.  It was officially camp SP-3 (meaning State Park #3).  The recruits worked on projects in region under the supervision of Custer State Park rangers and the National Park Service (NPS). The CCC enrollees built many miles of road, telephone lines and boundary fences. To this they added 20 bridges.  They constructed a fire lookout on Mt. Coolidge, along with a ranger's residence there, and fought fires and bark beetle infestations. They developed the Blue Bell Lodge and cabins...

From 1935 through May 1941, the area now occupied by the Trask River County Campground served as the site of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Trask. The enrollees stationed at the camp worked primarily on truck trail construction and other activities related to "fire hazard reduction" on private forest land. As described in the Vancouver Barracks report (1937): "Camp Trask is built in a grove of fir and spruce trees on the bank of the river and affords a very attractive site. The buildings are arranged into a square, with parade grounds and flagpole in the center. Electric lights are provided...

MP4 Camp Wilderness was one of 4 CCC camps in the Fredericksburg area set up to develop locations of major Civil War battles, Camp Bloody Angle (MP-1) was at the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Camp Wilderness (MP-4) was at the Battle of the Wilderness, and Camp Chancellorsville (MP-3) was at the Battle of Chancellorsville. One camp was on private property centered between the other three. It was Camp Malcomb McArthur (P-69) along Catharpin Road. The Wilderness camp was established Oct 14, 1933 and was abandoned Apr 3, 1941. First, it was home to the boys of Company 282. On...

Located approximately five to seven miles east of Cascade Locks, CCC Camp Wyeth/Cascade Locks (Camp F-7) was one of the longest operating Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the Columbia River Gorge. The US Forest Service's Wyeth Campground currently operates on the site of the former CCC facility. In the summers of 1933 and 1934, tents provided shelter for 200 enrollees put to work on road, trail and campground construction projects. In the summer of 1935, a more permanent commitment to the camp was made when construction of CCC Camp Cascade Locks began on the site located south of Wyeth Road and...

From 1933-1937 a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp operated within the Blue Hills Reservation, south of Boston. Over that time the CCC made numerous improvements to the Reservation, including two lookout towers, ski trails, a toboggan run, and any number of road and trail enhancements. Bare remnants of the CCC camp remain today, but are noted with historical markers. Description of C.C.C. activities in the Blue Hills Reservation, per the Metropolitan District Commission 1938 annual report: "The camp work crews assigned to the creosoting of gypsy moth egg clusters continued the work started in the fall of 1936 until the spring hatching...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was extremely active in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942.  There were six CCC camps on the North Rim, South Rim and in the canyon itself and seven companies active over the decade: #818, 819, 847, 2543, 2833, 3318 and 4814.   Grand Canyon National Park received more development funds and labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps than any other location in Arizona. CCC enrollees built many of the recreation facilities still in use today, such as paths, trails, roads, shelters, and campgrounds, along with basic infrastructure, such as telephone lines, electric lines, water pipes and sewer...

Humboldt Redwoods State Park was established in 1921 with purchases of some of the last remaining Old Growth stands of Coast Redwoods by the Save the Redwoods League. It has since been expanded several times and now includes over 51,000 acres, of which 17,000 are old growth redwood stands.   California did not establish a state parks system until 1928, and little improvement work had been done at Humboldt Redwoods before the New Deal.  When the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived at Dyerville camp in 1933, the young men got to work right away developing the state park.  There were three CCC...

Hawk’s Nest State Park began as 31 acres bought by the state of West Virginia and is now an 838 acre park southwest of Anstead, Fayette County, West Virginia. The park overlooks the New River along the Midland Trail (US 60). Ten New Deal era resource types are identified in the park including “stone work; water fountains; fireplaces and picnic pads; trails; a culvert; a multi-use building with a museum, observatory, and residence; a concession building; storage building; picnic shelter; and restroom buildings.” The CCC operated two camps in Hawk’s nest. Camp Lee SP-6 Project 532 (10 July 1935-1942) and Camp...

A CCC monument erected in 1987 commemorates CCC Company 884 which worked out of Rush Springs, Oklahoma. This camp focused primarily on "soil conservation due to the nature of the soil in this area. The work performed here consisted of terracing and other work to deter soil erosion...A granite monument is erected east of the municipal pool on the east side of Jeff Davis Park, on the east side of Rush Springs. CCC Company 884 camp was located in this area between 1933 and 1942." (waymarking.com) The monument inscription includes: "To all the young men who served and to future generations that...

From Our Mark on This Land (2011): "If you have driven, hiked, or slept in the Chisos Mountains, you have experienced CCC history. In May 1933, Texas Canyons State Park was established; it was later renamed Big Bend State Park. Roads and trails were needed for the new park, and the CCC provided an ideal workforce. A year after the park was established, 200 young men, 80 percent of whom were Hispanic, arrived to work in the Chisos Mountains. The CCC's first job was to set up camp and develop a reliable water supply. The CCC boys faced many challenges, living...

In 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers stationed at Camp Fremont in Pinedale, Wyoming built a large system of ponds for environmental and recreational purposes. Additional camp work included a variety of other projects such as reforestation, flood control, and road building. Following the closure of Camp Fremont in 1942, the CCC Ponds went out of use and became derelict. The ponds were reconstructed in the 1990s, however, and were given thematic names after resident wildlife, including the Fish Pond, Duck Pond, Beaver Pond, and Frog Pond. Today, the CCC Ponds are a popular recreation area for fishing, walking, biking and watching...

This smaller, concrete CCC project from 1940 is located at the west side of the junction of Lincoln Street and N 11th Street in Klamath Falls, OR. This smaller, CCC-built project is located along what's known as the 'A-Canal', one of many 'lettered' irrigation canals that make up the Klamath Water Project. The A-Canal serpentines its way through Klamath Falls and is THE first of the lettered canals to divert water from Lower Klamath Lake to other lettered canals throughout the Basin. The CCC camp responsible for creating this concrete retaining wall in 1940 was either Camp 19 (Project BR-41 / Co....

Elementary school built in 1935 with funding from the Public Works Administration and Proximity Manufacturing Company for the White Oak New Town mill village community founded by the Cone Mills Corporation, then among the largest denim manufacturers in the world. Still in use as an elementary school today.

Cedar Breaks National Monument was created by President Franklin Roosevelt on August 22, 1933, with just over 6,000 acres carved out of Dixie National Forest in southwest Utah. This was Roosevelt's first national monument declaration and it set a precedent that FDR would follow again and again: transferring monuments and parks from the US Forest Service to the National Parks Service – which grew substantially under the New Deal. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sent men from Zion Canyon to set up a 'stub camp' (closed in winter) at Cedar Breaks, where they started working on improvements to the...

In 1939, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees constructed the Centennial Work Center in Medicine Bow National Forest near the small town of Centennial, Wyoming. CCC workers completed three buildings for use by the U.S. Forest Service, including an office, a dwelling, and a garage. Each building is a one-story log structure with a rubble base foundation. Work began in 1938, with crew members from the Mullen Creek CCC Camp (F-36-W) and Ryan Park Side Camp (F-22-W) cutting logs and laying the foundation for the site. Buildings were constructed by 1939,= and the landscaping was completed by CCC workers in 1940. Originally built to...

Built in 1939 as a public school in Holmdel NJ. Excerpt from the July 27th 1939 Red Bank Register: "Nearing completion at Centerville in Holmdel township is a new public school, the construction of which is being done entirely by WPA mechanics The Holmdel township board of education is supplying most of the materials and the WPA is supplying the labor, sand, gravel and concrete." Today the building is used for professional offices.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the central electric substation for the City of Alameda, which has its own municipal electric power system.  It cost over $200,000, a considerable sum at the time.  It also served as the central fire alarm switching center for the city. It is a steel-reinforced concrete building in Moderne style, rather narrow and high.  It has two large plaques on the front, one honoring the city's board of public works and one the PWA (which was originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works).   Short & Stanley-Brown (1939) provide more detail about what the building...

Central Elementary School in Union City, Tennessee was undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The PWA Moderne building, with a distinctive blend of classicism and Art Deco style, was designed to stand out from the more conservative architecture of Union City. Local reformers celebrated its "fireproof construction, circulation flow, ample light and air, structural insulation, sound proofing, sanitary floors, attractive furniture, drinking fountains, modern plumbing, and its auditorium," (Van West, pg. 114). The total federal cost for school construction reached $105,000, while student workers trained in wood- and metalworking by the National Youth Administration (NYA) furnished...

The Central Fire Station in Ada, Oklahoma, was constructed by the Public Works Administration (PWA), under the supervision of architect Robert F. Ferguson, consulting engineer George Taylor, and contractor Arney Harbert. It is a two-story stone block building with four overhead door vehicle bays. A tall hose tower is located on the building's south side.

Hilo, Hawaii's Central Fire Station was constructed during the late 1930s with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA contributed nearly half the project cost by way of a grant of $35,100; the final cost of the project was $71,919. Construction on the station began in November 1938 and was completed September 1939.

The Works Progress Administration built restroom facilities in Central Park in Davis, in 1937. Davis Wiki: "The WPA Building houses the public restrooms on the northeast corner of Central Park. It was built in 1937 as a WPA project and was the first public restroom in Davis. It is also the only WPA building in the City of Davis, lending it additional historical significance." In 2011, the Davis City Council approved the demolition of the WPA building with the intention of building a "History Plaza" in its place. The proposal gave rise to public disagreement and many local writers and residents expressed support for the conservation of...

The Central School in Vernal was built in 1940-41 with the help of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) (by then part of the Federal Works Administration), according to  a plaque in the entrance lobby.  An older Central School was torn down to make way for this building. The design of the long, two-story building is brick Moderne, with strong horizontal lines and lovely curved section to the left of the entrance.  There is a L-shaped wing on the south side.  The windows and their openings have been radically altered (probably to deal with summer heat). The building now has "Central Education Center"...