• Pokagon State Park Development - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Pokagon State Park into a fully-fledged recreational park in the 1930s, planting thousands of trees, building trails, establishing a group camp, and constructing park buildings, including a gatehouse, bath house (with beach), saddle barn, two-story shelter house, and more. CCC Company 556 occupied Camp SP-7 at Pokagon from 1934 until 1942. To enhance the outdoors experience, projects exhibited designs that were rustic and harmonious with their surroundings, using native materials and adhering to guidelines established through the National Park Service. Pokagon has been home to the longest running annual CCC reunion in the country and continues the...
  • Pokagon State Park: Beach and Bathhouse - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the bathhouse and beach at Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana, in 1938-39.   CCC 'boys' trucked endless loads of gravel from a deposit in another part of the park to create a swimming beach, as well as a fine gravel lake bottom.  This was accomplished by spreading a thick layer of gravel over the ice of the frozen lake where the beach was being created and letting it settle as the ice melted. The gabled frame bathhouse was completed in 1939. The beach and bathhouse are not marked as CCC, but there is now a...
  • Pokagon State Park: CCC Camp SP 7 (demolished) - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp at Pokagon State Park in order to work on developing the park. The camp was there from 1933 to 1942, when the CCC program closed down.  The camp was dismantled afterward. Camp SP-7 housed Company 556 and consisted of officers quarters, six barracks, headquarters building, recreational hall, bath house/laundry, mess hall, latrine, motor pool shed, blacksmith/tool storage, educational/shop building, pumphouse and water tower, and ham radio shed.   The site is marked by a sign on a stone pedestal, built by one of the former CCC boys some 40 years after the camp closed. More...
  • Pokagon State Park: CCC Pocket Museum - Angola IN
    The former gatehouse at the entrance to Pokagon State Park was completed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1937 and used until the mid-1980s. The style of the former gatehouse is classified as Park Rustic.  Using a variety of native materials, the CCC built gatehouses designed to appeal to the eye and draw in visitors with hints of the delights of nature within the park. In 2016, the little building was dedicated as a CCC Pocket Museum, featurng exhibits about the CCC's work in the park and beyond.  There is also a permanent exhibit in the Nature Center (not a CCC building)...
  • Pokagon State Park: CCC Shelter House - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a shelter house at Pokagon State Park, Angola, Indiana, in 1935.  It was originally known as the Combination Shelter (for a concession stand and picnic shelter) and is now popularly known as the CCC Shelter House.   The two-story, stone-and-timber structure is built into the hillside overlooking the main beach. It contains two massive stone fireplaces, the one on the north with openings on two levels. The style of the CCC shelter house is classified as Parks Rustic.   In 1975, a commemorative plaque on a stone pedestal was dedicated to CCC Company 556, which did the construction....
  • Pokagon State Park: Drinking Fountains - Angola IN
    Records indicate that Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees constructed six stone drinking fountains with gabled shelters around the park in 1935. Five remain. The drinking fountains are classified as Park Rustic. They are not marked; only two sites in the park are marked individually as CCC.   But the old gatehouse is now a CCC Pocket Museum with exhibits and the Nature Center has an exhibit that lists all the structures CCC enrollees worked on.
  • Pokagon State Park: Fish Rearing Ponds (former) - Angola IN
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees at Pokagon State Park created a series of three fish rearing ponds, originally with dams between them, fed by an existing spring. They were completed in 1935 and used to assure Lake James would be well stocked with desirable fish. Many state parks in Indiana had such fish rearing ponds, most of them constructed by New Deal agencies.  With changes in conservation practices, the ponds were left to languish, but remnants are still visible in the winter months. The former ponds are not marked.  Only two sites in the park are marked individually as CCC; but the...
  • Pokagon State Park: Group Camp - Angola IN
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees worked on Pokagon State Park’s Group Camp from 1934 to 1939. The main area of the camp, which overlooks Lake James to the west, contains five buildings, the centerpiece of which is a lovely octagonal stone dining hall/kitchen. Around the central area, roughly organized into three groups, are 13 identical small frame cabins.    The Group Camp is not marked as CCC. But the old gatehouse is now a CCC Pocket Museum with exhibits and the Nature Center has an exhibit that lists all the structures CCC enrollees worked on.  
  • Pokagon State Park: Office Building - Angola IN
    Around 1937, CCC workers completed a 2½ story service building, which today houses park offices. It is not in a public area.
  • Pokagon State Park: Overnight Cabins - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built overnight cabins at Pokagon State Park in 1940, which are still in use. The four cabins are classified as Parks Rustic. The cabins are not marked as CCC, but there is now a CCC Pocket Museum in the old gatehouse and the Nature Center has an exhibit that lists all the structures CCC enrollees worked on.  
  • Pokagon State Park: Potawatomi Inn Bathhouse - Angola IN
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees completed the Potawatomi Inn bathhouse in 1935.  Records are sparse, so it is unclear whether CCC workers remodeled/completed a building begun by Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933-34, or the CCC constructed an entirely new bathhouse. The structure has been used to house boat rentals for several decades. The style is classified as Parks Rustic, although it is a very modest example. The bathhouse is not marked as CCC. But there is now a CCC Pocket Museum with exhibits in the old gatehouse and the Nature Center has an exhibit that lists all the structures CCC enrollees worked on.    
  • Pokagon State Park: Saddle Barn - Angola IN
    The saddle barn at Pokagon State Park was constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1938.   It still serves its original function. The structure is classified as Parks Rustic. New Deal agencies built several attractive saddle barns and extensive horse trails in most of the state parks, bringing this activity into the reach of the average visitor.  The saddle barn is not marked as CCC, but there is now a CCC Pocket Museum in the old gatehouse and the Nature Center has an exhibit that lists all the structures CCC enrollees worked on.
  • Pokagon State Park: Spring Shelter - Angola IN
    The Spring Shelter at Pokagon State Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937-38.  Originally conceived as a trailside shelter next to a natural spring, the Spring Shelter was built of hewn logs.  Originally, the shelter was also used as an overnight cabin. The style of the building is classified as Parks Rustic. Substantial CCC stone work also enhanced the appearance and accessibility of the artesian well beside the shelter.  The Spring Shelter is not marked as CCC, but there is now a CCC Pocket Museum with exhibits in the old gatehouse and the Nature Center has an exhibit that...
  • Pokagon State Park: Toboggan Slide - Angola IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the first toboggan slide. The original toboggan slide was built by the CCC 'boys' for their own recreational use while they were working on the park between 1934 and 1942.   It was so popular with the public that it has since been rebuilt, enlarged and remodeled several times, so the current structure is not the original nor contains any part of it. The toboggan slide is not marked as CCC, but the CCC is commemorated in other parts of Pokagon Park.  A permanent exhibit in the Nature Center lists all the structures they worked on and...
  • Post Office (former) Mural - Angola IN
    This 1938 Section of Fine Arts mural by Charles Campbell was originally painted for the old Angola, Indiana post office. It now hangs in the Steuben County Community Center. It is titled "Hoosier Farm." The size of the mural is 12' x 4'6" and the medium is oil on canvas.