Inaugurated on March 4, 1933, President Roosevelt promised he would have a quarter million young men employed in the Civilian Conservation Corp by July. He met that promise. There would be more than four applicants for every position in the nine years of the program that eventually employed two million young men. Not only did they earn money, (gain weight), and develop discipline and skills, they created an infrastructure for state and national parks and forests that we still enjoy. The first large project was the creation of the Skyline Drive in Virginia just outside D.C., which formed the backbone for the creation of Shenandoah National Park. The idea would later be extended to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which in turn would inspire the Natchez Trace.
View from the Skyline Drive, Virginia
The distinctive stone structures the CCC designed and built became iconic parts of the National Park System including walls, roads and pavilions. Three companies worked in the North Dakota badlands around the Little Missouri River building campgrounds, roads and structures in what would later become Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Pavilion over the Little Missouri River, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
In Illinois, the state park system was still relatively new, and the CCC built the great lodge, cabins, pavilions and trails in Starved Rock and other state parks. Today, the parks are literally crumbling. You nearly need a high clearance vehicle to take the road into neighboring Matthiessen State Park, and roads and trails in Starved Rock are closed because of disrepair.
Great Hall, Starved Rock Lodge
In the wilds of Florida in Ocala National Forest, the CCC created an oasis around Juniper Springs with a bathhouse and campground, and built a waterwheel to help control the level of the swimming area and to generate electricity to power the entire resort area where there had been no power lines. The inside of millhouse is now a display honoring the CCC work.
Juniper Springs waterwheel, Ocala National Forest
Even city parks benefit today from the CCC work such as this park in Orr, Minnesota. Not too far away on the shore of Lake Superior is Gooseberry Falls State Park where there’s a statute honoring the CCC workers. My uncle Louis worked in the CCC in these Minnesota parks, and in my mind he could’ve certainly been the model for the statue.
Roadside park, Orr, Minnesota
Fishing pier, CCC park, Orr, MN
CCC Worker statue, Gooseberry Falls State Park, MN
The CCC workers not only created infrastructure, they planted nearly 3 billion trees. Perhaps it is time again for a huge national service project to employ young women and men to build our country and environment.
Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C.