83 Years

Today is an anniversary of sorts, at Guernsey State Park. It was 83 years ago today that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that allowed the Civilian Conservation Corps to become a reality. All of the photos on today’s post are of things built by the CCC.

The CCC Worker Statue (one of 65 in America) gazes at the Museum

 Here is the way I told part of the story on the building of Guernsey State Park, in my book. Hit the link to go to my Amazon page and read a free sample. 

One month into his term, on March 31, 1933, Roosevelt got the CCC up and running. On that day, he signed into law, Public No. 5, after it had been passed by the Seventy-third Congress. His signature created what was then called the ECW or Emergency Conservation Works, it soon became the better known Civilian Conservation Corps.

It didn’t take long before American newspapers grabbed a hold of the CCC as smoothing that was going to be good for America. Throughout America newspapers referred to the beginnings of the CCC as, “Roosevelt’s Tree Army, “possibly because of the tree logo used by the CCC. What they did not realize at the time was that the Tree Army would go on to plant millions of trees, and become the largest planting movement in American History.

The 10 Stall Garage built by Camp BR-9

In his notes J.H. Coffman, Camp BR-9 Superintendent accounts for the planting of more than 500 trees in the park. Coffman’s Camp Br-9 was on the east side of the lake located between the Dam and the Museum. Today many of the trees around the museum and near the old golf course are trees planted by the CCC, who came to build the park in 1935.

The fabulous Sitting Bull Shelter Built by Camp BR-9

The Bureau of Reclamation built a dam on the North Platte River a mile north of Guernsey in the late 1920s. The reservoir would hold runoff water in the spring to be used downstream for summer irrigation. The Bureau also built a power plant below the dam that would supply hydroelectric power for the Guernsey and Fort Laramie area and other users down the valley. But it took the CCC to make this river lake into a park. Two camps, did the job, along with BR-9 was Camp BR-10 located at the western base of Mae West Hill. Camp Ten was responsible for much of the work on the west side, including the spectacular Skyline Drive.

The steps to Brimmer Point, high atop Powell Mountain and the park's highest
point. Built by the men of Camp BR-10 (the westside camp)

The Castle - Shot from Long Canyon

The Castle started by Camp BR-10 but finished by Camp BR-9