Roosevelt's Forest Army · Episode 5 of 14 · 40 min
Why CCC Trails and Stonework Still Look New 90 Years Later
Dry-laid stone steps and switchbacks built in the 1930s still look finished last year, and a former Forest Service trail-crew member explains why the craft endures. The episode then turns to the 400 to 500 families cleared off the land at Shenandoah so the park could be built, by the same young men who built the postcard.
Who's who
- Harvey P. BensonResident landscape architect at Shenandoah, 1935 to 1942
- George Freeman PollockSkyland resort proprietor who promoted the park and the removal of residents
- Horace AlbrightNational Park Service director whose agency set the craft standard
- Harold Ickes+6 more episodesSecretary of the Interior over the park service
Where it happens
- Shenandoah National Park, VirginiaFirst park to host the CCC; families cleared to create it
- Skyline Drive, VirginiaCorridor reshaped by CCC crews
- Yosemite National Park, California+1 more episodeHistoric trails later rehabilitated by modern conservation crews
Timeline
- May 1933First CCC park camps open at Skyland and Big Meadows
- 1934Virginia takes title to about 176,000 acres
- December 26, 1935Shenandoah National Park officially established
- 1976Modern California Conservation Corps founded
- 2000Wildfires destroy most surviving log structures in three hollows
Still debated
Counts of displaced Shenandoah residents range from about 450 to 550 families depending on what is counted. The detail that cabins were burned in view of their former owners rests on oral history, and how much of the 'CCC look' is original is uncertain.
