CCC and trail construction

[Odd Man Out]

The book by the ATC has a comprehensive history of the trail with lots of pictures. I got it for Christmas a year ago. Don't recall if it had much specifically about the CCC. I can look when I get home.

https://www.atctrailstore.org/catalo...d=716&compid=1

[peakbagger]

There are several state parks in VT that were built by the CCC. Gifford woods just east off the ridge from the long trail junction is one of them. In the whites Moosebrook State Park and the picnic pavilion at Dolley Copp are CCC.

[rafe]

There are several state parks in VT that were built by the CCC. Gifford woods just east off the ridge from the long trail junction is one of them. In the whites Moosebrook State Park and the picnic pavilion at Dolley Copp are CCC.

I believe Letchworth State Park (near Rochester, NY) is another.

http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/glimpse3.html

[Odd Man Out]

They did non park activities too. I grew up in Beltsville MD and it was well known locally that the CCC had a hand in building the USDA Agricultural Research Center there. Their most prominent structure is the Log Lodge, used until recently as a visitor's center. When you see it you would think it belonged in a National Park.

loglodge.jpg

http://www.ba.ars.usda.gov/graphics/...ge/k9462-2.jpg
http://www.ars.usda.gov/PandP/docs.htm?docid=7609

[Spirit Walker]

Thank you for all the links. My grandfather was a CCC camp superintendent in Iowa or Nebraska. I don't know if they built anything that lasted. He died long before I was born, so I'd like to find out more about what he was involved in, if possible.

[Hill Ape]

spirit, i started this thread after digging for sierra through old family photos. came across i have pictures of my grandfathers time in the CCC and working on the AlCan highway.

the thing that got me involved in this little hobby was my father taking me to the archives when i was little, first is was WPA photos, then when i connected to the CCC it became a side project. if you have his camp number, the archives can hook you up with alot of information. they were military about paperwork

[Odd Man Out]

Here is some information about the role of the CCC in building the AT from the book "The Appalachian Trail Celebrating America's Hiking Trail", published by the ATC, 2012

In the early 1930's, the progress on completing the AT moving along well with the largest uncompleted sections in the south and Maine. In 1935, completing these sections became an agenda for the CCC whose trail building standards have yet to be surpassed. However, the fact that the CCC also had road building agendas contributed to the conflict between Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery. MacKaye, the originator and first promoter of the trail, envisioned more of a wilderness corridor as a barrier to urban encroachment. However Avery saw the potential of the AT as an accessible, continuous marked footpath, more like we see today. Along with trail building, the CCC was building Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. These roads were being built in some cases right on top of the previously developed AT footpath. MacKaye and his allies opposed these ridgeline roads and dismissed the CCC's well engineered trails as "sidewalks". But Avery's group saw the political and practical advantages of working with the government, and felt the trail's visibility and accessibility provided by road access would assure the long-term success of the AT. There were many harsh words as the ATC split over whether they should support or oppose working with the CCC's Parkway and trail building projects. By the end of 1935, Avery wrote "The obstructionist attitude merely creates antagonism in the mind of the public against the out-of-doors groups. We are endeavoring to build not only a physical trail but to develop in the urban population the realization of the benefits to be obtained from seeking the Trail and following it. We can never create that feeling if we present a spectacle of fanaticism, selfishness, or intolerance." Two months later, MacKaye criticized Avery for this "self-righteous, overbearing attitude and a bullying manner of expression". Following this spit, there is no evidence that Avery or MacKaye ever spoke or corresponded with each other again. In the end, Avery and his allies won out and the CCC not only built the parkways, but simultaneously relocated the parts of the trail to parallel the road, as it does from Front Royal to just north of Roanoke. From 1936 on, MacKaye shifted his involvement away from the ATC to the Wilderness Society, becoming its president 10 years later. Meanwhile, Avery pushed for the rapid completion of the AT with the help of government paid CCC labor. As of spring 1937, only two sections remained uncompleted. A mile between Davenport Gap and the Big Pigeon River in TN was completed that spring, and on Aug 14, a six-man CCC crew completed the two mile section on a ridge between Spaulding and Sugarloaf mountains in ME marking the completion of the trail (that crew then went on to build shelters).

[Hill Ape]

this has been an awesome thread, i'd love to see more coming. before wwII my grandfather and his brothers all worked various CCC projects, then enlisted in the war. my grandfather was in an engineering bat in europe, HAM heavy armor maintenance, after the war they were called to build the alcan. i have a bunch of old pics of that... its been neat digging through them

also saw a picture of the john muir hut on the JMT, it may get my vote for coolest shelter in america. would love to see other pictures of interesting huts/cabins/shelters on any of the trails.

i fell in love with the concepts of shelters as a kid, i mean hey i built forts. i know alot of people despise blood mountain cabin, i love the story of why those boys built it. i was happy to see it remodeled. one of the things i do is look at the different build techniques of the various clubs, i find it all very cool. so many of the plywood shelters were just patched together and have been mistreated and decayed, but there are some gems up the trail

[Dogwood]

The Muir stone hut atop Muir Pass on the JMT is pretty cool. Solid still too. Looking up at the ceiling is mesmerizing

[Trailweaver]

As a child, my father often took us to sites in the Smokies where CCC bridges had been built, and once took us to a huge clearing off a dirt road. It had been the site where their camp was - he said there were loads of tents out there in the clearing, in rows, and set up like a small city. He lived in one of those tents through bitter cold and heat to help build some of the things in the Smokies.