The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada: From Boys to Men

Chapter 8. Building Playgrounds in the Desert: The National Park Service and the CCC

Nevada residents wished for more parks and outdoor recreation facilities long before New Deal monies made them a reality. Nevada officials were also keenly aware of the revenue that tourism would generate for the rural state. But major obstacles stood in the way. Serious plans to develop recreation facilities were hampered by inadequate roadways and a lack of service facilities. Modest strides were made with the expansion of the state highway system in the 1920s. Highway expansion continued into the late 1930s following a surge of federal aid. By 1940, most U.S. and Nevada highways were either oiled or paved, and small towns were accessible by way of improved secondary roads. Nevada officials had the foresight to begin park planning a decade earlier . In 1925, the Nevada State Legislature appropriated monies for a Nevada Transcontinental Exposition to celebrate the completion of the Lincoln Highway through Reno.1 The legislature also took steps to exchange state property for more desirable federal lands. The first parcels exchanged were Fort Churchill in Churchill County followed by Kershaw Canyon (now Kershaw-Ryan State Park) in Lincoln County. In 1931, Congress authorized land acquisitions at Valley of Fire and Beaver Dam.2 As governor, James Scrugham was instrumental in drawing attention to Nevada’s cultural and natural resources and strongly encouraged park development . Although the wheels were already in motion, FDR s New Deal programs spurred the massive expansion of parks and recreation facilities.3 Two New Deal programs, the Public Works Administration and the Emergency Conservation Work (or the Civilian Conservation Corps) contributed significantly to the national movement. Appropriately, the National Park Service (NPS) assumed the role of steward and leader for nationwide recreation planning. The actual work programs, however, were developed by state park officials and superintendents. In their expanded role, the NPS Building Playgrounds in the Desert The National Park Service and the CCC 8 ’ Building Playgrounds in the Desert 97 provided state park systems with standardized guidelines and technical expertise . NPS guidance for the CCC projects was administered from their West Coast headquarters in San Francisco.4 Decisive issues were handled by officials at the park service’s Washington office and the national CCC director who collectively approved new state park projects, funding requests, and the placement of new camps. At the request of the Department of the Interior, the State Park Commission was established in 1935 to assume jurisdiction over several new state parks in southern Nevada: Valley of Fire, Cathedral Gorge, Beaver Dam, and Kershaw Canyon (Kershaw-Ryan). Governor Richard Kirman appointed Thomas Woodnut Miller as chairman of the commission. Miller had been appointed superintendent of emergency conservation work at the Boulder Dam State Park in 1933 (CCC Camp SP-1); in 1936 he was promoted to the position of improvement supervisor in charge of Division of Grazing camps in Nevada and eastern California.5 While a member of Congress , Scrugham gained approval for seven National Park Service camps in Boulder City, Overton, Panaca, and Weeks (Fort Churchill). Camp Overton superintendent Thomas Woodnut Miller poses at the entrance to Boulder Dam State Park in 1934. Miller was later appointed improvement supervisor of Department of Grazing CCC camps in Nevada and northern California and served as a state park commissioner for many years. Courtesy Special Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Library 98 The CCC in Nevada The most ambitious park developments occurred in southern Nevada, in part as a result of Hoover Dam (then Boulder Dam), completed in 1935. Nationwide interest was heightened by the largest federal project in the country and the creation of Lake Mead, the world’s largest artificial lake of that era. Although the dam was primarily built to generate power and control downstream floods, the awe-inspiring structure and new lake became instant tourist attractions. According to Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes’s estimate, a recreational area in this mild climate would eventually attract 500,000 or more visitors annually. Ickes was correct—in 1935 alone, 365,000 persons visited the dam and lake.6 To accommodate the influx of tourists, new park facilities were in demand . With CCC labor, the NPS developed beaches and outdoor facilities in three different areas of the Boulder Dam Recreational Area (later subsumed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area): Hemenway Wash near Boulder City, Overton Beach, and Pierce Ferry in Arizona.7 The park service’s CCC program...