Texas State Parks and the CCC: The Legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps

4. Preserving the Legacy

s 1983 approached, the NPS, many state park systems, CCC alumni groups, and others prepared to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Becoming officially “historic” at fifty, according to criteria of the National Register of Historic Places, the buildings, features, and landscapes of CCC parks became objects of scholars’ studies, stewards’ enthusiasm, and alumni celebration . During the quarter century since the anniversary, the CCC parks have continued to garner attention, appreciation, renovation, and, of course, wear and tear. Celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary in 1983 took many forms. Stewards of the national CCC parks produced brochures and pamphlets; organizations to reunite enrollees sprang up or strengthened; at reunions, celebrants swapped stories and shared treasured photographs and artifacts of camp life; they returned home to write reminiscences. Aware of what this anniversary meant for TPWD’s historic properties, a core group of Texas historians and architects launched the first inventory of them. Historic preservationists, professionals employed by TPWD to implement the National Preservation Act of 1966, formed the agency’s Historic Sites and Restoration Branch. In 1983, historian Sue Moss directed an initial inventory of CCC parks, and architect Sarah Boykin catalogued each park’s features. “Although our group focused on parks acquired for their historical significance,” Moss recalls, “we all thought about the NPS architects and the CCC builders—now that is the kind of park planning we want to do—planning that will last!”2 They also set out to analyze the nuts and bolts of CCC buildings to ensure preservation of each park’s original design. ˝ Preserving the Legacy 87 That’s the wonderful thing about a park; it can be many things to you, it can be anything you want it to be and you don’t need to think about the depth of who built this, made this road, built that chimney behind us, but the more you learn about it the more it means to you, the more it becomes part of your own birthright, your legacy, the more you want to go to the next one to see what they did there, too. —Jim Steely 1 A 88 Chapter 4 The CCC parks in Texas are now more than seventy-five years old, and preserving their legacy is a multifaceted undertaking. This chapter examines some of the facets and seeks to lay the ground for further protection of the legacy as the one hundredth anniversary of the CCC approaches.3 Documenting the Legacy Efforts to document the CCC legacy for the fiftieth anniversary sparked work by TPWD staff to document it further. During years following the anniversary, the TPWD team of preservationists analyzed the design and construction of main CCC buildings, uncovered the origins of designs, and identified people who had planned the parks. TPWD architects inspected CCC park drawings with new Drawing of custodian’s cottage at Longhorn Cavern State Park, by S. C. P. Vosper, dated March 7, 1934. In addition to presenting the elevation, plan, and some construction materials, the drawing includes several notations that provide insight into the design and planning process: “This Cottage is suggested in lieu of three cabins for which $90.00 each has been alloted [sic]. Material cost $270.00,” and “Maier affirms this ca[bin] sketch—Nason.” (TSLAC) Preserving the Legacy 89 interest, enlarging title blocks to ferret out tiny details. Historians gathered records of CCC camps in Texas that reside at the NPS and in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington. The 1983 inventory and renewed interest resulted in several historical interpretive projects. One was an exhibit about the CCC and Texas parks, and another was a booklet about CCC parks managed by TPWD.4 Pursuit of historical photographs and contacts with people who had worked in the CCC led TPWD preservationists to seek out and interview former CCC enrollees who by the 1980s were entering or nearing retirement. The aim was to have these men recall their youthful CCC experiences and the impact the experiences had on their lives. The preservationists found former enrollees eager to recount pranks they had played on one another, what they ate, sports they played, and what it was like to work on park structures. Uniformly, former enrollees expressed surprise and satisfaction to find their contributions were being remembered. For preservationists who work on what is called historical vernacular architecture , these interviews were memorable experiences. They came face-to-face...