CONTACT: Jim Carroll

Oct. 14, 2004 Ky. Dept. of Parks

(502) 564-8110, 9ext. 307 (work)

(502) 695-5091 (home)

Jim.Carroll@ky.gov

“Alphabet Soup” Agencies Helped

Develop State Parks

Note to Editors: The following is another installment in a series of feature stories on “best kept secrets” in the state park system. In his travels around the state, Parks Commissioner George Ward has discovered some fascinating, little-known aspects of state parks. This series spotlights these hidden gems.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky State Park System has been around for 80 years, and one little-known aspect of its development was the critical role of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “alphabet soup” economic recovery agencies, among them the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The WPA hired locally, employing architects to design public buildings and using workers of various ages to carry out construction. The CCC hired crews of men in their late teens to mid-20s for construction projects all over the country, providing them with housing in camps.

During the 1930s and into the early 1940s, the CCC and WPA had an enormous impact on the growth of our parks. An unpublished history of the park system written in the mid 1970s by the now-defunct Spindletop Research Center said, “Although we now look back upon the depression years of the 1930s as one of the great catastrophes of our time, the federal assistance provided through the programs initiated during this era laid the groundwork for the great system of parks we have in Kentucky today.”

The report said the CCC at its peak maintained 2,635 work camps for unemployed young men all over the country. Of that total, 561 camps were assigned to national, state and local parks.

Camp Cromwell in Henderson was among them, notes MaryDee Miller, park manager of John James Audubon State Park. The park’s distinctive stone museum building and “teahouse,” which now houses offices, were built by CCC crews, using locally quarried stone. The CCC also created the park’s lake by impounding a stream, and built its cottages, among other projects.

Pine Mountain State Resort Park also was extensively developed by CCC workers. Among its CCC facilities are the beautiful Laurel Cove Amphitheatre, several trails, 10 cottages, and portions of the lodge.

DuPont Lodge at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park was built by the CCC, as were 20 miles of hiking trails there.

At Levi Jackson State Park, historic McHargue’s Mill was renovated by CCC crews.

Other parks developed by CCC workers were Columbus-Belmont, Dr. Thomas Walker, Lincoln-Homestead, Natural Bridge, General Butler, and Pennyrile Forest.

It is a remarkable story of grit and determination, Miller notes.

“Many of these guys were hungry at home,” she pointed out. “They had nothing, so being able to join the CCC put money in their pockets, and then they were able to send some money back home. They’re really proud of the things that they accomplished.”

And, more than a half century later, their work apparently isn’t finished.

Park Manager Miller noted that, several years ago, the state Transportation Cabinet built a boat ramp at Audubon’s lake. Former WPA workers, now in their 80s, decided to pitch in and help.

“It was something seeing those guys down there working,” Miller said. “They just jumped right in, and they didn’t want a lot of fanfare.”

With the passage of time, the ranks of CCC and WPA workers are dwindling. But every fall, CCC workers still gather at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park for a reunion.

The Friends of Audubon seeks to honor the hard-working men of the Civilian Conservation Corps by erecting a statue of a CCC volunteer at the park. Similar six-foot-tall bronze statues have been placed in other states. The cost is $20,000.

Donations to the “CCC Volunteer Statue Fund” may be sent to Elyon Davis, Trust Department, Ohio Valley National Bank, 140 N. Main St., Henderson, KY 42420.

***

The museum building at John James Audubon starts to take shape in

this photo from 1936. Photo by Charlie Manion.