The Civilian Conservation Corps

**  Fought forest fires

**  Constructed 125,000 miles of road

**  Built 13,000 miles of hiking trails

**  Created 46,854 bridges

**  Erected 3,000 fire lookout towers

**  Planted 3 billion trees

**  Created 800 parks

**  Restored 2,600 historic buildings

Good Work if You Can Get It.  --DaCoot

CCC Work Camp in Wisconsin-- Part 5: A Legacy

Fox River Park is the only park in the county that has work done by the CCC although workers from the New Deal's Works Progress Administration did similar projects in Petrifying Springs Park.

Dennis Elverman, chairman of Kenosha County's parks committee credits Jon Rudie with the push to honor the CCC.  Elverman is a descendant of the farm family that sold the property for the park to the county nearly 90 years ago.  His father grew up on the property before the CCC planted thousands of now mature trees.

Some 3 million men worked in the CCC and "dramatically changed the future, and today we enjoy a legacy of natural resources treasures that dot our landscape" from Yellowstone to Mount Ranier "to our very own Fox River Park," said Jim Kreuser.

--CootCCCer

CCC Work Camp Statue in Wisconsin-- Part 4: Fox River Park

Jon Rudie is Kenosha County's general manager of park operations and said he became aware of the CCC as a teen when he worked for the Young Adult Conservation Corps one summer and saw all the work they had done in northern Wisconsin.

He said that right away he recognized the buildings and stone wall in Fox River Park as being built in the CCC style.

Beyond the buildings, the CCC built the ball fields at the park which are in an area the corps filled in by hand.  On the banks of the Fox River north of Highway F, they built a fieldstone revetment and retaining walls made of hand cut Tamarack planks.  According to Rudie, you can still see the planks when the water is low.

--CootCCC

Depression-era Colony Cashing in On Johnny Cash's Fame--Part 1

from the August 16, 2014, Northwest Herald (Illinois) Buzz.

Dyess, Arkansas.

Money and memorabilia from Johnny Cash's family and friends have helped preservationists restore a large part of the Historic Dyess Colony, a government collective built during the Great Depression to help agricultural families out of poverty.  Johnny Cash's family lived here while he was growing up and his boyhood home and the colony's former headquarters opened Saturday.

The colony and town is in northeastern Arkansas and was on once sunken land.

Ruth Hawkins, executive director of the heritage Sites Program at Arkansas State University said, "Restoring the Dyess Colony Administration Building, and even saving at least one of the typical colony houses, would have been a worthwhile project, even without the Johnny Cash connection.

"But the project would not have gotten anywhere near the public support that it has, and it would not be a major tourism draw.

I am aware of a lot of the projects developed to help get the country out of the Great Depression, but hadn't heard of this one.

"Because You're Mine, i walk the ___."  --Dacoot in Black

FDR's New Deal and the Blue Ridge Parkway

On my Roadlog, I recently had an entry on the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, something that I have never driven any great length, but would like to do the whole of it this summer if gas prices don't prevent it.

It was begun in 1935 as a way to connect the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Today, it covers 469 miles.

Most of the construction was done by private contractors, but there were several New Deal organizations like the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and Emergency relief Administration that participated as well.

You can find the New Deal entry on the January 10th entry at
http://roaddogsroadlog.blogspot.com.

Wow, 75 Years!! --Cooter