Recreation For All

Recreation For All. Catoctin Furnace Iron Trail.

“In two years' time, those enrollees who have applied themselves and tried to learn will have developed, into skilled and valued workers.” , , Excerpt from The Mountaineer, the Catoctin CCC camp newspaper, May 1939.

In 1939, these stone hearths would have been bustling with the daily activities of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) company. Established during the Great Depression, the CCC provided a good wage, three meals a day, and job training to unemployed young men. In exchange, the men worked to conserve the nation's natural areas. At Catoctin, the CCC worked to restore forests that had been devastated by the iron industry. Deer, quail, and rabbits returned to their old habitats as the CCC men planted thousands of native pine, maple, and oak trees.

The hard work of the CCC established a new park, the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area. Outdoor activities like fishing; camping, and hunting were popular, inexpensive activities. These pursuits also provided the health benefits of exercise and fresh air to the urban poor. Programs like the CCC used New Deal money to make the outdoors more accessible. With the creation of the new park, people now flocked to the furnace area not to cut timber or produce iron, but to swim, fish and hike., [Captions:] , (Map above) A 1940 map shows the vegetation in the new Recreation Demonstration Area. The furnace is surrounded by open land as well as some oaks, poplars, and birches., (Above left) CCC workers building a wall at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Similar stone walls were built at Catoctin. , ,br> (Above right) This stone wall near the ironmaster's Mansion was built by the CCC. Members worked on projects ranging from constructing stone structures like this one to managing forest fires., « (Left) CCC members at Catoctin published a newsletter, The Mountaineer. It included camp news as well as editorials, cartoons, and reports from other CCC companies across the country., « (Far left) CCC workers prepare to plant trees at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. Similar reforestation work was done at Catoctin.