We have been exploring the history of Camden State Park, our southwest Minnesota wilderness. After the State purchased the Dale’s Redwood River valley farm in June 1934, the Federal government funded a Veterans Conservation Corps (VCC) company for the site. The VCC Company worked from August 1934 to October 1936 on projects designed by on-site, National Park Service Engineers and Landscape Architects.
Their projects included building park roads, trails, and picnic areas; planting trees and shrubs; building bridges and split stone and timber buildings; and building the park’s swimming pond. A National Park Service study of Minnesota’s CCC/VCC projects reported the federal government spent $483,000 on Camden’s projects during the height of the Great Depression.
Camden State Park Manager, Bill Denison, commented on the VCC Company’s work in a 2004 interview.
“One thing that always strikes me is the quality of the workmanship, given the tools and equipment they had available. The buildings themselves have not changed dramatically. They are almost in the same condition as when they put them up. They have required very little maintenance in seventy years. That is a real credit to the builders.”
He celebrated the workmanship that went into Camden’s historic buildings. He pointed out how crews perfectly fitted the hand-hewn timber beams and faced and fitted the boulders they split for the buildings so that the most attractive sides faced the public.
He also listed the many VCC projects still in regular use such as the North Picnic Shelter and the still-popular swimming beach and bathhouse area. VCC-constructed trails remain in use and the cascades and settling pools on Indian Creek remain as beautiful reminders of the thoughtful landscaping of the VCC projects.
Even VCC projects no longer in use saw a long life serving park visitors. For instance, the original water system in the lower park remained in use until 2001 when the park replaced it and capped its still-flowing artesian well. The South Picnic Area artesian well provided park visitors a water source well into the 1970’s.
Thus, VCC Company 2713’s legacy still serves Camden’s visitors. But Camden’s VCC era was not the end of Depression-Era park development. Camden also hosted Work Progress Administration (WPA) projects during the late 1930’s.
The WPA program differed from the VCC program. Employment eligibility was based on being an able-bodied, unemployed citizen who was certified by a local relief agency. WPA projects generally hired local workers. The pay scale varied by region and worker skill.
Finally, WPA projects required a local sponsor responsible for supervision, materials, and equipment, while the WPA paid most labor costs. The Minnesota Department of Conservation was the local sponsor for state park WPA projects.
An article in the Feb. 24, 1937 edition of the Russell Anchor outlined the projects of the first WPA crews at Camden.
“The WPA workers of Lynd, Russell, and Florence are busy these days wrecking the barracks buildings at Camden State Park. It is reported that the State Parks Board contemplates the erection of an ice house…at Camden this season, using WPA labor and as much of the barracks material as is practical.”
A 1988 National Park Service document that Minnesota’s State Historic Preservation Officer used to successfully seek National Register designation for Camden’s historic district identified an Ice and Wood House as a 1937 WPA building project. The building, constructed with four foot split-stone walls and wooden walls above, is located behind the garage by the Custodian’s Cabin (Redwood Lodge).
The 1938 WPA construction season was busier with two major projects and one smaller one.
Spring flooding had washed out the beautiful stone arch bridge the VCC Company built three years earlier that led from the North Picnic Area to the Beach Area. A WPA crew replaced it with a slab bridge with concrete footings and a central pier designed to withstand a washout. The crew faced the bridge with native stone. This bridge served the park until it, too, was washed out in the late 1980’s.
The other major project involved relocating the old VCC Camp Supervisors Quarters and Hospital to a remote site on the south end of the park and repurposing them as a Group Camp. WPA crews built beautiful, split-stone fireplaces for each building. Girl and Boy Scout groups used the Group Camp for years before the buildings were removed in the 1970’s. The two fireplaces remain – silent sentinels to a bygone part of Camden’s history.
A smaller, WPA project from 1938 involved building a small cabin up the hill from the bathhouse as a residence for the swimming instructor. The building originally contained a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Camden later converted it to an interpretive center.
The VCC and WPA buildings and structures of Camden’s lower park areas comprise Camden’s historic district. The National Register of Historic Sites registration explained the significance of this historic district.
These buildings and structures are significant products of Depression-era work relief programs. Developing the park was significant for providing recreation facilities to a large, previously underserved region. The VCC and WPA buildings are structurally significant as an exceptional group of rustic-style buildings featuring split-stone construction.
Finally, Camden’s landscape design is a great example of National Park Service master planning that used the natural meanders of the Redwood River to locate the park’s major use areas.
The VCC and WPA crews working from mid-1934 to late 1938 created what today remains the core of Camden State Park.
I welcome your participation in and ideas about our exploration of prairie lives. You may reach me at prairieview pressllc@gmail.com.
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