Civilian Conservation Corps Structures Historic Structure Report. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Smith Group, Gary and Pape, Silman Building Conservation Associates, Axias, Inc.. 2023. Civilian Conservation Corps Structures Historic Structure Report. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Historic Structure Report. National Park Service. Washington, D.C.
This Historic Structure Report (HSR) By the 1930’s the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a once-vital transportation corridor, had faded into obsolete obscurity along the inconsistent shores of the Potomac River. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs transformed the canal, acquiring the land and planning for its modern potential as a public park. Great Falls, a tourist destination since the earliest moments of the canal’s history, became a focus of recreational development and the federal government assigned two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps to Great Falls. These two camps, co-located at Carderock four miles south of Great Falls, were two of just three African-American CCC camps in the region. From 1938 to 1942, the men in these camps performed many, varied tasks along the canal. They repaired the damaged canal, fought area fires, and built four surviving structures: the Pivot Bridge Ruins, the Comfort Station, the Pump House and the Engineer’s Garage. All four survive today, all remain in active use, and all serve as testament to the camps’ contributions to the long history of the canal and the decisive period of the New Deal. To further understand the important role these buildings play in the history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the National Park Service undertook this Historic Structures Report to research the history and document the conditions of each of these buildings. The report also includes the Boiler House, which was initially thought to be a CCC structure as well, but upon further research was discovered to have been built nearly a decade after the closing of the camps.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Smith Group; Gary and Pape; Silman Building Conservation Associates; Axias, Inc.
- Date of Issue
- 2023-05-26
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CHOH , NCR
- Keywords
- African American, African American history, Black history, C&O Canal, canal, CCC, Great Falls, Historic Structure Report, HSR, pivot bridge