Camp Greentop: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Catoctin Mountain Park, National Park Service

Stromberg, Jennifer; Cohan, Liz; Urban Heritage Project at the University of Pennsylvania; WLA Studio

Camp Greentop is a 38-acre planned organized camp site in the central and slightly west part of Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO) in the mountains on the western edge of Maryland’s Piedmont region, near the Maryland/Pennsylvania border. Camp Greentop is situated on a flat central plateau located between the merging of two mountains: South Mountain to the west and Catoctin Mountain to the east. The town of Thurmont is at the eastern foot of the mountain; the closest city is Frederick, Maryland, 15 miles to the south; and the cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., are within a 50-mile radius of the park. Catoctin Mountain Park preserves about 6,000-acres of Eastern deciduous forest, mountain-terrain, and portions of Owens and Hunting Creeks. The landscape is characterized by Eastern deciduous forest, steep slopes, and undulating topography. Historical Overview The Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA) was one of forty-six RDAs developed throughout the 1930s New Deal-era as a solution to underutilized land and a failing economy by using depleted farmland to create recreation areas. The Federal government in cooperation with State of Maryland officials felt the Catoctin landscape consisted of marginal lands and underutilized resources, including over-harvested timber and underproductive agricultural lands. Many of the local residents (some of whom were tenant farmers, rather than landowners), disagreed with the government’s selection of Catoctin as an ideal RDA project. Taking advantage of the level terrain and relatively few outcroppings, the area where Camp Greentop stands was developed as a group camp specifically for children with disabilities. As one of three organized group camps built within the Catoctin RDA, Camp Greentop was originally constructed as a camp for The Maryland League for Crippled Children (MLCC) in 1938. Vegetation consisted of a strong stand of second growth deciduous forest and underbrush which was removed to better accommodate campers’ needs. Utilizing New Deal-era park design principles, the camp was comprised of a central core and satellite camp units. The camp operated for four summer seasons until the park closed to the public in 1942 due to U.S. involvement in World War II. During the war, the Camp Greentop landscape underwent many changes as it was developed for and served as military housing and training for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After the war, the camp also served briefly as a place for war veterans to recuperate from battle. Before reopening to the public in 1947, much of the Camp Greentop landscape was restored to its original pre-war condition. The MLCC, which is now known as The Maryland League for People with Disabilities (hereafter referred to as The League), resumed seasonal camping at Camp Greentop once the park was reopened. Later, improvements were made to the camp by the NPS as a result of Mission 66 and Jobs Corps era activities. Today, Camp Greentop continues to serve its historical function as a summer camp for disabled youth. Significance Summary The Camp Greentop landscape is significant under Criterion A in the areas of entertainment/recreation, social history, community (park) planning and development, politics/government, military, and conservation. In addition, Camp Greentop is also significant under Criterion C in the areas of architecture and landscape architecture. In the area of entertainment/recreation, Camp Greentop is significant at a state and national level as a major element in the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area’s (RDA) plan for the development of a group camp specifically for The League as well as inner-city children with disabilities. The use of the camp for entertainment/recreation continued throughout the military occupation and federal program use of the park and was utilized by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Job Corps program. In the area of social history, the Camp Greentop landscape is nationally significant as a main component in New Deal-era park planning efforts that reflect social and economic goals of the recovery programs of the 1930s, which included RDAs. The programs’ federally enforced segregation during the earlier period is significant at the local and state levels in the area of social history. Beyond social history, Camp Greentop is also significant at a local and state level for community (park) planning and development for its association with local adaptations of the Mission 66 program. Camp Greentop is significant at the state and national levels in the area of politics and government as a space where the Federal government introduced experimental and influential strategies for environmental conservation and social welfare. In addition, Camp Greentop is nationally significant in the area of military due to its role as a military camp training facility during World War II (WWII), especially by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Further, in the area of conservation, the Camp Greentop landscape is nationally significant for the environmental and human conservation-ideals used by federal programs such as the RDA designers and later CCC and Job Corps programs to design and conserve the park’s forest landscape to fabricate a sense of a wilderness experience. Social programs were also designed to uplift marginalized communities in both rural and urban areas as well as provide employment. Conservation ideals were pillars of the camp’s teachings, exemplified by Maryland’s first outdoor nature program and one of the earliest in the United States, referred to as the outdoor school program and the “Conservation School Camp.” Under Criterion C, in the area of architecture and landscape architecture, the Camp Greentop landscape is nationally significant for containing distinct New Deal-era Rustic style architecture and park layout of the 1930. It also reflects the convergences of the existing Rustic style of infrastructure with local adaptations of the Mission 66 Park Service Modern style during the 1950s and 1960s. Additionally, Camp Greentop is significant in architecture and landscape architecture based on the special design accommodations made for children with physical disabilities. This CLI update proposes to expand the period of significance for the Camp Greentop cultural landscape to include resources established between 1938 and 1969. (The previous period of significance for the Camp Greentop CLI had a more limited scope with a period of significance that extended from 1935 to 1948). The dates of the revised CLI encompass the construction of the camp in 1938 as designed by the RDA landscape architects, the adaptation of the camp for military use during WWII, the alteration of the camp as part of the NPS Mission 66 program, and camp improvements made by the Job Corps program. The end date of the period of significance, 1969, correlates with the end of the Job Corps projects at Camp Greentop. Analysis and Evaluation Summary and Condition Despite some changes in vegetation, circulation, buildings and structures, and small-scale features, Camp Greentop still retains many landscape characteristics and features from the period of significance. The primary landscape characteristics are spatial organization; circulation (main gravel loop road); buildings and structures (cabins); cluster arrangement (cabin camps); vegetation (Eastern deciduous forest); and small-scale features. The cultural landscape within Camp Greentop retains overall integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The landscape is in Good condition as of 08/2023.

Camp Greentop: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Catoctin Mountain Park, National Park Service

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