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Civilian Conservation Corps, Turtle River State Park Records
Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial, Phalen Park, St. Paul, Minnesota
Civilian Conservation Corps, Turtle River State Park Records, 1935-1992
Collection Overview
Title: Civilian Conservation Corps, Turtle River State Park Records, 1935-1992
ID: OGLMC1307
Extent: 1.0 Linear Feet
Date Acquired: 07/00/1994
Subjects: Great Depression - New Deal, Parks - State
Languages: English
Abstract
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The records of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Turtle River State Park project contains correspondence, project reports, project documents, camp newspapers, reunions of Civilian Conservation Corps veterans, a historical essay on the Turtle River State Park project, and numerous newspaper clippings.
The correspondence dates from 1935 to 1992, and contains reports on the projects accomplishments, community support for the project, miscellaneous official communications, and letters and bulletins about the three reunions in the 1980s. The most interesting correspondence concerns the proposed closure of the project in 1937 and again in 1940. The project reports and documents chronicle the progress of the park from its shaky beginnings to the successful completion in 1941. One of the most unique parts of the collection is the camp newspapers of CCC Companies 764 and 4727. They offer an intimate portrait of the young men who built Turtle River State Park, and who gave that cold, official project a spark of life. The newspapers entertained the men and kept them informed of the events, both national and international, unfolding outside their rural world. The historical essay is a history seminar paper written by Thomas Mulhern in the spring of 1993. The paper examined the geological and historical life of the Turtle River valley, the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the National Park project that built Turtle River State Park.
Collection Historical Note
On March 31, 1933, congress passed the Emergency Conservation Work Act, creating the Civilian Conservation Corps. On April 5, the president appointed Robert Fechner of Tennessee as Director of Emergency Conservation Work. Fechner, a vice-president of the American Federation of Labor, was given the task of creating an agency that would relieve distress through the employment of idle young men on constructive conservation projects, to aid in the rehabilitation of young men and to assist in the national efforts toward economic recovery. Fechner utilized established agencies to accomplish this monumental task. He used the United States Army to establish and administer the camps. The Army had long experience in housing, feeding and providing medical care for large numbers of men, but Fechner prohibited the Army from giving any type military training to the young CCC enrollees. The projects were assigned to the National Park Service, Soil Conservation Service, Bureau of Wildlife Management, the Forest Service, or some other subdivisions of the Department of Agriculture, or the Department of the Interior. The Office of Education establishes instructional programs in the camps, and these programs became extremely popular, motivating many young men to join the CCC.
The official designation of the Turtle River State Park project was North Dakota State Park #5, or supply SP#5. The Worth Dakota State Historical Society suggested using a 475 acre tract of land one mile north of Arvilla, North Dakota, Early in 1934 the National Park Service sent inspectors to Grand Forks County to determine if the proposed project at Arvilla was within the CCC's guidelines. After determining the feasibility of the project they authorized the establishment of a camp.
During the life of the project three separate CCC companies were utilized to complete the work. The first CCC company for the Turtle River project was only a temporary camp created to perform preliminary work, area clean up, and site reconnaissance, the preliminary survey of the proposed project. CCC Company 2770 arrived at Larimore, North Dakota on August 20, 1934. and Larimore would be the home of all, three CCC companies. Company 2770 performed the initial work and were sent into winter quarters on October 1, 1934 and passed out of the history of the Turtle River State Park.
CCC Company 4727 was activated on June 25, 1935, but would spend less than two months at Larimore before being transferred. They were sent to Minnesota to establish a camp midway between St. Paul and White Bear Lake, remaining there for almost two years. On July 13, 1937, they were moved to Fargo, North Dakota, and remained there until being transferred back to Larimore on October 8, 1938. They remained at Larimore until the abandonment of the CCC at the beginning of World War II.
A third group, CCC Company 764, took up the Turtle River project in August 1935, establishing a permanent camp to begin project SP#5. Company 764 continued the work begun by Companies 2770 and 4727 turning the gravel pit and trash dump into a beauty spot and popular recreation area. On October 1, 1937, the project was abandoned by the CCC and National Park Service and the project appeared dead, but local support and agitation reopened the work on the park a year after it was first stopped. On October 5, 1938, SP#5 was revived and Company 4727 was transferred back to Larimore to complete the work.
Company 4727 continued the work begun by Company 764 and went on to improve on existing facilities. Two of the major projects begun by Company 764 and finished by Company 4727 were the Bath House and Swimming Pool and Beach. The large Bath House, 44 x 100 feet, was constructed in 1937, finished in 1938, remodeled in 1939 and again in 1940. The Bath House, now known as the CCC Memorial is one of only three buildings remaining from the original projects and is utilized now as a large group picnic shelter. The Swimming Pool and Beach were created by damming the Turtle River and excavating above the dam. The river was diverted and a five foot rubble masonry dam was constructed, while the stream bed above the dam was dredged and a pool base created by filling the area with sand and sloping the banks with rock riprap.
The other two projects still in use are the Turtle River Lodge, now the Woodland Lodge, and the Custodian's quarters, now the Park Manager's residence. The Woodland Lodge is still used by large groups and little renovation has been needed due to the expertise of the builders,
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a great boon to North Dakota, Grand Forks County, and all the young men who worked at Turtle River. The project created a lasting monument to a group of green young men, willing to give of themselves for the betterment of others and who chose the opportunity to work rather than accepting welfare handouts when times were tough. There were a number of New Deal programs that had limited or no value, but the Civilian Conservation Corps was not one of them. Civilian Conservation Corps projects reclaimed abused lands, reforested millions of acres of over-cut and burned-off forests, and in the case of Turtle River State Park, created a popular and long-lasting recreation area for the future. Every time a picnicker or camper uses the park there is a rededication to the history these young men were making.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Source: Steve Crandall, Turtle River State Park, and Thomas M. Mulhern, UND History Department
Acquisition Method: Donation; (95-2017). Additional material was added by Special Collections in 2009 (2009-2971).
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item) Civilian Conservation Corps, Turtle River Park Records. OGLMC 1307. Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections. Chester Fritz Library. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in October 2012.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[Photograph 1: Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial, Phalen Park, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 1981],
[Oversize Folder 1: Poster: "Turtle River State Park: 75 Years, 1934-2009"],
[All]
- Box 1
- Folder 1: "The Civilian Conservation Corps in Grand Forks County, North Dakota 1935- 1941: Turtle River State Park Project." Thomas N. Mulhern, History Seminar Paper, April 12, 1993.
- Folder 2: Correspondence, 1935-1951
- Folder 3: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, July 1935
- Folder 4: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, August 1935
- Folder 5: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, September 1935
- Folder 6: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, October 1935
- Folder 7: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, November 1935
- Folder 8: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, December 1935
- Folder 9: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, January 1936
- Folder 10: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, February 1936
- Folder 11: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, March 1936
- Folder 12: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, April 1936
- Folder 13: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, May 1936
- Folder 14: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, June 1936
- Folder 15: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, July 1936
- Folder 16: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, August 1936
- Folder 17: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, October 1936
- Folder 18: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, November 1936
- Folder 19: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, December 1936
- Folder 20: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, January 1937
- Folder 21: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, February 1937
- Folder 22: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, March 1937
- Folder 23: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, April 1937
- Folder 24: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, May 1937
- Folder 25: SP#5 Monthly Narrative Report, June-July 1937
- Folder 26: SP#5 Seventh Period Summary Report, 1936
- Folder 27: SP#5 Master Plan Report, 1938
- Folder 28: National Park Service Work Summary, 1938-1940
- Folder 29: Job Application/Completion Record, 1935-1938
- Folder 30: Job Application/Completion Record, 1939
- Folder 31: Job Application/Completion Record, 1940
- Folder 32: Job Application/Completion Record, 1941
- Folder 33: Company Roster, CCC Co. 4727, St. Paul, Minnesota., December 31, 1935
- Folder 34: Company Roster, CCC Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota., August 31, 1939
- Folder 35: Company Roster, new enrollees, Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota., April 4, 1940
- Folder 36: Camp Newspaper, Goldbrick Gazette, March 1937
- Folder 37: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, April 1939
- Folder 38: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, May 1939
- Folder 39: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, June 1939
- Folder 40: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, July 1939
- Folder 41: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, August 1939
- Folder 42: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 1, September 1939
- Folder 43: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 2, September 1939
- Folder 44: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, October 1939
- Folder 45: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, November 1939
- Folder 46: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, December 1939
- Folder 47: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, January 1940
- Folder 48: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, February 1940
- Folder 49: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 1, March 1940
- Folder 50: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 2, March 1940
- Folder 51: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, April 1940
- Folder 52: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 1, May 1940
- Folder 53: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune: Copy 2, May 1940
- Folder 54: Camp Newspaper, Tri C's Tribune, September 1940
- Folder 55: Newspaper clippings, 1934-1983
- Folder 56: Newspaper references on CCC articles, 193-1938, 1965, 1978
- Folder 57: Class Schedule, Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota., April-June 1940
- Folder 58: Sports Reports, Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota.
- Folder 59: Miscellaneous documents, CCC Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota.
- Folder 60: Miscellaneous: photocopies of project photographs, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota.
- Folder 61: Sketches: Park history and facilities, undated
- Folder 62: Story of the "CCC Memorial," Phalen Park, St. Paul Minnesota.
- Folder 63: Maps: Turtle River State Park, 1941 & undated
- Folder 64: American Anthropologist, vol. 34: "The Problem of the Culture from the Arvilla Gravel Pit.", July-September 1932
- Folder 65: North Dakota Historical Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 2: "Report of the North Dakota State Parks.", January 1941
- Folder 66: North Dakota Historical Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 4: "The North Dakota State Park System.", January 1941
- Folder 67: North Dakota Historical Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 3: "Turtle River State Park.", April 1941
- Folder 68: North Dakota Historical Quarterly, State Park updates., 1941-1943
- Folder 69: "The Civilian Conservation Corps," chapter VI, Conservation Under Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anna Lou Riesch, 1952
- Folder 70: North Dakota History, vol. 47-481: "Relief for Youth: CCC and NYA in North Dakota.", 1980-1981
- Folder 71: NACCCA Journal, vol. 8, no. 6., June 1985
- Folder 72: Reunion: 50th Anniversary Reunion, CCC, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota., June 25, 1983
- Folder 73: Reunion: 1985 reunion of Co. 4727, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota.
- Folder 74: Reunion: 1987 reunion of Co. 4727, turtle River State Park, North Dakota.
- Folder 75: Correspondence: CCC Reunion, Turtle River State Park, North Dakota, 1983
- Folder 76: Souvenir: Commemorative badge for the 50th Anniversary of the CCC, 1983
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[Photograph 1: Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial, Phalen Park, St. Paul, Minnesota, November 1981],
[Oversize Folder 1: Poster: "Turtle River State Park: 75 Years, 1934-2009"],
[All]