"30 Years of Commitment Combined with Second Generation Appreciation"
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"30 Years of Commitment Combined with Second Generation Appreciation"
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CCC history resides in official records, stories, diaries and newspapers. Photo journalist, Jean Harper, has provided the articles she has written on Westmoreland State Park. Thanks to feature stories like these, the history of the CCC is captured on the printed pages of our communities. Please enjoy. "Harper holds a special place in her heart for the CCC as an adored cousin, James "Jimmy" Gardner, served with them in the mid 1930's. "Every time I visit any of the beautiful parks and campgrounds built by the CCC, I say a silent prayer of thankfulness for all their efforts," she said. Biographical information on Jean Harper. click here Three Generations Work at Park Click images to enlarge By Jean Harper Westmoreland Park began when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) in 1933. Virginia acquired six areas throughout the state
and with CCC camps established in those areas, construction began on
the Virginia State Park system. On June 15, 1936, Virginia
became the first state to open an entire park system on the same day.
Westmoreland State Park was one of those original parks along
with Douthat, Hungry
Mother, Fairy Stone, Staunton River and Seashore (now named First
Landing). These new parks offered modern outdoor recreational
facilities while protecting areas with significant natural resources.
In addition to its serene, scenic beauty, Westmoreland offers hiking,
fishing, boating, swimming, camping and
cabins. Its cabins have Kitchens with
refrigerators, stoves, eating and cooking utensils, fireplaces and
rustic furniture. They are climate controlled (heat and AC), but have
no distractions such as TVs. All
cabins have grills and picnic tables and some have decks, open
porches, or screened porches. Two cabins are handicapped accessible. There are three campgrounds in
the park A, B, and C. They offer tables,
fire rings, or grills and bathhouses. Some sites also offer electric
and water hook-ups. Sites
are available for RVs up to 40 feet, but some sites are for tents only
and offer no hookups. There are several group camping sites available
and many Scouting and church groups enjoy camping at Westmoreland. For those who want to camp in
the great outdoors, but are not really into sleeping with the
“creepy-crawlys,” there are six camping-cabin sites. These do not
have kitchens, bathrooms, air conditioning or heat, but they do have
electricity and beds, which beats putting your sleeping bag on the
ground. There are sheltered tables and grills outside for cooking.
These cabin-campers use the Campground A bathhouse, which is nearby,
for bathrooms and showers. The Visitor Center is open on
weekends from noon until 5 p.m. during May, September and October as
well as Wednesdays through Sunday from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Interpreters and volunteers give
informative historical and ecological perspectives to this important
natural area. Exhibits include marine, bird and other wildlife
displays. A collection of sharks’ teeth is also on display, along
with printed handouts of what to look for when one is combing the
beach for sharks' teeth. Yes, visitors are still finding these
denizens of the deep's dental remains even though the Potomac River is
not a playground for sharks today. Sharks' teeth are so prevalent
because the area was once (millions of years ago) a nursery for
sharks. Interpretive
Programs are
conducted and fossil hiking, night hiking programs, self guided walks,
evening and children’s programs and
kayaking are also available from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Water sports are abundant and a favorite is Kayaking below the cliffs
and exploring the wonders
of Horsehead Cliffs in a flat-water kayak. From above, the park’s
Horsehead Cliffs also provide visitors with a tranquil view of the
Potomac River and spectacular sunsets. Nestled atop the 150-foot
Horsehead Cliffs overlooking the river is the former restaurant, an
historic 1936 CCC facility, which boasts exposed wood beams, a large
fireplace and wrought iron hardware, forged on site by those early CCC
blacksmiths. It will be renovated and serve
as
a site for meetings, special events and environmental education,
and
renamed
The Tayloe and Helen Murphy Hall in honor of former Delegate and
Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources W. Tayloe Murphy and his wife
who are from Westmoreland County. Fishing in the saltwater of
the Potomac River is available throughout the year. A valid Maryland
or Virginia saltwater fishing license is required when fishing from a
boat, but if fishing from the park's pier or shore, no fishing license
is required. Striped bass, spot and bluefish are among the most common
sport fish found in the river. Rock Spring Pond boasts a variety of
fish including catfish, bream, bass and crappie, but a license is
needed to fish there because it is fresh-water. Power boats are permitted in
the river and the boat ramp and boathouse was rebuilt this year after
the destructive force of Hurricane Isabelle destroyed the former
facility. Paddleboats and rowboats can be rented Memorial Day through
Labor Day. For those who would rather be
in the water, than on the water, the Park's olympic-size swimming pool
is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. A bathhouse and
concession stand are located in the pool area. Steve
Davis, Chief Ranger at Westmoreland State Park, said they are making
plans to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Virginia State Parks over
the June 17 weekend. "A birthday Ceremony will unveil National
Historical Designation plaques commemorating the CCC efforts. In
addition to the traditional interpretive offerings of kayak trips and
fossil hikes, two 70th Anniversary hikes will be initiated that will
share the Corps' craftsmanship and contribution in shaping the
landscape." he said. Davis said other possible activities being
planned include era demonstrations of Dutch oven cooking,
blacksmithing and folk/square dancing. And of course there will be
free birthday cake. Those first six parks have
grown to 34 parks and 33 natural areas. And Virginia State Parks
continue to grow, with new land being donated or purchased every year.
Virginia State Parks were named Best in the Nation in October
2001 and received the National Gold Medal Award for excellence in
parks and recreation management. In addition, Virginia State Parks,
operated by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation,
have offered the best in nature and history programming for more than
30 years, thus increasing the public's knowledge and understanding of
their environment. ### By Jean Harper In the depths of the 1930’s depression, the era produced a
shining example of what good can come from adversity. Young men could
not find jobs, there were no jobs even for older skilled men, much
less for youths just beginning in the job market. At the same time,
the Country’s natural resources were suffering from decimated
forests and soil erosion. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, inaugurated president of the United States on March 4,
1933, wasted no time and on March 9, 1933, called an emergency session
of the 73rd Congress
to authorize his proposed program to recruit thousands of
unemployed young men into a peacetime army to battle against
destruction and erosion of the country’s natural resources. The Senate Bill was was introduced March 27, passed by both
houses of Congress and on
the president’s desk to be signed on March 31, 1933. Thus was born
the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the first enrollee
was inducted April 7, 1933. What these CCC boys did, led to the
building of most of the beautiful State and National Parks we now
enjoy in our Country. One of the most scenic state parks in the Country, Westmoreland
State Park is located in Westmoreland County between Stratford Hall
and George Washington’s Birthplace . The 1,300 acres that comprise
the park were bought from Fred Nash for $1.50 an acre when the early
post office there was called Baynesville. John “Jack” Barrett of Montross, one of the early CCC boys,
recently remembered some of his days as a CCC boy. Jack, he says he is
called, was 18 years old
when he joined the CCC on January 12, 1934, he
served until July 1, 1935, and was one of those CCC boys who
helped build Westmoreland State Park, The CCC boys built and lived in the barracks Jack described as
long buildings with rows of beds down each side and two wood stoves.
There were four barracks. A state office and blacksmith shop were
located where the present park maintenance shop is now located. There
was also an office building, mess hall, kitchen, commissary and
dispensary. Dr. Edward Turner Ames was the camp doctor. They got water
from a well, but had running water, as well as, electricity for the
kitchen and showers. Showers and latrines were up in the woods he
said. Jack remembered one
CCC boy who wouldn’t take a shower, “So a group got together and
gave him a brush and sand washing. After that he bathed,”
Jack chuckled. His first memory of
CCC life was, “They gave me shots.” He also remembered the shovel
they gave him to dig up the rhododendron shrubs which were
transplanted from nearby Stratford Hall. He also hoed, graded banks
and re-sodded. “We also
graded banks down to the water [Potomac River] and helped
build steps down the hillside to the water,” he said. CCC boys also
helped build the cabins that are still in use today. Jack said. They
mixed and used mortar around cabins and fireplaces. Stones and wood
from the park were used in building the log cabins and many of the
other facilities around the camp. Jack said at first they did all the work by hand, or with mule
help, but later the Army brought in two old caterpillars.
Jack worked in the gang the first year, then drove a truck.
Howard Snead was his foreman and Jack later became a foreman. Jennings Dawson was the foreman one time when Jack had to drive
the truck to the train station in Fredericksburg to pick up new
recruits. “It started
snowing when we left camp,” Jack remembered, “And when we got to
Fredericksburg, we made a turn and lost the chains. We waited at the
train station then got word the train was delayed because of snow. We
couldn’t raise enough money between us to stay that night in
Fredericksburg, so we came back to camp and the next day there was six
inches of snow. But we took that old ’33 Dodge truck and picked up
the recruits the next day. It was cold. I’ve seen the river
when it was thick with ice,” he added. Each CCC recruit enrolled for 6 months, but recruits could stay
for two years. They were paid $30 a month, with $25 of it sent home.
Leaders got $45. Jack, who was in 1st Co. 287, said most of the boys
with him at camp were from New York and New Jersey. There were 250
boys at that time, 50 were local boys, he said. “The stories of the
New York and New Jersey boys were pitiful, the situation they had come
from, they were so hungry. They were from cities and had not had much
food so they were glad to be at the camp where they had enough to
eat.” Some of the local
boys didn’t stay with the program and went home, he said adding this
was probably because the local boys weren’t so hungry, as they came
from a farming community and had food if not much else. But, the boys
from the cities stayed because they were hungry. “Our food was good, but sometimes the cooks weren’t too
good,” he said. “One time I bit into a biscuit and it tasted like
cake, it was too sweet. We usually had white loaf bread or rye bread,
but sometimes the biscuits were good. Mess kits were provided,”
he said, “but we didn’t use them. “There was a lot of waste in the CCC, pots with just little
dents in them were scrapped,” Jack said. The CCC also provided work
clothes, uniforms and shoes, and when the boys left, they didn’t
take them. so they were just thrown away. The boys got up at 6 a.m. and got ready for breakfast,
after breakfast, they went back to barracks and then to work at
8 a.m. After a light lunch of sandwiches and soup, “such as clam
chowder,” they went back to work. They had to shower and put on a
uniform for the evening meal. Evenings were full, there was flag
service and educational classes. Jack said he took first aid. There was an active social life for the times, there were
dances in the area and local girls attended. It is believed that
sometimes romance developed between the CCC boys and the local girls.
Often, people put on plays and groups got together and played
music. There was a recreation Hall and canteen at the camp. Some weekends the boys would go to Colonial Beach even though
the town of Montross was closer to camp. There was more to do in
Colonial Beach, it had movies. Jack said he sometimes had to serve on
KP, but when the other boys found out he had a car at camp, he
didn’t have to serve KP again on weekends. Most of the time the boys got along, Jack said. While there was
a little drinking, it was just on weekends. Sometimes the boys bought
moonshine for $1, got hot dogs and went to the river. “We didn’t
go back to camp, just sat around a campfire, roasted hot dogs and
talked,” he said. The boys would go looking for shark’s teeth along the beach
and Jack still has the unusually large shark’s tooth he found one
time at the river. Even today people are still finding sharks teeth on
the beach at Westmoreland State Park. Jack later worked moving stones, at a CCC Camp at Skyline Drive
. “We were burning up
during the day and freezing at night,” he said. He was only there a
month and a half then got out, he said. Jack said his experiences in the CCC helped later in civilian
jobs when he worked at a service station and worked on cars for
Jennings and Addison Dawson. He later worked in Washington, D.C. with
Ford Dealers, before he retired in 1979 and returned to Westmoreland
County. The CCC program was one of the greatest things that ever
happened for the boys in
this Country, Jack said. They not only built the many state and
national parks, but they also helped in disasters and during storms.
The CCC program ended in 1942. By then, jobs were plentiful and many
of the CCC boys went into the wartime army during World War II. “I
think I may be one of the few CCC boys, in that first group, still
living in the area,” Jack said. In Virginia, every March 31 will now be recognized as Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC) Member Appreciation Day. At the request of
the Camp Roosevelt CCC Legacy Foundation, Edinburg, Va., the Virginia
General Assembly passed a
Joint Resolution in this year, 2006,
emphasizing the vast legacy of the CCC and its continuing
contribution to Virginia communities.
It commemorates the date, March 31, 1933,
that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the New Deal
legislation that created the CCC ultimately employing millions of
young men in the Depression and renewing America's natural resources. ### Three
Generations Work At Park By Jean Harper Three generations of Kathleen
Hughes’ family has worked at Westmoreland State Park. It began with
her grandfather, Lewis Tate, who helped build the Park and later
became night watchman when the CCC boys left the camp in 1942. Tate
was not a CCC boy, Hughes said, as her grandfather was in his 60’s
when he worked at the CCC Camp, but Tate had a long history with what
is now the Park. He was born in a little house on the Nash property in
Baynesville many years before 1933, when Nash sold the 1,300 acres at
$11.50 an acre for a CCC Camp. The house was not too far from where
the CCC barracks were built, in the area that is now Campground C. Hughes
remembers visiting her grandfather one time when he was night watchman
and it was so cold his ears got frostbitten. But there were other,
better visiting memories, like the summers, she and her friends would
go swimming in the Potomac River by way of climbing down the steep
cliff path behind the Tavern. Phil Arnest was a lifeguard at the beach
then she said. In 1942 and 1943, Hughes worked at the park during
summers while she was in high school. She worked at the ticket
office and it was ten cents a car to get in to the Park. She also
worked for tips as a waitress in the Tavern. “The Tavern served three
meals a day to campers,” Hughes said. “We served fried chicken
dinners for $2, it was a favorite meal with the campers. A lot of
campers ate here and the place filled,” she said as she remembered,
smiled and looked fondly around the Tavern, now called the Conference
Center. “Florence Weaver and Dina Dickerson were the cooks then and
they were there all day. The food was mostly bought locally and
wedding receptions were also held in the Tavern,” she added. Hughes remembered the romances
that sometimes sparked between the CCC boys and local girls. Ed
Branich married Lorraine White and they had two sons, Leslie and Glen,
and a daughter, Jane Kay Sisson. Branich became principal of
Washington and Lee High School, Hughes said. Another couple were
Charles Thompson and Thelma Weston who had a daughter named Ann.
“Many of the CCC boys came to my church, Grant Methodist Church, for
Sunday night services,” Hughes said, and added, with a twinkle in
her eye, it may have been as much to socialize as to worship. She even
remembered one young man, Robert Wise, who came back to see her after
she married James Hughes in 1945. Hughes worked at the park for
a few years after her marriage. “Jesse Balderson was in charge of
the Tavern then and his daughter, Flora, worked there too,” she
said. But after many bustling years of dinners, dancing and
receptions, the Tavern closed for several years. An attempt was made
in the 1990’s to reactivate the Tavern
and serve dinners there on weekends. Hughes granddaughter,
Renee Seager managed it one summer, but by that time campers were used
to cooking their own meals so it was only tried for two years before
becoming the Conference Center. Hughes also worked at the
beach concession stand and bath house down the hill.
A part of the old concession stand still remains with
renovations, but the old bath house gave way to more modern
facilities, as swimming in the river has given way to the olympic-size
swimming pool. Hughes’ jobs also changed,
she went to work for the Westmoreland County Environmental Health
Department, a job she retired from last week. "I'm ready now to
help at the Park in any way I can," she said. In the meantime, her grandson,
James Hughes, an art student major at Virginia Commonwealth
University, (VCU) will be working this summer at Westmoreland State
Park for the first time. And the family cycle begins anew. Westmoreland State Park will
be celebrating its 70th Anniversary on June 17. ### Jean Harper - Photo journalist Jean Harper is a semi-retired
Photo/Journalist working as a "stringer" for three Northern
Neck of Virginia Newspapers, Northern Neck News,
Northumberland Echo, and Westmoreland News. She and her husband, James
Harper, have also been volunteer campground hosts at Westmoreland
State Park each May for the past 12 years. Westmoreland State park was
built by the CCC and is one of the six original Virginia State Parks
all opened on the same day, June 17, 1936. The stories on Westmoreland
State Park and Jack Barrett, one of the CCC boys who helped build the
Park, appeared May 24, 2006, in Riverviews,
a special edition of all three Northern Neck Newspapers. The
story of three generations between
family and park, appeared in the Northern
Neck News and the Westmoreland News also on May 24. Harper holds a special place in her heart for the CCC as an adored cousin, James "Jimmy" Gardner, served with them in the mid 1930's. "Every time I visit any of the beautiful parks and campgrounds built by the CCC, I say a silent prayer of thankfulness for all their efforts," she said.
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