CCC at Camp Arboretum
When the CCC established Camp Arboretum on the site in 1933, crews built roads, planted trees, constructed firebreaks, strung telephone lines, and established trails (including the Section 36 Trail, which is still used by visitors). They also expanded the nursery and constructed Cronemiller Lake to provide water for irrigation. Because their role in western Oregon was fire prevention work and reforestation, the CCC contribution to McDonald Forest and the Arboretum directly affected the development of the landscape and the forest we see today.
At its height, the camp consisted of 39 permanent buildings in the Arboretum, including the Camp Arboretum Sign Shop, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Reflecting many distinctive architectural features characteristic of CCC buildings, the Sign Shop was constructed by the CCC in 1936. Although it was one of the last buildings constructed at Camp Arboretum, "the board-and-batten sided Sign Shop is the only existing building from the Camp in its original location, and is one of only a few remaining in the state."
Check out "Camp Arboretum: the dynamics of the Civilian Conservation Corps in McDonald Forest and surroundings areas", a selectively annotated bibliography on the CCC by Larry Sypolt
Check out "The CCC Chronicles: Camp Newspapers of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942", by Alfred Cornebise
Check out "Edward Sekermestrovich: Life at CCC Camp Arboretum, Benton County, Oregon, 1935-1940 (Soap Creek Valley History Project monograph #4)", Professor Emeritus and McDonald-Dunn Research Forests historian
Learn more on the College of Forestry Arboretum History page
Learn more on the Peavy Arboretum Wikipedia page
Learn more about the Sign Shop on the Oregon Parks and Recreation News page
Learn more about the College of Forestry
Learn more about Royal Jackson, Professor Emeritus and McDonald-Dunn Research Forests historian
Learn more on the College of Forestry Arboretum History page
Learn more on the Peavy Arboretum Wikipedia page
Learn more about the Sign Shop on the Oregon Parks and Recreation News page
Learn more about the College of Forestry
