Lone Star Lake- "dream of Douglas County sportsmen and citizens"

 1937 Aerial showing Lone Star Lake construction

Work on a 1,400 foot long, 45 foot high earthen core dam that would eventually create a nearly 200 acre lake began in August 1934. No less than four CCC companies were stationed here over a period of more than 5 years including Co. #2734 in August 1934, Co. #1764 in October 1934, Co. #767 in November 1935, and Co. #1728 in October 1936, although not all companies were assigned to the project at one time. Co. 767 and 1728 were comprised of African-Americans, two of only five such companies involved with projects in Kansas. A Lawrence Journal World account dated July 27, 1940 read "Fishermen stormed Lone Star Lake this morning at the official opening of the new Douglas county resort".

Lone Star Lake was originally the conception of a private group who sold cabin lots to fund purchase of the necessary property. The property, minus the cabin lots, was turned over to Douglas County when additional acreage became necessary for the impoundment and the county issued bonds to cover the purchase. A visit today will bring you to a quiet lake nestled in a wooded valley just a few miles southwest of Lawrence. The property is maintained by Douglas County Public Works; fishing by Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

KDWP- Lone Star Lake

The original CCC camp area occupied an upland edge overlooking the valley where the lake was constructed. Today this area is part of the lake campground.

Oblique angle aerial photo (view NW) showing Lone Star Lake

construction. Note CCC camp in foreground.

Where I Met The CCC

 

In July 2008 I was introduced to the Civilian Conservation Corps during a visit to Scott State Park north of Scott City, KS. The lake itself was a project initiated by the State of Kansas as an enhancement to a new state park. The lake was opened to the public in June 1930 to much fanfare and the park was a source of pride locally and a popular attraction in the region.

In early August 1933 torrential rainfall in the Ladder Creek basin overwhelmed the impoundment and the west end of the dam failed when the spillway was undercut by floodwaters. The popularity of the young lake and state park created a groundswell to repair the dam that rose to the highest levels of state government. Governor Alf Landon quickly recommended that the project be included among others being proposed elsewhere in the state and by the end of August the Scott County News Chronicle led with a the headline "C.C.C. Workers To Be Here Soon". Company 731 arrived during the third week of October, establishing Camp McGinnis on the west side of the lake, a short distance southwest of the spillway.

The photo above is a picture I took from the caprock overlooking this camp location. Concrete footings/slabs, landscape modifications, and a well are visible at the location today and the camp was recorded as an archaeological site (14SC326) as a result of my visit. According to newspaper accounts, many of the camp buildings were adobe. Grass and soil were excavated locally, combined with a suitable amount of water and the mixture pressed into blocks. A number of western Kansas camps are noted to have used this technique for building camp structures and other buildings.

Interestingly, this camp and project are not among those listed for Kansas, probably in part due to the short notice leading up to establishment of the camp. A report in the Colby Free Press Tribune dated 10/11/33 notes that a number of camps would established in the region between October 1st through the 15th including one at Atwood, KS. Company 731 eventually made it to Atwood in May 1934 after completing the repairs on the dam at Scott County State Park. I believe the company was diverted from its intended original destination and was reassigned to Scott County to answer the public demand for a quick, cost effective solution to a devastating situation.

It was while trying to find corroborating evidence of local reports about a CCC camp at the park that I became interested in the work done elsewhere in the state and realized that there had been relatively little done to tell the story of the contributions the CCC made throughout the state. In this case the efforts of the CCC saved a regional attraction of significant historical interest that has since continued to be a jewel in the state park system. The CCC is one significant chapter in the history of Scott County and Scott State Park.

Scott State Park

Kansas Preservation: Archeology Training Program Revisits Its Roots 

CCC camp "Big News" to Community

I spent a little time at the Jefferson County Historical Society in Oskaloosa, KS on Saturday looking for details concerning the establishment of a camp in that county. An announcement in one of the local papers expresses a common sentiment to the pending establishment of a CCC camp nearby.

From the Oskaloosa Independent, April 25, 1935:

"Announcement from Washington that Jefferson County is on the list for a CCC soil erosion camp is one of the biggest pieces of news for the farmers of this county since the beginning of the New Deal."

Eventually this camp housed Co. 1763 of junior enrollees who worked on various soil conservation projects in the area. Interestingly, the location of this camp was on the Curry farm north of Oskaloosa, the boyhood home of famed regionalist artist John Steuart Curry. The home has since been moved to the grounds of the Jefferson County Historical Society in Oskaloosa where it houses a collection of Curry memorabilia.

Introduction and A Little Background

Well, this, or something like it, is probably long overdue. The work of the CCC in Kansas has not been a topic of lengthy publication although with a little digging you can find some info here and there on the web and in published journals that discuss the topic. Visits to individual historical societies, libraries, and archives in communities and at the state have often yielded limited information to a then casual researcher and have served increasingly as incentive to document as much as possible about the camps scattered around the state. On occasion, local interest has produced excellent results in the preservation of information about individual projects including public outreach and education about the work of the CCC at specific locations.

Overall though the history of the work in Kansas remains relatively unknown but it's clear that information about the work and the young men that were involved is out there. It lies in records in the National Archives, scattered in articles remaining to be rediscovered in county and camp newspapers, in local historical societies and other organizations that may have documents about local projects in their collections, and finally, in the hands of private individuals who either participated themselves or whose family member(s) were part of the CCC. Sometimes these family connections are still local to Kansas, although nearly as often the former enrollee or their descendants lived elsewhere long after the CCC ended.

Hopefully, through this blog I can begin to focus my own efforts and share a little about what I'm finding along the way. I hope what’s done here in some small way honors the memory of the men that made the Civilian Conservation Corps an enduring success both in the lives it helped and the public works it produced. It's probably no coincidence that most CCC enrollees were part of "The Greatest Generation".