Woodson County Wanderings

Yesterday marked the first time in quite awhile that I made a field visit to a CCC project location. The destination was Woodson State Fishing Lake located a few miles southwest of Yates Center, KS. With the family in tow and a small lot of period photos to help identify construction and camp activities, we set out on a brilliantly sunny, breezy, late January afternoon.

Kansas Wildlife & Parks brochure PDF 

What a beautiful, secluded location! Tucked into a small valley in the oak filled hills of the Cross Timbers region, the 75+ year old lake still shines like a jewel. Despite the nice day, we had the place to ourselves.

Woodson State Fishing Lake looking northwest from CCC quarry locale.

Two CCC companies (Co. 1715 and 1709) were initially responsible for carrying out the lake construction, while a third (Co. 2735) worked here in the latter stages of the project, bringing it to a successful conclusion. The photos in my collection primarily depict the work of Co. 1709 from the earliest phases of construction to lake impoundment.

Mule teams and Caterpillar power (note Camp Woodson in background).

Lake Fegan dam and spillway from quarry locale.

A common decorative style using local stone to create columns and a castellated wall along the dam drive was employed at Lake Fegan where sandstone blocks form a row of columns on the downstream side of the dam and a decorative and functional castellated wall on the impoundment side.

Woodson State Fishing Lake- decorative stonework along dam road.

I have not always been successful in relocating remnants of CCC camps, even when having maps or photographic evidence of their locations. Camp Woodson was by comparison, fairly easy to identify with several landmarks tying historic photos to existing remains starting with a fireplace and chimney standing in a pasture adjacent to the lake property. Other areas of sandstone blocks, brick piers, brick and stone rubble, and scattered evidence of roads and other camp features were noted across the same short grazed pasture. Visible evidence of Camp Woodson was more limited on the lake property where thick stands of native grass and scattered thickets and trees obscured visibility. Additionally, it is clear that developments associated with the activity of the lake over the past 75+ years have impacted the remains of the former camp, but enough remains of the camp to warrant more formal documentation and mapping to record visible features. Interestingly, Camp Woodson was one of those early Kansas camps where boxcars were relied upon for some of the camp buildings (at least early on). I was pleased to see several instances of correlation between my period photographs and the modern landscape.

Fireplace and chimney of former CCC camp building.

My son and his big find- the flagpole base inscribed "CCC, Co. 1709, 1934".

Photo of Company 1709 at retreat (note flagpole and chimney).

Lake Garnett, Camp Anderson, and Civilian Conservation Corps Co. #1715

 Photo of Company 1715, July 9, 1935

Source: Anderson County Historical Society collection (Merritt McDonald donation)

I finally had a chance this week to stop by the Anderson County Historical Society in Garnett to spend some time researching. I was met by longtime ACHS president Dorothy Lickteig who had mentioned in previous correspondence with her that they did have some photos of the CCC camp in their collections. While I spent the afternoon looking through Garnett area photos, pulling photos of the lake and camp, and scanning them, Dorothy graciously copied relevant notes from ACHS history publications highlighting the project from the perspective of the local paper.

The project itself involved the construction of a dam to form Lake Garnett, located on the north side of town. The lake and surrounding park property continues to be a center of recreation for the community today and was recently nominated as an "8 Wonders of Kansas" in the customs category.

PDF of Garnett's "8 Wonders of Kansas" nomination

Besides the lake, the location includes a number of New Deal era resources constructed by WPA and NYA crews in the late 1930s after completion of the lake including a swimming pool, football stadium, shelterhouses, restrooms, and picnic tables, of local stone and concrete creating a great rustic look to the park development.

Company 1715 came to Garnett in November of 1934 from the project near Toronto where work was ongoing to construct what is today called Woodson State Fishing Lake. The Garnett project received the support of former governor and then longtime U.S. Senator Arthur Capper whose hometown was Garnett. The work on dam construction was largely complete in the latter half of 1936 with other work wrapping up in late summer 1937.

 C.C.C. Camp Anderson Under Construction, October 26, 1934

Source: Anderson County Historical Society collections

Lake Garnett Construction- Clearing Location.

 Source: Anderson County Historical Society collections (Kenneth Knouse donation)

 Lake Garnett Shortly After Completion (note C.C.C. camp in background)

Source: Anderson County Historical Society collections

...a pleasant, wholesome and constructively helpful stay in the woods.

 By July 1, over 250,000 young men were enrolled in 1,463 camps. Enrolled war veterans, Native Americans, and local experienced men (LEM) added to this total. The rapid enrollment and expansion of camps tested the capabilities of all agencies and leadership involved.

In Kansas, six camps/companies were established on five projects by July 1 with two additional camps and projects added in mid-July, and two more late in the year in October and November. These were the only camps established in Kansas during 1933.

Company	Project #	Project Type	Nearest Town	Date Established
Co. 735	S-203	Mined Land Reclamation	Scammon	6/16/1933
Co. 736	S-203	Mined Land Reclamation	Scammon	6/16/1933
Co. 1709	S-201	Mined Land Reclamation	Pittsburg	6/20/1933
Co. 1711	S-202	Mined Land Reclamation	Pittsburg	6/20/1933
Co. 1715	S-204	Lake Construction	Toronto	6/23/1933
Co. 767-C	SE-206	Lake Construction	Reading	6/26/1933
Co. 1778-V	SP-1	Park Development	Hays	7/22/1933
Co. 1779-V	PE-206	Soil Conservation	Esbon	7/23/1933
Co. 731	SE-210	Lake Construction	Scott City	10/15/1933
Co. 755	N/A	Soil Conservation	Lebanon	11/10/1933

Roosevelt addressed this newly formed conservation army on July 8, 1933 by way of the organization's newspaper. In it we see the hopes of the president for this new enterprise.


I welcome the opportunity to extend, through the medium of the columns of Happy Days, a greeting to the men who constitute the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Congratulations are due those responsible for the successful accomplishment of the gigantic task of creating the camps, arranging for the enlistments and launching the greatest peacetime movement this country has ever seen.

It is my belief that what is being accomplished will conserve our natural resources, create future national wealth and prove of moral and spiritual value not only to those of you who are taking part, but to the rest of the country as well.

You young men who are enrolled in this work are to be congratulated as well. It is my honest conviction that what you are doing in the way of constructive service will bring to you, personally and individually, returns the value of which it is difficult to estimate. Physically fit, as demonstrated by the examinations you took before entering the camps, the clean life and hard work in which you are engaged cannot fail to help your physical condition and you should emerge from this experience strong and rugged and ready for a reentrance into the ranks of industry, better equipped than before. Opportunities for employment in work; for which individually you are best suited are increasing daily and you should emerge from this experience splendidly equipped for the competitive fields of endeavor which always marl; the industrial life of America.

I want to congratulate you on the opportunity you have and to express to you my appreciation for the hearty cooperation which you have given this movement which is so vital a step in the Nation's fight against the depression and to wish you all a pleasant, wholesome and constructively helpful stay in the woods.
Source: http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1933e.htm