Civilian Conservation Corp Camp at Harold Parker State Forest

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In the 1930s, two Civilian Conservation Corps Camps were established in Harold Parker State Forest, Camp S-5 (Company 110) and Camp S-76 (Company 167). The camps work included reforestation work, damming ponds, road and trail creation, building recreational facilities. Camp S-76 also provided assistance to local communities during emergencies. [1] [2] Creating stocked ponds, available to the public, was a major goal of Harold Parker camp leadership, [3] Hundreds of men, many of them local worked in and led the camps' work. [4]

The camp crews provided recreational opportunities for themselves and the Town of Andover. [5] The Town of Andover invited CCC camp crews to take classes at Punchard High School, to borrow library books and to generally be a part of town life. There is some evidence that camp crew used their time to become qualified for permanent employment. [6]

Massachusetts Senator, David I. Walsh, inspected the camp in 1934. Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

The Harold Parker Review was a type-written and hand-illustrated camp newsletter begun in 1934. [7]Digitized copies of The Harold Parker Review, a type-written and hand-illustrated CCC camp newssletter are available from the Center for Research Libraries digital collections.


REFERENCES

  1. https://archive.org/details/civilianconserva00berg/mode/2up?q=harold+parker Civilian Conservation Corps : shaping the forests and parks of Massachusetts : a statewide survey of Civilian Conservation Corps resources]
  2. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Conservation and State Forester (1920-1938)
  3. Ponds in Parker forest for fish raising,The Andover Townsman, June 30, 1933.
  4. State forest to be recreational park, The Andover Townsman, June 1, 1934
  5. C.C.C. recreation program launched, The Andover Townsman, July 20, 1934.
  6. CCC member becomes state police officer, The Andover Townsman, January 8, 1937.
  7. Paper published by C.C.C. boys, The Andover Townsman, August 3, 1934.