DUANE
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Duane's take
The way this marker tells it, and I'm taking every word straight from that official inscription, is the story of young men, a river bluff, and limestone that's still standing long after the Depression tried to take everything else down. Here's how Garner State Park came to be what it is today. During the Great Depression, the Emergency Conservation Work Act created the Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC, and put millions of young men to work on landscape and construction projects across the country.
Meaningful employment, real training, and military-style discipline. That discipline, as it turned out, would serve a good many of those young men well when World War II came calling. CCC Company 879 arrived at Camp SP-42-T, Garner State Park, in April of 1935.
First phase of work ran from 1935 to 1937, and they were not idle. They built the main entrance portal and road. They built the keeper's lodge.
They were laying the bones of a place people would be coming to for generations. Then in 1937 they got to the heart of it. Up on a high bluff near the Frio River, the company started construction on the combination building, the one everybody calls the Pavilion, and a dance floor right alongside it.
Now there's a detail that sticks. A dance floor on a bluff above the Frio River. The architecture they used had a name: NPS Rustic, the National Park Service style, native limestone and wood worked into every detail.
The second phase ran 1938 to 1939, finalizing the master plan, adding cabins, and building a stone overlook near the Pavilion. The third phase, 1940 to 1941, turned toward the landscape itself, preserving and enhancing its natural look. Then in April 1941, as America neared entry into World War II, the work here came to a close.
On June 1, 1941, local and state representatives officially dedicated Garner State Park. The men of Company 879 were gone by then, many of them likely headed toward a different kind of service altogether. But what they left behind kept standing.
Unique vistas, historical architecture, a pavilion on a bluff, a dance floor by the river. The marker puts it plainly and I think it earns the words: the CCC reclaimed both land and lives while providing hope. That's not a small thing to leave behind.
What the marker says
During the Great Depression, the Emergency Conversation Work At created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and produced lasting landscape and construction projects across the U.S. Through the program, millions of young men obtained meaningful employment and training. The military-style discipline and order they experienced served many of them well during World War II. CCC Company 879 began its work at Camp SP-42-T (Garner State Park) in April 1935. During the first phase of development (1935-37), construction included the main entrance portal and road, and the keeper's lodge. In 1937, the CCC began construction on the heart of the new park, the combination building, known as the Pavilion, and a dance floor, on a high bluff near the Frio River. The building architecture, known as NPS (National Park Service) Rustic, utilized native limestone and wood in its detailing. The second work phase (1938-39) focused on finalizing the master plan, and constructing cabins and a stone overlook near the Pavilion. The third phase (1940-41) concentrated on preserving and enhancing the landscape's natural look. In April 1941, as American neared entry into World War II, work here came to a close. Local and state representatives officially dedicated garner State Park on June 1, 1941. Since then, it has attracted countless visitors to experience unique vistas, historical architecture and abundant outdoor activities. Today, the cultural landscape recalls the perseverance and hard work of young men who participated in one of the nation's most successful federal programs, the CCC, which reclaimed both land and lives while providing hope. (2007)