DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about CCC Company 2896 out in Dallas County. Now settle in, because this piece of ground you're passing through has seen more history than most folks would ever guess. It started, as so many Texas stories do, with hard times and a man with a plan.
Soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, he established what would become the Civilian Conservation Corps — the CCC — a New Deal program built to meet the grinding hardships of the Great Depression head-on. The idea was simple and ambitious at the same time: put young men to work on public improvement projects, pay them wages, and teach them building trades and other skills while you're at it.
The whole operation was administered jointly by the Army and select federal agencies like the National Park Service. Government and muscle, working in tandem. On July 10, 1935, Army Captain Tom B.
Martin arrived and began supervising construction of facilities near this very site for a local camp. They gave it a name only a bureaucrat could love — SP-55-TX — and they started building. Frame buildings went up: barracks, a mess hall, a blacksmith shop, a combination woodworking, repair, and storage facility.
The bones of a working camp, built from scratch in the Texas summer. Then came the recruits. About 200 young men from Collin and Dallas counties arrived, and they got to work.
They improved the lake. They planted more than 1,500 trees. They built trails, picnic grounds, shelters, latrines, and a lily pond right here in the park.
And when they finished up here, they turned their hands to projects at Bachman Lake too. Among the structures they raised were buildings designed by local architect M.A. Burke — at Doran's Point, Big Thicket, Sunset Hill, Winfrey Point, and Dixon's Bay.
Fine work, every one. Over a seven-year stretch, approximately 3,000 youths were assigned to this camp. Three thousand young men from the Depression era, learning trades, earning wages, leaving something behind that would outlast them.
But nothing stays one thing forever. In February 1942, after the United States entered World War II, the site transferred to the Army, which used it for induction and training. Then came a chapter that might surprise you — in 1944 and 1945, the U.S. held approximately 300 German prisoners of war right here on this ground.
From CCC recruits to POWs, this patch of Dallas County had seen the full sweep of the era. After the war, Southern Methodist University used the site for student housing, but the buildings were soon sold or demolished, and just like that, the camp was gone. Most of it, anyway.
Because here's the thing — if you know what to look for, the CCC's work is still out there. The rustic design of the park's historical features, still standing, still speaking. Three thousand young men came through here during the worst years this country had seen in a generation, and they left their mark on the land.
Not a bad legacy for a program born out of hard times.
What the marker says
Soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, he established what would become the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal program designed to address hardships during the Great Depression. In addition to providing wages, it trained young men in building trades and other skills through public improvement projects. It was administered jointly by the Army and select federal agencies, such as the National Park Service. On July 10, 1935, Army Captain Tom B. Martin began supervising construction of facilities near this site for a local camp. Designated SP-55-TX, it began with several frame buildings, including barracks, a mess hall, a blacksmith shop, and a combination woodworking, repair and storage facility. About 200 recruits from Collin and Dallas counties soon arrived to begin their work, which included improvements to the lake, planting more than 1,500 trees, and the construction of trails, picnic grounds, shelters, latrines and a lily pond at the park. Enrollees also completed projects at Bachman Lake. Among their works here were buildings designed by local architect M.A. Burke at Doran’s Point, Big Thicket, Sunset Hill, Winfrey Point and Dixon’s Bay. Over a seven-year period, approximately 3,000 youths were assigned to the camp. In February 1942, after the U.S. entered World War II, the site transferred to the Army, which used it for induction and training. In 1944-45, the U.S. held approximately 300 German prisoners of war here. Later, Southern Methodist University used the site for student housing, but the buildings were soon sold or demolished. Today, evidence of the CCC’s work to build this park can still be found in the rustic design of its historical features. They serve as reminders of the lasting contributions of the New Deal agency. (2006)