Civilian Conservation Corps in Pennsylvania

When the federal government created the Civilian Conservation Corps in March of nineteen thirty-three, it offered young men something the Great Depression had stripped from them: a paycheck, a purpose, and a place to sleep. The program ran until nineteen forty-two and enrolled roughly three million young men nationwide.

Pennsylvania contributed well over one hundred thousand men across more than one hundred camps. In this corner of the state, CCC workers built roads and dams, fought forest fires, and helped develop what are now Leonard Harrison and Colton Point State Parks, the twin overlooks of Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon of Pine Creek. Nationally, the corps planted billions of trees and transformed the American landscape. The men who served were paid thirty dollars a month, most of which was sent directly home to struggling families. The work they did still shapes what you see when you look out over this land.