The Place Formerly Known as Camp Recovery

The Place Formerly Known as Camp Recovery

Civilian Conservation Corps

The images picture the area that was formerly known as Camp Recovery. In the 1930s, Camp Recovery was the first Civilian Conservation Corps Project in Prince William County. None of the original structures remain.

Liam Griffin

https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/ccc-camp-recovery-canova-va/

1933-1934

Creative Commons

1933-1934

The audio file attached is an mp3 file. The image uploaded is a digital photograph.

There is no evidence of the New Deal remaining at the site that was once titled Camp Recovery, the first site established by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Prince William County. The site itself was originally a sprawling 400 acres that was bordered on most sides by major roadways. Now, the roadways are all that remain. In the 1930s, Camp Recovery was emblematic of the efforts of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Hundreds of men worked together to create fire lanes to prevent the spread of forest fire, create more than two dozen miles of track for trucks to access the area, and constructed multiple fire towers and buildings to serve as a base of operation. Despite all this work, no evidence of the work remains, save for a small plaque located inside the fire house that occupies part of Camp Recovery’s land now. Community members can look at the lack of a legacy for Camp Recovery and consider it in their own projects. Perhaps now more efforts can be made to maintain older buildings, as opposed to demolishing them and replacing them entirely. Our new technology and infrastructure may make this easier now than it used to be. Similarly, the amount of technology that can be used to capture artifacts is an abundant. Most people have cell phones that can capture sound, video, and location. Now, people can more easily document their daily lives, which can be more easily accessed by the historians of the future.