Camp Recovery Site

Camp Recovery Site

This 400 acre area (the intersection of Hoadly Road and Dumfries Road) is where Camp Recovery was located. Camp Recovery, originally Camp P-71 was was the first Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Prince William County, Virginia. It was constructed with the purpose of putting men to work while implementing fire safety in the county. The area is now home to the Coles Fire Station.

Kate Mayatte

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

1933

Creative Commons

October 15, 2019

Video file and Picture file

Upon visiting the site, it is disappointing at first to see that none of the original structure of Camp Recovery remains. It's memorial plaque is placed inside the fire station, rather than outside, seemingly hidden much like the remains of Camp Recovery. Upon consideration though, the Coles Fire Department is a living legacy of Camp Recovery. Since the fire tower was removed from Camp Recovery in 1988, the Coles Fire Station has stood in it's place, a marker of the efforts towards fire safety that the men of Camp Recovery worked so hard for. There is actually construction underway to tear down the old Fire Station which was replaced in 2017 by the current fire station. While there has been turn over after turnover of buildings on this land, one thing remains: the purpose of Camp Recovery in keeping Prince William County safe from fires.