Park Spotlight - Shawnee

Perhaps, among all of our state parks and state forests, Shawnee best epitomizes the social, environmental, and recreational benefits that are the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Ohio. At Shawnee, the CCC simply did it all.

Within the environs of the historic Shawnee State Forest and today’s Shawnee State Park, six CCC camps were established during the 1930s, including the segregated Camp Adams. With more than 57,700 acres of public land in need of tender loving care, Shawnee was Ohio’s largest state forest, and a logical place for the CCC to focus much of its efforts.

There was certainly plenty of work to do. When the CCC first arrived on the scene in 1933, the Shawnee State Forest had been cobbled together over the past decade. It started in 1922 with a bedraggled 5,000-tract that had been cleared and burned for a failed cattle ranching operation, and was quickly expanded with a lushly wooded area nearby, designated as the Theodore Roosevelt Game Preserve. The mix of pristine wilderness and despoiled land posed a great opportunity for the CCC crews to a practice a variety of conservation measures, from aggressive tree planting and erosion control, to building trails and lakes.

Much of the work accomplished by the CCC crews was a boon to the neighborhood. The vast network of roads that the first crews carved through the backwoods not only made the job easier for successive CCC crews, but also helped connect the communities in isolated hollows. The CCC created five lakes throughout the state forest, in addition to Roosevelt Lake, in the modern-day state park. The lakes quickly became prized sources of fresh surface water, serving as a ready and plentiful supply of water to combat forest fires and quench the thirst of the camp residents, as well as enhancing the forest habitat for wildlife, and providing a new recreational resource.

Having provided the necessary infrastructure for transportation, housing, and fire safety, the CCC crews were free to build facilities for recreation, including stone and timber picnic shelters. The gorgeous timbers for these impressive structures were hewn from locally harvested chestnut logs.

Today, visitors to Shawnee State Park can marvel at a variety of the CCC’s accomplishments. Two fine examples of those artfully crafted shelterhouses still exist beside Roosevelt Lake. In celebration of the park’s rich history, the Shawnee State Park staff refurbished a tarnished 1922-vintage brass plaque commemorating the historic Roosevelt Game Preserve that had been shelved long ago. As a tribute to the CCC, the park’s maintenance crew built a beautiful stone monument, reminiscent of the authentic stone work, to display the plaque in a place of honor at the Roosevelt Lake shelterhouse.

This summer, the park staff plans to salvage another CCC-era gem, and bring it new life. One of the original, rustic cabins that had served as a residence at one of the abandoned CCC camps in the state forest is being carefully dismantled for reassembly at the park. The 1935-vintage cabin, lovingly made of chestnut logs, will serve as the park’s new and improved nature center and a museum of the park’s history.

The park’s 1970s-vintage resort lodge, with its Douglas fir timbers and flagstone columns, is reminiscent of Shawnee’s CCC legacy. The lodge and 25 vacation cottages, perched on a hillside offering a sweeping panorama of “Ohio’s Little Smokies” and the winding Ohio River, blend the area’s wilderness ambiance with modern comfort.

True to the spirit of Franklin D. Roosevelt - author of the New Deal and father of the CCC - and his role model (and distant cousin) Theodore Roosevelt - America’s “Conservationist President,” and advocate for national parks - Shawnee continues to honor their memory, and advance their lofty ideals.