HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Civilian Conservation Corps and Forestry in Texas

Lufkin, Angelina County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Continuing efforts started in the 1920s by the Texas Forest Service (TFS), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), established through the Emergency Conservation Work Act (1933) during the Great Depression, aided in efforts to preserve Texas forests. CCC enrollees offered fire protection by stringing telephone lines, constructing bridges, culverts, fire lookout towers and fire roads, performing timber stand improvements, and surveying and mapping east Texas forests. The CCC also conducted an extensive reforestation campaign. The work done by the CCC contributed greatly to forest conservation in Texas. This is the site of the former CCC Lufkin district heavy equipment maintenance facility.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Created under the 1933 Emergency Conservation Work Act, the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in East Texas during the Great Depression to continue forest-protection work begun by the Texas Forest Service in the 1920s. Enrollees strung telephone lines, built bridges, culverts, fire roads, and lookout towers, improved timber stands, and mapped the forests, while carrying out a sweeping reforestation campaign. This was the site of the CCC's Lufkin district heavy-equipment maintenance facility.

Why it matters

The marker records how New Deal work relief reshaped America's forests, putting unemployed young men to work building the conservation infrastructure that protects Texas woodlands to this day.

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Related events

  • · Emergency Conservation Work Act, 1933

Themes & tags

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