The CCC at Bastrop State Park
Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas
Marker Inscription
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U. S. Congress, as part of the New Deal efforts to offer unemployed workers jobs on public projects, created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in March 1933. Due to decades of lumbering activities, Bastrop County's "Lost Pines" forest was a prime candidate for the CCC's reforestation program and a logical site for the establishment of a park. Two hundred recruits of the CCC's Company #1805 arrived in Bastrop in November 1933. With the help of Austin architect Arthur Fehr and a group of "local experienced men" or L. E. M.s, the men worked to create a state recreational park in the forest. Built of native materials in the "NPS Rustic" style promoted by the National Park service, the park structures, particularly the central refectory, reflect the expert craftsmanship of the CCC. A second CCC company, #1811, arrived in November 1934 to assist with reforestation work and development of nearby Buescher State Park. Additional activities included making native wood furniture for this and other Texas state parks, and building roads, trails, bridges, and small lakes. CCC work at Bastrop ended with the park substantially complete in 1939. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Created by Franklin Roosevelt and Congress in 1933 to put unemployed men to work, the Civilian Conservation Corps sent Company #1805 to Bastrop that November to reforest the logged-over "Lost Pines" and build a state park. Working in native stone and timber in the rustic National Park Service style, the recruits — aided by local experienced men and architect Arthur Fehr — crafted the park's refectory, roads, trails, bridges, and lakes, finishing the work in 1939. A second company later extended the effort to nearby Buescher State Park.
Why it matters
Bastrop's park is a lasting monument to the New Deal's fusion of unemployment relief, conservation, and enduring public craftsmanship.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
When Company #1805 arrived in Bastrop in November 1933, the United States was in the worst stretch of the Great Depression. Millions of men had no work, families were breaking apart, and many young people had little hope of finding a job. Franklin D. Roosevelt had taken office that March promising bold action. The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of his first answers: put idle men to work on the nation's neglected land, and send their wages home to families who needed them.
Central Texas had its own reasons to need that help. The 'Lost Pines' of Bastrop County are an unusual island of pine forest, cut off from the great pine woods of East Texas and surrounded by post oak and prairie. Decades of lumbering had cut them hard. A forest that took generations to grow had been cleared in a few lifetimes, and the land showed it.
State parks were still a young idea in Texas in those years, and the state had little money to build them. The CCC changed that almost overnight. Federal labor and federal planning made it possible to turn places like the Lost Pines into public parks, and Bastrop became one of the clearest examples of what the partnership could produce.
People & events
Two hundred young men of Company #1805 came to Bastrop in late 1933. Most were not builders. They were recruits from hard times, many of them far from home, and they had to learn to cut stone, shape timber, and lay out roads in a forest. They lived under military-style discipline in a camp and worked under the guidance of skilled hands.
Those skilled hands were key to the story. Austin architect Arthur Fehr helped design the park, and a group of 'local experienced men', the L.E.M.s, passed on the trade knowledge the recruits lacked. That pairing of green recruits with seasoned locals was a deliberate part of the CCC system, and the results still show in the stonework. The men built in the 'NPS Rustic' style favored by the National Park Service, using native stone and wood so that the buildings seemed to grow out of the landscape. The central refectory became the showpiece of their craft.
In November 1934 a second company, #1811, joined the effort. Its men helped replant the forest and develop nearby Buescher State Park. Between them, the two companies built roads, trails, bridges, and small lakes, and even made furniture from native wood for Bastrop and other Texas state parks. By 1939 the park was substantially complete, and the CCC's work here came to an end.
Its place in the American story
The CCC was one of the most popular programs of the New Deal. Across the country it planted vast numbers of trees, fought erosion, and built parks, trails, and shelters that Americans still use today. It also changed the lives of the young men who served, giving them steady pay, regular meals, and skills they carried home. Bastrop shows all of those goals at once: relief for the unemployed, care for a damaged forest, and a park built for the public.
The 'NPS Rustic' style also tells a national story. The National Park Service promoted building with local materials in a way that harmonized with nature, and the CCC carried that idea into state parks from coast to coast. The heavy stone walls and hand-hewn timbers at Bastrop belong to a shared American design language that you can also find in parks far from Texas.
The park also reminds us that conservation in America has often been practical and hands-on. Restoring a logged-over forest and opening it to everyone was a statement that public land and public work could repair what private exploitation had used up.
If you visit
Come for the trees first. Pines in Central Texas are a surprise, and walking under them feels like you have slipped into another region entirely. Take time to notice how the forest has changed and recovered. The Lost Pines have weathered serious wildfire in recent years, and the regrowth is part of the story of this landscape.
Then look closely at the buildings. Run your hand over the stonework and the heavy timbers, and you are touching the work of young men who learned these crafts on the job during the Depression. The refectory is the place to start, but watch for CCC touches along the roads, bridges, and trails too. Built-in details, careful masonry, and simple sturdy furniture are all clues.
Bastrop pairs naturally with Buescher State Park, which the second CCC company also helped develop, so the two make an easy day of New Deal history and forest scenery. The town of Bastrop itself, along the Colorado River, is a pleasant stop for a meal and a stroll before or after your visit.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Franklin D. Roosevelt
- · Arthur Fehr
Related events
- · New Deal
- · Civilian Conservation Corps
Themes & tags
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