The year was 1933 and as America struggled through the Great Depression and the crippling effects of massive unemployment, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented a visionary plan that gave young men challenging jobs and, even today, continues to give Americans everywhere timeless reminders of the most popular program in the New Deal.
FDR established Civilian Conservation Corps on March 19, 1933 as he had promised in the campaign trail the previous year and, before the year was out, even Fannin County was benefiting from the plan.
On May 19, 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps Company 894 was organized when 167 residents of Oklahoma signed up and were sent to Fort Logan, Colorado for conditioning and then to build trails, thin timber and work on a dam at Brainard Lake.
On December 1, 1933, Company 894 was relocated to Texas and assigned a new project. Company 894 was to build Camp SP-18-T, later known as Bonham State Park.
Bonham architect Joe Lair was hired to design many features that are still treasured today by fans of the scenic 261-acre park built around a 65-acre lake. The lake was built in 1935 and the park opened in 1936.
Several sepia drawings by Mr. Lair of the park entrance, headquarters and a stone bridge are on display at the Fannin County Museum, along with a variety of other photographs that detail how Company 894 left their mark forever on Fannin County.
Evidently the Civilian Conservation Corps was impressed with Lair's work, because when the project just south of Bonham was completed, the architect was hired to do design and construction work for the CCC on the East Coast.
This weekend, Bastrop State Park will host approximately 100 of the remaining CCC workers who carved the cornerstone of the Texas State Park system out of native limestone and rough-hewn timber. For more information about the 75th anniversary celebration, contact Janelle Taylor in Austin at (512) 389-4665.
Fannin County residents are urged to visit the Fannin County Museum of History to view the exhibit and then take a quick drive out to Bonham State Park to see how just how well the work of these talented craftsmen has stood the test of time.
Photos of Company 894 and Bonham State Park courtesy of Fannin County Museum of History
