Research at Civilian Conservation Corps in Arkansas

Research at Civilian Conservation Corps Camps in Arkansas is a long-term collaborative project between the Jamie C. Brandon Center for Archaeological Research at the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology at the University of Central Arkansas and the Faulkner County Museum.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was the result of Senate Bill 8.598, signed into law on March 31, 1933. Between 1933 and 1942, seventy-seven companies were established in Arkansas and located throughout the state. Throughout Arkansas, portions of some CCC camps remain on the landscape as overgrown foundations, standing (or partially standing) structures, water management systems, and various infrastructure modifications. Whereas, others are the empty landscape of a once thriving camp. Many locations represent the labor provided of CCC camp enrollees to construct lasting landscape modifications and buildings in the form of trails, roads, culverts, dams, cabins, amphitheaters, and others. Today, these former camps and affiliated camp constructions are recorded as archaeological sites.

The Research at Civilian Conservation Corps Camps in Arkansas project began with a focus on research and excavation at Camp Halsey (3FA313), and has evolved to document, evaluate, and summarize CCC camps throughout the state of Arkansas. Several of these former CCC camp locations have yet to be recorded as archaeological sites. Yet, many have been lost to agricultural activities or development. The goals of the project include the collection of Arkansas CCC related archival documents, maps, and publications, scheduled visits to document current condition of camp sites and conduct archaeological investigation as needed, and the creation of summaries on various Arkansas CCC Camps as focused camp websites.

Camp Focus

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