Camp Fechner NP-2 - Shenandoah National Park VA - Civilian Conservation Corps on Waymarking.com

The first two CCC camps set up in a national park in the United States were in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia at what was to become Shenandoah National Park. Camp Dern, NP-1 was at Skyland and Camp Fechner, NP-2 was established at Big Meadows in May 1933. NP-2 was named for Robert Fechner, the first director of the CCC. NP-1 and NP-2 were also the second and third CCC camps set up in the nation following on the heels of Camp Roosevelt.

Their earliest projects included the development of Skyline Drive, building of trails and fire roads, and revegetation of areas disturbed by construction. This work continued after the Park was opened in 1935 and included removal of any human traces of the mountain families that were relocated or moved from the Park, construction of facilities, reduction of fire hazards, extensive landscaping, and improvement of visitor areas and picnic grounds.

Even though one of the CCC's objectives was to remove any trace of human habitation and return the land to its natural state, traces of the six camps that were eventually established between 1933 and 1942 in Shenandoah NP can still be found. The old NP-2 camp is located at MP 51, across Skyline Drive from the north entrance to Big Meadows and the Byrd Visitor Center. In the spring of 2011, the Park Service installed interpretive signs following the layout of Camp Fechner to coincide with the 75th Anniversary celebration of the Park's dedication held at Big Meadows in 1933.

References:

• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
• On-site information

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