CCC Camp S-54-PA (Richmond Furnace) - McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania
N 39° 59.862 W 077° 55.371
18S E 250479 N 4431594
This marker, signifying the location of Camp Richmond Furnace is located in the day-use area of Cowans Gap State Park (6235 Aughwick Road, Todd Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania)
Waymark Code: WMFJVK
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 10/27/2012
Views: 2
CCC Camp S-54-PA (Richmond Furnace) - Fulton County, Pennsylvania
Information excerpted from the Cowans Gap State Park Website
n 1933, to relieve the rampant unemployment of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The young men in the CCC received food, clothes and a small paycheck.
The CCC boys built roads, trails and recreational facilities, fought fires, planted trees and did many other conservation activities.
Richmond Furnace Camp S-54 was built next to the new forestry station here at Cowans Gap. The camp was locally called Camp Fox for an enrollee killed in an accident while stationed at the camp.
The first enrollees to the camp lived in tents while they built a camp for themselves. From 1933 to 1941, the CCC built 30 miles of road, four bridges, 32 miles of fire trails and 11 miles of telephone lines. In Cowans Gap State Park, the CCC built the cabins, picnic shelters and spent three years building the dam. The Cowans Gap Rustic Cabins are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Improvements have continued at Cowans Gap, with additions like the campground and modern restrooms. In 2002, Cowans Gap State Park closed to visitors for a yearlong renovation to upgrade many facilities.