Blasterz had no idea that the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (then known as the Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge) was built by the CCC and was also part of the Bureau of Biological Survey of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Bureau of Biological Survey is now known as the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
After we read this information sign near the fishing pier and the picnic grounds, all of the older concrete infrastructure we spotted along the way in the refuge makes sense. There are numerous concrete culverts, drainage ditches, embankments, a spillway and service roads that all looked very 1940s to us.
Today, the only remnant of the CCC Camp 880 itself is the ruin of a concrete flagpole support and its concrete base overlooking the San Antonio Bay, but the benefits of this project, both for humans, plants, birds, and animals greatly enriched the local area and is preserved biodiversity for our planet from the date the refuge was created to the present day, and into the future.
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is the only place where critically endangered wild migratory Whooping cranes nest in the winter. This refuge also supports fragile populations of Brown Pelicans and other birds, while providing a huge economic boost to the entire Texas Coastal Bend as birders flock (pun intended) to the ANWR to see Whooping cranes and other rare birds that migrate through South Texas on the "Migratory Bird Highway" between North and South America.
The information sign at the CCC Camp 880 site reads as follows:
"BUILDING ARANSAS NWR
Today, all that remains of the CCC’s construction efforts is a concrete flagpole base still visible at this site.
[2 historic photos]
In 1937, Pres. Franklin D Roosevelt signed the executive order creating Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
[Photo of President Roosevelt signing the Executive Order creating Aransas NWR]
[photo of the page of the Federal Register where the Executive Order was published]
Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge was established on December 31, 1937, as “a Refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife . . . “ and “. . . for use as an inviolate sanctuary, or for any other management purpose, for migratory birds.
[Group photo of CCC workers from February 14, 1939]
Shortly after the Refuge was established, workers from the civilian conservation Corps (CCC) and Works progress administration (WPA) were given the task of building the Refuge’s infrastructure.
The CCC and WPA were relief programs put into effect by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression.
Barracks, staff quarters, supply storage, maintenance shop, and mess hall facilities once stood in what is now the Refuge fishing pier area."
The waymark coordinates take you to the remains of the flagpole, the last vestige of the CCC camp. To get to the flagpole you must walk past sign.
For more on the New Deal programs that created this refuge, and that live on today, visit the Living New Deal website here: (
visit link)
"Project type: Wildlife Refuges, Forestry and Agriculture, Parks and Recreation
Agency: Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Bureau of Biological Survey (WPA)
Started: 1938
Quality of Information: Moderate
Marked: No
Site Survival: Extant
DESCRIPTION
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 114,657-acre, federally protected area at San Antonio Bay on the coast of Texas. The refuge was established by Executive Order 7784 on December 31, 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. The name was changed in 1939. It was created under the Bureau of Biological Survey and is administered today by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (created in 1940 from previous agencies).
The refuge was set aside to protect the breeding grounds of migratory birds and the vanishing wildlife of coastal Texas. In particular, Aransas was the focal point of the national and worldwide effort to rescue the Whooping Crane from extinction when only a handful of birds remain alive.
In October 1938, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 880 established a camp south of Austwell, Texas to work on the newly established refuge. CCC crews built roads, ditches, fire breaks, and the residence facilities for the refuge. They constructed part of the spillway for Burgentine Lake, which serves as a major resting area for migratory waterfowl. They also graded the road to Austwell."