CCC Project at the Painted Desert Inn - Petrified Forest NP, AZ - Civilian Conservation Corps on Waymarking.com

According to the National Park Service website, "If you are near Painted Desert Inn, listen closely. You may still hear the ringing of hammers and the rasping of saws, echoes of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) working on the Inn from 1935-40.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's intention in creating the CCC in 1933 was to provide employment for young men during the Great Depression. Young men were sent to camps all across the nation, given a place to sleep, eat, and work. Their work not only supported their families, but left a legacy for the entire nation. Painted Desert Inn was one of numerous projects at Petrified Forest National Park.

After the National Park Service bought the Inn from Herbert Lore in 1936, architect Lyle Bennett produced designs for a building that complimented the rolling red hills of the Painted Desert. The excessive cost of outside contractors led to the use of CCC labor for construction of the building. The enrollees received training in carpentry, electrical work, masonry, and stone quarrying.

Through the cold of winter and the heat of summer, the boys put in electric wires, plumbing, and a heating system. Sleeping rooms, a new entryway, restrooms, a dining room, and a shaded porch were built as additions to the original structure. Construction took 3-years, employing hundreds of young men in the process.

From the hard labor of stuccoing the exterior to the delicate artwork creating panels of stained glass and hammered-tin chandeliers, Painted Desert Inn remains a monument to the work of the CCC. Roosevelt's original intention was to give jobs to young men. The skills the men left with benefited the nation." (visit link)

According to the National Park Service Report on the classified structures from the CCC, "Painted Desert Inn's significance arises from its masterful combination of architecture and design resulting from the fine architectural skills of National Park Service architect Lyle E. Bennett and enhanced by the interior decorating skills of Mary Jane Colter and the artistic skills of Hopi artist Fred Kabotie. On a regional level of significance, its important as a tangible product and symbol of the work relief programs of the New Deal." Source (visit link)

Visit Instructions:
Logs must include picture of person with GPS'r in hand with the waymark and log of experience and any additional things learned about the waymark.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/31/2019 wildernessmama visited it 10/29/2018 Sneakin Deacon visited it 10/12/2018 kayothree visited it 10/02/2018 Castor007 visited it 09/05/2018 stevepre2 visited it 05/19/2017 The Snowdog visited it 04/10/2017 icaunais visited it 09/28/2014 merlot visited it 08/07/2014 Benchmark Blasterz visited it 06/13/2014 tamiuron visited it 05/20/2014 veritas vita visited it 07/29/2013 philbeer visited it 07/27/2013 Poehunters visited it 07/20/2012 50 State Redhead visited it 07/14/2012 California Bear visited it 07/12/2012 Geojeepsters visited it 03/04/2012 bunyanpaul visited it 07/15/2009 jonathanatpsu visited it

View all visits/logs