One of the original signs raised in DeSoto State Park sits alongside the road into the park Thursday morning. The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum building at DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, Ala., is undergoing renovations. The museum is housed in one of the original buildings, constructed between 1933 and late 1941.The Civilian Conservation Corps Museum in DeSoto State Park has opened for 2015 Season running from March to October.
Visitors can take a step back to the mid-1930s and early-1940s when CCC crews developed and built the state park then known as "State Park 5." The camp was built in nearby Fort Payne at the foot of Lookout Mountain in 1933.
The museum offers a look at this depression-era program that developed DeSoto State Park and other parks all over the nation.
CCC crews installed telephone and utility lines, built roads, trails, culverts, a nine-hole golf course, and stone and wood structures like picnic pavilions, barbecue pits, cabins and a group lodge.
Admission is free, though donations are accepted.
Museum hours are from 12-4:00 p.m. CDT on Saturdays, March through November and the building is open weekdays by appointment. Civilian Conservation Corps Museum and Park Tours are available if booked in advance. See the CCC Museum website for details.
For more information, see DeSoto State Park on www.Alapark.com or call Park Naturalist Brittney Hughes at 256-845-0051 or email her at Brittney.Hughes@dcnr.alabama.gov.