Civilian Conservation Corps Powder Magazine
This nomination is part of the “Capitol Reef National Park Multiple Property Submission.” The CCC Powder Magazine is associated with the historic context “National Park Service and Government Development in Capitol Reef National Park, 1937-1946.”
The Civilian Conservation Corps Powder Magazine has local significance under National Register Criterion A for its association with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the programs of the Works Progress Administration. The powder magazine originally served to safely store explosives used in the construction projects of the CCC at Capitol Reef National Park. The powder magazine and the Ranger Station are the only two CCC resources in Capitol Reef which retain physical integrity and qualify for National Register listing. The period of significance for the CCC Powder Magazine dates from its construction in 1938 to 1941 when the public work projects at the park ceased and the CCC camp was disbanded.
Located in Capitol Reef National Park and added to the National Register of Historic Places (#99001090) on September 13, 1999.
A Civilian Conservation Corps side camp was established in Capitol Reef National Monument in July 1938. This camp, originally designated NM-2, and later NP-6, was situated at Chimney Rock to the west of Fruita. This initial CCC presence consisted of a foreman and seventeen laborers detailed from Bryce Canyon National Park. During the next four years the CCC side camp at Capitol Reef was expanded and more permanent structures such as a frame mess hall and the powder magazine replaced the original tents as support facilities. The CCC played a key role in developing modern facilities within the newly created National Monument. In 1940 CCC work included construction of a ranger station, a highway bridge across Sulphur Creek, improvements to the Hickman Bridge Trail, and improvements to the Torrey to Fruita road. In 1941, the CCC also worked on improvements on the Capitol Gorge Highway, which extended south of Fruita through Capitol Gorge.
The explosives stored in the powder magazine were central to CCC construction activity; nearly all of the construction work undertaken by the CCC within the monument entailed quarrying sandstone into blocks or slabs a process which required the use of explosives. Furthermore, prior to the widespread use of heavy machinery, explosives were essential in road construction projects.
The CCC powder magazine relates to an important period in the development of the National Park system, a time in which great strides were made in park improvements. It also serves as evidence of the unprecedented federal relief efforts organized under the President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” to address the disastrous unemployment problems of the Great Depression.
