Gooseberry Falls State Park
Honoring CCC Workers
Statue Unveiled

By MN DNR

August 1, 2007 

The scenic beauty was already in place, but it was the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s and early 1940s who built the roads and bridges that gave the public access to the natural resources and recreational opportunities in Minnesota state parks and elsewhere. A tribute to their handiwork and the structures of wood and stone they built will be dedicated during a ceremony at Gooseberry Falls State Park near Two Harbors at noon on Thursday, Aug. 9.

The focus of the event sponsored by the Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC), the Minnesota DNR Division of Parks and Recreation, and CCC Alumni Chapters 33 and 119 is the unveiling of a bronze statue to honor those who served in the CCC in Minnesota and across the country. The bronze statue entitled "CCC Worker" is a 6-foot 1-inch depiction of one of the young men who served in the corps.

According to Len Price, executive director, Minnesota Conservation Corps, the statue weighs 600 pounds and has been poured from an original cast created by Elliot Gantz & Co. foundry in New York.

"The 75th Anniversary of the CCC is coming in 2008," said Price. "The statue being dedicated on Aug. 9 is part of a Commemorative Statue Project sponsored by CCC Alumni Chapters across the country to find an appropriate location for the sculpture that spotlights the significant work of the CCC and the men who served in the corps."

Courtland Nelson, Minnesota state parks director, echoed his support for the project and the significance of the CCC legacy.

"More than 86,000 men served in the CCC in Minnesota and more than 3 million more worked in programs throughout the nation," said Nelson. "From the despair of the Great Depression, the most popular agencies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal were created to give economic relief to millions of Americans."

Labeled the alphabet agencies, programs like the CCC, Works Progress Administration, Veterans Conservation Corps and the National Youth Administration provided men with work and the economic relief that enabled them to support their families.

Joel Stedman led a major project on the history of the manpower programs in state parks. "In the short span of 10 years, from 1933 to 1943, these groups planned parks, planted trees, built roads, fought forest fires, battled erosion, and constructed stone and log buildings that are still in use today in Minnesota state parks and other state and national parks across the country," Stedman said. "Their legacy lives on in the forests they planted, natural resources they preserved and structures they built.

"The selection of Gooseberry Falls State Park as the site for the statue is most appropriate," Stedman said. "The park has one of the most extensive displays of work done by the CCC or any other New Deal agency in the state. Dozens of structures remain including the stone Concourse, often called the 'Castle in the Park,' which serves as a backdrop for the CCC Worker statue."

"We hope that the placement of this statue will inspire future conservationists such as the youth and young adults of MCC," said Price. "The ceremony will be a chance for CCC Alumni to pass down their knowledge and memories to everyone at the event."

The Minnesota Conservation Corps provides hands-on environmental stewardship and service-learning opportunities to youth and young adults ages 15 to 25. Built on the tradition of the CCC, these young people work to accomplish conservation, natural resource management and emergency response projects throughout Minnesota.

For more information about CCC projects in Minnesota state parks, stories and photos of the CCC, WPA, and VCC workers have been collected in a book entitled, "Stories in Log and Stone: The Legacy of the New Deal in Minnesota State Parks."

The 125-page book contains more than 170 photos and focuses on the lives of the men who worked in these camps. The book also serves as a travel guide for readers who wish to visit the hundreds of structures that remain in 27 Minnesota state parks, including some of the most impressive buildings, bridges, dams and trails in the state. It is available at the Nature Store gift shop at Gooseberry Falls and other Minnesota state parks.

The dedication ceremony will take place next to the statue located along the pathway to the falls. Gooseberry Falls State Park is located on Minnesota State Highway 61, 13 miles north of the town of Two Harbors. No vehicle permit is needed to park in the visitor center parking lot and take the short walk to the dedication ceremony location.

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