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Show NFS Form 10-900-a (8-86) Utah WordPerfect Format OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 5 Leeds CCC Camp Historic District, Leeds, Washington Co., Utah projects were designated as "state" camps, but remained under the supervision of the technical agency. The projects for these state camps were selected by a state committee appointed by the governor. Camp 585 in Leeds was one of these five state camps established for erosion control in central and southern Utah. Men were constantly rotating between Zion National Park, Cedar City, Gunlock, Enterprise, and many other locations. Extensive work was done on the Virgin River, particularly installation of riprap and cribs to control flooding--perhaps more than on any other river in Utah. West of Beaver, dams were built at Mineral Mountain. (This was done through the Division of Grazing and Soil Conservation Service.) The work was frequently hard and dangerous. Near present day Bloomington, quicksand was plentiful along the river. Pilings were driven into the sand prior to the construction of roads and bridges. Some of the men had a bad scare when a big piece of equipment tipped into the quicksand; recovery was very difficult. Edwin Slack, an "LEM" from nearby Toquerville, was a supervising engineer and worked throughout southern Utah doing survey work with the CCC crews doing the road construction. The road to Oak Grove and the Danish Ranch then on to St. George was built by the CCC men. At the time the road was built to Oak Grove there had been only a trail. They built a good road, which is still being used today. They also built the Oak Grove camp and picnic area with 28 spaces, drinking water, and sanitary facilities. At many locations along the Santa Clara River diversion work was done for flood control, also in the Mt. Meadow and Gunlock areas. Along Ash Creek, rock dikes were built, with two on the north end of Toquerville. On the road going south from Toquerville to La Verkin, there are many farms that needed to be protected from floods. The CCC men constructed walls of rock encased in hog wire to divert the water. Many places show the efforts of the CCC around Leeds -- trees planted, soil moved to form diversion areas, and on the Dave Stirling farm at the bottom of the field, rock dikes were built to prevent flooding. In the interviews with longtime residents of Leeds, it appears that such assistance from the CCC was frequently obtained with only a request to Commander Shipley. He also reportedly worked very closely with the construction occurring in Zions National Park. The residents of Leeds cared very much for the "boys" that were in Camp 585. They were often invited to Sunday dinner or to activities at the LDS ward. The men also attended dances that were held at the Town Hall. Camp 585 had its own band, one of the later groups, the 585 Ramblers, presented a radio show on KSUB in Cedar City. The Leeds CCC Camp also had a chef known for his gourmet food towns people were always happy to be invited to have meals in the mess hall. Several of the CCC "boys" married local girls--some settled in Leeds, St. George, Enterprise, Gunlock, and Virgin; while some of the girls went back home with the boys upon marriage. Although the majority of enrollees at the Leeds CCC Camp were from out-of-state and X See continuation sheet 3Ibid, p.269. |
