Civilian Conservation Corps Camp in Kokeʻe State Park is located at

Hawaii Route 550 Route 550 is a road stretching from Route 50 in Waimea to Kōkeʻe State Park Kōkee State Park is located in northwestern Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. It includes the Kōkeʻe Museum at the marker on State Road 550, which focuses on the w ...

, in Waimea, on the island of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. It was built in 1935 with lumber that was put into the saltwater and floated to the shore at Port Allen, the seawater adding a natural termite protection to the lumber. The camp was in continual use for forest management, until

Hurricane Iwa Hurricane Iwa, taken from the Hawaiian language name for the frigatebird (iwa, lit. "Thief"), was at the time the costliest hurricane to affect the state of Hawaii. Iwa was the twenty-third tropical storm and the twelfth and final hurricane of the ...

devastated it in 1982. In the 1990s it was restored through the efforts of the non-profit Hui O Laka environmental group, and is currently open to the public. It was added to the

Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places The Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places (HRHP) is a listing of sites of historical significance located in Hawaii. It is maintained by the Hawaiʻi State Historic Preservation Division. It was established when the Hawaii State Legislature pass ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 20, 1996.

History

The camp was originally built in 1935 as one of five Hawaii camps constructed by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

stimulus. The other four camps have been absorbed by population growth, and Koke'e is the lone camp remaining in a natural environment. The CCC at Koke'e provided forest management, by building trails, roads, and fences, as well as planting over a million trees on Kauai. They helped fight forest fires, eradicate unwanted feral mammals, and collected tree seeds. In addition, the CCC from Koke'e also built the CCC camp at Waialae Cabin. In 1943, the program had been disbanded, and the camp was used by the 443d Airlift Wing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1966 until 1973, the

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

occupied the premises and provided forest management, followed by the

Youth Conservation Corps The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is a paid summer youth work program in federally managed lands. The National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management employ teens each summer to participate ...

. The camp was abandoned in 1982 after

. The camp is operated by the non-profit local environmental group Hui O Laka, which is dedicated to educating, enhancing, and maintaining Koke'e. In 1990, the

Hawaii State Legislature The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, the ...

provided Hui O Laka a $20,000 Grant-in-Aid for renovations to the camp. The restoration and continual maintenance of the camp has been provided by members of Hui O Laka, and by volunteers. There are seventeen contributing, and three non-contributing buildings, sites, and structures on the site. During construction, the lumber could not be lifted directly onto the shore, because of the shallowness of Port Allen and the lack of equipment to accomplish the task. Instead, the lumber was floated ashore in the salt water. The soaking in seawater gave the lumber lasting termite protection, allowing the wood to be virtually intact when the camp was added to the NRHP in 1996. The non-contributing buildings were built after 1950.

Contributing buildings

*Executive building (in use for overnight accommodations) *Camp administration building (in use as the Natural History Museum) *Mess hall *"A" Barracks *"B" Barracks *"C" Barracks *Recreation lodge destroyed in 1982 by Hurricane Iwa *Foremen cabin *Building 9, storage *Supply room *Cooler room *Gas house, formerly used as a garage *Building 14, small wooden building *Building 15, cook's house demolished in 1993 *Building 16, formerly a garage and workshop *Ranger's cabin built in 1930 *Building "I" old laundry room

Facilities, fees

Reservations are required for overnight accommodations at the camp. Stays are limited primarily to Hui O Laka volunteers and researchers with an advance payment of rental fee. The facilities are sometimes available for large group functions, subject to advance approval.

References

External links

Kokee Museum Home Page
{{NRHP in Kauai, Hawaii National Register of Historic Places in Kauai County, Hawaii Tourist attractions in Kauai County, Hawaii Civilian Conservation Corps in Hawaii Protected areas established in 1935 1935 establishments in Hawaii Hawaii Register of Historic Places Protected areas of Kauai

History

Contributing buildings

Facilities, fees

See also

References

External links