Deer Creek Dam, CCC Government Camp, Animal Shed Ruin, 605 feet/284° from Brick Residence No. 1, Charleston

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UT-137-J. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The government camp for Civilian Conservation Corps workers was established southwest of the Deer Creek Dam site in and was disbanded in with the completion of the dam's construction. The CCC was a federal work program introduced by President F. D. Roosevelt's historic New Deal plan in as a response to massive unemployment spurred by the Great Depression. The CCC workers housed at the Deer Creek camp played a major role in the construction of the Deer Creek Dam and the Provo River Project at large. They provided labor for railroad and highway reconstruction; dismantling of the old railroad grade and structures; clearing of the damsite and other project lands; and manual labor on the construction projects themselves, such as hand excavation and form building at the dam.

The Deer Creek Dam was constructed as the key structure of the Bureau of Reclamation's Provo River Project, the largest water resource development project undertaken in Utah. It was the second largest earth fill dam constructed by Reclamation at the time, and Deer Creek Dam, CCC Government Camp, Animal Shed Ruin HABS No. UT-137-J (page 2) Reclamation's first project intended to provide domestic water. The Provo River Project followed a precedent of 40 Federal reclamation projects that had been or were nearly completed by Its construction was during a significant period of accelerated American infrastructure development founded on technological investment intended to make the West a sustainable, viable, and profitable landscape.

The CCC workers housed at the Deer Creek camp played a significant role toward these ends. For additional information regarding the construction of the Deer Creek Dam, refer to "Deer Creek Dam," HAER No. UT-93. Project Statement: This HABS project was undertaken by the Utah Department of Transportation in order to document the historic features of the camp prior to the realignment and improvement of U. S. Highway 189 in the area. Preparation for construction of the project's Deer Creek portion has been underway since the and the work is expected to begin in The field work, site plan, historical reports, and photographs were prepared by Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Montrose, Colorado. Jonathon C.

Horn served as the Principal Investigator, and Gianfranco Archimede conducted the fieldwork, historic research, large-format photography, and report preparation.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS UT-137-J. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Gianfranco Archimede, Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc., April Deer Creek Dam, CCC Government Camp, Animal Shed Ruin HABS No. UT-137-J (page 3) The animal shed ruin is one of several structures and historic features within the 625-foot-long by 300-foot-wide fenced corral area of the camp, oriented east- west, including the animal shed ruin, a rock alignment, a chicken coop, a pump house, two other animal sheds, a sidewalk remnant, and a stone oven (see HABS Nos. UT-137-F through M). All three animal sheds are near the stone oven. Although construction dates are unknown, it is likely that none of these remain from the original camp, and it is likely that they were brought in or constructed by later residents.

1 All three are easily distinguished from each other by their condition, possible function, and design. The northernmost is a ruin with about half of the structural components lying in a scatter around the intact half. The intact portion is oriented east-west and measures 11 by 21-feet with a shed roof made of 2 by 6 inch boards that is 6 feet tall at the front, south-facing side and 5 feet tall at the rear. The structure rests on 8-inch-diameter telephone pole sections to which 2 by 6-inch planks are nailed as the floor. The structure is framed with 4-inch-square posts. The north and east side walls are intact, consisting of horizontal 2 by 6-inch planks and 1 by IO-inch tongue and groove boards. Debris scattered around the shed consists of collapsed structural materials.

Wooden skids and small diameter round poles in the debris scatter suggests a possible animal pen area; however, no wire or fencing is apparent. Although the function of the shed is unknown, its height and construction material suggest it may have been used to house pigs. 1 State of Utah Historic Site Form, Utah Office of Preservation, "Deer Creek Reservoir Dam Complex prepared by Michael R. Polk, Sagebrush Archaeological Consultants, p. 2.