The Leeds CCC camp, and why it is the last one standing.

It is the only one with buildings still standing, according to the Washington County Historical Society, and the National Register nomination describes it as perhaps the best remaining example of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the state. The reason is construction: CCC camps were built as temporary frame structures almost everywhere, and most of Leeds' frame buildings were gone before 1950. The four that survive were built in stone.

Four, all administrative, on about two and a third acres. The infirmary at roughly 192 square feet, the dispensary and supply building at about 480, the blacksmith shop at around 360, and the commander's headquarters at about 496. All are coursed rubble masonry and concrete faced in local red orange sandstone. The barracks, mess hall, library and showers were frame, stood to the southwest, and are gone.

Company 585 opened it in October 1933, a large crowd attended the dedication on 11 November 1933, and it closed in 1942. About two hundred young men from across the country were housed there. The camp is recorded under more than one designation, appearing as F-14 and SCS-7 in the federal records and as archaeological site 42WS2394 in the state record.

Work that is still in use. They cut the road to Oak Grove, eight and a half steep miles up beside Leeds Creek to the southern boundary of the Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness, and built the campground at the top of it, which opened with a tennis court, a wading pool and a playground. They also built a swimming pool for the town. In an arid, flood prone corner of the state, flood control and water resource development were the programme's local priorities.

Yes. The Leeds CCC Camp Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 4 March 1993 under reference number 93000062. The site is at 90 West Mulberry Lane in Leeds and is managed by the Leeds Historical Society. Listing on the register is a recognition and a planning consideration rather than a protection order, which is worth knowing about any designated site.

Yes, free of charge, and the buildings sit just inside the monuments at the entrance on Mulberry Lane. It is an outdoor visit rather than a staffed museum, so there is nobody to show you round and the interpretive material on site is what you get. Allow about half an hour. There is no water, no toilet and no shade, so treat it as a stop rather than a destination in summer.

Because the conservation work the programme existed to do was badly needed here. Southern Utah in the 1930s was arid and flood prone, and flood control and water resource development were the local priorities. Leeds itself had been founded in 1867 by families who abandoned Harrisburg after floods went through it, so the valley had a long standing and specific reason to want that work done.

Directly. The crews housed at the Mulberry Lane camp built the road up to Oak Grove and the campground at the top of it. Ninety years later Forest Road 032 is still the way up the south face of the Pine Valley Mountains and the campground is still where you park to walk Oak Grove Trail 31030. Pairing the two makes a much better day than either on its own, because you can stand in the office and then drive the project.

Please do not. Coursed rubble masonry ninety years old, on an unstaffed site with no maintenance budget behind it, does not need the help. Look, photograph and read the interpretive material, and keep off the walls and the stone terraces. The terraces in particular are part of what the National Register nomination identifies as making the site significant, and they are exactly the sort of feature that goes one stone at a time.