Brush Creek Work Center
a.k.a. 48CR4203
WY 130 E of Saratoga, Medicine Bow NF, Saratoga, WYMost of the major construction at the Brush Creek Work Center was completed in 1937-1940 by crews from the Ryan Park Side Camp (F-22). It was a side camp of the Saratoga Camp (F-38-W) located in Saratoga, Wyoming. The main camps such as Saratoga Camp usually worked throughout the winter. The side camps usually were established in the spring, when weather permitted, with 20 to 25 workers from the main camps and closed down for the winter. The Mullen Creek Camp (F-36-W) and the Brush Creek Side Camp (F-39-W) also did a small amount of work on the site. Crews from the Saratoga Camp and the Brush Creek Side Camp did some finishing up work in 1941 (Inspection Letters, 1938-1941). The foreman for the Ryan Park Side Camp was Herb Hahn. Herb and his crew cut the logs for the complex off of Barrett Ridge. They also excavated and laid the foundations, constructed the sidewalks, and completed all the rough structural construction. Local craftsmen were then brought in to do the finer work. Fred Potter, a rancher from the Encampment area did the stonecutting for the sidewalks, foundations, porches, and the fireplace in the Dwelling. Urban Shantz, a Finnish carpenter from Chicago built the cabinets in the office/Dwelling and Dwelling. Another carpenter to work on the work center was Chris Jensen from Rawlins, Wyoming.
The work center was originally built as an administrative facility for the Brush Creek Ranger District and replaced the original facility that was located about one mile to the northwest. The first Ranger Station was originally called the Drinkard Ranger Station and was constructed in 1905. The name was not thought to be appropriate and was changed to Brush Creek in 1914. The District was part of the Medicine Bow Reserve which was headquartered in Saratoga, Wyoming. It was not until 1910 that the Medicine Bow National Forest came into existence and the Forest Headquarters were moved from Saratoga to Laramie, Wyoming. The Work Center is still being used presently by work crews from the Brush Creek Ranger District.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.