Camp Lee Canyon

Camp Lee Canyon is significant as one of a handful of federal projects which dramatically changed the face of Clark County, Nevada in the 1930s. Built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the project was part of the "federal trigger" which helped southern Nevada through the Depression. Camp Lee Canyon, located 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas on Hwy. 156 on approximately sixty acres given to the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1936, was constructed: beginning in 1937. Owned by the U.S. Forest Service and operated first by the City of Las Vegas and then by Clark County, the Camp has served the children of Las Vegas from 1937 to the present as a summer camp.

Context The largest and most dramatic example of the federal projects in Clark County and all of Nevada during the Depression was the Boulder Dam construction which revitalized southern Nevada and provided not only employment for thousands but laid the groundwork for a new industry--tourism.

In addition during the 1930s, the New Deal provided a significant economic boost for southern Nevada with various programs which provided much-needed facilities, such as the new grade school at Fifth and Bridger which was built by the Public Works Administration. Other projects included repaving more than 58 city blocks by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and completing the City Park with trees, baseball fields, and other recreational facilities.

The City was able to increase its tourism potential with the construction of a convention center in 1936. For several years civic leaders had been anticipating the transition to a tourist-based economy when the dam construction was completed. The process began in 1934 with land donated by the City (now the site of the current City Hall) and with $5,000 pledged from the American Legion, who agreed to build a War Memorial Building. The WPA was persuaded that the project met its guidelines as a "civic auditorium" and contributed $80,000 worth of free labor and materials. Thus the town had its convention center.

Of the federally funded construction projects in Clark County from the 1930s, few still remain. Still standing are the Boulder Dam renamed to Hoover Dam; the Fifth Street School which is now leased from Clark County by the City of Las Vegas; the Lost City Museum in Overton, a Civilian Conservation Corps project; the U.S. Post Office located on Stewart Street; and Camp Lee Canyon.