Lake Fannin Organizational Camp

The Lake Fannin Organizational Camp, built between 1936 and 1938, was the first Resettlement Administration (RA) project of its size in the United States and the only one of its kind in Texas attributed to the RA. Planning began in 1933 or 1934, under the direction of Fannin County RA director Malcolm Campbell. At the time, soil depletion and erosion had rendered much of the agricultural land in north Texas useless. In an attempt to halt the erosion of soils, an existing lake on the property was drained and a new, larger lake was built. Construction of this dam began in early 1936, and by the fall of that year, ten of the sixteen overnight cabins had been completed (Bonham Daily Favorite 1936). The entire complex was completed by January 1938. The over 400 workers employed in the construction of the site, planting, and furniture making, were hired from the Fannin county relief rolls. The lake construction, coupled with sodding, terracing, and installation of smaller check dams, was successful in controlling erosion, and the area served as a popular public recreation site until 1956. Contextually, the Lake Fannin Organizational Camp relates to the Rustic style of architecture made popular during the New Deal era (Wise 1994). The camp is significant in the area of Politics and Government in that it is representative of New Deal era public works projects. An account in the June 23, 1936 issue of the Bonham Daily Favorite attributes the authorization of this project, along with several others in Fannin County, to the efforts of Congressman Sam Rayburn, further enhancing its significance in this area. The camp layout, architectural and design elements, and building materials are all distinctive to planned landscapes created by federal public works projects during the 1930s, thus the camp is significant in the area of Landscape Architecture. The camp possesses significance in the area of Conservation as an example of a successful effort in the reclamation and conservation of badly eroded, unproductive sub-marginal agricultural lands. The selection of this particular site for this camp was predicated on the desire to stem the ravaging effects of soil erosion, caused by many years of agricultural overuse and compounded by dramatic shifts in weather patterns resulting in what is termed the "Dust Bowl era." The camp also is significant in the area of Entertainment/Recreation, as it provided the residents of Fannin County an important recreational resource that was not available prior to its construction. The association of the Lake Fannin Organizational Camp with New Deal era public works reclamation and conservation projects, its association with Congressman Sam Rayburn, its embodiment of Rustic design elements incorporated into a planned landscape, and its role in providing previously unavailable recreational resources to the local residents, make the camp eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C at the state level of significance in the period 1933-1956. The continuity of use as a public recreation facility into the mid-1950s, and certain modifications to several structures as a result of the change in use patterns at that time, is the reason for extending the period of significance beyond the 50-year age requirement.

President Roosevelt's land conservation ethic was firmly rooted in his experiences growing up in the Hudson River Valley. He carried his concerns for land conservation and rehabilitation into his presidency with a genuine fervor (Cutler 1985; Steely 1985) and a firm commitment that his policies would succeed in restoring the land. In April 1935, unhappy with the progress of the various programs in place for the resettlement of impoverished farmers and for the reclamation of sub-marginal lands for other uses, Roosevelt signed an Executive Order creating the Resettlement Administration (aka Rural Resettlement Administration) (Conkin 1976:143). He placed Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Rexford Tugwell in charge of the agency and assigned him the task of overseeing a multitude of New Deal programs in the areas of rural relief, land utilization, rural resettlement and suburban resettlement. Specifically enumerated in the Executive Order were emphases on the developmental aspect of acquired sub-marginal lands in terms of reforestation, erosion control, flood control and recreational development (ibid.). Within this context, in the desolation that was north Texas during the Depression, the RA implemented two Land Utilization Projects in Fannin County, Lake Fannin and Lake Davy Crockett, designed to help put the unemployed into gainful work while rehabilitating and restoring highly eroded sub-marginal agricultural lands. There were also a Civilian Conservation Corps project (Bonham State Park) and Works Progress Administration (Bonham High School Gymnasium) project in Fannin County at this time. This seemingly dense concentration of federal projects in a small north Texas county was no doubt attributable to the influence of then House Majority Leader Sam Rayburn. The RA projects in Fannin County pulled their workforce entirely from the county relief rolls (Bonham Daily Favorite 1936), with an emphasis on providing meaningful work for displaced and unemployed tenant farmers. On a broader scale, these Land Utilization Projects were somewhat less visible and much less controversial, than many of RA's other endeavors in rural and suburban resettlement, which add to their uniqueness and significance.

From the beginning, the Resettlement Administration was in the business of planning, financing, constructing and populating new communities. An army of architects and landscape architects was employed in this endeavor, and when required, they threw their expertise into other projects, such as recreational development (Cutler 1985). Although planning for the complex was actually begun prior to the existence of the RA, the final drawings and specifications were reviewed by Tugwell's assistant administrator (and eventual successor), W. W. Alexander, and approved by his assistant L. C. Gray in March 1937 (Letter in USFS file dated March 27, 1937). The overall plan for the complex reflects the planning philosophy of the times, with large public buildings being the central focus of the complex and the smaller, more intimate cabins providing practical shelter (Steely 1985; Cutler 1985). In planning the complex, Fannin County RA director Malcolm Campbell utilized many of the same design standards and elements for Lake Fannin that were being utilized by the CCC in Fannin County (Bonham State Park) and across the nation. Specifically, the use of stone, timber and earth as the principal construction materials for the complex ensured that the manmade forms blended with the natural environment, embellishing the distinctive Rustic style so closely associated with New Deal era recreation construction projects (Wise 1994). Distinctive differences between the RA and CCC application of these design standards are evident, however. Bonham State Park, a nearby NRHP-eligible facility (Jim Steely, Personal Communication 2000) constructed by the CCC over the same period of time as Lake Fannin, offers some contrasts in materials, style and construction methods. The stone utilized at Bonham State Park (which was quarried from a site near Gober, Texas in central Fannin County), is different from the stone used at Lake Fannin (quarried from a site within the complex, in northern Fannin County). The stonework at Bonham State Park is largely incorporated into the structures as load-bearing walls, while the RA craftsmen at Lake Fannin were more apt to incorporate it as a veneer material for a standard wood frame structure (the exception being the use of stone in constructing buttressed foundations for several of the cabins). Bonham State Park contained no structures designed for providing overnight accommodations, while this was the principal purpose of the cabins at Lake Fannin, an indication, possibly, of the differing missions and recreation concepts of the two agencies. Lastly, a CCC company was assigned to live at the Bonham State Park site, while there is no indication from the historical record that the RA craftsmen lived on-site at Lake Fannin.
During the latter half of the 19th century, the grassland prairies of north Texas underwent dramatic changes. Cattle ranching and self-sufficient farming gave way to cash crop cotton farming, and by 1900 58% of the acreage in Fannin County was under cotton cultivation (Jurney et al. 1989). By 1920, this over-reliance on cotton farming was resulting in depleted soil fertility, as evidenced by dramatic declines in production and population (ibid.). As the Great Depression deepened in the early 1930s, this fragile, over-utilized landscape was further decimated by the onset of extreme drought conditions. The dry bare soil was exposed to the natural elements in a manner that it had never before experienced. Dust storms and flash floods forced landowners and tenants alike to seek new avenues for basic subsistence. Thus, reclamation and recovery, of both the people and the land, became the principal goals of the RA and CCC programs implemented in Fannin County. The Land Utilization Project that became Lake Fannin provided an opportunity for the RA to demonstrate its expertise in the areas of reforestation (the successful planting of trees and grasses on the terraced hillsides), erosion and flood control (the construction of the dam and lake), and recreational development (completion and operation of the building complex).

The land for the Lake Fannin Organizational Camp was originally purchased by the city of Bonham in 1900 for the purpose of constructing a country club (Bonham Daily Favorite 1936). By 1930, a small lake had been constructed at the site, but further development was delayed when the local economy worsened; the small dam eventually burst and the lake dried up, becoming a catch basin for soils being eroded from the adjacent hillsides. The main goal of the RA Land Utilization Project at this location was to halt the erosion, restore productivity to lands that were sub-marginal for agricultural production, and, in the process, provide an opportunity for meaningful employment and enjoyable recreation experiences for the citizens of Fannin County. The newly constructed 75-acre lake, with its lodge, overnight cabins and other amenities, quickly became the focal point of the area, but it was the terracing and revegetation of the surrounding hillsides that eventually halted the erosion and restored the land. Lake Fannin became a popular leisure spot, even before the construction of all facilities was completed (Bonham Daily Favorite 1936, 1937, 1938). By the summer of 1940, the complex would receive hundreds of visitors per weekend, weather permitting of course (ibid.). The lodge and boathouse were reported to host weddings, anniversary and birthday parties, and dances (Jane Record Steely, Personal Communication 1995) throughout most of the 1940s and early 1950s. During the 1950s and 1960s, a massive reservoir construction program was undertaken on nearly every major drainage system in north and northeast Texas. With such a wide variety of recreational opportunities becoming available to the public, visitation and use at small lakes such as Fannin fell off dramatically as the populace turned to water-oriented recreation and more highly developed camping facilities. It was during this time that several groups entered into special use permits for the use of the facilities at Lake Fannin. Groups such as the Fort Worth YMCA and the Southwestern Region, Disciples of Christ Church utilized the facilities for summer camp experiences during the 1960s. With the establishment of the Youth Conservation Corps in the early 1970s, use of the facility continued as a summer encampment until 1980, when funds for resident YCC programs were cut. Public use of the facility since 1980 has been limited to boating and fishing, with access to the lake provided by a boat ramp constructed on the eastern bank of the lake.

At its inception, Lake Fannin was the perfect setting for the recreational needs of the citizens of Fannin County, providing facilities for quality day-use activities and special events. Indeed, the lodge and boathouse, with its dance floor on the roof, provided the focal point for social contacts for the dispersed, rural populations in Fannin County during the 1930s and 1940s. With the proliferation of large lakes and reservoirs during the 1950s and 1960s, small lakes such as Fannin were preferred by a steadily shrinking percentage of the populace looking for quiet and solitude in a natural setting. It met this need for most of the 1960s and 1970s, with the solitude broken in the summers by the arrival of church campers, and later YCC enrollees. Its importance to local recreation needs continued to diminish during the 1970s so that by the time that funding for YCC was lost in 1980, there was no apparent need to continue to maintain and improve the structural facilities. Today, the lake provides a tranquil setting for fishing and boating, with the building complex providing nothing more than a backdrop to this type of use.

In a major reorganization of New Deal agencies under the Bankhead-Jones Act, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) took over the management of the RA Land Utilization Projects, including Lake Fannin, in 1938. In 1954, USDA transferred the management of the National Grasslands from the SCS to the Forest Service, with the north Texas units included in an administrative unit assigned to the USFS Southwest Region headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1971, the administration of the grasslands in Wise and Fannin Counties of north Texas was transferred to the National Forests in Texas. Lake Fannin is the most extensively developed of the Forest Service recreation areas on the Caddo-LBJ National Grasslands. In 1956, the Fort Worth YMCA initiated a resident summer camp program at Lake Fannin. This program was responsible for several modifications to the structures, such as replacing the oak shakes with composition shingles, enclosing the stone terraces on the lodge with screened porches, and enclosing the wings of the bathhouse with gabled roofs to create a dormitory. In the mid-1970s, the camp became the home to Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) residents during the summers. The YCC camps constructed footbridges around the lake and provided general light maintenance (such as window and door repair and painting) on the structures, and overall grounds maintenance. The last YCC camp was held in 1980, and the camp has been vacant since that time. The caretaker's residence was occupied until 1991, when it was vacated also. With the dissolution of the YCC program in 1980, the District Ranger decided to install a gate and close off access to the complex to the general public. Access to the building complex could still be gained by crossing the lake from the boat ramp on the eastern shore, but vehicular access was eliminated. As long as there was someone living in the caretaker's residence, there were no problems with vandalism or theft. In 1988, the employee living in the caretaker's residence transferred to another forest, and incidents of vandalism started occurring more frequently. In 1991, in an effort to stem the tide of vandalism and to lessen the effects of natural degradation, the USFS (in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer) developed and implemented a minimum maintenance plan for the complex. This plan was designed to lessen the negative effects caused by vacancy and lack of use. In 1994, a National Park Service specialist in historic building evaluation and restoration visited the complex and developed a set of guidelines and recommendations for mothballing the structures until the time was right for embarking on a major restoration and/or rehabilitation project. Many of these recommendations were incorporated into a work order implemented by the National Youth Conservation Corps (Americorps) in 1995 and 1996. In late 1998, the USFS entered into a volunteer agreement with a group of men from the Bonham-Honey Grove area, with the express purpose of beginning the restoration and rehabilitation of the complex. This work is still ongoing and will be continued under a special use permit issued following an assessment of proposals for operating the facility.

The Lake Fannin Organizational Camp is significant in the areas of Politics and Government as a representative example of the accomplishments of an important New Deal agency, and for its association with Congressman Sam Rayburn, whose position of influence ensured that the project would be placed in Fannin County. It is significant in the area of Landscape Architecture as it is an excellent example of a landscape planned and constructed by specialists in the field of park planning employed by the federal government during the New Deal. It is also significant in the area of Conservation as an example of the multi-faceted approach employed in the restoring and rehabilitating of sub-marginal agricultural lands during the New Deal. This approach included the control of erosion and flooding by the construction of terraces, dams, and lakes, the planting of forest and prairie species, and the conversion of the lands from agricultural to recreational uses. The complex is significant in the areas of entertainment and recreation because it was the first facility of this kind to be constructed in Fannin County. It provided an important and significant recreational experience for the residents of Fannin County from the time of its completion until the mid-1950s. The complex is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places on the state level of significance in the period 1933-1950.