MAY 2, 1933

Two hundred young men from Detroit arrive at an isolated spot in Chippewa County and set up Camp Raco—Michigan's first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) facility. Within months, dozens of similar camps opened across northern Michigan. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's most popular New Deal relief programs, the CCC was a massive conservation program that employed tens of thousands of young men all across the nation. The CCC revitalized Michigan's state park system, established Isle Royale National Park and built campgrounds in Michigan's national forests. All benefited the state as tourism became one of its main economic resources. Michigan enrollees also sent home $20 million of their monthly salaries and acquired invaluable training that made their transition to military service in World War II easier. When the program ended in 1942, more than 100,000 Michigan men had served in the CCC. Their accomplishments included: planting more than 484 million seedlings (more than twice the number in any other state), expending 140,000 man-days in fighting forest fires, placing 150 million fish in rivers and lakes, and constructing 7,000 miles of truck trails, 504 buildings and 222 bridges.

• Learn more about the Michigan CCC:
  • visit the Michigan Historical Museum in person
  • see the online version of the museum's Great Depression Gallery
  • visit the CCC Museum in person

Updated 06/23/2011