For seven days,
we’ve been wood shedding at Crossville, Tennessee, a hilly town northeast of
Sewanee in the Cumberland Mountains. Although the purpose of the trip was to
hibernate and work on a new young adult novel, I always manage to get in a
sightseeing trip – particularly if I’m near one of the many parks that the WPA
(Works Progress Administration) and CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) built when
these wonderful organizations were set up by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following
the Great Depression.
My father was
among the numerous men who would have starved had he not been employed in the programs that constructed bridges, state park structures, roads, and walls
along highways throughout the U.S. Videos about the work of the CCC’s can be
viewed at the Roosevelt State Park where Roosevelt established his retreat in
the “Little White House” near Pine Mountain Ridge, Georgia. Buildings
constructed of stone and other materials indigenous to the area, as well as a
stone swimming pool and lodge, were also constructed by the CCC’s in that location.
Tennessee has a
grand share of state parks that feature the work of the WPA and CCC’s, and
Cumberland Mountain State Park near Crossville boasts of the Crab Orchard stone
dam/bridge that is a magnificent landmark (shown above). It’s reputed to be the largest
masonry structure constructed by the CCC. Many of the buildings in the park
were built of a local rock called Crab Orchard sandstone which residents around
Crossville have used to build their homes.
The Cumberland
Mountain State Park contains 1720 acres on a sandstone tableland of
the Cumberland Plateau. As we drove through the forest, we looked for deer,
rabbit, and fox that park officials touted as local wildlife in the area.This land south
of Crossville was first acquired in 1934 as a project of the Farm Security
Administration to create a recreation area for 250 families selected, under The
Homestead Act, to homestead in Cumberland County. They were to build a
self-sustaining community and colonize this sparsely populated section of
Tennessee. The town of Crossville was economically depressed for many years,
but a bustling economy and many cottage industries located within the city and
on its outskirts attest to the Homestead Act’s vision of future success for the
area.
The famous
Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville has gained popularity as “one of the
top ten theatres in rural areas of the U.S.”. Established in 1965, it serves
145,000 patrons annually, offering a venue of works based on Tennessee and southeastern
history and culture and featuring Appalachian themes. We bypassed a musical based on Ginger Rogers' career as a dancer to attend the movie, "Hope Springs," but picked up a schedule for upcoming productions at the Playhouse.
Inside the
Cumberland Mountain State Park, cabins and a large Mill House Lodge are
available for people seeking refuge in the outdoors, and reservations have to
be made early – some as long as two years in advance! For golfers, a Jack Nicklaus
18-hole course makes the best of hills and flowing streams, and the course has
a signature 7th hole that showcases layered flagstone native to the
area. Visitors who work up an appetite can sample the fare at the Cumberland Mountain State Park Restaurant, open six days a week, that features a special Rib Night and Catfish Day.
From the puff I’m
giving the area, you can surmise that we’re going back soon, particularly since
I discovered that Byrd Lake in the park is stocked with bass, catfish, crappie,
and rainbow trout. A long time has passed since I last cast a fly rod, and I’m
going to retrieve mine from Louisiana when I return to Cajun country.
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