Civilian Conservation Corps plans and drawings

Just take me to the images | Coming April 15, 2010!

About this Project

Congress created the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933 at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt as an emergency program devoted to the care of natural resources. The program provided jobs and income to young men and served as an instrument for preserving natural resources and developing state park lands.

Thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, the Texas State Library and Archives has digitized a collection of 3900 large-format drawings documenting park development and construction activities by the CCC that took place in Texas from 1933-1958. The majority of plans and drawings were prepared by National Park Service staff, with later materials prepared by the staff of the Texas State Parks Board. Many of the drawings are extremely fragile. Most are pencil drawings on tracing vellum; other plans are done in black ink on linen, with some diazo copies and blueprints also present.

Images Exhibited at Flickr Commons

The Texas State Library and Archives is proud to be partnering with the innovative project known as The Commons on Flickr, which enables libraries, museums, and archives to mount photographs, maps, and images such as the CCC plans and drawings on the Flickr website and participate in Flickr's large community of researchers and image enthusiasts.

Take me to the images

The Library and Archives will exhibit a selection from each park at The Commons. A searchable finding aid will soon be available on this website. In the meanwhile, for more information about the CCC drawings and what is available, contact us.

No Known Copyright Restrictions

The Civilian Conservation Corps drawings posted on the Commons are the results of the work of the architects, engineers and draftsmen employed by the Corps, a federally funded New Deal program. There are no known copyright restrictions associated with these drawings.

We encourage the use of these images for personal, study and educational purposes. Please credit “Courtesy of Texas State Library and Archives Commission.”

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission cannot be responsible for any use of these images, or any liability resulting from their use. The Library and Archives is interested in learning about any possible copyright restrictions and will gladly remove any image that is in violation.

Related Web Exhibits

To learn more about early Texas state parks visit:

To Love the Beautiful: The Story of Texas State Parks

The Look of Nature: Designing Texas State Parks During the Great Depression

A New Deal for Texas Parks (activities for teachers and students)