Camp Rabideau

Take a step into the past at historic Camp Rabideau....

Camp Rabideau is located on a 112- acre tract purchased in 1934. The weathered green buildings, perhaps the best preserved of the CCC camps in the nation, are set about 100 feet apart, surrounded by tall trees forming a large glade in the center. Part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's mammoth New Deal, Camp Rabideau was one of the 2, 650 camps established across the country in 1935. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) gave more than a quarter of a million young men - many of them unemployed and just scraping by during the Great Depression - some skills, some money and some happy memories. Camps were run jointly by the U.S. Forest Service, which manage the camps today, and the U.S. Army, which commanded the camps.

Camp life...   A little city in itself, with 25 buildings, the camp even had a hospital, with a doctor or nurse in attendance. The hospital was also where a circuit-riding dentist would call regularly to fix teeth, using a foot-powered drill. About 200 enrollees at a time lived, worked and were educated in the camp. They served from six months to two years. Work projects at Camp Rabideau included building fire towers and the Blackduck ranger station, tree planting and searching for people who got lost during hunting and berry picking seasons. Enrollees also attended classes, such as English, typing and wildlife conservation. For fun, the boys learned how to box or headed to the canteen for a soft drink and a game of ping-pong. Camp Rabideau was a bustling place from 1935 until it closed in 1942. Most of the "tree army" veterans were by then off to a real war.

A few years after the young men left, the University of Illinois rented the camp for use by their engineering and forestry summer school students. Under the terms of the lease, the students added sewer and sanitation lines, installed a water pressure system, rewired the buildings, installed ceiling supports and replaced the wood stoves with oil. When their 27-year lease ended in 1973, the camp stayed empty and began to deteriorate, as almost all other CCC camps have - no great surprise, as they were always considered temporary.

The Camp today....   Since the buildings were designed to be only temporary, the 13 buildings that are still remaining at the Camp have no foundations. Over time, as a result of this, the buildings have shifted, causing structural damage, such as sloping floors and tilted roofs. Age has also taken a toll on the decks as well as the window and door frames.

Thankfully though, after years of deterioration, the camp is gradually shaking off its long sleep via an ambitious restoration project. Even some of the young men - now mostly in their 70's and 80's - have come back, taking part in annual summer reunions of their fellow tree-planters and construction workers.

Restoration Project... The forest service had restored 4 of the 13 remaining buildings when Rolf Anderson and the Preservation alliance of Minnesota entered the picture in 1991. Anderson, an architect and historical consultant for the Minnesota Historical Society, had done studies for the society on buildings, mainly in Minnesota state parks, created by the CCC. He had heard about Camp Rabideau and paid it a visit when he was in the area.

He was enchanted when he saw it: " I knew it was a significant and rare place. It's a remarkable survivor from the New Deal and it has national, not just local, significance. It is a picturesque setting and the visual image is something that most people haven't experienced. The CCC was one of the greatest conservation programs in the history of the United States. It left a lasting legacy that we still benefit from and this is a great opportunity to preserve the site." said Anderson. "The vast majority of these camps were either torn down or burnt to the ground. Those that had a pre-fab style were disassembled and removed from their sites after the depression. This camp is so rare, it speaks volumes about this country's history. It should be saved."

The camp was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The Forest Service, in partnership with the Preservation Alliance and with help from many sources including the city of Blackduck, Beltrami County which served as the project's fiscal agent, the former CCC members, numerous volunteers, including those associated with the Forest Service's Passport in Time program, and individual contributors, is now in the process of restoring the education building and stabilizing some of the others.

"This project has been a real success," Anderson said, smiling. "Preserving another building here is a major accomplishment that should be celebrated. It's tough to raise funds to do this kind of work. But the rewards for everyone are great when the work is finished. We can all learn from these buildings. They have a lot to teach."

Visitor's Information ...  The camp is located 6 miles south of Blackduck, Minnesota on County Road 39. An open-air picnic shelter is located at the camp. It was built by the CCC and moved from the Cut Foot Sioux area to the Camp in 1986. Benjamin and Carls Lakes are visible from the barracks. A one - mile trail runs through Camp Rabideau. Interpretive displays highlight the buildings and history of the area.