{"nrhp_refnum":"87000104","name":"French Creek State Park: Organized Group Camp 4 District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"7 mi. NE of Morgantown on PA 345","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.199567909500075,"lon":-75.79505398088486,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Conservation","Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp buildings in French Creek State Park, near Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The district is the former CCC Camp SP-17, which was converted into Organized Group Camp No. 4 around 1938.","why_significant":"The district is regarded as exceptionally significant for its association with the Emergency Conservation Work program of the Civilian Conservation Corps, a major New Deal relief effort. Its sixteen buildings and one structure also exemplify a standardized military architectural system developed by the United States Army for CCC camps in the 1930s, and the nomination ties the district to recreation and conservation history.","narrative":"Located near the park entrance of French Creek State Park, on a small hill surrounded by woods, this district is a group of former Civilian Conservation Corps camp buildings used since the 1930s. Camp SP-17 was one of two CCC camps operating in the French Creek area, active from 1935 to 1942, and was part of the state park's development as a Recreation Demonstration Area. The district contains a mess hall, barracks, an infirmary, a bathhouse, latrines, storage and carpentry buildings, and a large stone incinerator. The buildings use prefabricated panels designed by the United States Army in 1934 that could be erected quickly by unskilled labor. Their listing reflects the Emergency Conservation Work program, which employed thousands of jobless young men during the Depression, and the military design of the buildings. Most original siding has been replaced with clapboards, while the district retains a significant degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1935-1942","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Standardized military design","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and integrity as good; the camp is presently used as Organized Group Camp No. 4 and most buildings have replaced tar paper and batten siding with clapboards.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.354681-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/87000104.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000104/067234a220-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000104/067234a220-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_Creek_CCC.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_Creek_CCC.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992414","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q98895418"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/french-creek-state-park-organized-group-camp-4-district-87000104/"}