Bear Creek Lake State Park
Also known as: VDHR No. 024-0034
.jpg){kind=link}
Why it's listed
Bear Creek Lake State Park occupies nearly 329 acres of upland forest in Cumberland County, Virginia, inside the 16,000-acre Cumberland State Forest. Its focus is a manmade lake with a beach, picnic areas, campgrounds, cabins, trails and a meeting facility. The park began in the Great Depression as one of four recreational development areas created by the Virginia Division of Forestry, with labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration. Although it did not follow the strict design standards used in the National Park Service-designed state parks, it shows their influence in its long entry drive, central water feature and structures built of natural materials. Contributing resources include log picnic shelters, stone fireplace grills, well houses, a slate culvert, a drain tower, the road and trail system, and the 1938 dam and rubble-stone spillway. Later buildings, including the cabins and lodge built in 2007, are counted as noncontributing.
Significance in brief: The park is one of four Virginia recreational development areas built under New Deal programs, including the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration. Its lake, dam, spillway, picnic shelters and circulation system show the influence of National Park Service design and planning, though it was not held to the same strict design standards as the NPS-designed state parks. It is nominated as part of a multiple property listing on Virginia state parks built by New Deal programs.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 12000904, listed October 31, 2012. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 22 Bear Creek Lake Rd., Cumberland |
|---|---|
| County | Cumberland County |
| Listed | October 31, 2012 |
| Reference number | 12000904 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Virginia Division of Forestry with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) |
| Architectural style | Other/Rustic; Other/Post-Modern |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation, Landscape Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Park remains in use for outdoor recreation, with camping, cabins, picnic shelters, trails and a meeting facility. Many later buildings from about 1975 to 2007 are noncontributing. |
| Acreage | 329 |
| Coordinates | 37.53020, -78.27224 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 12000904.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4876399
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.