Recreational Demonstration Area

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The Recreational Demonstration Area program (also known as the Recreation Demonstration Area program) was a National Park Service program during the 1930s and early 1940s that built forty-six public parks in twenty-four states on 397,000 acres (1,606.6 km²), chiefly near urban areas in the United States.^[1] The NPS used labor from a variety of Great Depression federal relief programs, chiefly the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, to build Recreational Demonstration Areas. By the end of World War II, the Recreational Demonstration Areas had all either become National Park Service units or been given to their states for use as state parks.

The goals of the Recreation Demonstration Area program were typically threefold: 1) to develop land as a park; 2) to provide employment; and 3) to create new parks near urban areas. For the first goal, in some cases the land developed was purchased from sub-optimal farmers, providing some of the poorest farmers with relief. In other cases, state lands (in state forests or parks) were developed. In the second case, the CCC and WPA laborers received payment, and in the CCC, room and board. Finally, the residents of nearby urban areas benefited from new nearby recreation areas.

[edit] List

The following is a list of the forty six former Recreational Demonstration Areas.^[1]

Recreational Demonstration Area Name	U.S. State	Now	Current Name(s)	Remarks
Acadia Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	Maine	Federal	Acadia National Park
Alexander H. Stephens Recreational Demonstration Area^[3]	Georgia	State	A.H. Stephens State Historic Park
Badlands Recreational Demonstration Area^[4]	North Dakota	Federal	Badlands National Park
Beach Pond Recreational Demonstration Area
Bear Brook Recreational Demonstration Area
Blue Knob Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Blue Knob State Park
Blue Ridge Recreational Demonstration Area	North Carolina, Virginia	Federal	Blue Ridge Parkway
Bull Run Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[6]	Virginia	Federal	Manassas National Battlefield Park
Camden Hills Recreational Demonstration Area
Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[7]	Maryland	Federal	Catoctin Mountain Park, Camp David	near Baltimore and Washington D.C., part became a retreat for the U.S. President
Cheraw Recreational Demonstration Area
Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[8]	Virginia	Federal	Prince William Forest Park	In the greater Washington D.C. area
Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[9]	North Carolina	State	William B. Umstead State Park
Cuirre River Recreational Demonstration Area
Custer Recreational Demonstration Area
Falls Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Fall Creek Falls State Park
French Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]^[5]	Pennsylvania	Both	Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, French Creek State Park
Hard Labor Creek Recreational Demonstration Area
Hickory Run Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Hickory Run State Park
Kings Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area	South Carolina	Federal	Kings Mountain National Military Park
Lake Guernsey Recreational Demonstration Area
Lake Murray Recreational Demonstration Area"^[11]	Oklahoma	State	Lake Murray State Park
Lake of the Ozarks Recreational Demonstration Area".^[12]	Missouri	State	Lake of the Ozarks State Park
Laurel Hill Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Laurel Hill State Park
Mendocino Woodland Recreational Demonstration Area^[13]	California	State	Mendocino Woodlands State Park
Montgomery Bell Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Montgomery Bell State Park
Montserrat Recreational Demonstration Area^[14]	Missouri	State	Knob Noster State Park
Oak Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area
Otter Creek Recreational Demonstration Area
Pere Marquette Recreational Demonstration Area
Pine Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area^[15]	Georgia	State	Franklin Roosevelt State Park (western half)	Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the park often during its construction (his Little White House at Warm Springs is in the eastern half of the modern park)
Raccoon Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Raccoon Creek State Park
Shelby Forest Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park
Shenandoah Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	Virginia	Federal	Shenandoah National Park
Silver Creek Recreational Demonstration Area
St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area^[16]	Minnesota	State	St. Croix State Park
Swift Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[17]	Virginia	State	Pocahontas State Park
Roosevelt Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]	North Dakota	Federal	Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit
Roosevelt Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]	North Dakota	Federal	Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit
Versailles Recreational Demonstration Area
Waterloo Recreational Demonstration Area
Waysides, South Carolina Recreational Demonstration Area
Waysides, Virginia Recreational Demonstration Area
White Sands Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	New Mexico	Federal	White Sands National Monument
Winamac Recreational Demonstration Area^[18]	Indiana	State	Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area	Formerly known as Tippecanoe River State Park
Yankee Springs Recreational Demonstration Area

[edit] History

There are five former Recreational Demonstration Areas in Pennsylvania, which became part of one unit of the National Park Service, and five state parks in 1945 and 1946. There are five former Recreational Demonstration Areas in Virginia, four of which are now part of the National Park Service. Two Recreational Demonstration Areas were built in Missouri and are now state parks. There are three former Recreational Demonstration Areas in Tennessee, all are now state parks.