Marine Corps Base Quantico -- “This is a quiet get-away for Marines,” said Chris Alford, chief of interpretation for Prince William Forest Park.
Located across the street from Quantico National Cemetery and easily accessible from Marine Corps Base Quantico, the 15,000 acre Prince William Forest Park has 37 miles of trails for running and biking, camping options for families and large groups, and is home to a plethora of plants and animal species.
But, in addition to being a natural oasis, it’s also a historical destination. The park preserves more than 150 historic structures, most of which were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a public works relief program for unemployed, unmarried men that was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and ran from 1933 to 1942.
“Right now, there is no other national park dedicated to the CCC,” Alford said. “Their footprint in the area is unmatched in government history.”
The history of the CCC at Prince William Forest Park, as well as the park’s Native American history and its use as a training area for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, is now showcased in a renovated Visitor Center, which officially reopened Mar. 19. The reopening coincides with the 80th anniversary of the park.
The renovation was a five-year project and was completed Mar. 4. Previously, it resembled many park Visitor Centers, with a touch table containing skulls and pelts and information about the plant and animal species to be found in the area.
“We were getting questions about the significance of this park,” Alford said. “People saw all the trails and the campsites and they never understood the meaning of how they got there. The goal of the new Visitor Center is to educate people about the diversity of the natural and historical aspects of the park.”
When it was created in 1937, the park was known as the Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstrational Area (RDA). Chopawamsic is an Algonquian word meaning “small divided river paths,” and Alford said the park is trying to add the word back to its official name as a nod to the Native Americans who lived there thousands of years ago.
The RDA was another of Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. It used labor from the CCC and the Works Progress Administration to develop 46 public parks across the country, mostly near urban areas, using state land or purchasing land from poor farmers.
The parks became sites of summer camps for underprivileged youth from the nearby cities.
“It was a way to get them into nature and get them healthy,” Alford explained. “It was the first environmental program.”
The CCC built five cabin campgrounds at Chopawamsic, four of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Through a combination of fresh air and regular doctor visits, the campers would return home after two weeks healthier and stronger.
“It became the model for all future RDA sites,” Alford said.
The camps operated until 1942, when the United States entered World War II. From then until the end of the war, the park was occupied by the OSS, the precursor to today’s Central Intelligence Agency.
“They housed two training areas here, Area A and Area C,” Alford said. “Area A was used for parachute operations and tactical-type training and Area C was used for radio and cryptography operations.”
After the OSS left the park, it was turned back to the federal government and was run similarly to the RDA. In 1948, it became known as Prince William Forest Park. The cabin campgrounds are still available to families and groups, and the RDA mission lives on through the NatureBridge organization, which partners with the park to connect local schoolchildren with nature.
The renovated Visitor Center also tells the story of the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine, the Prince William County Poorhouse — which existed on the site of the park from 1794 to 1927 — and the three small communities of Joplin, Hickory Ridge, and Batestown, which were absorbed through creation of the park.
“The people of Hickory Ridge didn’t really understand segregation,” Alford said. “Whites and African Americans lived there together. There you had integration as early as 1869.”
Alford said Quantico Marines are closely involved in the park. A group of Marines volunteer at the park every other week, picking up trash, splitting wood, moving picnic tables, and helping in any way that’s needed.
Active duty Marines and their families can get a free annual pass to visit Prince William Forest Park and any other National Park Service site.
— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com
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