Celebrating the Civilian Conservation Corps’ impact on infrastructure and architecture - fireplaces

90th anniversary of Virginia State Parks

Fireplaces

CCC workers built several camp stoves and picnic fireplaces for visitors to utilize while staying at the parks. In many of our historic parks, you can still find these structures! These picnic fireplaces were designed to be placed in a way as to be obscured from view and blend in with the surrounding environment of the parks.

Fairy Stone State Park is unique in that many of these fireplaces are still extant and built uniquely from other parks. Many of the picnic fireplaces are built out of single large soapstone or in two pieces, which is abnormal in CCC picnic fireplace construction from the period.

Click the image to enlarge.

A blueprint of a stove or fireplace at Douthat State Park

A blueprint of a fireplace at Westmoreland State Park

A campstove at Westmoreland State Park

An outdoor fireplace at Bear Creek Lake State Park

A soapstone picnic fireplace at Fairy Stone State Park

Campstove at Douthat State Park

These landmarks aren’t just historic; they’re living pieces of our shared outdoor heritage, still supporting, inspiring and welcoming visitors nearly a century after they were built.

Next time you visit a Virginia State Park, take a moment to look a little closer. You might be standing beside a piece of history. If you come across these little noticed parts of our parks, best practice would be to leave the stones as they are to preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

We invite you to rediscover the legacy that makes our parks not only breathtaking, but truly one of a kind.