Susan Guynn
News-Post Staff
A
leafy mixed
hardwood canopy
shades the land
and all who
visit Catoctin
Mountain Park.
On a hot summer
day, the lure of
cooler
temperatures
brings visitors
from the
surrounding
towns and cities
for a respite
from the heat
and a quiet
place to relax.
But the Catoctin
Mountains
haven't always
been this
beautiful.
This year marks
the 70th
anniversary of
Catoctin
Mountain Park, a
national park
that began as
the Catoctin
Recreational
Demonstration
Area,
established in
1936. In 1954,
about half the
approximately
10,000 acres was
transferred to
the state and
became
Cunningham Falls
State Park. The
remaining
acreage stayed
with the
National Park
Service and was
renamed Catoctin
Mountain Park.
By the 1930s,
the mountain had
been ravaged by
logging,
charcoal making
for the iron
industry, bark
stripping for
tanning, clear
cutting for
farming and wood
cutting for
heat. Fire,
erosion and
over-farming had
robbed the soil
and the mountain
of its natural
beauty. It bore
little
resemblance to
the mountain
today.
The government
acquired the
mountain land,
along with
thousands of
other tired
plots of land
around the
country, to
demonstrate how
federal and
state agencies
could work
together to
restore tracts
of land to their
natural beauty.
"It was the
Great Depression
and one out of
every four
people was out
of work.
President
Roosevelt had to
come up with
something to
help," said
Sally Griffin,
supervisory park
ranger at
Catoctin
Mountain Park.
"A lot of the
land in this
area had been
used for the
agriculture
industry, and
other
industries, for
a long time. The
land was not as
productive."
One of
Roosevelt's
projects was to
take land no
longer
productive and
turn it into
something
productive
again, she said.
It was called
the Recreational
Demonstration
Area Program.
Catoctin was one
of 35 areas in
the program,
according to
"Maryland's
Catoctin
Mountain Parks"
by John Means.
One of the
program's goals
was to put men
to work
developing the
land into
recreation
areas.
"At the same
time he created
the Civilian
Conservation
Corps (CCC) and
the Works
Progress
Administration (WPA).
Both groups came
to Catoctin and
built it as a
park," said Ms.
Griffin. The WPA
workers arrived
first, using
skilled labor
from the area.
They built
cabins, a
contact station
and a blacksmith
shop. The CCC,
designed to
teach unskilled
workers a skill,
followed,
building roads
and log cabins,
and replanting
the forest
again.
The programs not
only helped the
land renew
itself but
"allowed the
people to be
renewed by
providing jobs
when the economy
was tough," said
Ms. Griffin.
The finished
park and its
cabin camps were
to provide
mountain or
outdoor
experiences for
city residents,
particularly
Baltimore and
Washington, D.C.
Four public
cabin camps were
planned for the
park. Three --
Misty Mount,
Camp Greentop
and Camp Hi-Catoctin
-- were
built;
construction
never began on
the fourth. One
of the camps,
Hi-Catoctin, was
to serve the
families of
federal
employees, but
became the
private retreat
for the
President of the
United States
and closed to
the public. Camp
Round Meadow was
built by and for
the WPA as a
base camp and
later used as a
group camp when
buildings were
added in the
'60s by Job
Corps. In the
'70s, the camp
became a
seasonal folk
culture center.
The first
structure built
in the park is
in Round Meadow;
it now serves as
the resource
management
building,
according to Ms.
Griffin.
The original
park contact
station, where a
park ranger
lived and guided
visitors during
the peak
visiting
seasons, was the
last building
constructed by
the WPA. Soon
after, World War
II called for
all able-bodied
men and the park
was closed to
the public. From
1942 to '47, the
park was used
for U.S.
military
operations
training, a
place of R&R for
British sailors
and training for
the Office of
Strategic
Services (OSS),
which preceded
the CIA. "It was
one of five
training areas
for the OSS,"
said Ms.
Griffin.
After the park
reopened to the
public, "it took
a long time for
locals to feel
they were
welcome again,"
said Park Ranger
Debra Mills, who
has served at
the park for 28
years. "It was
into the '60s
before locals
really started
coming back."
Today, people
visit the park
to hike,
photograph
nature, camp,
cross-country
ski in winter,
ride horses and
fish in Big
Hunting Creek,
one of the
region's most
well-known
fly-fishing
waters, and
"just to get
away," said Ms.
Mills.
The park's camps
are popular with
groups. Camp
Greentop has
hosted the
League for
People With
Disabilities
every summer
since it opened
in 1937.
Frederick County
Public Schools,
church groups,
Scouting
organizations
and
homeschoolers
are among the
groups that
utilize the
camps'
facilities.
There have even
been a few
family reunions
and weddings at
the camps.
The cabins at
Misty Mount and
Greentop are
listed on the
National
Register of
Historic Places
as historic
districts. Most
of the buildings
are constructed
of local stone
and logs cut
from the
chestnut trees
killed by the
blight that
wiped out the
nut-bearing tree
on the East
Coast.
The original
left wing of the
visitor center,
on Md. 77 and
Park Central
Road, was the
last project of
the WPA. It was
called the Blue
Blazes Contact
Station and
served as home
and office for
the park ranger.
The original
fireplace can
still be seen in
the center's
exhibit room.
"The WPA
headquarters
were in Round
Meadow," said
Ms. Griffin.
"Once the cabin
camps opened,
there was more
traffic by
here," said Ms.
Griffin. So a
contact station
for the public
was built in
closer proximity
to the road they
traveled. "It
was built right
before the park
closed (during
World War II),"
she said.
The
president,
projects and
perils
With the
presidential
retreat, Camp
David, located
within the
boundaries of
Catoctin
Mountain Park,
there have been
some changes in
park operations.
For one, there
are more
frequent
security
closures that
limit the
public's access
to certain areas
of the park.
"(Security is)
certainly a new
trend for us.
Whenever we have
the president
here we do have
expanded
security
closures," said
Mel Poole,
superintendent
of Catoctin
Mountain Park.
"For about the
first 40 days
after 9/11, we
had a total
lockdown.
Nothing was
going on here.
We worked with
the Secret
Service and Camp
David staff to
tighten the
closure so we
could get the
camps open and
operational for
the season.
"We don't really
lose too much,
in terms of
facilities, with
the closings.
The only thing
we really lose
is access areas
in the central
park on Park
Central Road.
Your route of
travel may
change," said
Mr. Poole.
He said there
are always
unauthorized
vehicles that
attempt to enter
the closed
areas, "and they
are dealt with
accordingly.
They enter
closed areas at
their own
peril," said Mr.
Poole. "We close
areas in this
park for lots of
different
reasons to keep
the public
safe."
"(Sept. 11,
2001) changed a
lot of things,"
said Ms.
Griffin. After
9/11, visitation
to the reopened
park was stable,
while parks
closer to the
Washington,
D.C., area saw
significant loss
of visitors. She
said more groups
are using the
park's
facilities than
are individuals.
Ms. Griffin
pointed out the
recent
installation of
new wayside
signs along the
Charcoal and
Blue Blazes
Whiskey trails,
and the
handicapped
accessible
Spicebush Trail.
A three-year
project, the
signs have more
info graphics.
Two issues that
are impacting
the park's
ecosystem are
invasive plants
and a
super-sized deer
herd. Both are
destructive to
the native
plants that grow
in the mixed
hardwood forest.
The deer browse
on saplings and
shrubs. Invasive
plants, such as
Japanese
stiltgrass,
crowd out and
shade native
plants. While
the green grass
looks lush
growing along
sunny roadsides
and covering the
forest floor,
it's rampant
growth has the
potential to
alter the
forest's plant
and wildlife
diversity.
"Everything is
linked to
something else,"
said Ms.
Griffin. "Our
goal is to keep
as many
different types
of native
species as we
can."
The park service
is about to
release its
white-tailed
deer management
report to the
public. There
will be public
hearings in
September and
October for
comments before
the final plan
is implemented.
"There were four
alternatives and
we picked one
based on the
economics of the
alternative and
what is
environmentally
best," said Mr.
Poole.
A "bumper crop"
of fawns born in
the park this
year will add to
the herd's
problems. "The
herd is not
healthy, it's
one of the
problems we
have," he said.
"From the road,
they appear
healthy but
their weights
are down and
they have high
levels of
abdominal
parasites. Looks
are deceiving."
Mr. Poole has
been the park's
superintendent
for about 10
years. In that
time, "some
things are
timeless and
some things seem
to change every
15 minutes," he
said.
"In some
respects, the
park is a lot
healthier from
an ecological
perspective,
aside from the
deer issue," he
said.
And there are
recent projects
"that will pay
big dividends
down the road."
A recently paved
parking area was
surfaced with a
pervious
material that
allows water to
permeate instead
of running off
into the stream.
The last of four
cell towers in
the park was
recently
installed, the
end of a
multi-year
project. "Now
you can make a
wireless phone
call from
anywhere in the
park -- if you
use Verizon,"
said Mr. Poole.
As the
"neighboring"
private lands
are bought and
sold, Mr. Poole
says development
could present
potential
problems for the
park. "If land
use stays the
same, it's not a
big issue, but
if it changes
we're concerned
about that." He
also sees the
recent
designation of
U.S. 15 as a
National Scenic
Byway as a boost
not only to park
tourism, but the
county, too.
A proposed name
change for the
park was shelved
a couple of
times when
Thurmont
officials
opposed renaming
the park to
Catoctin
Mountain
National
Recreation Area.
Catoctin is one
of 17 units in
the National
Park System that
does not have
the word
"national" in
its name.
According to the
bill, sponsored
by Sen. Paul
Sarbanes (D-Md.)
and passed by
the Senate, the
name would be
more appropriate
based on the
park's history
and use, and
would further
distinguish it
from the
neighboring
state park.
However, the
House failed to
pass it and, for
now, the name
remains the
same.
Have your own memories
of Moser Road or
other places in
the Thurmont Area?
If so, please send them to us so we can
included them in our archives.
E-mail us at:
history@mythurmont.net