Company 210 & Company 1202
Camp Merkel, SP-9 & CP-1 Pound Ridge Reservation, Katonah & Cross River, NY
Camp Merkel, also refered to as Co. # 210, Camp # SP 9, operated from 1933-1940. In 1938 it was closed down for six months, we're not sure why. When it reopened much of it had to be rebuilt. The records then refer to it as New York CP-1, Cross River, though sometimes the old postal address of Katonah remains. The company # then became 1202.
Most of my information about the camp comes from records that were retrieved from the archives in Philadelphia by a former curator of the Trailside Museum in the Reservation. We have located two former members of this camp: Gordon Toth, who wrote many articles but who, unfortunately for us, has died. His son, however, is coming up from Texas over Christmas and we are going to take him on a tour of the old camp. We have a group called Trail Tramps that is delving into Reservation history, and the CCC camp has been a major focus; we are trying to identify the foundations. We found another CCCer, Stanley Emmert, '35-'36, who toured the ruins with us last week. He distinctly remembers a *circular* latrine. The ruins (according to a 1938 blueprint) are rectangular. We may have the ruins of two rather different camps, as a result of that closedown in '38. Our goal for 1999 is to find that circular latrine!!!!!!
But that's just the fun stuff. The real motivation is gratitude for what our CCCers left for us: well built roads and trails, lovely pine groves, and astonishing stonework in shelters, bridges, the museum, the former concession, latrines, retaining walls. (I also have taken photos of all of these) It is so superior to anything built there before or since (and it's nice to have other structures for comparison!) that it almost takes one's breath away. It's for this reason that we would like to locate former enrollees, have a reunion if possible, and express our gratitude.
I would like to form an alumni group for CCC enrollees at Pound Ridge Reservation, SP 9, Camp Merkel, Katonah, NY. Can you tell me how to get a list of (living) members? Some of us are very much in awe of the legacy that they have left for us in the Reservation.
----- annesid@bestweb.net
LINKS
Ruins of HQ Today, Camp Merkel, Photograph
BACK TO JAMES F. JUSTIN CCC MUSEUM, UNIT ROSTER AND HISTORY COLLECTION