Elmore State Park
National Register of Historic Places Nomination
Statement of Significance    

The Elmore State Park in Elmore, Vermont, is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under the Civilian Conservation Corps Resources in Vermont MPDF because it clearly meets criteria A and C. Elmore State Park is a property of local and state significance as it is associated with the Civilian Conservation Corps' (CCC) contribution to the history of Vermont and the nation and it embodies the distinctive characteristics of architecture, landscape architecture, and recreation areas created by the CCC. While the area has been traversed perhaps since prehistoric times, the park's period of significance dates from the time the CCC began work at the park in 1934. The CCC was created during a national depression to undertake public works projects in the 1930s throughout the United States. The CCC's work at Elmore is thereby significant under the category of social history. The CCC's work was completed in 1936 and the State of Vermont took over the park. The State of Vermont built a fire tower on the summit of Elmore Mountain shortly after it acquired the park in an attempt to protect the park and its neighboring lands. The Vermont State Parks system has maintain the property since 1936. While there has been new construction at the park, the work of the CCC is a lasting impression on the landscape. The new construction has increased access to the park and created several structures sympathetic to the architecture of the CCC. The Vermont State Parks system has, in this manner, respected and upheld the goals of the CCC to increase access to recreational opportunities within the natural landscape. The park's integrity is intact and not threatened. The nomination of the park to the National Register is part of the Vermont State Park's attempt to document and maintain its historic resources.

The history of Elmore State Park really begins in the region's prehistory. The Green Mountains, which include the Worchester Mountain range, are the oldest mountains in New England. Originally formed over five hundred million years ago by lifting and shifting in the earth's crust, these mountains have been weathered down by ice, erosion, and time. It is more than likely that after the recession of the sheets of ice from the ice age after 7,000 BC, members of the Western Abenaki Archaic people traversed the area of the park. While there is currently no proof of a specific place of habitation of the Western Abenaki people in this area, it is possible that the resources existing on the land were extracted seasonally through hunting and harvesting activities. The Vermont State Historic Preservation Office has records indicating that prehistoric Native American artifacts have been uncovered at the southern end of Elmore Lake. Further archaeological investigations along Elmore Lake would be likely to yield information on prehistoric use of the land. The land continued to be utilized seasonally by Native Americans in this manner until the seventeenth century when Anglo-Saxon settlers immigrated to the land that shortly thereafter became the State of Vermont.

Martin and Jesse Elmore, sons of the American Revolutionary War Colonel Samuel Elmore, first settled the Town of Elmore in 1790. It is believed that the Elmore brothers came from Ticonderoga Fort in New York State with James and Seth Olmstead and Aaron Keeler. Saw milling was the first major enterprise undertaken by settlers in the area. Elmore Lake was known as Meade' Pond and mountain tributaries were harnessed for their water power. The Town of Elmore remained a small mountain town into the twentieth century. Today, due mostly to its location within the Worchester Mountains, it is still a small and isolated town.

The Civilian Conservation Corps' history began with the stock market crash of 1929. This historic event sent the United States economy into a sustained recession that would come to be known as the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was instrumental in the creation of legislation, referred to as the New Deal, in the early 1930s that sought to address the suffering wrought on so many Americans. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a job corps created by the New Deal through the Department of Labor and the U.S. Army in 1933. The CCC was funded by federal government grants to states for the purpose of hiring young men to do public works projects, at the same time giving these young men employment and job skills while stimulating civic pride. In Vermont, the Civilian Conservation Corps' created recreational areas in the rural areas of Vermont and significantly assisted the early beginnings of the Vermont State Parks system.

The original property owners of the land that would become Elmore State Park include the McKee, Stafford, and Barrette families of Elmore, Vermont. These families most likely used the land for agricultural or forestry activities. The major scope of the CCC's work dealt with transforming the natural landscape into a recreational area. Previous to the United States government's purchase of the land in 1934, the only building that existed on the land was an old hotel on the eastern slope of Elmore Mountain. The CCC began to carve a route of access into the park along the lake.

The bath house currently sits prominently along this route. Lodges and facilities for the members of the corps were also constructed within the park at the base of the eastern slope of the mountain. Shortly after the State of Vermont acquired the land from the federal government in 1938, these twenty or so structures were either removed or later destroyed by neglect.

At Elmore State Park, the Civilian Conservation Corps' work is still prevalent. The landscape of the park was transformed by the CCC from agricultural production and forestry activities to a seasonal recreation area. The landscaping and construction needed to facilitate this change in use were significant and remain visible still today. The primary access to the beach is still the road constructed by the CCC. The beach itself was most likely worked on by CCC members. Sand was probably imported to the shore line and large rocks were removed to other areas within the park. The bath house constructed by the CCC sits prominently along the access road and is the main structure at Elmore State Park.

The bath house is significant in its own right under criteria C as an example of the rustic architecture constructed by the CCC. The split log siding, massive chimney, and dark brown stain are typical of other CCC structures throughout Vermont and the nation. Though there might have been an architect within the CCC that produced the plans of this building, the name of the individual has been lost. Architects and designers of the CCC often worked in teams and were not individually recognized for their work. The designers of the building were most likely aware of other CCC projects at the time and shared information regarding engineering and materials. This sharing of information is evident in the close resemblance of Vermont's Sandbar State Park bath house to the bath house at Elmore. It is possible that the same team of designers worked on both bath houses. The dissemination of information regarding different CCC projects was possible even in the remote areas occupied by the CCC due to federal government supervision.

The State of Vermont has increased accessibility to the park and it opportunities for recreation by constructing new structures and buildings that are sympathetic to the construction and landscaping of the CCC. The first structure erected by the State of Vermont was the 1939 fire tower at the summit of Elmore Mountain. The tower, US #140, VT #03, was constructed after a 1938 hurricane caused extensive damage to forests throughout New England and increased the risk of forest fires. A cabin, which is no longer standing, was completed in 1940 to provide a manned lookout at the summit. No traces remain of the cabin. The fire tower remains mostly unchanged since its construction in 1939. All fire viewing equipment was removed from the viewing platform of the tower when the fire tower was taken out of service in the 1970s. The fire tower embodies a unique architecture that was tailored to its function and possesses a high level of integrity. It should therefore be eligible under criteria C under the category of architecture.

Since the CCC era, many other structures have been constructed within the park. In 1936, the federal government sold the property to the State of Vermont. Since that time, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has maintained the property as a state park and expanded its accessibility to the public. Lean-to shelters, picnic shelters, fireplaces, a firewood shed, several fireplaces, two cottages, and a garage have been added to the park's inventory. Most of the area up-slope from the beach, to the north of the original CCC work, has been landscaped to provide a second point of access. A road and gate now mark the new and primary access point, which is directly adjacent to the campground area and rangers' quarters. Trees and other plantings have been added to this area, as well as day-use barbecue sites. Remarkably, the bath house, the beach, and its access road have remained much the way the CCC left them.

Though the park has continued to evolve, it was the work of the CCC that began the park and transformed the rugged natural landscape into an automobile accessible recreational area. This is perhaps the most significant change to the landscape that the park area has ever undergone. Elmore State Park represents the contribution of the Civilian Conservation Corps to the history of the Vermont State Parks system as well as the contribution by the CCC to national public works improvement. The bath house is an evident reminder of the CCC's distinctive architectural designs and construction. While the park's structural inventory has been expanded since the time of the CCC, it is the beach and the bath house that are still the identity of Elmore State Park. For these reasons, Elmore State Park is a historically significant area that is therefore eligible for the National Register.