The Black CCC camp at Penn State Forest

Arriving by rail, working in the Pines

On July 6, 1933, the first Civilian Conservation Corps enlistees bound for Penn State Forest arrived at the Tuckerton station, according to a New Jersey State Park Service history of the forest. The federal program hired unemployed young men for conservation work during the Depression. Most of a worker’s monthly pay was sent home to his family. The state history says this camp enrolled African American men only, reflecting the racial segregation imposed on the CCC at the time. The official account gives the opening arrival but does not name individual workers or supply a full roster.

The work remained on the ground

Forest roads were one result of the CCC’s labor. Describing a large Army maneuver in 1941, the state history notes that trucks stirred red dust from the gravel roads the men had built. Those roads served forest management and later visitors, even as the people who made them receded from the landscape’s familiar stories. The state park visitor guide says visitors can walk through the remains of one of New Jersey’s few African American CCC camps.

Finding the history on a visit

The official Penn State Forest map labels the former camp northeast of Lake Oswego and marks public parking, picnic facilities and a boat launch by the lake. The park guide lists the gate as open from sunrise to sunset and says there are miles of roads to walk but no marked hiking trails. Use the state map as an orientation guide, stay on established roads, and leave any foundations or objects in place. The map label identifies a former camp area; it does not pinpoint each structure or promise a marked route through the remains.

The park currently posts a closure at the Lake Oswego dam portage. That restriction matters to paddlers and is distinct from the lakeside parking and walking access described by the park. Check the current park advisory before setting out.