Timeline 1930-1944

• 1930's
  • 

    CCC at work in Bandelier National Monument

    NPS becomes involved with areas intended primarily for public recreation. Begun as unemployment relief projects, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Natchez Trace Parkway are designed for scenic recreational motoring.
• 1933
  • The Historic American Building Survey (HABS) is authorized by President F. D. Roosevelt.
  • The Civil Works Administration archeology program begins.
  • The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is created to help conserve, rehabilitate, and construct projects in both national and state parks. CCC personnel start projects to protect, improve, and maintain parks. They also act as guides to the visiting public at national parks.
  • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) archeology projects begin.
  • Executive Orders Nos. 6166 and 6628 charge the DOI and NPS with administration of national parks, monuments, historic and archeological sites, and historic and archeological structures that were previously maintained by the Department of Agriculture and the War Department. As a result, the National Park System expands into most states of the U.S.
  • 

    Work crew from Company 1538 at Camp Wyoming in West Virginia

    Copyright 1998, Parks & History Association

    NPS investigations and restorations at Morristown National Historical Park in New Jersey and Yorktown (now a part of Colonial National Historical Park), Virginia, begin.
• 1934
  • The reconstructed Capitol and Palace are opened to the public at Colonial Williamsburg.
  • The U.S. National Archives is created.
  • The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is formed to promote better relations among all archeologists, professional and amateur, and to combat "the commercialization of archaeological objects."
• 1935
  • Congress passes the Emergency Appropriations Relief Act that gives President F. D. Roosevelt authority to establish the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
  • The Historic Sites Act is enacted. Asserts federal government concerns and responsibility for recognizing and providing technical assistance to nationally significant historic sites, buildings, objects, and antiquities, no matter where they are located in the U.S.
• 1936
  • In an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation, the NPS assumes responsibility for recreational development and activities at the Hoover Dam Reservoir. This is the first reservoir area in the park system, later called Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1947.
• 1937
  • Cape Hatteras National Seashore is authorized as the first of several seashore and lakeshore areas.
• 1939
  • 

    Classification and numbering of specimens at Ocmulgee, GA

    The National Research Council creates a committee to find ways to improve the archeological work of federal agencies.
• 1940
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is created.
• 1941
  • America's entry into World War II causes a drastic reduction in NPS activity. Newton B. Drury, NPS Director, defends the parks against pressures for consumptive uses of park resources in the name of national defense.

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