Flashback to The CCC Dam
April, 2016. Reprinted by permission of the author and photographer, Murphy Musick and the Patagonia Regional Times.
A collection of photo essays are now on display at The Patagonia Museum, representing some of the most noteworthy Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work projects that I have found in the Patagonia area.
I have lived at the mouth of the CCC Canyon since 1977. A few years ago I was told that FEMA considers my residence to be in a flood zone, requiring the purchase of flood insurance. In the course of my efforts to establish that the map was in error because the dam protected me from flooding, I gained a greater awareness and interest in this very well engineered and solid earthen dam. I began reading historical articles and walking all over the dam with a new appreciation for its construction.
Built in 1940, CCC Dam is 26 feet tall and spans 210 feet across the CCC Canyon. The base of the dam is 110 feet wide. A 12” pipe extends under the dam that acts as a control valve to slowly allow the water to drain in a controlled fashion to prevent flooding. The spillway is about six feet below the top of the dam and continues on a grade to the end where it discharges into another canyon to the west.
On the east end, a gabion that abuts the west end of the dam.
There are nine earthen dam and rubble structures in the first half mile of School Canyon, each with large, deep detention ponds from which the earth was excavated to build the structure. The dam pictured in this article is the one closest to Patagonia near the mouth of School Canyon. It is by far the strongest and largest of them all.
Gabion overflow anchored by 16 railroad rails and heavy wire.
I have begun locating and photographing as many of the CCC work projects as I can find, with the hope of interesting someone in writing a study and report on the history of its construction.
CCC Dam can be reached by taking Third Avenue up the hill as it turns into Blabon Way. Mapes Way is on the right hand side and is a dedicated town road that crosses the top of CCC Dam. Park and walk to dam. Be careful not to block private entrance at Mapes Way.
