submerged ruins at lake oswego?

Pine Barron

New Member
May 25, 2010
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I've been on Lake Oswego many dozens of times but just recently noticed what I believe may be some sort of submerged ruins on the northern rim of the lake where Lake Oswego Rd. comes its closest to the lake. If you go to google maps, and zoom in to the area you'll see submerged linear features that measure about 100ft by 200ft with three two evenly spaced lines in the middle. I checked it out on historicaerials.com and it is visible on the 1951 aerials, but its pretty hard to see anything on the 1931 aerials. What is interesting though, is that the 1931 aerials show the land sticking much farther out into the lake, suggesting that a building certianly could have been there. Could this have been a part of the CCC camp? The 1951 pictures show the camp pretty well, which was located a bit to the east. I've also noticed some sort of ruins a little further east along the northern shore of the Oswego near where that canal? comes out at a little point. Any ideas? Old cranberry packing house that was blown out in a storm? CCC dining hall?
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
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You mean here?

Oswego.jpg


Guy
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
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Coastal NJ
From the info I found when researching my Uncles enrollment in the CCC, there used to be a bath house and a pavilion on the shore of the lake. The camp number is C-60 and had to be built after 1932, when the CCC came into being. The 1930 maps show no lake at that location at that time.
 

Pine Barron

New Member
May 25, 2010
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Yep thats the location! Sounds like a reasonable explanation. Perhaps next time I'm at the lake I'll try to find the spot and see if theres cement down there. You know, I didn't pan the map left earlier, but now I notice that the lake was not dammed in 1931. Nor were the cranberry bogs there. 46er, do you know what your uncle's CCC camp did in that area? There was a fair amount of timber planting, but I haven't seen any white pine or other species resembling a plantation in the area. I also thought it curious that they'd have 2 camps so close, as there was one not 10 miles away in Bass River.
 

Pine Barron

New Member
May 25, 2010
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Very interesting! I wonder if the Penn State Forest and Bass River State Forest camps were close, but far enough apart, for segregation reasons? When I was at Rutgers I worked for a bit in some of the old CCC camp buildings, which are now used by the university. Those were used for work on Chestnut blight, if I remember correctly. Found an old box in a 60s vintage trailer with a bunch of old medicine and soda bottles from the time, which I imagine could have been found in that area from the camp.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
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Coastal NJ
Here is a list of the CCC camps in NJ and the location they served. Click on 'index' for a key for the camp codes.

http://www.ccclegacy.org/camps_new_Jersey.htm#legend

If you had a relative in the CCC I have a link to the procedure you can use to get their CCC discharge papers. There is a fee of $10-60 depending on the size of the records. It's slow going, I am still trying to get info on the Utah camps my Uncle worked in.
 

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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There also was a building in 1951 at the end of the road between the CCC Camp and the lake. By 1956 it was gone. It is hard to tell if it was there in 1931.

1951a.jpg


Guy
 

Pine Barron

New Member
May 25, 2010
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The other thing that looked like a foundation was due west of that where the trail from the structure you've circled leads to. No building shows up there on the '51 map, but it could have been associated with the one you've just spotted.
 

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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That road west also had a couple of nice bridges that are no longer there. That building could be accessed from the road right by Oswego.

Guy
 
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