WPA 1940

Around Christmastime, a group of friends gets together and rents the old Boy Scout cabin for a potluck meal and a white elephant trade.

This old cabin was built for the Boy Scouts of America to be used as a meeting hall. It's very rustic, being built out of logs, with the roof supported by trusses made of hand-peeled poles lovingly pegged together.

The focus of this photo is the stone fireplace, which according to the plaque directly above the opening was built by the WPA in 1940. WPA was the Works Progress Administration, a big job-creation agency and part of Franklin Roosevelt's 'New Deal' started in the 1930s.

When I took this picture, I had built up the fire to a roar that had some hope of heating the drafty structure by the time the partiers started arriving. In truth, the fire was so hot that I had to back away to cool off for a bit before attempting any adjustment with the poker before my jeans would start smoking. We used a fair amount of wood heating the space for the forty-odd friends for the evening, but a good time was had by all.

Volunteers are in the process of giving the building some much-needed gentle care and repairs to give it a new lease on its valuable role still as a scout meeting hall and an out-of-the-way spot for good friends and family to meet.