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Lift* at the camps wasn t all grueling work. Most of the eorpsmen were glad for the chance and eager to work. There was time for recreation. The wooden dam sought by the visitors to the old Beech springs site was part of a swimming pool used by the men there. There were the weekend trips, by the truckload, to Stanley and Lurav in search of entertainment a little livelier than that offered in downtown Sperryville. Until a severe storm tore it down, the huge beech tree near the road bore hundreds and hundreds of initials carved by the men who passed through the camp. In fact, there is a story that when the highway department widened the road they spared the tree, curving around it to preserve a monument both natural (the beech of Beech Spring) and historical.
The conservation camps were the most popular of the New Deal programs in Rappahannock. People were working for what they got. True, the county struggled to provide its share of the funds, but most people could see the economic benefits that would come with the Park and the Skyline Drive.
There were some who complained bitterly about the “meke work” programs. Newspapers in Virginia accused the Corpsmen of shoveling loads of gravel to one side of the road in the morning and back to the other side after lunch. A thorough investigation of Virginia's programs found the predominantly rural camps to be amazingly efficient, well-run and free of bribery and graft. Of course, there were stories and
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