There’s a story behind the bridge at Bennett Spring.
In the fall of 1933, the Great Depression was in full force. It was a particularly tough time for a group of men who’d once given everything to their country. The Civilian Conservation Corps began as a way to put people back to work, earning their pay by rebuilding parks and public land across the country.
Over two hundred men arrived at Bennett Spring in November 1933, all of them veterans of the First World War. Before the war, they had been teachers. Preachers. Farmers. Salesmen. The members of the CCCs 1772nd Company.
They didn’t come looking for a handout. They came for work.
They bunked in wooden barracks. They quarried stone from right up the road. They built scaffolding by hand, building a new bridge, piece by piece.
For four years, that’s what they did. They built cabins. Shelters. A dining lodge. A bridge that still carries traffic today.
Nobody handed them anything. They were given a chance to work, to build something. They turned that work into something that outlasted each of them.
In the Ozarks, this is what community looks like.
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Historic bridge photo (1) by Timothy Whitehawk in Friends of Bennett Springs State Park: CCC construction and crew photos (2, 3, 4) from the Bennett Spring State Park CCC exhibit, Missouri State Parks – original images courtesy of the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni, 1772nd Company, Brice, Missouri
This is the Ozarks
Every place carries a story. This is the Ozarks about the history, character, and landscape of the Missouri Ozarks, the towns, the roads, and the people that shaped who we are and why it still matters.
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