The Great Depression’s hidden legacy sits atop Alabama’s highest peak

The CCC’s Integrated Crews Build Alabama’s First State Park

Cheaha Mountain became Alabama’s first state park thanks to an unlikely team.

From 1933 to 1942, three Civilian Conservation Corps companies – white youth, Black youth, and WWI vets – worked side by side during the Depression.

Poor Alabama boys sent most of their $30 monthly pay home while they hand-dug a six-acre lake and carved towers from rock harder than steel.

After opening in 1939, the mountain found new fame in 1955 when WCIQ began broadcasting from its peak, making Alabama the first state with an educational TV network.

The historic structures these men built still stand at Cheaha State Park today.

Alabama Grabbed a Mountain During the Great Depression

Alabama bought the land for Cheaha State Park in 1933 with help from the National Park Service.

They made this purchase during the worst days of the Great Depression when families across America struggled to put food on the table.

They picked Cheaha Mountain because it stands 2,407 feet tall, making it Alabama’s highest point. The mountain sits in Talladega National Forest, and this purchase kicked off Alabama’s modern state park system.

Three Different Work Crews Tackled the Mountain Job

CCC workers came to Cheaha in three groups between 1933 and 1942. Company 468, made up of white young men, worked from June 1933 to October 1937.

Company 465, an all-Black youth group, joined from November 1934 to October 1935. Company 2420 brought white World War I veterans who worked from June 1939 until early 1942.

Each group lived in camps near the worksite, with veterans handling more skilled jobs.

Poor Boys Sent Most Pay Back Home

CCC workers earned $30 monthly at Cheaha. Program rules forced them to send $25 back to their struggling families, leaving just $5 for themselves.

Many young men showed up skinny but gained up to 40 pounds during their time thanks to three full meals daily.

For most workers, the CCC job meant the difference between hunger and stability during America’s worst money crisis.

The camps also taught reading and writing to those who needed it.

Workers Dug an Entire Lake by Hand

CCC crews created the six-acre Cheaha Lake using only shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows. This huge job took several years, with workers moving tons of dirt without bulldozers or modern tools.

By 1937, they finished the lake at the foot of the mountain. The lake quickly became the park’s main draw.

Using the same hand methods, they built a 250,000-gallon water tank in 1934 that fed the park’s water system through gravity alone.

Rock Harder Than Steel Built Every Structure

CCC workers cut Cheaha quartzite straight from the mountain for all building projects. This unusual stone proved harder than both granite and steel, making buildings that would last for generations.

Workers learned stone skills on the job, with experts teaching young men how to cut and lay the tough stone. Every cabin and building used this local rock, giving the park its rustic look that still stands today.

Black CCC Company Built the Iconic Tower

Company 465, the African American CCC unit, built the park’s most famous landmark – Bunker Tower.

Workers finished the tower on April 4, 1936, naming it after Thomas Bunker, Alabama’s first State Park Director. The tower stands about 50 feet tall with thick walls measuring two feet across.

First used as a fire lookout, the tower marks Alabama’s highest point and gives visitors views across four states on clear days.

Stone Cabins Rose From Mountain Rock

All three CCC groups built eleven stone cabins throughout the park between 1935 and 1936. Workers built caretaker homes and strong bridges over Hillabee and Dry Creeks.

The crews also built two large picnic shelters, a stone bathhouse at the lake, and miles of hiking trails through the mountains.

The companies even cut new roads linking the remote mountain park to nearby towns like Munford and Talladega.

The Park Welcomed Its First Visitors in 1939

Cheaha State Park opened to the public on June 7, 1939, after years of CCC work.

A big party marked the day, with state officials praising the mountain’s new look. Bald Rock Lodge, with its restaurant and hotel, finished last as the largest building in the park.

The opening made Cheaha Alabama’s first state park, a title it still holds today as the state’s oldest running public park.

Visitors paid just pennies to enter on opening day.

A Radio Man Turned Governor Saw TV’s Potential

Governor Gordon Persons created the Alabama Educational Television Commission in 1953, using his background in radio.

Before politics, Persons owned several radio stations and understood how media could reach folks in remote areas.

The governor believed TV could bring learning to Alabamians with limited access to schools, especially in mountain and rural areas.

His team spent two years planning before launching the first educational station in the state.

A TV Tower Rose Where CCC Workers Once Labored

WCIQ began broadcasting from the top of Cheaha Mountain on January 7, 1955, becoming the ninth non-commercial television station in America.

Engineers picked the mountain because its height provided maximum broadcast range across northeast Alabama.

The station originally used the call letters WEDM (Educational Munford) before switching to WTIQ and finally settling on WCIQ.

The transmitter tower stood where CCC workers had labored two decades earlier, creating a new chapter in the mountain’s history.

Alabama Beat Every State to Educational TV

Birmingham’s WBIQ joined the network in April 1955, creating the first statewide educational television system in America.

Alabama surprised everyone by beating wealthier, more populated states to create the first educational TV network in the country.

The Cheaha and Birmingham stations formed the backbone of a system eventually copied by 25 other states.

The original WCIQ tower collapsed during a severe ice storm in January 1982, but crews quickly rebuilt it to keep the historic station on air.

Today, Alabama Public Television reaches every corner of the state.

Visiting Cheaha State Park, Alabama

Cheaha State Park at 19644 Highway 281 in Delta shows how the Civilian Conservation Corps built Alabama’s first state park during the Great Depression.

Your $5 admission (cheaper for kids, seniors, and military) gets you into both the mountaintop and Lake Recreation Area. Check out the CCC Museum on weekends or email the park historian for other times.

Grab a self-guided tour brochure at the Mountain Store, and you can rent the historic 12-bedroom Bald Rock Lodge for groups.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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