By 1933, the Great Depression had demoralized the nation, with millions of young men unemployed and families starving. On March 9, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps to conserve natural resources and salvage the nation’s young men, mobilizing them into what became known as the “army with shovels” and “Roosevelt’s boys.” The first of 1,643 CCC camps established across the country stood here at Camp Roosevelt, the pioneer camp, where the first contingent slogged through the mud into the George Washington National Forest on April 17, 1933, cleared the ground, set up tents, and gave birth to the slogan “We can take it!” Camp Roosevelt’s CCC workers built and maintained the road through Fort Valley and Crisman Hollow Road, constructed the Elizabeth Furnace, New Market Gap, and Little Fort Recreation Areas, built Powell’s Fort Organization Camp, joined citizens of Woodstock in the cooperative venture that created Woodstock Tower, planted trees, and fought forest fires. In 1966, this recreation area was dedicated to the “boys of Roosevelt,” whose work helped shape the land conservation ethic held dear today.