Deception Pass State Park began to take shape after the federal government transferred 1,700 acres on Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island to the State of Washington in 1925. For decades the land had been a military reservation for coastal defense, but little development occurred, and before the bridge was built the park's two main areas were separated by the treacherous waters of Deception Pass. Locals informally used places such as Cranberry Lake and Rosario Beach, though there were few facilities, trails, or roads. The Great Depression brought the turning point, as the Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work building trails, roads, picnic shelters, restrooms, and other structures that still remain in the park. During the same period, after Whidbey Island residents had lobbied for decades and after two vetoes, construction of a bridge to Fidalgo Island began in August 1934. Built by the Wallace Bridge and Structural Company at a cost of $420,000, with much of the labor done by local unemployed farmers and with Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees assisting on the approach routes by blasting rock with dynamite, the two-span Deception Pass Bridge was completed on July 25th and dedicated on July 31st, 1935, finally linking the two islands and both sides of the park. Construction was delayed one day when the final steel section would not fit in the summer heat, but at 4 a.m., after the steel had cooled, the last piece was lowered into place.