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The Recreational Demonstration Area program (also known as the Recreation Demonstration Area program) was a National Park Service program during the 1930s and early 1940s that built forty-six public parks in twenty-four states on 397,000 acres (1,606.6 km²), chiefly near urban areas in the United States.^[1] The NPS used labor from a variety of Great Depression federal relief programs, chiefly the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, to build recreational demonstration areas. By the end of World War II, the recreational demonstration areas had all either become National Park Service units or been given to their states for use as state parks.

The goals of the Recreation Demonstration Area program were typically threefold: 1) to develop land as a park; 2) to provide employment; and 3) to create new parks near urban areas. For the first goal, in some cases the land developed was purchased from sub-optimal farmers, providing some of the poorest farmers with relief. In other cases, state lands (in state forests or parks) were developed. In the second case, the CCC and WPA laborers received payment, and in the CCC, room and board. Finally, the residents of nearby urban areas benefited from new nearby recreation areas.

List

The following is a list of the forty six former recreational demonstration areas.^[1]

Name	State	Now	Current Name(s)	Remarks
Acadia Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	Maine	Federal	Acadia National Park
Alexander H. Stephens Recreational Demonstration Area^[3]	Georgia	State	A.H. Stephens State Historic Park	State park extension
Badlands Recreational Demonstration Area^[4]	South Dakota	Federal	Badlands National Park
Beach Pond Recreational Demonstration Area	Rhode Island	State	Beach Pond State Park
Bear Brook Recreational Demonstration Area	New Hampshire	State	Bear Brook State Park
Blue Knob Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Blue Knob State Park
Blue Ridge Recreational Demonstration Area	North Carolina, Virginia	Federal	Blue Ridge Parkway
Bull Run Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[6]	Virginia	Federal	Manassas National Battlefield Park
Camden Hills Recreational Demonstration Area	Maine	State	Camden Hills State Park
Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[7]	Maryland	Both	Cunningham Falls State Park, Catoctin Mountain Park, Camp David	near Baltimore and Washington D.C., part became a retreat for the U.S. President
Cheraw Recreational Demonstration Area	South Carolina	State	Cheraw State Park
Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[8]	Virginia	Federal	Prince William Forest Park	In the greater Washington D.C. area. Four camps are separately listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Goodwill Historic District, Chopawamsic RDA Camp 1 Mawavi Historic District, Chopawamsic RDA Camp 2 Orenda/SP-26 Historic District, Chopawamsic RDA Camp 3 Pleasant Historic District, Chopawamsic RDA Camp 4
Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[9]	North Carolina	State	William B. Umstead State Park
Cuivre River Recreational Demonstration Area	Missouri	State	Cuivre River State Park
Custer Recreational Demonstration Area	South Dakota	State	Custer State Park	State park extension
Falls Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Fall Creek Falls State Park	State park extension
French Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]^[5]	Pennsylvania	Both	Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, French Creek State Park
Hard Labor Creek Recreational Demonstration Area	Georgia	State	Hard Labor Creek State Park
Hickory Run Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Hickory Run State Park
Kings Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area	South Carolina	Both	Kings Mountain National Military Park, Kings Mountain State Park
Lake Guernsey Recreational Demonstration Area	Wyoming	State	Guernsey State Park	State park extension
Lake Murray Recreational Demonstration Area"^[11]	Oklahoma	State	Lake Murray State Park
Lake of the Ozarks Recreational Demonstration Area".^[12]	Missouri	State	Lake of the Ozarks State Park
Laurel Hill Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Laurel Hill State Park
Mendocino Woodland Recreational Demonstration Area^[13]	California	State	Mendocino Woodlands State Park	National Historic Landmark
Montgomery Bell Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Montgomery Bell State Park
Montserrat Recreational Demonstration Area^[14]	Missouri	State	Knob Noster State Park
Oak Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area	Alabama	State	Oak Mountain State Park
Otter Creek Recreational Demonstration Area	Kentucky	Local	Otter Creek Park
Pere Marquette Recreational Demonstration Area	Illinois	State	Pere Marquette State Park
Pine Mountain Recreational Demonstration Area^[15]	Georgia	State	Franklin Roosevelt State Park (western half)	Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the park often during its construction (his Little White House at Warm Springs is in the eastern half of the modern park). State park extension
Raccoon Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[5]	Pennsylvania	State	Raccoon Creek State Park
Shelby Forest Recreational Demonstration Area^[10]	Tennessee	State	Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park
Shenandoah Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	Virginia	Federal	Shenandoah National Park
Silver Creek Recreational Demonstration Area	Oregon	State	Silver Falls State Park
St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area^[16]	Minnesota	State	St. Croix State Park	Now a National Historic Landmark
Swift Creek Recreational Demonstration Area^[17]	Virginia	State	Pocahontas State Park
Roosevelt Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]	North Dakota	Federal	Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Versailles Recreational Demonstration Area	Indiana	State	Versailles State Park
Waterloo Recreational Demonstration Area	Michigan	State	Waterloo State Recreation Area
Waysides, South Carolina Recreational Demonstration Area	South Carolina
Waysides, Virginia Recreational Demonstration Area	Virginia
White Sands Recreational Demonstration Area^[1]^[2]	New Mexico	Federal	White Sands National Park
Winamac Recreational Demonstration Area^[18]	Indiana	State	Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area, Tippecanoe River State Park
Yankee Springs Recreational Demonstration Area	Michigan	State	Yankee Springs Recreation Area

History

There are five former recreational demonstration areas in Pennsylvania, which became part of one unit of the National Park Service, and five state parks in 1945 and 1946. There are five former recreational demonstration areas in Virginia, four of which are now part of the National Park Service. Two recreational demonstration areas were built in Missouri and are now state parks. There are three former recreational demonstration areas in Tennessee, all are now state parks.