Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area - Cabin Camp 1, Unit Lodge A, Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, Prince William County, Virginia

Significance: Unit Lodge A (Building A12) served as the communal building for approximately 26 campers housed in the A Unit cabins. Each cabin unit had a lodge to encourage smaller group activities within the larger camp. During the 1930s the unit approach was a shift in summer camp administration away from large scale, structured activities for the campers. Unit Lodge A was built by the National Park Service with Civilian Conservation Corps labor as part of the development of Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA) in 1935-38. The RDA program was a New Deal initiative which repurposed underutilized agricultural land near urban centers into outdoor recreational areas. The five cabin camps at Chopawamsic were intended to serve social service groups in Washington, DC that offered group camping experiences to underprivileged children. Camp 1 was used as Camp Lichtman for many years, hosting groups of African-American boys from the Twelfth Street YMCA in Washington, DC. By the 1960s, Camp 1 was used as co-ed and integrated Camp Goodwill by Family and Child Services of Washington, DC.
Like the other historic Camp 1 buildings, Unit Lodge A features rustic log and heavy timber construction representative of the National Park Service/Civilian Conservation Corps aesthetic of the 1930s. Characteristic features include waney-edge siding that retains the irregular profile of the log and is applied in vertical and horizontal sections. Each of the four Camp 1 units had a similar, but not identical unit lodge.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1819
Survey number: HABS VA-1494-J
Building/structure dates: 1936 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 89000456