In April of 1934, Perry citizens were struggling valiantly to survive the Great Depression. Farm prices, the lifeblood of this community, were perilously low. Clouds of red dust billowing on prairie winds compounded the misery. In the midst of all that came the jubilant announcement on April 27 that Perry had been selected as the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, one of the innovative depression-fighting measures created by the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The news was greeted with glee by Perry Mayor Ted Newton and other civic leaders. It was an economic shot in the arm. Today, our community is the proud owner of CCC Park, built with the labor of young American men who came here from many parts of the country to preserve their dignity and well-being. On May 1, 1934, some 200 khaki-clad young men arrived here to set up a quasi-military base at the camp site. Tents were set up for temporary living quarters a few yards south of the present park caretaker's home. The tents were eventually replaced by wooden, barracks-like buildings, including a mess hall, only a short distance east of the dusty, unimproved road, which became state highway 86 several years later. Work on the Perry park was expected to require six months to complete, but the job was still going on more than a year later.
Although the young men who built Perry's CCC Park were moved to Ponca City in June 1935, improvements continued to be made through the years by regular city employees. The beach area and bathhouse were closed after a youngster drowned when no lifeguard was present, but the summer supervised play program used the lake for swimming lessons. By the summer of 1938, interest was spreading to rebuild the beach and offer it for public swimming again.
The park was officially named "Perry Lake Park" by action of the city council not long after the initial construction was completed. That name never really caught on. In popular usage, most people continued to call it the “CCC Park,” and in 1989 the council made that the official name.
CCC Park now has no swimming facilities. The beach was closed about the time the municipal pool was built in Lions West Park, but you can still find remnants of the old bathhouse foundation where a fishing dock now stands. The lake is a popular fishing spot. Family gatherings are held in the park frequently. Camp Tan Da Ko, originally built for the use of Camp Fire and Bluebird organizations, was added in the 1950s. The park has a quiet beauty and a charm all its own.
