unknown structure at a 1930's ranger station

[pmer]

Does anyone know what this might be? There is a sign next to it that suggests that it's a oven but not sure. It is about four feet square on the bottom and has those metal shelves that are staggered.

Its located at the grounds of a log cabin style ranger station made by the CCC in the mid 1930's

[country gent]

Possibly a smoke house for preserving meats. In those days beef was made into jerky and some cuts dried to perseve. Alot of pork was smoked and salted to perserve it. WIld game and fish were done the same. It could have been an oven as alot were outside to keep heat out of the house buildings in hot weather or on a pourch. Im betting it was a smoker though.

[SP5315]

I think the sign is right. Old oven.

[pmer]

I have the smart phone so it is hard typing but the sign was purposely not clear like they weren't sure either. It does have a six by twelve opening on the bottom for air and ash removal. I wonder if it would have cracked from heat if it was used as a oven?

[runfiverun]

them boy's had to eat.
I bet a whole bunch of bread was made in a CCC camp.
that thing probably never cooled down enough for a temperature swing to affect the mortar.

[Boolit_Head]

Back home when I was a kid there was a old park that had some fire pits with built in grills across them. They were roughly shaped like that but the grills were different. Sadly I drove past there today and most all of it was gone.

[MaryB]

I agree with RFR, that looks a whole lot like the oven that used to be at a former state park near me that was built by the WPA. The different levels were different temps for slow cooking, baking etc. Oven has been destroyed by flooding since I was a kid but I remember the look!

[Hogtamer]

If fires had been built in there over the years the sides would be sooty. And no cooking grates/racks on the top? I'm thinking just the opposite, sort of a cool storage unit to keep semiperishable foodstuffs safe from big scavengers. Would require a roof over it and a sturdy top though.

[pmer]

This one is at Marcell, Minnesota. The ranger station is now a log cabin that can be rented and it is on Lake Rainier. There are a few buildings here besides the cabin. There are two garages, oil house and a combo wood/ice house.

We've been catching pan fish and having a good time. In fact there are huntable state lands here too.

[Blackwater]

As to the wide iron slats, back then, they used whatever they could get to construct things like this. My best guess is a stove/oven also, but it's just a guess. And some back then were pretty astute in building things to serve multiple purposes, so .... ya' never really know if you can't really talk to the builders of things like this. Sure is neat to wonder and try to figure it out though!

[jonp]

Put some evergreen branchs over the top and you have a smoker. Let a fire burn to coals, put pans on top of the wide slats and cover, you have a stove

[jaysouth]

My father joined the CCC in 1935. A hundred recruits were put on trucks and taken to a spot in the woods. They pitched 10 man tents, a cook tent and a supply tent. It took them a couple of months with hand tools to build barracks, mess hall and admin building. He described a oven being built outside the mess hall to reduce fire hazard to uncured lumber structures.

After they got the camp built, they started up a mountain, building an access road with hand tools and one pair of mules. When they got to the top of the mountain, they built a state park with cabins, a headquarters, a well and septic systems with the same basic pioneer tools and basic carpenter's tools. Time elapsed was 18 months.

The 'boys' in his camp were 16-18 years old and made $20 per month, $15 of which was sent home to their parents. When my father got drafted into the army in 1942, he thought the army was a vacation compared to the CCC.

[Lloyd Smale]

can you imagine how hot the kitchens would get in a camp trying to feed a 100 men? Id bet outside ovens were very common. Especially in the southern states.