History
The Singletary Lake area was settled by colonists under the leadership of Richard Singletary who received a grant for land in Bladen County from the government of the Province of North Carolina in 1729. The early settlers quickly cleared the land for farming, ships masts, other wood products and naval stores. Singletary Lake, a Carolina Bay was not drained for farming as many of the bays in the surrounding area.
The government of the state of North Carolina began to take an interest in Singletary Lake and other Carolina Bays in the 19th century. The North Carolina General Assembly blocked all further private claims on lakes. Soon after, the state assembly pass legislation that granted ownership of all lakes greater than 500 acres (2.02 km²) in Cumberland, Columbus and Bladen Counties to the state. The formation of Jones Lake, Lake Waccamaw and Singletary Lake state parks can be traced back to this piece of legislation.
The growth of the cotton, turpentine and lumber industries in the area of Singletary Lake State Park eventually was greater than what the soil could support. The fertility of the farmland was depleted and most of the standing timber had been clear cut from Bladen County. The land could no longer support the demands of the people living on the land. Farmers were no longer able to produce sustainable crops and many were forced to leave their farms.
The National Park Service began purchasing the land surrounding Singletary Lake in 1936 for a recreational demonstration project. Out of work young men were employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was established by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 during the Great Depression many of the facilities of Singletary Lake State Park. The land was managed by the Resettlement Administration until 1939. From 1936 until 1939, youths working for the CCC built the Singletary Recreation Center. They constructed an office, maintenance buildings and recreation facilities on the shore of Singletary Lake. The CCC also built a ten cabin camp with a dining hall, workshop and rec hall.
Singletary Lake State Park was established in 1939 when management of the park was transferred from the federal government to the state government. The cabins built by the CCC became Camp Ipecac which is still in use by large groups like the Boy Scouts of America and 4-H. The park became state property in 1954.
Singletary Lake State Park has provided more than recreation to the citizens of North Carolina. It was used by the American Red Cross during the 1945 floods of the Cape Fear River as a refugee center. Soldiers training for World War II at nearby Camp Davis used Singletary Lake State Park for special anti-craft training.
Read more about this topic: Singletary Lake State Park
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