Camp Mercer: HQ for the 5th Forestry Subdivision – Main Gate

The signature earthen sign and gate greeted all who arrived at Camp Mercer. 

1939 enrollees standing at attention in the camp quad. Army discipline and leadership were central to the prodigious success and longevity of the CCC.

Project superintendent Bill Summers (second from left) and Camp Mercer technical personnel led enrollees and delivered results throughout the state forest. 

This July 25, 1934 article celebrated “rookies” great work in building a sign capturing Camp Mercer’s identity.

The new enrollees took advantage of a real chance to create something when they made the name of Camp Merer in stones against a sloping clay mound. Beautifully done, this marker indicates that this is Camp Mercer, 660th Co., S-79, CCC. (Mercer Monitor, v.1 n.6, July 25, 1934)

Camp Mercer was a state forestry camp operated by the U.S. Army, with projects led by Wisconsin Conservation Commission forest rangers. 

This c1937 USDA aerial image showed Camp Mercer’s main gate at the top left. Bottom center structures were built in 1935 to house district administration. 

This Camp Mercer poster proudly declared the designation as a Wisconsin state forest camp.