Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center 3.93

Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center, also known as Surrender Grounds Forest and Holiday Lake 4-H Camp, is located within the confines of Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest near Appomattox, Appomattox County, Virginia.HistoryThe 4-H camp was originally built by Works Progress Administration workers (in association with the Resettlement Administration) in 1937. The WPA workers housed at the camp built the nearby Holliday Lake State Park, and also worked on a New Deal reforestation demonstration project begun in 1935 to reclaim depleted farmland in the surrounding area. At the completion of the federal project, the WPA camp was turned over to the state of Virginia over a number of years for use as a state forest and park.4-H campThe WPA camp was not in use by 1941, it was owned by the Federal government but operated by the Virginia State Conservation Commission. The local Lions Club asked the State Conservation Commission to make improvements to the roads and buildings and complete Rural Electrification Administration hookups in the area. The 4-H Club took over the camp in 1941 and has used and expanded the facility up to the present. The 4-H Club currently leases the camp from the State Department of Forestry.The historic portion of the camp includes 23 contributing buildings, 2 contributing sites, and 1 contributing structure. They include a dining center, 15 cabins and associated cabin site, a girl's bunk house and boy's bunk house, and a covered open-air amphitheater. Much of the historic area of the camp is contained within two natural ridges surrounding a man-made terraced field.