Farragut State Park
Farragut State Park | |
Idaho State Park | |
Lake Pend Oreille from Farragut State Park
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Named for: David Farragut | |
Country | United States |
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State | Idaho |
County | Kootenai |
Location | Bayview |
- elevation | 2,054 ft (626 m) |
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Area | 4,000 acres (1,619 ha) |
Founded | 1964, 60 years ago |
Management | Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation |
IUCN category | V - Protected Landscape/Seascape |
Farragut State Park is a state park of Idaho, USA, on the southern tip of the Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d'Alene Mountains in Kootenai County.
The 4,000-acre (16 km2) park is located Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). east of Athol in the Idaho Panhandle. It is about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Coeur d'Alene.
Activities include camping, picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, cycling, fishing, boating, swimming, water sports, orienteering, disc golf, flying model aircraft, archery and horse-back riding.
The park also features the Museum at the Brig, located in the confinement facility for the Farragut Naval Training Station. The museum's displays include boot camp, naval and war memorabilia, as well as historic prison cells.[1][2]
History
The site formerly held the Farragut Naval Training Station, a major training base of the U.S. Navy during World War II.[3] The base was named after David Farragut, the first admiral in the U.S. Navy and the leading naval officer during the Civil War.
Knowing that President Roosevelt was seeking a location for a secure inland naval training center, Eleanor Roosevelt allegedly noticed the lake on a flight to Seattle. Ground was broken in March 1942, and by September the base had a population of 55,000, making it the largest city in Idaho. Liberty trains to Spokane ran three times daily. At the time Farragut was the second-largest naval training center in the world.
Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945 and the facility was decommissioned in June 1946. It was also used as a prisoner of war camp; nearly 900 Germans worked as gardeners and maintenance men.
In 1942, Lt. Commander Henry T. McMaster, supervisor of support services at the station, contracted photographer Ross Hall to produce group and portrait photos of all recruits and companies. Operator of a studio in nearby Sandpoint, Idaho, Hall employed up to 15 workers in creating a photographic archive of more than 300,000 images.
After its use and closure as the Farragut Naval Training Station, the site housed Farragut College and Technical Institute from 1946-49. It did not re-open in late 1949, because of financial difficulties.
Park site
The park adjoins the deep-water on Lake Pend Oreille, where the Navy maintains a submarine research center at Bayview, the Acoustic Research Detachment.
In 1950, 3,854 acres (1,560 ha) were transferred to the state of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and became Farragut Wildlife Management Area, but 2,566 acres (1,038 ha) were transferred back to the federal government in 1964. This land was then deeded back to the state of Idaho and the Department of Parks and Recreation, becoming Farragut State Park.[4]
Scouting history
Farragut State Park is significant in the history of Scouting in Idaho. The park hosted the National Girl Scout Senior Roundup in 1965,[5] the World Scout Jamboree in 1967,[6][7] the National Scout Jamboree in 1969 and 1973, and the 2002 Star Northwest of the Boy Scouts of America. The world event in 1967 was the only time the event has been held in the United States.[8]
While traveling to the moon aboard Apollo 11 in July 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong extended a greeting to the scouts attending the national jamboree in Idaho. Armstrong was an Eagle Scout from Ohio. Frank Borman, astronaut and commander of Apollo 8, addressed the scouts, as did Lady Baden-Powell, the widow of scouting's founder.[9] At the Jamboree in 1973, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Chief of Naval Operations, and Gene Cernan, astronaut and commander of Apollo 17, addressed the scouts.[10]
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- "Idaho for the Curious", by Cort Conley, ©1982, ISBN 0-9603566-3-0, p. 288-292
External links
- Geobox usage tracking for protected area type
- State parks of Idaho
- Protected areas of Kootenai County, Idaho
- Protected areas established in 1964
- Buildings and structures in Kootenai County, Idaho
- Museums in Kootenai County, Idaho
- Military and war museums in Idaho
- Boy Scouts of America
- Disc golf courses
- Girl Scouts of the USA
- Prison museums in Idaho