The lodge at Lake Mattamuskeet is actually the converted pump house. The pump house was originally built in 1912 with a pumping capacity of 13,465 gallons per second! The idea was to pump out the lake to obtain the fertile soil underneath for agriculture. Since the lake is an average of 3-5 feet below sea level, it served as a drainage area for the surrounding area, collecting nutrients from the surrounding area for many years. At 155,000 acres, draining the lake was no small task. To feed the pump house, 130 miles of canals were built around the lake to carry the water to the pump house and out into the Pamlico Sound. The lake was originally drained five times (1916, 1920 and 1926) with the longest period lasting for five years. Each time the lake was drained, Mother Nature would prevail and refill the lake. North Carolina Farms Company eventually went bankrupt and the Lake Mattamuskeet Project came in to the hands of the federal government. Franklin Roosevelt declared the area to be reclaimed for a National Wildlife Preserve. Today, 100's of thousands of birds make Lake Mattamuskeet their winter home.

The CCC camps were in Hyde County for nine years and the enrollees completed numerous projects in developing Mattamuskeet and Swan Quarter Migratory Waterfowl Refuges. The project that stands as a memorial to the hard work of the CCC boys in Hyde County is Mattamuskeet Lodge, which they created by renovating the old pumping plant that had belonged to the 550-575 landowners of the Mattamuskeet Drainage District.