The Abingdon Plantation Historic Site is the birthplace of Nellie Custis (1779-1852), granddaughter of Martha Washington and step-granddaughter of George Washington. Following the death of her father (John Parke Custis) in 1781, Nelly and her brother, George Washington Parke Custis,… read more
The monument itself dates from 1893 but the original marble bust was replaced in 1934 by a bronze one sculpted by Evaline Sellors as a PWAP project. The curbing (reflecting pool) around the Al Hayne Monument is a CWA project:… read more
Multiple New Deal agencies were involved with improving the grounds at the Alamo. A timeline mural board on the west side of the Alamo Museum indicates that “depression-era public works projects” built the walls that now encompass the grounds of… read more
The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862, and is known as the bloodiest day of the Civil War. General George B. McClellan and his Union forces faced off against General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) co0nstructed a stately stone observation tower in Newburyport, Mass. WPA Bulletin: In the center of Atkinson Park, Newburyport, WPA workmen have constructed a fifty-foot, field-stone, observation tower. Surrounding grounds have been landscaped with grass, trees and… read more
“The Civilian Conservation Corps and local experienced men, under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service, constructed the Bly Ranger Station compound between 1936 and 1942. The compound, made up of both administrative and residential buildings, continues to service and… read more
During the last decade of the 1800s, John Grignola carved this granite statue of a Civil War Union soldier for Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After years of neglect, WPA workers located the statue in the Bronx River, refurbished it, and… read more
“This bronze sculpture depicts William Earl Dodge (1805–1883), one of the founders of Phelps, Dodge, a leading mining company. Dodge helped organize the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States and served as the president of the National… read more
The NYC Parks Department website explains that: “Architect Charles A. Platt (1861–1933) designed this elegant black granite ornamental fountain to commemorate social worker and reformer Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843–1905). Shaw, who is said to be the first woman to be… read more
The Campbell County War Memorial was built by the National Youth Administration in 1938. The monument is shaped as a stone obelisk set on a base of stone infilled with earth. It is flanked by two World War I period cannons…. read more
The NYC Parks Department website explains: “This impressive monument to soldier, statesman and journalist Carl Schurz is the result of a collaboration between the distinguished sculptor Karl Bitter (1867–1915) and renowned architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). Built in 1913, the monument… read more
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge, Arizona, preserves an ancient Sonoran Desert people’s farming community and “Great House.” One of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America, the purpose of the Casa Grande remains a mystery. Between… read more
“A former CCC camp is located at the base of Hart Mountain. From this camp, Company 3442 carried out various projects, including fence construction and the installation of telephone lines. The remaining building was the camp infirmary. The CCC campsite… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the 107th Infantry Memorial at 5th Ave. and 67th St. in Central Park during the mid-1930s.
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) work relief division efforts included the reconstruction of an 1893 monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing, at the site where he landed in 1493. The PRRA made improvements to what is now… read more
“The primary attraction in the park continues to be Polk’s giant chain, which is estimated to have been over a mile long before flooding and erosion destroyed part of it. With an anchor weighing between four and six tons and… read more
“One of several small monuments in the vicinity of what is known as the “Battle Pass” in Prospect Park, the Dongan Oak Monument commemorates events which took place in this area during the Battle of Long Island on August 27,… read more
Also known as the Hurricane Monument, this limestone monument marks the mass grave of the over 300 people killed in one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the Florida Keys in 1936. “Standing just east of U.S. 1 at mile… read more
In 1933 a Category 5 hurricane known as the 1933 Cuba destroyed a large part of Brownsville, Texas, and caused massive damages to Fort Brown, U.S. Army fort. During the New Deal, Fort Brown received funding and labor to make… read more
The Civilian Conservation (CCC) helped the National Park Service reconstruct Fort Churchill in the 1930s. Fort Churchill was an 1860s army post built along the Overland Emigrant Trail, which was abandoned in 1869 when its usefulness had passed. Afterward, it… read more
This large, lush Brooklyn park dates back 150 years. NYC Parks explains that “Another series of renovations made in the 1930s further enhanced the classical design of the park. Parks architect Gilmore D. Clarke regraded the grounds, added new trees… read more
The WPA restored this fort at some point prior to 1938. From Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State: “[T]he Works Progress Administration has restored the old fort, graded the land, and converted it into a park.” The site… read more
“Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site includes a visitor’s center with exhibits, videos, a bookstore, and self-guided tours of the fort grounds and outlying sites. The tour marks the archaeological remains of the fort’s buildings. A cabin built by the… read more
WPA crews rebuilt historic Fort Recovery between 1935 and 1939. The fort was originally built in 1794 on the site where Army General Arthur St. Clair was roundly defeated by the armies of a confederation of Miami and Shawnee Native… read more
From a HABS Survey Report describing CCC work on the Fort: “Ca. 1936, CCC enrollees reconstructed a portion of the Civil War-era fort-part of Washington’s defensive ring-using ‘concrete logs and timbers to simulate original log construction.’ This reconstruction included part… read more
Fort Washington was built to defend the river access to Washington D.C. in the early 19th century. In the 1930s, both the WPA and the CCC made general improvements to the Fort and surrounding park. The WPA made “general improvements… read more
“This monumental bronze portrait bust, dedicated in 1893, depicts Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824–1886), and was created by American sculptor James Wilson Alexander MacDonald (1824–1908).” (www.nycgovparks.org) In the 1930s, the bust was restored with federal funding under Karl… read more
“The Geronimo Surrender Monument commemorates the final surrender of the famous Chiricahua Apache Chief Geronimo and the last of his band to General Nelson A. Miles on September 4, 1886. That surrender marked the end of more than 20 years… read more
According to Jim Campi, director of policy and communications at the Civil War Trust, “During the Depression, the Gettysburg Battlefield benefitted from a New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program. The park hosted two CCC camps—one in the Pitzer Woods… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Giuseppe Verdi Monument during the mid-1930s.
This Texas state park was established to preserve a Spanish mission and commemorate historic events in Texas history. A marker at the site explains the CCC’s involvement in the park’s development: “Mississippi native and Goliad County Judge James Arthur White… read more
The commission created by the Texas legislature in 1935 to oversee Texas’ Centennial joined with the public works administration to build a memorial to Texas revolution events in Gonzales. The memorial includes a museum, amphitheater, and reflecting pool designed by… read more
A Department of Parks press release from March 17, 1935 describes the extensive improvements made to Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza with New Deal support: “The Grand Army Plaza, constituting the main entrance to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, is to be completely… read more
“This majestic, gilded-bronze equestrian group statue depicts one of the United States’ best-known generals, William Tecumseh Sherman (1820 – 1891). Dedicated in 1903, it was master sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s (1848 – 1907) last major work, and serves as the centerpiece… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Pomona statue (also known as the “Lady of the Plaza”) in Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, during the mid-1930s. The statue tops the Pulitzer Fountain in the plaza’s southern half.
This dramatic arch in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza was created by architect John Hemingway Duncan in 1889-1892. The statuary on the arch was added over the next several years, by several different artists including William Rudolf O’Donovan (men), Thomas Eakins… read more
“This large bronze equestrian statue by William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930) depicts Civil War General and 18th United States President Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885). Though Grant’s reputation was tarnished after serving as President amidst one of the most corrupt administrations in… read more
Rockefeller Memorial, in Newfound Gap, honors a $5 million gift from the Rockefeller Foundation to complete land acquisitions for the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), as were the roads, trails,… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Halyburton Memorial in Sandy Hook NJ. Located in the Gateway National Park.
In 1940, the WPA rehabilitated the “hourglass” intersection formed by Broadway, 6th Ave., 35th St. and 32nd St, the north end of which is known as Herald Square and the south end as Greeley Square. The project centered around the… read more