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  • Black Brook and Whippany River Work - Whippany NJ
    “WHIPPANY – The Veterans CCC Camp activities are now centered in Whippany at Hait’s bridge on Route 10. The men are busily engaged in dredging the junction and courses of the Black Brook and Whippany River, cleaning out the silt, logs and stumps and other rubbish that has been washed down the course for the past centuries. The stream beds have never been cleaned out before as far as is known. The men have been working at this for the past several months, partly for the elimination of mosquito breeding places and partly for sanitary reasons. The water had become...
  • Black Fork Creek Walls - Tyler TX
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook mosquito control work in Tyler, Texas. Work included lining a creek bed with rubble masonry walls, and paved cement pan to keep down mosquitoes.
  • Blue Hills Reservation - Milton MA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted extensive development work at Massachusetts's Blue Hills Reservation. Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission annual reports detail the work of the CCC over time. 1933 report: "In the latter part of June a Civilian Conservation Camp was established by the National Park Service for Emergency Conservation Work for State Parks in the Blue Hills Reservation near Randolph Avenue. The camp was in charge of U. S. Army Officers. The enlisted men in the camp varied from 212 to 145. The work of the men in the reservation has been handled by a...
  • Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge - Smyrna DE
    "In 1937, 12,000 acres (49 km²), mostly tidal salt marsh stretching eight miles (13 km) along Delaware Bay, were purchased to establish the Bombay Hook Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. The land was purchased with duck stamp funds. On April 1, 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) based at Leipsic, Delaware started work on the refuge. They cleared wooded swamps and built a dike to create Raymond and Shearness Pools and a causeway to separate Shearness and Finis Pools, creating three freshwater impoundments; they planted over fifty thousand trees; and they built a headquarters building, a boathouse and marine railway, an observation tower, and houses...
  • Breakheart Reservation - Saugus MA
    The Civilian Coservation Corps (C.C.C.) was active at the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus, Mass. 1934 Metropolitan District Commission annual report: "Under Chapter 338, Acts of 1934, the Commission were authorized to purchase about 650 acres of land in Saugus and Wakefield, adjacent to the Lynn Fells Parkway, near the junction of the Newburyport Turnpike. This area, which has been named Breakheart Reservation, will be developed into one of the most attractive recreation parks in the Metropolitan District. Application has been made for establishing a Civilian Conservation Camp by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior." 1936 report: "About 3,000 man hours...
  • Bryce Canyon National Park Improvements - Bryce Canyon UT
    Bryce Canyon was originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and became a national park through an act of Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres in south-central Utah. The New Deal greatly improved Bryce Canyon National Park.  Along with the National Park Service, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided special funds, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked continuously in the park, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was also active. The National Park Service recognizes the CCC's contribution on its website for Bryce Canyon NP, but not that of the PWA or WPA:  “During the 1930s...
  • CCC Camp Britton - Windsor CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Company #1193, Camp Britton, was based at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Windsor, Connecticut. It operated from Sept. 12, 1935 to May 26, 1937. Work included planting trees, insect eradication, forest improvements, road building, and clean-up work after the flood of 1936.
  • CCC Camp Fechner - Danbury CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Fechner, which housed Company #2102 at Wooster Mountain State Park in Danbury, Connecticut, conducted the following improvement and development work: "removal and burning of over 80,000 elm trees to control Dutch Elm Disease; construction of roads; forest fire suppression and prevention; forestry work; control the Pine Shoot Moth; assistance in the lower Connecticut River Valley after the Flood of 1936." The camp operated from Sept. 12, 1935 to May 24, 1937.
  • CCC Camp Roberts - Thomaston CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)’s Camp Roberts, which housed Company #175, was stationed at Black Rock State Park in Thomaston, Connecticut. The camp was established May 30, 1933 and was discontinued Sept. 28, 1937. The camp's "main projects were: building miles of truck trails, survey and boundary work, gypsy moth removal, tree planting."
  • CCC Camp White - Barkhamsted CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp White, which housed Company #106 at American Legion State Forest in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, operated from Dec. 28, 1933 to Jan. 1, 1942. C.C.C. Museum: This camp was named for Alan C. White, who was a leader in the campaign to purchase the land that would become Peoples State Forest. The original site of Camp White is now used as a youth group camping area and the building site and camp roads are still visible. The camp had a tree nursery and built the Stone Museum as a natural interpretive center. The museum, nursery building, and camp office are...
  • CCC Camp: Blue Hills Reservation - Milton MA
    From 1933-1937 a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp operated within the Blue Hills Reservation, south of Boston. Over that time the CCC made numerous improvements to the Reservation, including two lookout towers, ski trails, a toboggan run, and any number of road and trail enhancements. Bare remnants of the CCC camp remain today, but are noted with historical markers. Description of C.C.C. activities in the Blue Hills Reservation, per the Metropolitan District Commission 1938 annual report: "The camp work crews assigned to the creosoting of gypsy moth egg clusters continued the work started in the fall of 1936 until the spring hatching...
  • Delaware Ordnance Depot (former) Development - Pedricktown NJ
    The WPA conducted extensive work at former Delaware Ordnance Depot, located on the west side of Route 130 about halfway between Penns Grove and Pedricktown. Many buildings and much of the infrastructure from the time is still extant. WPA projects at the old Ordnance Depot included: "Improve buildings and grounds by constructing magazines and rail facilities, barracks, dispensary, offers and non‐commissioned officers quarters, roads, sidewalks and utilities, landscaping; and performing appurtenant and incidental tasks." Official Project Number: 713‐2‐19 Total project cost: $900,000.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Delaware Ordnance Depot, and War Department "A non‐construction project to improve and rehabilitate buildings, public utility systems, water supply and gypsy...
  • Forestry Work - Farmington NH
    Between 1936 and 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook forestry work in Farmington, New Hampshire, to clear the area of currant and gooseberry bushes. Below is a detailed list of the work undertaken: 1936 WPA funds expended: $2,550.26. Area covered: 2,182 acres. Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed: 59,743. Number of men employed: 18. 1937 WPA funds expended: $1,188.20 Area covered: 1721 acres Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed: 62,200 Number of men employed: 8 1938 Area covered: 1545 acres Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed: 28,216 Number of men employed: 9 1940 WPA funds expended in New Durham, with Farmington labor: $786.96 Area covered: 1,002 acres Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed: 24,892 Number of local men employed: 7
  • Forestry: Pine Blister Control - Bethel ME
    The Works Progress Administration completed pine blister eradication work in the town of Bethel. 1936 Below is a United States Department of Agriculture report of white pine blister rust for the Town of Bethel, year 1936. "Acreage worked, 4254 Crew man hours, 6652 Bushes destroyed. 48,094 Amount spent for labor, $2,932.16 Amount spent for crew transportation, $240.96 This year has completed the mapping of all the pine growth in Bethel. This project has furnished employment for 14 men during the summer months and four men during the winter. The town has contributed nothing toward this project." 1937 Below is a United States Department of Agriculture...
  • Fort Dix - NJ
    Dating from WWI, Fort Dix provided training for soldiers enlisted in the U.S. Army. According to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) Information Division document, the WPA engaged in “Campwide improvement to grounds, including grading, checking of soil erosion, improvements to drainage to eliminate mud, and clearing fire trails and brush; construction of target pits and machine gun range, landing field, one mile of railroad. Construction or repair of garage, motor repair shop, schools, tent floors, incinerator, sawmill, woodshop, quarters, storage buildings, mess hall, cold storage plant, hospital, airport buildings, disposal plant, improvements of water supply system, clearing of ditches...
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park Development - Gatlinburg TN
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park occupies large areas of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. The park’s creation was a decades-long process, including advocacy in the late 19th century; legislation signed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1926; and donations and land acquisitions from small donors, the governments of North Carolina and Tennessee, and charitable organizations, such as the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund. Once the park’s existence was firmly established, funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made it both accessible and accommodating to the public. President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the park on...
  • Hackensack Meadowlands - Carlstadt NJ
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed what is now the Hackensack Meadowlands Conservation and Wildlife Area in Carlstadt, New Jersey. NYTimes: "The Federal Government is cooperating in the important mosquito extermination program in the Hackensack meadows where a grant of $93,000 is giving work to 600 men. By the construction of dikes and tide gates large swamp areas are being drained and a considerable portion of land is being reclaimed."
  • Leominster State Forest: Crow Hill Pond - Westminster MA
    The Leominster State Forest area was purchased by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1922. The area was the site of many historic settlements and cellar holes from the 1800s. With the implementation of the New Deal, Leominster State Forest was selected for a number of improvements by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In particular, Crow Hill Pond, a ten-acre pond located on state Route 31 on the western side of the forest, was the site of many projects. Crow Hill Pond was the work site of the 197th company of the CCC during the years 1936-1938. Captain Dixon led the 197th...
  • Middlesex Fells Reservation Development - Medford MA
    The Middlesex Fells Reservation spans multiple towns north of Boston. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) were each active in developing the area. Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission annual reports detail the work of the New Deal over time. 1934 report: "During the first eleven weeks of this year about 2,800 men were employed on Federal Civil Works Administration projects. Most of these men were employed in the Blue Hills and Middlesex Fells Reservations. A large amount of necessary work was accomplished in the various divisions, which consisted mainly of cutting and burning brush, removing dead and...
  • Mokelumne River Flood Control/Mosquito Abatement - Lodi CA
    The Woodbridge Dam, built in the 1890s, created Lodi Lake, along the Mokelumne River in Lodi. The New Deal project of "flood control on the Mokelumne River, mosquito abatement, and erosion control" consisted of the removal of brush, downed trees, and the elimination of stagnant pools along the Mokelumne River between the Woodbridge Dam and the Cherokee Lane bridge, especially at Lodi Lake. CWA workers installed riprap for erosion control at Lodi Lake and built berms for flood control. CWA workers cleared the irrigation ditches of weeds.
  • Morris Canal (former) Weed Control - Bloomfield NJ
    "Twenty-nine WPA workers started today to rid the dry bed of old Morris Canal of rag weed, poison ivy and sumac, a $3,750 project for relief of hay fever victims. The workers will clear five miles of winding stream bed from the Belleville-Bloomfield line to the Clifton-Bloomfield line. Thirty acres of weeds will be removed." (Evening News)
  • Mosquito Abatement - Bakersfield CA
    "The Kern Mosquito & Vector Control District is an independent district formed pursuant to the California Health and Safety Code, Section 2000 et seq. The District was formed in 1916, but began control operations in August of 1917 and was originally named the Dr. Morris Mosquito Abatement District. Dr. Morris was a well-known local physician and County Health Officer who was responsible for initiating the formation of the District. The original District encompassed 48 square miles and its objective was to control mosquitoes and malaria along the Kern River and its sloughs." KMVCD WPA Project No. 165-3-8120, App. Date 5-15-37, $21,936,...
  • Mosquito Control - Bridgehampton NY
    According to a local sources, "drainage ditches were dug by the Civilian Conservation Corps" in an effort to combat mosquitoes in northern Bridgehampton, New York (at what is sometimes known as the Mulvhill Preserve) during the Great Depression.
  • Mosquito Control - East Hampton NY
    According to a local sources the WPA dug ditches in an effort to combat mosquitoes throughout marshland in northeast East Hampton, New York (Springs, NY) during the Great Depression. "Accabonac, like nearly all salt marshes along the East Coast, has a series of grid-like ditches that are obviously manmade. Most of these ditches were hand-dug under the Works Projects Administration in the 1930s, under the pretense of dewatering the high marsh surface, thereby eliminating potential mosquito breeding habitat. project was largely ineffective in controlling mosquitoes and had several adverse ecological impacts on important marshland habitat."
  • Mosquito Control - Morristown NJ
    Ten federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers constructed more than two miles of drainage ditches (and re-dug many old ditches) over a period of six months between 1935 and 1936. The effort was undertaken to combat mosquito infestations in Morristown, New Jersey. "The drainage ditches in the area, bounded by Franklin, ... and Washington avenues, are clearly visible from trains along the Lackawanna." 3,000 man-hours of labor went into the project.
  • Mosquito Control - Pennsauken NJ
    Anti-malaria efforts were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Pennsauken, New Jersey west of Pennsauken Creek and near the Delaware River. The work involved "revamping of the drainage areas" in an effort to combat the spread of the disease by removing the breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
  • Moth Control - Oxford MA
    The community Moth Inspector for the town of Oxford, Massachusetts received aid from multiple New Deal agencies beginning in 1933. The Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) each provided funding for the endeavor during the 1930s.
  • Municipal Improvements - Goffstown NH
    Municipal reports from the 1930s detail local WPA work in Goffstown: 1935 Outlay for New Construction and Permanent Improvements: Highways and Bridges State Aid Construction, Class V W. P. A $492.90 1936 MOTH EXTERMINATION Jean B. Moquin, gas and oil for moth crew . . , $27.97 For White Pine Blister Rust-Control Paid by State from W.P.A. Funds expended $2,154.87 Area covered 7,091 acres Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed.... $43,671 Number of local men employed 8 CASH EXPENDED BY TOWN ON W.P.A. PROJECTS $2,645.10 Received Dec.9 From W.P.A. for repairs of damage by flood to the Goffstown reservoir $10,000.00
  • Municipal Improvements - Jaffrey NH
    Throughout the New Deal, various agencies contributed to the improvement of Jaffrey, a small town of 2,800 (1930 Census) according to annual town reports. 1933 "Through an arrangement with the District Nursing Association and the State Supervisor of Health, Miss Margaret Harris began work as School Nurse December 1st. All pupils have been thoroughly examined and follow-up work carried on. Miss Josephine Cassidy, a graduate of Keene Normal School, was assigned to this union as a C. W. A. worker, and assisted Miss Harris from Dec. 1st until Feb. 15th." 1934 Classes in Adult Education, carried on as a Federal Emergency Education Project, were...
  • Municipal Improvements - North Yarmouth ME
    The New Deal early on was involved in helping this small rural town (est. 1680) which only had a population of 569 in 1930. 1933 A few individuals are mentioned along with the town share of costs each for a PWA project and a C.W.A. road project involving a culvert. The school superintendent in a lengthy report gives a mention to the New Deal "The Federal Relief Program even recognizes the importance of adult education and guidance so we cannot consider curtailing the advantages for those who are immature in all respects." 1934 4 people and a few companies are mentioned in connection with a...
  • Oakland Lake Improvements - Bayside NY
    Originally formed as the result of glacial action during the Ice Age 15,000 years ago, Oakland Lake is a kettle lake, part of the Alley Pond Park system in northeast Queens. It is surrounded by glacial boulders and is fed by underground springs and a ravine that flows into the lake from the south. The lake served several purposes until it was transferred to New York City's Parks Department in 1934. The Parks Department notes: "In the 1930s, Works Project Administration (WPA) workers lined the brook feeding Oakland Lake with blocks, and later, the brook and a small pond leading into the...
  • Oyster Drill Eradication - Mauricetown NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) assisted in efforts to eradicate the oyster drill, a predatory sea snail that preys on oysters, in New Jersey waters. One specific work site was the Maurice River Cove of Delaware Bay, by Heislerville, New Jersey.
  • Parks and Recreation Work - Nashua NH
    1933 Mayor Alvin Lucier in his inaugural address listed 4 major projects done in cooperation with Federal Relief agencies. 3. PARKS AND COMMONS AND RECREATION FACILITIES. This project was designed to further develop the Artillery Pond project and includes some building. This would bring nearer to realization a well thought out plan for the development of an area particularly well suited by nature for a recreational center. It also includes work to be done at the South Common and at the swimming pool at Field's Grove. 1934 Mayor Lucier in his annual report wrote: "No less than seven Federal programs have directly affected our people. During...
  • Pest Control - Lewistown MT
    The Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in January 1937 that a rat eradication project was being undertaken by the WPA in the Montana town of Lewistown: "A ton of rat poison and 1,500 traps arrived in the city as the first step in a campaign to rid the city of its overabundance of the pests. The extermination will be carried on as a WPA project, in co-operation with city and county authorities." Later the same year, the same paper reported that: "WPA officials have informed County Agent Ralph Stuckey the cricket and grasshopper control project will be carried on in Fergus county during...
  • Poison Ivy Eradication - Elizabeth NJ
    "WPA workers under direction of the Board of Health are engaged in eradication of poison ivy growth prevalent in outlying sections of the city , principally in the vicinity of Shelley avenue, Harding road, Coolidge road, Edgewood road and Byron avenue."
  • River Des Peres Flood Control - St. Louis MO
    The River Des Peres runs through St. Louis and forms the backbone of the sanitary and stormwater systems of the city. In the 1930s, the river was channelized by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Horner & Shifrin, and the WPA as a flood control and public health measure.  The river extends from University in an arc to south St. Louis to empty into the Mississippi River. Portions of the “River” are underground, particularly through Forest Park. The work done by the WPA to line the muddy banks of the river was done in response to infestation of mosquitoes in...
  • Skokie Lagoons - Glencoe IL
    Skokie Lagoons is a 190 acre nature preserve in Glencoe and Winnetka, Illinois. The Skokie Lagoons are notable as a CCC work because the project merged the ideas of fixing a pertinent mosquito issue in the area and of developing the area into an escape to nature for the community. The Skokie Lagoons project began in 1933 with with 1100 eager, working men from the CCC (“Start Digging First Lagoon in Skokie Project”). Soon after the Forest Army downsized to 1000 men looking to aid in clearing the area of mosquitoes, which used the weedy swamps as a breeding ground. The...
  • Squantz Pond State Park - New Fairfield CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)’s Camp Hook was stationed at Squantz Pond State Park from May 24, 1933 to Oct. 30, 1935. Projects undertaken at the park included: foot trails along Squantz Pond construction of the Squantz Pond entrance road recreation area improvements at Squantz Pond gypsy moth removal tree planting
  • Stones Ranch Military Reservation (former) Improvements - East Lyme CT
    The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted development / improvement projects at what was Stones Ranch Military Reservation in East Lyme. "Improve public buildings" Official Project Numbers: 465‐15‐2‐113 Total project cost: $12,687.00 Sponsor: Quartermaster General's Department, State of Connecticut Additionally, Stones Ranch was the site of one of the few Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) camps located on a military reservation: Camp Chapman, C.C.C. Company #177. Work included "recreation area improvements, road building, gypsy moth removal, and Dutch Elm disease sanitation."
  • Swamp Draining - Old Orchard Beach ME
    A mosquito control project was carried on from December 7, 1933 to February 1, 1934 at Old Orchard under C.W.A. funds. A swampy area adjacent to this resort was ditched to drain water which constantly remained there in a stagnant state serving as a breeding place for mosquitoes. Fifty men were employed. D. L. Moody was superintendent of the field work. Two miles of ditches were dug. Inspection in the summer of 1934 showed very satisfactory results obtained in draining this area.
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