Dams Sites

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed a unique ice dam near Towner, North Dakota in 1935. The exact location of the project is unknown to Living New Deal. Clearly, the project is no longer extant. Per The Fargo Forum, Mar. 31, 1935: A dam of ice, man-made, is holding back the flow of water in the Mouse river near Towner, as a unique FERA project. Constructed principally of ice blocks four feet long, two feet wide and two feet thick, interlaced with twigs, underbrush and straw, the dam is expected to back up sufficient water to flood 10,000 acres of meadowland. The dam...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built or improved a power dam in the city of Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Judging from the photograph on the WPA record card in the National Archives, the dam is the one across the Snake River just above the Idaho Falls, which diverts part of the river into the hydroelectric power station run by Idaho Power Company. (The card gives the location as Briggs, Bonneville County, but there is no such place) The diversion from the falls to the power plant is obscured by a highway bridge and park in the middle of the river below the...

Imperial Dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation during the New Deal as a feature of the Boulder Canyon Project, along with Hoover Dam and Parker Dam, on the lower Colorado River.  It lies 17 miles above Yuma, Arizona. It is the diversion structure for the All-American Canal, which serves the Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley in Southern California and for the Gila Project in Arizona. The dam is 3500 feet along the crest and 41 feet high at overflow point. The All American Canal headworks has a maximum diversion capacity of 15,000 cfs. The length of the All American canal – so-named because it did not...

Just before the phase-out of the CWA began in January 1934, the City of Independence applied successfully for CWA funds to build a trio of small dams across the Wapsipinicon at Independence downstream from the city’s mill dam. On further investigation by the county engineer, the number of dams was reduced to two, and later to one. This dam, now known as the Independence Low Dam, spans the river at the northwest corner of Oak Grove Cemetery. The original plans called for multiple three-foot dams constructed of rock and other materials, but eventually a single four-foot dam was constructed of...

"The Iron Springs Dam was constructed circa 1933 by members of the 3767th Company of the Arkansas CCC District stationed at the Hollis and Jessieville Camps, both of which were also located on State Highway 7, to the north and south of the Iron Springs Roadside Park, respectively.  It was constructed as part of a small, public recreational complex within the Ouachita National Forest (ONF) as a result of the CCC's emphasis upon recreational construction.  The extant historic structures within this complex include only this dam and two shelters (nominated separately), all of which allowed the area to function purely...

Starting in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a 44-foot dam, comprised of “40,000 cubic yards of fill” and “topped with stepping-stones, across the headwaters of the Mississippi River.”  It is not clear exactly when the job was completed. The dam did not create Itasca Lake but did stabilize the lake level and better define the outfall, which had previously made its way through dense riparian vegetation.  The CCC men also built the first wooden sign at the site, since replaced by a vertical sign. Over the years, foot traffic and shifting stream flow eroded the stepping stones and banks, so...

"Jefferson Lake State Park was developed on 962 acres in the valley of the Town Fork of Yellow Creek. Land acquisition began in 1928. The lake and other facilities were constructed by the National Park Service in cooperation with the old Ohio Division of Conservation as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The dam was constructed in 1934 and the 17-acre lake was filled in 1946. In 1950, the area was turned over to the newly created Division of Parks and Recreation."

With establishment of the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) program in 1933, better know as the Civilian Conservation Corp. (CCC) resources became available to develop facilities for the park. Civilian Conservation Corp. Co. 553 SP-16 arrived at John Bryan in June 1935 to begin six years of work.  The men laid out roads and blazed miles of trails (including the Pittsburgh–Cincinnati Stagecoach Trail preserving portions of a 19th century wagon-road). Also, enrollees built two foot-bridges across the Little Miami River.  One bridge featured a dam that, when closed, created a “swimming hole.” The workers also erected the park office, two picnic...

The WPA built the current Johnson’s Pond Dam after the previous dam washed out. Today (three quarters of a century later) the dam provides an area for recreational boating and bass management. And, in addition to bass, anglers can fish for “black crappie, pumpkinseed sunfish, yellow perch, white perch, chain pickerel, brown bullhead catfish and common carp" (see Department of Natural Resources source below).

“BUTLER – Work is expected to start soon on the erecting of a dam for the proposed Kakeout reservoir. Engineering details have been completed under the direction of Cornelius C. Vermeule, engineer of the Butler Borough Water works. Three hundred and fifty men will be employed for about six months, when the building starts, and will be done under a WPA project. Clearing and grading of the site in addition to constructing the dam will also be done. The cost to this borough will be about $35,000. The total estimated cost is $245,484… The water from the proposed reservoir would...

Kellyville Dam was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project ca. 1935-6.

Kendall State Park, plus park land from the cities of Cleveland & Akron, were formed into a National Recreation Area in 1974 and then Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The story of its establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage. This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 20th century. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to...

"Kentucky Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River on the county line between Livingston and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The dam is the lowermost of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s to improve navigation on the lower part of the river and reduce flooding on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was a major project initiated during the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, to invest in infrastructure to benefit the country."   (wikipedia)

Kiowa Lake was one of many lakes the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, resulting from dam construction projects. The dam, which impounds upper West Cache Creek, was described thusly in 1934: The second dam project for this camp calls for assigning a crew of 50 men to construct a dam on upper West Cache creek. This will be an earthen dam, thirty feet in height, with a concrete spillway. It will impound 24 surface acres of water and is primarily designed for flood control for the Forest Headquarters area. It will be located in the...

Kooser State Park in Western Pennsylvania is surrounded by the Forbes State Forest. "The park’s original design character was stamped by the Civilian Conservation Corps projects of the 1930s that established the existing lake and most of its use areas, its architecture and site details."   (https://www.dcnr.state.pa.us) "The CCC established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression built a camp on the western edge of Kooser State Park. The young men of the CCC built the dam on Kooser Run creating Kooser Lake. They also built roads, outdoor fireplaces and cabins. Much of their work can still be seen today...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a dam in 1934 to maintain the levels of Lake Ardoch, northeast of Ardoch, North Dakota. The dam was replaced with a concrete structure, equipped with spillways, in 1936, in a project undertaken by the "United States biological survey" with "relief help," suggesting that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) participated in the project.

Lake Babcock, north of Columbus, Nebraska, is one of two water-regulating reservoirs above the Columbus Powerhouse, part of Nebraska's Loup River Public Power District. The project was developed during the 1930s with the aid of multiple massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) fund allocations. Loup.com: Lake Babcock and Lake North "provide storage for generation at the Columbus Powerhouse and recreation for the public. After generating power, the water re-enters the canal and flows south into the Platte River." Lake Babcock was also utilized as a recreational and fishing lake. Per The Columbus Telegram, Sept. 1940: Already in 1937 the route of the...

The park contains 12 rustic style park structures built in the 1930s, “including a unique observation/water tower and a dam engineered over quicksand."   (Wikipedia)

The works Progress Administration created Lake Clark by building an 1800-foot compacted earth filled dam on Little Mustang Creek west of Ennis, Texas. The project number was 65-1-66-165.

Multiple relief agencies: the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) impounded Little Medicine Creek by constructing Lake Thomas Dam by Medicine Park, Oklahoma. Work was completed in 1938 at a cost of $107,300. The roller-compacted concrete dam is a 421 feet long.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Main Street Dam at the head of Lake Flower in Saranac Lake NY between 1937 and 1938. The WPA allocated funds for a number of proposed improvements in and around Ogdensburg, including “the construction of a new dam…and the development of a picturesque bathing float, beach, park site and addition of buildings to Saranac Lake Craft and Study Guild” (Parks & Recreation). According to a contemporary news report, the dam was “placed…on the site upon which Capt. Pliny Miller once built a sawmill. Later it was taken over by Alonzo Blood…who organized Saranac Lake’s...

The Works Progress Administration rebuilt the dam impounding Lake Halbert, near Corsicana, Texas, in a project completed in 1936. The work involved "extensive rock riprapping."

Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1939 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which wikipedia incorrectly calls an act of Congress in 1938).  The land was purchased and administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey (which morphed into the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940). The region was one of the last parts of the country to be settled by farmers and before long the area suffered from drought and dust storms like much of the rest of the Great Plains in the 1930s. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) help the locals realize their plan to...

Located on Blue Beaver Creek below the Rush Lake dam, Lake Jed Johnson was impounded by this Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)-built dam in the mid-to-late 1930s. CCC camp No. B-F-1 was responsible for the dam's construction, which was underway in 1936 and completed in 1937. The lake and 40-foot dam were dedicated to Jed Johnson on July 31, 1937.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) raised the height of Lake Lawtonka Dam by ten feet between March 1938 and July 1939. It would take WPA workers additional time to clean up the site and construct "break-water structures at the boat landings." The substantial project cost about $535,000, of which $90,000 was provided by the city. (The WPA supplied the rest of the funding.) Upon completion of the project the dam measured 704 feet long, between 60 and 70 feet high, and ten feet wide at the top.

"This nomination seeks to recognize the entire property comprising Lake Leatherwood Park as a National Register Historic District.  Previously, Lake Leatherwood Dam and Recreational Facilities, consisting of the bathhouse and the picnic shelter, were listed individually in the National Register on August 12, 1992.  Since that time, additional AHPP survey efforts through the initiation of the Eureka Springs Parks Commission have revealed a large number of additional buildings, structures, and sites within the park that were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps as well as resources dating before and after the CCC period.  It is being nominated under Criteria A,...

The eight-mile-long dam impounding Lake Marion was constructed as part of the massive Santee Cooper Project enabled by a $31 million grant-loan by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The dam impounding Lake Moultrie was constructed as part of the massive Santee Cooper Project enabled by a $31 million grant-loan by the Public Works Administration (PWA). South Carolina Encyclopedia: "In 1941 President Roosevelt declared the Santee Cooper a defense project, and one year later the power plant in Pinopolis began generating power. Within two decades it was providing electricity to the majority of the state’s farms as well as industries in surrounding counties."

This water retention dam and lake was constructed by the WPA in 1937. It was was justified as being for potential needs in a drought, but which primarily served as a place for water recreation for African American families in the Kansas City area. At the time, there was very limited opportunity for outdoor recreation for blacks in Kansas City, essentially being a small section of Swope Park nicknamed "watermelon hill." The surrounding land was privately owned by some of the wealthier black families in the Kansas City area.

In 1934 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Lake Administration (FERA) constructed a dam to impound a recreational lake: Lake Tomahawk, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, as well as a community building and boathouse at its shore. The lake "was officially opened on Labor Day weekend in 1934." The community building featured shingle siding and a large room for social gatherings and boating and bathing facilities. The building is still in use today and the lake continues as a gathering spot. "The community house, built at Black Mountain, in Buncombe County, under project No. 11A-B11-2, is situated on the shore...

Constructed in 1940 by the Army Corps of Engineers, this dam created the 45,000-acre Lake Wappapello reservoir on the St. Francis River. Constructed with the primary intention of flood control, Lake Wappapello continues to offer recreational opportunities including boating, fishing, and camping to the public.

In 1933, the Lampasas Chamber of Commerce raised $2,500 to buy 154 acres of land along Sulphur Creek and presented the land to the State of Texas as a site for a state park. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 896 arrived the same year, set up Camp Miriam (in honor of Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, the Governor of Texas) and began development of the park. The CCC cleared brush and cactus, built gravel roads, a native stone entrance, a concession house, a low water dam, native stone picnic tables, barbecue pits, native stone cabins, a baseball field, and a polo field....

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...

One of the first PWA-funded projects to be approved and completed in Montana was that for a new reservoir for Beaverhead County. The project involved the damming of the Red Rock River, resulting in the formation of the Lima Reservoir. Big Timber Pioneer, a Montana newspaper, reported in January 1934 that the county received a 30% PWA grant toward the completion of the project. The newspaper announced the project's completion by September 1934. The dam was reported to have cost $75,000.

Lincoln State Park was occupied by three New Deal agencies from 1933-1942. The first agency to occupy Lincoln Park was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC Company 1543 was active in Lincoln State Park from 1933-1934. The CCC laborers planted trees and constructed a fire tower, shelters, and a ranger cabin. After the CCC laborers were relocated in 1935, Federal Emergency Relief Administration laborers arrived and continued to build improvements for the park. FERA workers developed numerous fish rearing ponds. Later the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was stationed at Lincoln Park. WPA workers built hiking trails, a service building,...

"At Seneca State Forest, Little Thorny Creek was dammed to form Seneca Lake. The original dam stood 24 feet wide at the top, 16 feet high, and 162 feet long. The CCC constructed the original dam in three months using 116,000 feet of cribbed logs and 4,000 cubic yards of clay."

The first of the four known New Deal dams constructed in the Wapsipinicon watershed, the Littleton Dam, started as a locally funded project. Its construction was supported by the State Fish and Game Commission because the dam fit into the state’s 25-year conservation plan. As originally proposed in August 1933, the state would supply the materials for the dam and a local committee would raise the funds for the labor. Construction of the dam started around November 1, 1933, using locally funded labor. Within days, however, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was established, and by the third week in November...

Lockhart State Park is located at the southwestern edge of Lockhart, Texas and is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park consists of 263.7 acres of land that was purchased by the State of Texas on December 14, 1934. The park was constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 3803 between 1935 and 1938. The park was leased to a local country club until 1948 and then opened to the public as a state park. The CCC built the park residence, the combination building, Park Road 10, a stone arch bridge, a swimming pool, a concrete water storage...

CCC crews built this small recreational lake on Mill Creek in Mark Twain National Forest in 1940. It is at least partially spring-fed and tends to be clear. The dam has a simple concrete spillway. In addition to the lake, the project consisted of a trail around the lake, a campground, and picnic ground.

The Public Works Administration funded construction work at the London Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River, approximately 25 miles south of Charleston. The project was authorized through the River and Harbor Act of 3 July 1930. The Cost of construction was $3,269,800. The locks became operative in September 1933 and were completed in May 1934. The locks contain two parallel lock chambers. The project is currently operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.