Dams Sites

Sumner Lake State Park is located northwest of Fort Sumner and contains  large reservoir created by the Sumner Dam in the 1930s. The CCC, the WPA and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation constructed the dam between 1935 and 1939. Other CCC structures in the vicinity include five rock bridges (along the east side of the lake) and two bunkers near the dam built in 1939.

Tionesta Lake and Dam were created as part of a multi-site flood control program to protect the city of Pittsburgh and Ohio Valley. Work on project began in 1937 on Tionesta Creek near its confluence with the Allegheny River. The earth and stone dam was designed by Lieutenant James K. Herbert of the Army Corps of Engineers and constructed by S.J. Groves and Son Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The project cost approximately $7 million and was completed in 1940, with flood control operations beginning in January of 1941. The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the lake and dam have...

On April 7, 1900, the Austin Dam, built in the 1890s across the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, failed catastrophically during a flood killing 47 people. The dam was rebuilt starting in 1909, but was destroyed again by flooding in 1915. The City of Austin was unable to raise funds to repair the dam until 1938 when Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson persuaded the Public Works Administration to finance rebuilding the dam at a cost of $2,300,000. The dam was renamed Tom Miller Dam for a former Austin mayor. Tom Miller Dam was built between 1938 and 1949 atop the remains of...

James V. Turner Reservoir in East Providence, Rhode Island (with spillover into Seekonk, Massachusetts) was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Turner Reservoir was created in 1935 with the building of the Turner Dam, which the City of East Providence used for their drinking supply until the 1960s. Turner Reservoir is now open to the public for recreation." (ExploreRI.org) The PWA supplied a $178,000 loan and $66,781 grant; the total cost of the project was $245,608. Work occurred between May 1934 and June 1935. (PWA Docket No. RI 2003)

ParkRec.nd.gov: "Established in 1934, Turtle River State Park was one of a number of new parks built in North Dakota under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs. ... In 1935, a CCC transient work camp, SP-5, was built in Larimore. It initially housed 185 young men, along with their commanding officers. They were assigned to build a new park nearby, originally called Grand Forks State Park. CCC construction projects in the park included bridges, roads, parking areas, foot paths and a number of stone and log buildings, many of which are still in use today. One of their notable achievements was the...

According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce: “Construction of Tygart Dam started in 1935 and was completed in 1938. It was one of the first Public Works Administration (PWA) projects initiated to reduce unemployment through the construction of massive, labor intensive projects. Veterans, as well as men from Taylor, Barbour, Preston and other surrounding counties, were given employment preference. At its peak in May of 1936, 1,701 men were employed. The pay was set at 45 cents per hour for non-skilled labor and $1.10 for skilled at a maximum of 30 hours a week. Tygart Dam is currently operated by...

Tyler State Park was developed by CCC Company 2888 from 1935-1941: "Set into the Piney Woods of East Texas, Tyler State Park reflects two major park development efforts. The first, directed by landscape architect Ben K. Chambers, involved extensive forest reclamation and land rehabilitation that included tree planting, development of a road system, and construction of a dam and lake. Architect Joe C. Lair oversaw the other effort, which focused on the development of essential park buildings. Particularly noteworthy, the architect’s designs represent a clear break from the National Park Service rustic style so often used at CCC parks, including many...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) or Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), possibly both, completed the dam and Lake Kunkal in 1939. The 25 acre lake is impounded by an earthen dam. There are also concrete steps on dam's south face.

The Bureau of Reclamation constructed the Vallecito dam and reservoir in 1938-1941, with assistance from the WPA, as well as from enrollees at the nearby CCC camp. "The Project constructed Vallecito Dam to manage the flow of the Pine River partly for local irrigation needs and partly to address Ute water claims based on the Hunt Treaty of 1868 and ratified by a Federal Court decision in 1930." (www.co.laplata.co.us)

Teh Public Works Administration (PWA) built the Vasona Lake and dam in Los Gatos California. The dam is part of a local park and still part of the local water system. Built in 1934-35 as stated on the plaque at the top of the dam. PWA project 6051. 

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed what was then known as Willow Park (now Victor Crowell Park) in Middlesex, New Jersey. Work began in December 1935. Among other work, Ambrose Brook was dammed "by a concrete-cored earth fill into a seven-and-a-half acre lake with an average depth of seven feet. A sluice gate was constructed for drainage and flood control." Shrubs and trees were planted, and picnic tables and benches constructed. The WPA installed swing sets as well. Roads on the north and south shores of the lake were paved, and "an attractive stone grotto" was erected "at the entrance...

"One of Georgia’s oldest and most beloved state parks, Vogel is located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Driving from the south, visitors pass through Neel Gap, a beautiful mountain pass near Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia. Vogel is particularly popular during the fall when the Blue Ridge Mountains transform into a rolling blanket of red, yellow and gold leaves. Hikers can choose from a variety of trails, including the popular 4-mile Bear Hair Gap loop, an easy lake loop that leads to Trahlyta Falls, and the challenging 13-mile Coosa Backcountry Trail. Cottages, campsites...

In June 1933, using a design by architect Robert H. H. Hugman, workmen from the Civilian Conservation Corps, began building walkways and bridges along Walnut Branch, a small tributary of the Guadalupe River, and lining the slopes of the waterway with curving stone retaining walls. Dams crossed by stepping stones, low falls, and quiet pools were built along the natural course of the waterway that passes along the edge of the city's downtown. The park eventually fell into neglect during a severe drought in the 1950s, though the main spring never dried up. Fear that mosquitoes breeding in the small ponds...

In December 1934, Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) labor was busy building two water conservation dams in Brown County northwest of Ainsworth. The dams were built on the farms of Mr. L. D. Crawford and Mr. Fred Wallenstein. Five additional dams were planned for other farmsteads in the Buffalo Flat section of the county. The applicant paid for materials and the labor was funded by the reemployment office.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) combined efforts to construct the Waterbury Dam in Waterbury, Vermont during the Great Depression. On November 3 and 4, 1927, torrential rains created a disastrous flood that paralyzed Vermont. Little River’s rising waters drove the valley residents to their roofs and isolated the hillside farmers. Fifty-five people in the Winooski Valley lost their lives, and property damage was estimated at $13,500,000. A second flood occurred in 1934. These events spurred a plan by the US Army Corps of Engineers to built a set of four dams in central Vermont from...

"Watts Bar Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River ... one of nine dams on the main Tennessee River channel operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to provide flood control and electricity and to help create a continuous navigable channel along the entire length of the river. The dam is the technical boundary between the ... Watts Bar Lake— which it impounds— and Chickamauga Lake ..." (Wikipedia)

Construction of the 1,950-foot earthen dam (embankment), gatehouse, spillway and outlet channel commenced in 1933 and was largely completed in 1935; the spillway gates were finished between 1937-1939. The concrete gatehouse was stamped with the year "1934" and "USIS" (Indian Irrigation Service). The purpose of the dam and reservoir is to impound much needed East Walker River water for agricultural use on the Walker River Indian Reservation. The dam project is a good example of the New Deal at work on Indian lands. Approximately $130,000 of the project was financed by the Public Works Administration (PWA). Weber Dam and Reservoir was...

"Wheeler Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Lawrence County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to improve navigation on the river and bring flood control and economic development to the region. The dam impounds the Wheeler Lake of 67,070 acres (27,140 ha) and its tailwaters feed into Wilson Lake... Construction work on Wheeler Dam began on November 21, 1933, the second major dam construction...

The CCC operated in the Whipple Dam area from 1933 to 1941. In addition to other improvements throughout Whipple Dam State Park, "in 1935, the CCC dismantled the old dam and constructed the existing dam and bridge."

"Between 1933 and 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a work camp at Owl’s Gap (S-60-PA), east of the park. The corps members built pavilions, roads, beach and restrooms during this period. In 1935, the CCC dismantled the old dam and constructed the existing dam and bridge. In 1987, the 32-acre park day use area was designated the Whipple Dam National Historic District. This entry on the National Register of Historic Places recognizes, protects, and preserves the work site of one of the Depression-Era's most important relief programs, the CCC. The CCC work was performed to guidelines embraced by the...

The main purpose of these dams (and others) on the Muddy River is flood control and protection of downstream decreed agricultural land owned by the Moapa Indian Reservation and/or private water users in Moapa Valley. The White Narrows Dam No. 1 also impounds water during wetter years and/or off-season useage. Dam No. 2 is located within the Reservation while Dam No. 1 and its reservoir are at the edge but mostly outside of the Reservation boundary. Dam No. 2 was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division (CCC-ID) in 1935 under supervision of the Office Indian Affairs and...

Along with a dam, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a shelter and bathhouse in Whitewater State Park. The design of these quartzite  structures “reflects the area’s German heritage.”  

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge began in 1901 when part of the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Indian Reservation was set aside as a National Forest. The area was transferred in 1935 to the Bureau of Biological Survey to become a wildlife refuge under the New Deal.   The 59,020 acre refuge hosts a rare piece of the past - a remnant mixed grass prairie, an island where the natural grasslands escaped destruction because the rocks underfoot defeated the plow.  It  provides habitat for large native grazing animals such as American bison and Rocky Mountain elk – both of which had been exterminated in this area...

The Wild Horse Dam and Reservoir was originally constructed in 1937 by a New Deal agency, believed by Living New Deal to be the CCC. "The reservoir was initially created in 1937 by the construction of Wild Horse Dam. In 1969, a new concrete single-angle arch dam was constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation for the Bureau of Indian Affairs... The original 1937 dam was left in place and is still partly visible. The newer dam doubled the size of the reservoir."

Wilson Dam was completed in 1924. It is "the largest conventional hydroelectric power-generating facility in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system... When Roosevelt inspected in January 1933, he related that he was impressed with the size of the operation and found it twice as large as he had imagined. He also stated that he wanted to put the facility to work for the good of the region, its people, and future generations. Roosevelt ended the controversy over the future use of the properties at Muscle Shoals in May 1933, when he backed Norris' plan as part of his New Deal...

The Winooski River Local Protection Project is located along a 6.5-mile stretch of the Winooski River which flows through Montpelier, Berlin, Moretown, and Middlesex. The Winooski River Local Protection Project protects several thousand acres of farmland and reduces flood damage in downstream communities, including Montpelier, Middlesex, Waterbury, and Duxbury.   The project consisted of replacing an old timber dam at Montpelier by a small concrete dam (now called Bailey Dam); clearing and grading one mile of river bank above the dam, enlarging the channel, and adding rip-rap; and removing projecting ledges and points that restricted river flows at five spots between...

A flood in 1927 brought about plans to construct four flood control projects, made possible by the New Deal and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Wrightsville Dam is one of those. Construction began in August 1933  and was completed in October 1935. The dam is earthfill with stone slope protection. It is 1,525 feet long and 115 feet high. The dam and reservoir are located on the North Branch of the Winooski River, about  three miles north of Montpelier on Route 12.  Its main purpose is to protect Montpelier. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers: "Wrightsville Reservoir was one of four...

The massive dam that impounds Wyandotte County Lake was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "The construction of the Wyandotte County Lake (Marshall Creek) Dam began as a WPA project in 1936. On September 19,1937, with the project 90% completed, the dam collapsed. After re-engineering the dam was rebuilt ..." Facts and Figures (from county website): The dam is rolled earth core with hydraulic fill sand shell. The length of the dam is 1700 feet. Base width is 1000 feet. Crest width is 30 feet. The original depth after construction was 84 feet by the dam. Spillway length is 279 feet...

The outlet tower associated with the Wyandotte County Lake dam is one of numerous Works Progress Administration (WPA) structures constructed in the park. Dave McDermott writes: "In contract to the other original park buildings, the tower is built of smooth concrete, in an efficient, modernist style, with none of the rustic attributes seen elsewhere in the park."

This earthen dam, impounding the 133-acre Yellowwood Lake, in Yellowwood State Forest, was completed in 1938 with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).