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  • Danvers Agricultural School (former) Athletic Field - Danvers MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed an athletic field at the former Danvers Agricultural School in Danvers, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Students, townspeople, and particularly young children will be benefited on completion of a six acre WPA Athletic Field at the Danvers Agricultural Institution. One third of this area will be a fully equipped playground for children.
  • David City Park and Auditorium - David City NE
    The David City Park begins long before the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1889, Mrs. Phoebe Miles donated twelve acres to David City for a park, with the stipulation that the city pay the taxes and make improvements. During the depressed financial climate of the 1890s the city was unable to uphold their bargain, and the land reverted to Mrs. Miles. In 1902, a group of citizens organized the David City Park Association and purchased the twelve acres. In addition to buying the land, they also planted trees and made other improvements. In 1905, the city passed a bond issue...
  • Davis Avenue Community Center - Mobile AL
    The Works Progress Administration constructed Mobile's Davis Avenue Community Center. The center opened in 1936 and it included facilities such as tennis courts and a pool. Today, the facility is known as the Davis Avenue Recreation Center. The center holds historical significance for the African American history in Mobile and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 27, 2011.
  • De Witt Clinton Park - New York NY
    This park was first established in 1901. In October 1941, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed the reconstruction of the park: "The old pavilion and comfort station was demolished and replaced by a modern brick building. The play was enlarged by the construction of retaining walls. There are two wide gate controlled entrances on each side of the new comfort station, which is located on the center line adjacent to the east fence, leading to the wading pool area. The wading pool may also be used for basketball and volleyball in the fall and winter. Two shuffleboard courts are parallel...
  • Dean Park - Warren MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor constructed Dean Park in West Warren. WPA Bulletin: What was once a rough field in West Warren, on the road to Ware, is now a seven-acre recreational site built by the WPA. This is the first athletic field in town history. According to sponsors and engineers, construction of the field, now called Dean Park, was replete with trouble and they point to the fact that 60 percent of the excavation was done by dynamite blasts. Youngsters of the town (who are not a bit interested in engineering difficulties) are proud of the new baseball and football...
  • Denton Field - Miles City MT
    A baseball stadium "built in 1940 by the WPA, Denton Field was built to the specifications of professional minor league baseball. Today, the ballpark is still up to code for the Pioneer League. Today, the ballfield and grandstand, remains in pristine condition... Perhaps, even in better shape than the day it was built, (due to renovations including new elevated party decks down each line). Denton Field, has been home to the American Legion's Miles City Mavericks since it opened, and still hosts them today. However, Miles Field soon caught the attention of the rest of the American Legion, and became the tournament...
  • Detective Keith L. Williams Park Playground - Jamaica NY
    Formerly known as Liberty Park, this site was acquired by the City in late 1936. In July 1937, Parks announced that "the new playground...is the first section of a large recreational area which is being constructed to be completed. It is for small children and has slides, swings, see-saws, sand tables, play houses and a rectangular wading pool which can be used for volleyball when not in use as a pool. Benches and shade trees are also provided. When the entire area is completed, it will have facilities for baseball, football, tennis, roller-skating, basketball, horseshoe pitching and paddle tennis, as...
  • Dome Playground - Brooklyn NY
    On October 1937, Parks announced the opening of a new playground in what later became known as Dome Playground: "At Dahill Road and 38th Street, also in Brooklyn, the new playground, the wading pool section of which was opened some time ago, has facilities for handball, basketball, volley ball, soft ball games, a roller skating track, horizontal ladders and bars and a generously equipped small children's playground with slides, swings, see-saws, playhouse and sand tables. Shade trees and permanent concrete benches are also included in the design. This area is another one of the twenty-four sites selected by the Commissioner of...
  • Doyle Field - Brewer ME
    Doyle Field is a football & softball field next to a PWA built auditorium. An article in the Bangor Daily News November 14, 1933 has an article about City Manager F. D. Farnsworth submitting a request for Federal assistance to help improve the Brewer Athletic field which was then called Legion Park. Original design was for the building of a cinder track, an extensive drainage system and the leveling of the football field. The Feb. 22nd issue said that 61 men were employed, however due to cuts, hours were reduced from 24 to 40 and hourly pay cut from 50...
  • Dunn Park Improvements - Woonsocket RI
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed greatly to the development of the park system in Woonsocket, R.I. Dunn Park benefited from landscaping improvements and construction of a 600-foot stone boundary wall.
  • Dyker Beach Park - Brooklyn NY
    Dyker Beach Park, located just south of the Dyker Beach Golf Course and north of the Belt Parkway was assembled in eight stages between 1895 and 1934. In 1942, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed extensive work on the park, much of which is still visible today. A press release announcing the completion of a field house and playground described the finished and ongoing work: "The field house, a one story brick structure, approximately 44' x 100' is located at the east end of the athletic field in a paved plaza designed as a focal point for the park...
  • East Ridge Recreation Area Improvements - Ridgefield CT
    Ridgefield, CT timeline, 1939: "A Works Progress Administration project begins in June to alter and improve the athletic field on East Ridge at the high school."
  • Eastern High School Recreation Center Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $12,925 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and/or improvements to Eastern High School's recreation center.  The report does not specify what work was to be done. The current status of the New Deal improvements is unkonwn. The baseball diamond part of the high school fields may well have its origin in the work of the early 1940s. The high school itself, constructed in 1923, was not a New Deal project.
  • Edgewood Recreation Center Improvements - Washington DC
    During the 1930s, Edgewood Playground, as it was then known, was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). At Edgewood, the WPA graded and constructed tennis courts and may also have built a baseball diamond and other recreational facilities.  The CCC also did unspecified work there, probably landscaping. Today, Edgewood Recreation Center still has tennis courts, basketball courts, a field house and traces of an old baseball diamond (in satellite view).  It is unknown how much evidence remains of...
  • Edwards Field - Brunswick ME
    "The development of the Edwards Athletic Fields has been one of the most popular projects undertaken in the town of Brunswick. Started a few weeks before the close of CWA, it is being carried to completion by the ERA. The original area acquired by the town was a ten acre square including a large field and some woodland. While the field had been used for baseball, it was not level and there were no facilities for other sports. With ERA labor the entire tract has been leveled, a baseball diamond and a football have been loamed and seeded. The turf will be...
  • Enosburg School Facilities - Enosburg VT
    The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts, an ice rink, and a shelter house for the School in Enosburg.  
  • EOSC Athletic Field and Stadium - Wilburton OK
    Contributor note: "Eastern Oklahoma State College was established in 1908, and has evolved over the years to becoming an accredited Junior College. It is located at 1301 W. Main Street west of the town of Wilburton. On the west side of the campus, a football gridiron and red cinder track was constructed by the WPA. Today, the track has been removed and the field is used for soccer. The grandstands are constructed of uncoursed native sandstone, and poured concrete seating. The stands measure 278 ft. by 14 ft. The stands have three tiers except in the center section which has six...
  • Evergreen Park - Ridgewood NY
    Today's NYC Parks website explains: "The City of New York acquired the property for this park in January 1941. At that time, the park was divided by 60th Street, which cut through the property. The City then assigned Evergreen Park to the Board of Education and Parks in the spring of 1942. In order to expand the parkland and unify the two sections, the City closed 60th Street and gave the area to Parks. Part of the park is jointly operated with the adjacent P.S. 68. The playground opened officially on January 11, 1943." A 1943 press release announcing the park's...
  • Fair Park Rock Field - Childress TX
    The National Youth Administration built a rock wall and bleachers at baseball/softball field in Fair Park. The work was done in 1937-1938.
  • Fellsway Police Station-Area Improvements - Medford MA
    Description of a project undertaken by the W.P.A. in 1937: "Fellsway Police Station; the area adjacent to the police station on Fellsway West in Medford was developed by the completion of a project started in 1936. A large baseball field and drill ground was constructed, the brook along the roadway was confined between stone masonry walls to prevent flood damage and incidental work was performed." The location of the former Fellsway Police Station in Medford is unknown to Living New Deal. Our map places this project at Hickey Park, which abuts Fellsway W and features a large field with baseball diamonds.
  • Fernridge Park Development - West Hartford CT
    In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) furnished the labor toward the development of Fernridge Park in West Hartford. A Report of Town Officials from 1934 states: With the aid of ... C. W. A. labor, three additional tennis courts were completed and put to use. Paths from Keeney Avenue and from Whitman Avenue, to the clubhouse were completed. Under the landscape division of the C. W. A., large numbers of trees and shrubs have been planted at this playfield, enhancing the scenic beauty of this park to a great extent. The town's 1935 report cites Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.)...
  • Ferry Point Park - Bronx NY
    Ferry Point Park is a large park in the Bronx located at the site of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge on the East River. New York City acquired the land in 1937. It was planned under Robert Moses and constructed by the WPA. A NYC Parks Department press release from August 11, 1941, announced that the park had been completed. The release describes several of the features constructed by the WPA, including: an overlook above the water, "a combination comfort station and storage building," "two baseball diamonds," picnic areas, tree plantings and more. Unfortunately the large portion of the park West of the...
  • Firemen's Park Improvements - Ferndale CA
    In 1941-42, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made major improvements to the Municipal Park in Ferndale, today known as the Firemen's Park.  According to the WPA project card, the improvements consisted of building a softball field with bleachers, reconstructing a recreation hall, adding picnic tables and fireplaces, and changing the channel of Francis Creek. The baseball field, bleachers and recreation hall are all still in place, though altered through the intervening years.  The ball field is dedicated to local sports hero, Carl Oeschger, who enjoyed success as a pitcher in the major leagues in the 1920s.  The recreation hall appears to...
  • Flomaton High School Athletic Field - Flomaton AL
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Flomaton High School Athletic Field in Flomaton. Sponsored by the Escambia County Board of Education, the field spans five acres. The approximate cost was $3,263.
  • Football Field - Wortham TX
    The index card text: 7' rock masonry fence around football field. Rock masonry stands with timber seats. Ticket office rock masonry with concrete floor. Playing field - grading - fills - drainage and sodding. Replace lighting system from old location. The 7' fence around the field and two ticket offices (one at each entrance) still exist. The stands have been replaced with new metal ones. The lighting system also appears newer.
  • Football Field Wall and Bleachers - Boley OK
    This rock wall and the concrete stone seating steps that are built into it were constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940. The rock wall is approximately three feet high and it surrounds a playing field. They are intact, but heavily overgrown with grass.
  • Football Stadium - Hamlin TX
    "Jones County, Hamlin - Construct football and baseball fieds, grandstands and bleachers, rock walls and gravel drives in city park; federal funds, $16,706; sponsor's funds $5,504; workers 48."
  • Football Stadium and Gymnasium - Somerville TX
    From the city of Somerville website: "A native stone gymnasium and football stadium with seating and fence were built for the Somerville Independent School District by the WPA during the Depression and finished by 1939 ." Text from the state historical marker at the stadium reads: "Emerging from the Great depression, the Somerville School Board partnered with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to build a football stadium. Known as 'The Rock,' the stadium was designed by Travis Broesche in the rustic style of architecture, using native stone and petrified wood. It was completed in 1940. A crew of around 100 local...
  • Forest Park - St. Louis MO
    Forest Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, just larger than Central Park in NYC. It was the site of the 1904 Worlds Fair and the WPA projects in the park transformed it and brought it up to date, including much clearing of brush in places where it had become overgrown. In places, it truly was and still is a forest. Projects included: roads through-out the park, handball courts, tennis courts (now the Davis Tennis Center), draining lakes that had been constructed for the World's Fair and which had filled in and had debris-filled to an...
  • Forest Park: Victory Field - Woodhaven NY
    In September 1941, the WPA completed the reconstruction of Victory Field in Forest Park in Queens. The press release announcing the completion of the work described the project: "This 12 acre athletic field dedicated to the unknown soldier of the first World War, replaces the former inadequate facilities which consisted of a cinder running track overcrowded with dirt surfaced baseball diamonds. The new development will provide a well rounded recreational area for the use of all the residents of this section of Queens. The entire field is enclosed by double fencing consisting of an outer wrought iron picket fence separated from a...
  • Fort Hays State University: Larks Park Baseball Stadium - Hays KS
    This limestone baseball stadium, built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940, is currently owned by the city of Hays but operated by Fort Hays State University. It has been upgraded several times over the years and is now home to the Fort Hays State baseball team.
  • Fort Lewis College, Old Fort Lewis Campus - Hesperus CO
    The main campus of Fort Lewis College was moved to Durango, Colorado in 1956, but before then it was located at this site, 16 miles southwest of Durango on what was originally a military site, then a boarding school for Native Americans, then a high school, then a two-year college. Since the 1950s, this has been the site of the San Juan Basin Research Center and is currently connected to Fort Lewis College once more as an auxiliary campus used for agricultural research among other purposes. During the 1930s, New Deal programs contributed important resources to the campus: "Dean Bader faced...
  • Francis Lewis Park - Flushing NY
    Francis Lewis Park sits at the base of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in Queens. The park was named after an American "merchant, patriot, and signer of the Declaration of Independence"(nycgovparks). Researcher Frank Da Cruz has compiled evidence of the WPA's key role in developing this park: Like Ferry Point park, Francis Lewis Park was part of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge construction project, 1937-41. A New York Parks City Department press release on April 25, 1940, confirms that it was built by the WPA: The Department of Parks announces that exercises in connection with the dedication of Francis Lewis Park, Third Avenue and 147...
  • Franklin High School Athletic Field - Portland OR
    In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an athletic field at Portland's Franklin High School as part of a larger commitment ($468,459) to the improvement of Portland public school properties.
  • Frederick B. Judge Playground - South Ozone Park NY
    NYC Parks describes the origins of this playground: "South Ozone Park grew into a bustling community, and the neighborhood’s many residents needed recreation space. Parks acquired the playground land in a purchase from William Zagarino in 1936, and soon after developed the area into a play space." Indeed, on April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of this new playground: "It has been equipped with swings, see-saws, slides, sand tables, play-houses and a wading pool for small children. Handball, shuffleboard and table tennis courts, a large play area with a soft ball diamond and an oval roller skating...
  • Frederick Johnson Park - New York NY
    The Department of Parks announced the opening of what is now the Frederick Johnson Park on March 31, 1939. The press release explained: "The 150 Street and Seventh Avenue area obtained by the Department of Parks from the Board of Transportation for an indefinite period has been developed to include 8 tennis courts, 9 handball courts, a volley ball court as well as a sitting area for mothers and guardians of small children. The sitting area is surrounded by continuous rows of benches under shade trees with two separate sand pits for youngsters to play in. This area is adjacent to...
  • Garfield Playground Improvements - Seattle WA
    The Garfield Playground was one of a limited number of Seattle park facilities to receive upgrades through the New Deal's Civil Works Administration (CWA) program. The main CWA project at the playground involved the construction of a retaining wall along the western edge of the property. CWA laborers began work on the $12,000 project in 1933 and completed it the following year. Several years later, funding from the Works Project Administration (WPA) allowed the Park Department to proceed with additional improvements to the playground. In 1938, WPA workers painted the baseball field's backstop and bleachers. One year later, they built three...
  • Girard Park - Shenandoah PA
    Construction of Shenandoah PA’s Girard Park began in September of 1936 with the support of funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA allocated $93,000 for the development of the sixteen-acre park, with the rest of the cost to be shared with the city of Shenandoah. According to a contemporary report in Parks & Recreation magazine, Girard Park “was first designed for a bandstand but the newest plans call for children’s playground equipment, which will probably place the park cost at more than the anticipated $134,000.” The public park has played a central role in the community life of Shenandoah since...
  • Goerke Park Grandstand - Stevens Point WI
    This stone and concrete grandstand was constructed by local Stevens Point workers in 1938 with money from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to provide a venue for viewing football games. It is located in Goerke Park, a 26-acre sports park located near P.J. Jacobs High School, also built by WPA workers. It is still in use today.
  • Golden Gate Park Archery Field - San Francisco CA
    The little-known archery field at the west end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco was built by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief laborers.  It is still in regular use.
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