The NYC Parks website explains the provenance of this modest playground in Queens: “Between 1935 and 1938, Parks leased this property from the Gorbess Realty Corporation. In April 1938, the City of New York purchased one parcel of the property… read more
W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: “At the north end of the former swamp, WPA raised the level a half dozen feet and built William A. Miller Athletic Field in honor of one of Winthrop’s sons killed in action in France during the… read more
In 1939, an athletic field was added to the high school facilities. Funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the amount of $3,190.00, workers completed the construction of game fields, bleachers, drives and fences. Landscaping and tree plantings were… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers developed Holyoke’s Mitchell Field ca. 1937.
The seven-acre Montclair Park in Oakland was built with the aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-39. This gem of a park lies just north of Montclair Village in the Oakland hills and below Montclair Elementary School. The… read more
The Montlake Playfield and Shelter House were constructed partially on fill in former marshlands on the shores of Portage Bay between 1933 and 1936. In the 1910s and 1920s, houseboats moored there, and Dahlialand, a local garden store, utilized nearby… read more
On September 29, 1941, the Parks Department announced the completion of a reconstructed playground in the northeast corner of Morningside Park: “Two bench-lined tree shaded malls extend along the entire north and east sides of the playground connecting the park… read more
This recreational complex inclusive of ball fields, grandstands, a playground and tennis courts was constructed by the WPA. Completed in 1937, the project extended from today’s Bullens Field to Franklin Street and was comprised of three levels. The first level… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers developed recreation improvements at Greenfield’s Green River Swimming and Recreation Area and Murphy Park, during the 1930s. WPA Bulletin, 1936: Children of Greenfield have benefited by the WPA construction of a new bath house and… read more
This land was first developed as a playground in 1903 and has been known by several names over the years, including the John J. Murphy Playground and Murphy Park, and now, according to NYC Parks, the Murphy’s Brother’s Playground. In… read more
In Sept. 1941 the New York Times described a playground being constructed by the WPA in Queens at “Forty-Fifth Avenue and Twenty-first Street.” This site, Murray Playground, is still in use today. New York City’s Parks Department writes: “The City… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Neptune Park in Clinton, OK. Contributor note: “Neptune Park was constructed by the WPA in 1936. Route 66 was a going concern, and ran right through Clinton. This park is not elaborate, but it served… read more
A Department of Parks press release from December 4, 1939 describes the completion of WPA work on Noble Playground, along with three other playgrounds: “At East 177th Street and Noble Avenue the 3.6 acre area contains a children’s playground and… read more
In 1942 the Work Progress Administration began construction for a building to serve as an armory, athletics coliseum, and student assembly hall. Only the skeleton was constructed during World War II; materials shortages caused by the war halted progress. After… read more
CCC and WPA crews constructed this football stadium for the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City. From the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Quarterly: “With the help of Works Project Administration (WPA) laborers and… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor remodeled and rebuilt O’Neil Park in Quincy.
The Works Progress Administration built the Oakes Field in South Charleston in 1939. The western edge of the stadium shares a common boundary with the former US Naval Ordinance plant. The field has an entrance to residential areas at 4th… read more
The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Oakes Field House (former Recreation Building) in South Charleston in 1939. The Recreation Building, as it was called in 1939, is a two-story brick building with gable and seven bays facing 3rd… read more
Although the history of this park is difficult to pin down, researcher Frank da Cruz makes a compelling argument that this is one of many WPA playgrounds built during the New Deal. First, it is located at the North end… read more
The Works Progress Administration built additions and made improvements to the Rash Stadium in Owensboro. The current home side was built in 1940 as one of the WPA programs in Owensboro, KY. In 1940, the WPA appropriated $30,926 for the… read more
The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: “Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster… read more
Palisades Playground and Park was developed by New Deal agencies in the mid-1930s. The field house was built with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1936. That same year, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers had… read more
The Park Point Beach House and adjacent recreation field, located in Park Point on Minnesota Point, were constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The National Youth Administration built a running track for the Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg. At the time of its construction this was the only half-mile track in West Virginia.
According to the NYC Parks website: “The site of this ballfield was acquired by the City of New York for the construction of the Independent Subway whose line curves from the Avenue of the Americas to West Houston Street. In… read more
Wikipedia: “In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the football stadium limestone bleachers, west and north walls, picnic tables, fire pits, and various items in the park.”
Pelham Bay Park, the largest in the city of New York (three times the size of Central Park), sits on Pelham Bay in the northeast corner of The Bronx. It was established in 1888, when The Bronx was still separate… read more
“Peoples Park on Brook Avenue and East 141st Street in the Bronx, June 22, 2015. The New York City Parks Department press release for July 27, 1934, announces the opening of fourteen playgrounds on August 11, including: PLAYGROUND at 141st… read more
A project involving construction of an athletic field at Perry High School (now Perry Traditional Academy) was undertaken in 1936 as part of a New Deal project, sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $17,994 grant for the project, whose… read more
The property for this playground and the adjacent school (P.S. 108 also known as the Peter Minuit School) were both acquired in 1941. The Board of Education cleared old buildings and constructed the school on the West half of the… read more
“[W]ith federal WPA funds in 1935, a tennis court and shuffle board facilities were erected” at Phoenix Park in Delavan.
Pierce Memorial Field was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. “The site of the athletic field was an abandoned gravel pit … [which] had gradually been developing into a public dump, … taking… read more
On September 30, 1941, Parks announced the opening of a new playground behind Public School 119 to be shared by the Department of Parks and the Board of Education. The press release explained that the playground was divided in two… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed two parks in El Cerrito, one of which is Poinsett Park in the Mira Vista section at the north end of the town. The date of the work is unknown to us. Poinsett Park… read more
The NYC Department of Parks announced the official opening of Pulaski Park (named in honor of Revolutionary War soldier Casimir Pulaski) on October 11, 1939: “The park was named in honor of Pulaski ten years ago. The reconstruction was done… read more
Parks acquired this land to the West and the South of the WPA’s Queensbridge Housing development in 1939. The press release announcing the completion of a WPA playground on the site in July 1941 explained: “The southerly section lying alongside… read more
“The Quimby Athletic Field of Gardiner was enlarged to make a combination baseball and football field at a cost of $17,257.08 of which $1,368.50 was spent for material. There were 11,700 cubic yards of earth moved and 300 cubic yards… read more
A WPA project for $21,000 improvements at the Laurel Municipal Stadium included brick seats to accommodate 3,000, a brick stadium house, brick wall at the south end of the stadium, permanent parking space, brick walls, brick ticket booths and replacing… read more
A 1938 report from the Los Angeles Department of Playground and Recreation describes the WPA’s role in creating the Rancho Cienega recreation area: “Forerunner of the great regional recreation centers of the future, the Rancho Cienega Playground was the outstanding… read more
Randall’s Island Park cover more than 400 acres of the 500+ acre island. It contains dozens of tennis courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, playgrounds and other recreational facilities, as well as paths, greenways and a marsh. Frank da Cruz summarizes the extensive… read more