Bathhouses Sites

"The most visible legacy of WPA projects in Milwaukee County was the parks system, which had more construction and landscaping during the WPA period than any other time in its history. WPA construction included six swimming pools, pavilions at Red Arrow and Brown Deer Parks, service buildings at Jacobus, Jackson and Whitnall Parks, the Botanical Garden administration building and golf club house at Whitnall Park, a bathhouse at Doctor's Park, a recreation center at Smith Park, new roads in nearly every park, and parkways throughout the county."

The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at 42 Duffield Street were constructed in 1905; the building has since been demolished. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the former Eastern New Mexico State Park, occasionally referred to as "Blackwater Draw Park", ca. 1934-6. Flynn: "This CCC-built site was originally created to reforest 9,600 acres of that Dust Bowl area. Later the state government reduced the amount of acreage to 400. The CCC built a large bath house, other houses, camping areas and a lake. All but one long house near the highway remains and was most likely the home for the park manager. In 1951 the state deeded the property to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales and they later built a large...

The park was originally called Phoenix Park, renamed Eastlake Park in 1903, and bought by the City of Phoenix in 1914 (City of Phoenix African American Historic Property Survey pp 29-30). The survey further states that: "In 1937 Works Progress Administration funding provided for the construction at Eastlake Park of a bathhouse, showers, and dressing rooms for the pool. Two years later, the city added lights, swings, sandboxes, sports facilities, and equipment." "...the park was a significant site for civil rights rallies and the starting point of all civil rights marches to the Capital; until it grew too large to continue...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Elijah Perry Park (then called "South Camden Park") in Camden, New Jersey. Among the amenities were a "spacious bath house ... swimming pool, 200 feet by 78 feet; wading pool amid a playground for children; tennis court." Camden's Evening Reporter described the facilities in June 1936: The bath house is constructed of concrete block and stone. Its exterior is of salmon-tinted California stucco with white granite trim. Locker rooms on the main floor are equipped with 1,600 clothing baskets of wire, each with a numbered brass tag. As many as 2,400 persons can use the...

Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas was dramatically transformed and improved by construction projects enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The park "was donated to the City of Houston in 1916. For more than twenty years, Emancipation Park was the only public park in Houston open to African-Americans. In 1938-39, the Public Works Administration constructed on the park site a recreation center, swimming pool, and bathhouse, designed by prominent Houston architect William Ward Watkin, on the site. The buildings are important examples of PWA construction in Houston and have been used since their construction for after-school...

In the early 1930s, the City of Austin acquired about 1008 acres of ash and juniper woodland west of the city with a mile of lake front on Lake Austin. In December 1939, Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1805 arrived at the site to develop the tract of land into a municipal park. The company's primary work included seeding and sodding grass, planting trees, and protecting the bank of the lake from erosion. They also cleared brush, built roads and developed permanent improvements to the site such as a bathhouse and concession stand. These wooden structures later burned and were replaced...

Multiple New Deal work relief agencies were involved with developing the Farm Pond in Sherborn, Massachusetts, conducting work on the following: Bath House Recreational bath house facility designed and built by WPA/ERA. One-story cobblestone building with center gabled porch, shingled hipped roof, and secondary entries on east and west sides. This style reflects the WPA’s design concepts for natural recreation areas. Retaining Wall, Beach Enlargement & Landscaping WPA projects used local labor to enlarge the beach, construct the stone retaining wall along the back of the beach, remove stumps, and surface walks and driveways.

Located across the river from the Feather River Fish Hatchery, this bathhouse was built by the WPA in the mid 1930s and contained showers and restrooms for swimmers and sunbathers. "In December of 1937, a major flood took out the beach area, large trees and altered the river creating a dangerous undertow, making it no longer suitable for recreation. The Bath House was soon then abandoned. In the fall of 1996, a group of community members gathered to clear the old bath house and in the process, decided to reclaim Oroville's first city park and make it into a Nature Center."

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.  The WPA added several homes for senior officers (buildings 621-625 on the central parade grounds, along De Trobriand Street) and non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), along with entrance columns.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared:  a recreation hall (gone), bath house (still standing), swimming pool (filled in?), gas station (modified from an earlier stone building that still stands), and improvements to the water and street systems (invisible). The only...

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.  The WPA added several homes for senior officers (buildings 621-625 on the central parade grounds, along De Trobriand Street) and non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), along with entrance columns.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared:  a recreation building (pictured), swimming pool (filled in?), a gas station (modified from an earlier stone building that still stands), and improvements to the water and street systems (invisible). The only site marked...

A historical marker explains the CCC's role in developing the Fort Parker State Park: "In August 1935, construction of a state park began here on the former town site of Springfield under the direction of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The group assigned to build Fort Parker State Park was Company 3807(C), an African American CCC Camp. From 1935 to 1942, the park company constructed park buildings, roads and facilities, erected a dam across the Navasota River, and reconstructed old Fort Parker. Located nearby, old Fort Parker was rebuilt in preparation for a Texas Centennial observance in 1936, and was the first...

Constructed by the WPA under projects 3635, 6994, 7706 and 9392 in 1938. When constructed it was called the Verdugo Municipal Recreation Center and was sponsored by the city of Glendale. "This project, costing a total of $736,422 of which $650,731 was supplied by the Federal Government, consisted of the construction of an auditorium containing 560,000 cubic feet with facilities for plays, concerts, conventions, dances and other public gatherings. A 50 meter swimming pool of the modern cloverleaf design, and conforming to intercollegiate and international specifications, was built together with a reinforced concrete grandstand. A connecting bathhouse containing 160,00 cubic feet...

"Repairing and painting of buildings, including band shells, bathhouses, pavilions, bridges, residences, service buildings and playground buildings in the following parks...Gordon Park."

"A major park that African Americans on the west side frequented was Grant Park, located at 3rd Avenue and Grant Street. Grant Park existed as an empty lot with grass and trees until the city Parks and Recreation Department renovated it in 1934 through Civil Works Administration funding. In 1937 Works Progress Administration funding provided for the construction at Eastlake Park of a bathhouse, showers, and dressing rooms for the pool. Two years later, the city added lights, swings, sandboxes, sports facilities, and equipment. The park added a bandstand, tennis courts, and a recreation hall where teens in the 1950s...

"The temporary Grant Park bathhouse at the foot of Lake Michigan was replaced by the WPA with a permanent building of Colonial design, complete with open-air dressing yards that sat on a raised stone terrace overlooking the beach and lake. The furniture on the terrace was also designed and built by skilled craftsman who worked under federal programs. "

Prior to colonial settlement, the area of Granville State Forest was inhabited by the Tunxis Native American tribe. In the mid-1700s, English pioneer Samuel Hubbard purchased the land for farming and pasturage, and the river that runs through the forest is now named the Hubbard River. The property was bought and owned by Tiffany and Pickett Lumber Company near the turn of the 20th century. In the 1920s, the Commonwealth obtained the land from the lumber company but little improvements were made before the CCC Camp was established. The Civilian Conservation Corps began work on Granville State Forest in 1933. CCC...

"Graydon Park is at the heart of the Village of Ridgewood – its seven acres of open space provide an oasis of green parkland for the residents of this densely developed suburb. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, this historic park is home to a threatened unique resource – Graydon Pool. This 2.68 acre natural, sandy-bottomed spring-fed swimming pond, was constructed in 1926 as part of a larger national movement to create municipal parks and pools to promote community interaction. The pool (or pool/lake, called a "plake") was enlarged to its current size as part of a Works Progress Administration...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a bath house at Green Fall Pond / in Voluntown, Connecticut. The exact location and status of the facility are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

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: Children of Greenfield have benefited by the WPA construction of a new bath house and other improvements at the Greenfield Swimming Pool. Tennis courts and a soft ball diamond were built in the adjoining public park property.

Hanging Rock State Park was developed as a federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project during the 1930s. "Many facilities in the park were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1935 and 1942. A concrete and earthen dam completed in 1938 impounded a 12-acre lake, and a stone bathhouse, diving tower and sandy beach also were built. Other facilities constructed by the CCC include a park road and parking area, a picnic area and shelter, and hiking trails. In 1991, the bathhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places." The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is also cited in some...

Hart Park in Orange, California, was created in the 1930s by the City of Orange with the help of the State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) and the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). At the time, the park was known as Orange City Park and was changed to Hart Park in 1964. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a bathhouse for the swimming pools at Hart Park in Orange, California, in 1936. The bathhouse is a large Mission revival style building that houses a reception desk where staff work, as well as locker rooms. There are several swimming pools outside. The WPA developed the...

The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at 486 Hicks Street were constructed in 1903; the building was "demolished in 1941 for construction of the BQE" (Brooklyn Relics). The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.

In 1935-36, the WPA built a pool and bathhouse at Highland Park. The pool has long since been replaced. The stone bathhouse remains, though it is now boarded up.

"The swimming pool and bathhouse at Highland Park, built by the WPA in the 1930s is still in use today. Established in 1890, one year after the city was first settled in the Land Run of 1889, Highland Park is part of the National Historic District of Guthrie. The main entrance faces south onto E. Warner Street in the 1100 block. On the west side of the large swimming pool, a one-story masonry bathhouse stands. The building has been covered with stucco and painted a light color, with its main entrance on the west side in a projected vestible. The entrance is...

"The Hodag Park Bath House is a one-story, random rubble, hip-roofed building. It is Rustic, a style that was popular during the late 1930s. The Bath House was built circa 1938 (1939 photo, L. L. Cook Collection, SHSW; Rhinelander City Directories; "Hodag is New Name For Park," New North, May 11, 1939, p. 1). The park was initially designated "Mary Didier Memorial Park," but the name was soon changed. The building was funded by the W. P. A. (Kris Gilbertson, "W. P. A. Leaves Lasting Legacy," Rhinelander Daily News, April 23, 1985)."

From 1936 to 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Honeyman State Park, just south of Florence, Oregon, under the supervision of the National Park Service (NPS).  The parkland had been purchased by the state from 1930 to 1936. Honeyman Park covers over 500 acres along Highway 101 (the Oregon Coast Highway), tucked behind the Oregon Dunes National Seashore.  It includes two freshwater lakes, Cleawox Lake within the dunes and the much larger Woahink Lake east of the highway. There is a day-use area on the north side of Cleawox Lake, a large campground south of that lake and water sports...

"Later in 1936, the regional planning department prepared plans for the new pool and bathhouse that was then constructed by the WPA. The new facility opened in 1939. The pool had a capacity of one million gallons."

The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths on Huron St. (a few hundred feet west of Manhattan Avenue, on the north side of the road) were constructed in 1903-4; the baths closed in 1960, but the building is still standing. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.

The CCC conducted substantial development work at J. W. Wells State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: they constructed roads, signs, kiosks, a pump house, a comfort station, a laundry facility, a bath house, Bay Stone Lodge (was staff residence), cabins, and trail shelters.

The spacious Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem, originally called Colonial Park and known for many years as Bradhurst Park, first opened in 1911, but was only fully developed under the New Deal. When the Department of Parks announced the planned reconstruction in August 1935, they gave an unusual level of detail about this important project: "The Department of Parks has determined the location and completed the development plan of a major recreational center in Harlem. For over a year the Department has been searching this section of the city for an area large enough to provide space for the active play...

The New York City Parks Department website provides a brief history of Jacob Riis Park: "260-acre Riis Park, stretching over a mile on the western section of the Rockaway Peninsula, was acquired by the city in 1913. In 1914, the beach was named for Danish-born photo journalist and social reformer Jacob August Riis, once a Queens resident. The original bathing pavilion was built in 1932 and could handle up to 8,000 users. In 1934, Commissioner Moses announced plans to upgrade Riis Park with a $1.7 million investment, including a new bathing pavilion, parking field, pitch-'n-put golf course, and a 40–foot wide...

The New York Times reported in Sept. 1941 that the WPA worked on the "reconstruction of John Jay Park along the East River Drive, between Seventy-sixth and Seventy-eighth Streets." Specific improvements included the installation of a new diving pool with concrete bleachers; the remodeling of an "old bath building" to "include a recreation room, gymnasium and auditorium"; and a new "completely equipped playground." A May 1942 Department of Parks press release further reported that the WPA had relocated the concession building, paved areas of the park, installed benches and planted trees.

Today's NYC Parks site explains: "The swimming complex was opened in stages between 1940 and 1942 as part of a massive Work Projects Administration (WPA) capital construction program. The outdoor swimming pool was opened in 1940 and measured 50 by 145 feet. Legend has it that Parks Commissioner Robert Moses required the pool to be five feet short of the length necessary for 150-foot sprints. In 1941 the bathhouse was remodeled and reopened with an auditorium, large recreation room, gym, and changing facility which could accommodate 1,002 male and 590 female bathers. Systems were installed to filter, purify, and re-circulate...

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...

"Repairing and painting of buildings, including band shells, bathhouses, pavilions, bridges, residences, service buildings and playground buildings in the following parks...Kern Park."

Constructed by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938. Four large stone rings and elaborate stone entrance for walk in entry only; picnic area, playground and boat ramp. Memorial to Civil War Veterans. Concrete wall high on east side of Levee that becomes and 8' wall at entrance (all of concrete). Each stone circle has 2 built in fireplace/grills, built in bench a concrete table, a shield with a name and "1938." Each could accommodate about 100 people. The entry gates (pedestrian) open into a round plaza with a flag pole and have 2 relief panels each. The bath house...

"One of the later WPA projects was the construction of the Kosciuszko pool and bathhouse. As one of the parks transferred from the city in 1937, the county set out to update the facilities. Plans for the project were complete in 1939 and approval for funding by the federal government soon followed. Construction for the pool began in 1941. The bathhouse was not completed until 1943."

This bathhouse was built by the WPA in the 1939. It still stands today along the shore of LaBolt Lake, in Grant County, South Dakota. Much of it is in disrepair but it still stands as a nice tourist attraction. It is still used as a very rustic changing facility. The changing rooms have no roof and no door so discretion is a valor when using the facility.

Pecan Bayou flooded the city of Brownwood in late September of 1900 causing considerable damage to the business district and washing away the train track that served the city. The citizens of Brown County looked for a way to control Pecan Bayou. They voted in 1926 to create the Brown County Water Improvement District. The water district acquired seven tracts of land for the purpose of building a dam on Pecan Bayou. The water district completed the dam in 1932 just before another flood swept down the Bayou quickly filling the reservoir. The Texas State Parks Board acquired 538 acres of...