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  • Alexander Hamilton Playground - New York NY
    In January 1940, the Parks Department announced the completion of a complete renovation of what is now the Alexander Hamilton Playground: "At the Hamilton Place area, the old playground has been entirely reconstructed to provide for wider and more intensive usage. Besides a new modern comfort station, there is now a wading pool, volley ball and handball courts, a jungle gym, swings, slides and see-saws, The entire area has been resurfaced with bituminous material to provide for continuous usage throughout the year. The opening of these two areas, designed by the Park Department and built by the Work Projects Administration, makes a...
  • Alumni Field Development - Maynard MA
    The New Deal had a large impact on Maynard's Alumni Field. In 1933 the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) surfaced the running track, built a concrete foundation for bleachers, graded a field next to the highway, and surfaced tennis courts. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (E.R.A.) constructed a field house, bleachers, and a hockey rink on site the next two years. Work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).
  • American Legion Playground Field House - Boston MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a field house at American Legion Field in Boston, Mass. WPA Bulletin: WPA workmen have erected a modern field house, essential for the health and convenience of those who use the recreational facilities at the American Legion Field, East Boston.
  • Arlington "Ollie" Edinboro Playground - New York NY
    St. Nicholas Park is a long stretch of park between Harlem and Manhattanville, reaching from 127th St. to 141st St. The park contains two playgrounds. The larger one at 129th St., known as St. Nicholas Playground, opened before the New Deal in 1931. A July 1934 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of a second playground at the opposite end of the park near 141st St.. When it opened, the 200 ft. by 60 ft. playground contained an "open pavilion, a comfort station and a wading pool which can be converted into a basketball court, and slides, jungle...
  • Astoria Health Playground - Astoria NY
    On July 2, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a playground on the site of what is now the Astoria Health Playground: "In Queens, at 14th Street south of 31st Avenue adjacent to the Astoria Health Center, the new playground is equipped with swings, see-saws, play houses, slide, sand pit and a portable shower. A brick comfort station with facilities for boys and girls, and permanent concrete benches are also provided. The perimeter of the entire playground is landscaped with shade trees. …The work was performed by the Works Progress Administration, but planned and inspected by the Department of...
  • Austin J. McDonald Playground - Staten Island NY
    From NYC Parks: "In 1918, the War Memorial Fund was established to create a $1 million Memorial Arch to commemorate those killed in World War I. The organizers were forced to adjust their plans when they were only able to raise $210,000. By 1922 the project was scrapped and the money turned over to the City. Through time, the unspent fund earned interest, growing to nearly $340,000 by 1934. Commissioner Robert Moses (1888–1981), seeking additional open spaces for children, convinced the remaining members of the War Memorial Committee to allow the funds to be used for playgrounds... The War Memorial Fund was...
  • Bailey Playground - Bronx NY
    The New York Times reported in 1941 that WPA labor was to develop a playground at Bailey Avenue and West 234th Street in the Bronx. Bailey Playground now resides on that site: "WPA crews are busy on twelve other parks and playground projects in other parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx ...  A plot originally acquired for school purposes in 1929 will become the site of a playground at Bailey Avenue and West 234th Street, the Bronx.  A large wading pool is included in the plans." In August 1943, at the end of the New Deal, the Parks Department announced the opening of this...
  • Baruch Playground - New York NY
    This park is located on the site of a former tenement and adjacent to what was the first free public bathhouse when it opened in 1901. This and other early bathhouses were built for the sake of public sanitation after Dr. Simon Baruch lobbied hard for new health laws. In 1939, Dr. Baruch's son donated the land for this park to the city at a time when it was still surrounded by tenements, and in order to provide both a local playground and to improve the bathhouse structure itself. The Department of Parks press release from the park's opening on May...
  • Bath Beach Park - Brooklyn NY
    Bath Beach Park, named for the surrounding neighborhood, was acquired by the City in 1937. In 1941-1942, the WPA completed extensive work on the park. A press release announcing the opening explained: "Located on a knoll on the center line of 17 Avenue extended is a semi-circular overlook sitting area commanding an unobstructed view over Gravesend Bay and the Lower New York Bay. A concrete ramp skirts the brick surfaced retaining wall which supports the overlook and connects with a 30 foot wide tree and bench lined mall... The smaller western section which is subdivided into six use areas by fencing, benches...
  • Bear Lake Comfort Station - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was very active in Rocky Mountain National Park during the 1930s. The Bear Lake Comfort Station, located on the Bear Lake trail, is one of the many structures in the park built by CCC enrollees.   The rubblestone construction is typical of national park Rustic Style of the first half of the 20th century.  The building now serves to house a generator.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
  • Bergfeld Park Improvements - Tyler TX
    In 1913 the City of Tyler purchased the land for Bergfeld Park. Starting in 1936, the Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park including a stone amphitheater, rock culverts, and a rock lined creek, restrooms, and tennis courts. The city renovated the amphitheater in 2017 with a new stage and seating arrangement.
  • Betsy Head Park - Brooklyn NY
    Five years after the WPA built a new pool and bathhouse in Betsy Head Park, the Parks Department announced the completion of the rehabilitation of the south section of the rest of the park, bounded by Livonia and Dumont Avenues, Strauss Street and Hopkinson Avenue: "The remainder of the plot, to the west of the pool has been entirely reconstructed to meet the needs of a district well supplied with children and young people and under-privileged in the matter of play areas. The new plan, designed by the Department of Parks, called for the reconstruction of the baseball diamond, football field...
  • Big Spring State Park - Big Spring TX
    "Dramatic views off of the 200-foot bluff and from the CCC-built loop road are among the featured attractions of this 382-acre park. Early morning or sunset, joggers, walkers and cyclists circle the loop, enjoying these views as they exercise. An elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display is one of the largest in the region. Other activities include picnicking, nature study and sightseeing." CCC construction: Entrance Portals, Park Road 8, Culverts, Bridges, Concession Building (currently park offices), Keeper’s Dwelling, Stone Pavilion, Restrooms, Picnic Tables, Stone Steps, and Retaining Walls. An amphitheater was designed, started, but not completed. A Stone Pump House and...
  • Blue Hills Reservation - Milton MA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted extensive development work at Massachusetts's Blue Hills Reservation. Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission annual reports detail the work of the CCC over time. 1933 report: "In the latter part of June a Civilian Conservation Camp was established by the National Park Service for Emergency Conservation Work for State Parks in the Blue Hills Reservation near Randolph Avenue. The camp was in charge of U. S. Army Officers. The enlisted men in the camp varied from 212 to 145. The work of the men in the reservation has been handled by a...
  • Blue Mounds State Park Improvements - Luverne MN
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) pursued a number of improvements at Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota in 1938. Initial improvement plans called for the “construction of a bathhouse, facilities for picnicking and camping and general recreation.” The WPA also built dams and other structures.  In what was then called Mounds Springs Recreational Reserve, “workers in the WPA (Works Progress Administration) built five structures: a latrine and the upper and lower dams on Mound Creek, which created Upper and Lower Mound Lakes. The rustic style of the structures features native materials such as locally quarried quartzite. Rustic-style architecture, as defined by...
  • Boyle Park - Little Rock AR
    The park remained largely unimproved until the mid-1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps boys arrived (though there seems to be some uncertainty about exactly when the actual construction work began, two different contemporaneous sources reveal that as of the spring of 1935 work had not yet begun, but that by the spring of 1937 work was complete and the unit involved in finishing the work within the park—the 3777th company, originally from West Fork, where they were supposed to be involved in the ongoing construction at Devil's Den State Park—were wondering where they would be shipped next) . The CCC...
  • Breininger Park - Jamaica NY
    The City acquired Breininger Park (previously known as Braddock Park) in 1938. The Department of Parks officially announced the opening of the park in August 1939: "In Queens, the new playground is located at Braddock Avenue and 240 Street, in the Queens Village section, where a three and one half acre plot, on which there is a fine stand of mature shade trees, was acquired as an adjacent playground site in connection with the Belt Parkway, from which it is three blocks distant. A feature of this playground is a large oval lawn surrounded by a roller skating rink. A comfort...
  • Bronx Park North - Bronx NY
    "Until 1937, the north portion of Bronx Park was owned by the NY Botanical Garden and the NY Zoological Society and had no public facilities such as paths, lighting, playgrounds, or athletic fields. As part of the Bronx River Parkway extension project, the Parks Department gained jurisdiction and, with Works Progress Administration labor, began to convert the entire area into a park. This was one big New Deal project with many parts, including: Reiss Field on the east side (1939); Waring Playground on the east side (1939); Rosewood Playground on the east side (1940); 227th Street Playground on the east side (1941); French Charley's Playground...
  • Bronx Park, Waring Playground - Bronx NY
    "Waring Playground in Bronx Park, across Bronx Park East from the block between Waring Avenue and Thwaite Place, June 17, 2015. It opened on September 28, 1939, as part of the larger project of developing the land turned over by the New York Botanical Garden to the Parks Department. Although the Parks Department's September 27, 1939 press release does not explicitly credit the WPA or any other New Deal agency with building or funding this facility, it states that it "is a unit in a chain of children's recreation areas already built or now under construction along the easterly boundaries...
  • Callahan-Kelly Playground - Brooklyn NY
    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 Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street." In November 1942, the Department of Parks announced that the WPA had completed the first part of the construction of a new playground at the last site mentioned above. The press release explained that Parks had received the land in 1940, with some restrictions for the nearby subways, and...
  • Campgrounds and Picnic Areas - Death Valley National Park CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in Death Valley National Monument  from 1933 to 1942.  Among their many projects in the monument, the CCC 'boys' created five campgrounds and picnic areas. Texas Spring campground was the first and largest, and it remains the best preserved; it includes seven stone picnic tables and stone comfort station (restroom).  Two other campgrounds areas are also located around Furnace Creek, the park headquarters and visitors center.  The Sunset area on the east side of highway 190 serves mostly trailers and Furnace Creek campground and picnic area lies the visitors' center.   Emigrant Junction campground is...
  • Cascade Playground Comfort Station - Seattle WA
    During the 1930s, with the help of Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Cascade Playground. Among these improvements was the construction of a small brick comfort station in the northeast corner of the playground. The comfort station consisted of two structures, one on either side of the diagonal path leading into the playground, and included rooms for the playground caretaker, a playground instructor, and storage, as well as men's and women's restrooms. Work on the two structures began in 1937 and was completed in 1938. A plaque on the north side of...
  • CCC Camps - Grand Canyon National Park AZ
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was extremely active in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942.  There were six CCC camps on the North Rim, South Rim and in the canyon itself and seven companies active over the decade: #818, 819, 847, 2543, 2833, 3318 and 4814.   Grand Canyon National Park received more development funds and labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps than any other location in Arizona. CCC enrollees built many of the recreation facilities still in use today, such as paths, trails, roads, shelters, and campgrounds, along with basic infrastructure, such as telephone lines, electric lines, water pipes and sewer...
  • Central Park Restrooms - Davis CA
    The Works Progress Administration built restroom facilities in Central Park in Davis, in 1937. Davis Wiki: "The WPA Building houses the public restrooms on the northeast corner of Central Park. It was built in 1937 as a WPA project and was the first public restroom in Davis. It is also the only WPA building in the City of Davis, lending it additional historical significance." In 2011, the Davis City Council approved the demolition of the WPA building with the intention of building a "History Plaza" in its place. The proposal gave rise to public disagreement and many local writers and residents expressed support for the conservation of...
  • Charlesbank Beach - Boston MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a bathing beach and recreation site along the Charles River by the end of Longfellow Bridge, in 1936. The project included a baseball diamond, benches, and shelters. WPA Bulletin: Children from Boston's hot and overcrowded West and North Ends, from Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, and East Cambridge, are smiling at the heat. For now, within short hiking distance, at the Boston end of the West Boston Bridge, WPA has built a bathing beach and recreation site. Charlesbank Beach, official title of the WPA Project, has proved to be one of the most popular swimming places in...
  • Colliding Rivers Overlook - Glide OR
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Colliding Rivers Overlook (or Viewpoint), where the North Umpqua and Little Rivers come together. The work as presumably done in 1938, the same year the CCC constructed the Glide Ranger Station just across the road (now the Information Center for the Colliding Rivers Viewpoint). The overlook consists of a small parking area and terraces on two levels for viewing the rivers, with both a ramp and stairway between levels. There is a path to a secondary overlook that is today blocked by trees, and there is a restroom (comfort station) that appears to be...
  • Colorado National Monument: Saddlehorn Comfort Station - Grand Junction CO
    "Built by the CCC in 1937, to accommodate the recreational needs of visitors to Colorado National Monument, the station is significant for its association with ...  relief programs during the Great Depression. It is a strong example of National Park Service Rustic style architecture." (www.historycolorado.org)
  • Colossal Cave Mountain Park: Cave Access - Vail AZ
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out major work at Colossal Cave and the surrounding park north of Vail AZ (now a suburb of Tucson, but far to the east in the 1930s). They improved access for visitors to the cave itself, built a large visitors'/administration center, laid out a campground and picnic area, opened roads and trails and built a water supply system.  The Arizona State Park Service oversaw the work. Work inside Colossal Cave included widening the entrance and passageways, installing rock walkways and handrails, and added lighting and a water pipeline. This work was done in 1934-37 by...
  • Colossal Cave Mountain Park: Visitors Center - Vail AZ
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out major work at Colossal Cave and the surrounding park north of Vail AZ (now a suburb of Tucson, but far to the east in the 1930s). They improved access for visitors to the cave itself, built a large visitors'/administration center, laid out a campground and picnic area, opened roads and trails and built a water supply system.  The Arizona State Park Service oversaw the work. The visitors/administrative complex is a massive stone edifice on the side of the hill at the main opening of the cave – one of the most beautiful CCC works...
  • Columbus Park Improvements - New York NY
    Columbus Park, located in Manhattan's Chinatown, was one of the city's earliest major parks. By the early 1930s, it was quite rundown. New Deal programs greatly remodeled and upgraded the park and its facilities. In October 1934, the Department of Parks announced the opening, presided over by Mayor LaGuardia, of the newly remodeled Columbus Park, saying: "This old park with its fine big trees formerly included a small play area, which was in reality only a broken surfaced area containing poorly arranged rusted swings and slides. It has been replanned to double the size of the play area and provide...
  • Cooper Triangle - New York NY
    On June 8, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the redesign and reconstruction of Cooper Park (now also known as Cooper Triangle). The site was the location of an important political speech by Abraham Lincoln in 1860. The 1938 press release explained: "In the reconstruction, the old dilapidated, unsanitary, underground comfort station has been eliminated; new exterior concrete walks constructed; 17 new trees planted and the fence enclosing the area repaired and painted. At the north end on the base of the triangular plot is a memorial monument, consisting of a bearded figure of Peter Cooper, American inventor, manufacturer...
  • Coronado Heights Improvements - Lindsborg KS
    Atop the hill that is now known as Coronado Heights Park sits an iconic castle, picnic areas, and restrooms that were constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. Indeed in 1936 the Lindsborg Historical Society sold the hill for $1 to Saline County so that the WPA could make these improvements. Today the Smoky Valley Historical Association oversees Coronado Heights operations.
  • Crispus Attucks Playground - Brooklyn NY
    This playground is named for the first African American to be killed in the American War of Independence. It opened on October 28, 1934, along with two other playgrounds, one in Manhattan and one in the Bronx. The press release announcing the opening ceremonies explained that "All three playgrounds have recreation buildings and are fully equipped with play apparatus for children, and have space for basketball and handball courts. Each of the new playgrounds in Manhattan end Brooklyn will have a wading pool..." In addition to speeches, the opening ceremonies involved a "rendition of the Star Spangled Banner; games and...
  • Crocheron Park: Field House - Bayside NY
    NYC Parks explains that, "By 1936, the City had turned the area into a park with picnic grounds, winding walks, an enlarged lake for wintertime skating, and thousands of trees." On April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a new building in Crocheron Park containing a "a comfort station, a large lounge, locker rooms and shower baths." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out with New Deal funds and/or labor,...
  • Crotona Park Reconstruction - Bronx NY
    The park existed before the Depression, but was completely rebuilt in 1934-41 by the WPA: "As ice skating grew popular in the Bronx around the turn of the century, Parks paved the perimeter of Indian Pond and installed a warming hut and concession stand for skaters. In the 1930s, Works Progress Administration (WPA) employees built the boathouse on the east side of the pond and entirely rebuilt the area around the lake. Other projects in Crotona Park completed during the tenure of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) included the construction or renovation of five baseball diamonds, twenty tennis courts, twenty-six handball...
  • Crowley's Ridge State Park - Walcott AR
    "Crowley's Ridge State Park is a 291-acre (118 ha) Arkansas state park in Greene County, Arkansas in the United States atop Crowley's Ridge. Located on the former homesite of pioneer Benjamin Crowley, the park contains many excellent examples of the work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s...The park was originally constructed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the original stone and log structures give the park a rustic feel."    (wikipedia.org) Specific CCC structures  include: "The Bathhouse was constructed c.1935 at Crowley's Ridge State Park by the men of the 4733rd Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps,...
  • Crystal Springs Fountain - Crystal Springs ND
    Prior to the construction of I-94, Crystal Springs North Dakota was a mandatory stop for many early motorists traveling down old U.S. Highway 10, the state’s first Highway. The Crystal Springs Fountain is located about one mile northeast of Crystal Springs. Motorists could not only find a place to stretch their legs but could also dip into the cool clear water of the springs to quench their thirst and cool their radiators. The fountain was fed by an artesian well. The water would collect in the top part of the structure and trickle down to an open drinking fountain. The...
  • Daniel M. O'Connell Playground - St. Albans NY
    NYC Parks explains: "O’Connell Playground opened on July 15, 1934, and is one of nine playgrounds that were built by Parks through the War Memorial Fund. The Fund was established in 1921 with $250,000 collected by the Police Department. In 1934, the fund remained untouched and had grown in value to $350,000. Seeking additional open spaces for children, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling that permitted the fund to be spent on several playground developments. The properties were intended to honor the memories of individual soldiers who had given their lives in combat. The Fund was transferred to Parks on...
  • 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...
  • Delano Park - Decatur AL
    "When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used landscape and park projects to provide relief and hope for America. The second great period of park building occurred during this ten year period when the CWA and WPA work teams focused much of their attention on our "City Park" building the Rose Garden, bathhouse, wading pool, bandstand, and the stone armory, now known as Fort Decatur Recreation Center." (decaturparks.com)
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