Comfort Stations (Restrooms) Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at an athletic field and park in Beatrice, Nebraska. Beatrice Daily Sun: "A recently completed WPA project at the park resulted in major improvements. The north bank was landscaped, the cinder running track was widened, rest rooms were constructed, and the seating capacity of the concrete bleachers was doubled." The location and status of this project is currently unknown to Living New Deal.

An early Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in Scribner, Nebraska was described as follows: General Improvement program for the Scribner city park. This includes: Construction of a 16 by 24 foot concrete and tile combination band stand and rest rooms: construction of 500 feet of 4 foot sidewalk; laying 550 feet of 1 inch water main to fountain and rest rooms; laying 750 feet of electric conduit and lighting system; removing 45 old tree stumps, and landscaping the 3 acre's on which the park is located. Eleven persons are working on this project.

A restroom facility in Pastorius Park, northwest Philadelphia, was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. A stone stating such can be found beneath a circular vent on the building.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed stone ovens and a stone comfort station at what was then Paxtang Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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 from New York City. The park was greatly improved by Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, with the help of federal New Deal funds and workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). On November 10, 1941, the New York City Department of Parks announced the completion of the massive overhaul of the 60-acre Isaac L. Rice Memorial...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use. The state parks commission acquired the land in 1933, but had no funds for development.  The CCC worked in the park from 1933 to 1941, but the sources do not always specify exact dates for each improvement.  The CCC enrollees built four comfort stations (restrooms) constructed of river stones.  Three are shown in the photos here. All the stone restrooms are still in operation. There are several other wood restrooms that could be the work of the...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use after the state parks commission acquired the land in 1933.  The enrollees worked out of Camp Big Sur from 1933 to 1941.  We believe Camp Big Sur was located either at the present Main Campground or at the Group Picnic Area. The CCC built campgrounds, picnic areas, a campfire center, and several stone restrooms (comfort stations). They also constructed the main lodge with a post office and cabins.  To this, they added a park headquarters and administration...

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 sections. In the south section, "A central free play area is flanked by three combination volleyball Legend basketball courts with removable goal posts, and a string, three shuffleboard courts and four paddle tennis courts. This entire section may be used for roller skating and flooded for ice skating." The north section contained benches and trees, a brick comfort station, a...

Plumb Beach (sometimes spelled "Plum") is a beach along the north shore of Rockaway Inlet, across the creek from Marine Park. It was originally an island, but Hog Creek was filled in during the late 1930s. The beach area was extensively developed by the WPA. At the time, the Island was part of Marine Park. An August 1941 Department of Parks press release announced the "completion of the development of Plum Island, Marine Park, Brooklyn. This new recreation area provides a small parking field just off the Belt Parkway, 50 picnic tables and 40 fireplaces, serviced by a concession building, comfort...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made the first improvements to the newly-acquired Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  Company 1903 worked out of a CCC camp established at the north end of the 'prairie' at the present park entrance in 1933.  The first order of business was to develop Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park itself, after which teams from Company 1903 worked at other state parks along the north coast of California.  The CCC camp closed in 1937. According to Engbeck (2002, pp. 21-22), the CCC enrollees laid out a day-use picnic area and a new campground with tables, benches, cupboards, and stoves,...

Private First Class Thomas Norton Memorial Playground, located on Nostrand Avenue south of Kings Highway, was acquired by the Parks Department in 1940 and completed by the WPA in 1941. The press release announcing the playground's opening described the WPA's work: "The half-acre area has been intensively developed in units designed for various age groups. The kindergarten section contains a sand pit, slides, swings and see-saws together with seating accommodations for mothers and guardians of children. Adjoining this is a space devoted to older children equipped with swings, slides and exercise unit. The central area contains a shower basin and a...

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 and under the bridge structure has been developed for specialized intensive forms of recreation adapted to the needs of various age groups. Central to this section is a new comfort station located on the line of 10 Street and surrounded by play apparatus for small children: sand pit, wading pool, swings, etc., and extending to the east a series of game...

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 addition to the Los Angeles recreation system in 1938. The area comprises thirty acres in the southwest section of the city, along Exposition Boulevard near La Brea Avenue. It is the largest municipal playground devoted exclusively to sports and recreation within the city. The site was donated by Mrs. Anita M. Baldwin in response to a request made by the Los...

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915 to preserve a spectacular section of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  Several new additions to the park have been made over the years, until it reached its present size of 415 square miles. The park saw considerable recreational development in the 1920s under the National Park Service (NPS), but it benefitted enormously in the 1930s from the New Deal.  Most notable of the New Deal agencies was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but the \ park also gained funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), road work by the Bureau of...

Red Hook Park in Brooklyn was one of several major parks and hundreds of playgrounds created in New York City with Federal funds in the New Deal era. In this 1938 text, Robert Moses describes the work accomplished in New York City parks, including Red Hook, by relief workers: "There are today 372 playgrounds, ranging from small neighborhood plots of a quarter acre to large developments such as Macombs Dam Park in The Bronx, Red Hook and McCarren Parks in Brooklyn, and Randall's Island, adjacent to the East Harlem section of Manhattan, all developed to take care of every type of recreation for both children and...

The Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners describes the role of federal funding in developing Reseda Park, which still serves the community today: "Reseda Park is one of the city parks located in San Fernando Valley at Reseda and Etiwanda Avenues, Kittridge Street, and Victory Boulevard. Being forty acres in area it provides a delightful recreational spot for the residents of San Fernando Valley. A great deal of improvement was accomplished during 1932-1933 with the help of the R.F.C. and County Welfare workmen. Fifteen hundred lineal feet of walks were built, involving the grading of 600...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942.  The CCC built the stone comfort station (restrooms) on a rise above the visitors' center. It is constructed with local stone with a flat roof in the same Southwest rustic style as the CCC visitors' center.  The restrooms still function – although a ranger said that after each winter it can need work.  There are modern restrooms in the new visitors' center.  Walnut Canyon is an important site of cliff dwellings left by the Sinagua people,...

"The WPA restroom building is a small rectangular structure oriented east-west near the northwest corner of Poplar and 4th  streets. Like the other WPA park buildings, random range quarry-faced ashlar limestone clads the walls of this building. "

On December 4, 1941, the NYC Department of Parks announced the start of construction on two new playgrounds in the Bronx, including what is now known as Rienzi Playground. The release explains that the WPA was removing sixteen 1-3 story brick buildings in preparation for the WPA construction of the play area, which would include: volleyball, basketball, tennis, handball and shuffleboard courts; a wading pool; a brick comfort station; slides, swings, seesaws, a sandpit and an exercise unit; and a softball diamond. Though begun by the WPA, however, the work was only completed later. The NYC Parks Department website, as well...

The New Deal contributed substantially to the betterment of Rock Creek Park in the 1930s.  This involved a number of federal agencies. Rock Creek Park is a key greenway in the District of Columbia and, at 1750 acres, is almost twice the size of Central Park in New York.  It was established by Congress in 1890, making it officially a National Park at the time.  It featured prominently in the far-reaching plans for the District of Columbia by the McMillan Commission in 1901-02 and the Olmsted Brothers report of 1918, which envisioned a major park with a scenic parkway running through it. In...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in concert with the city, developed the Municipal Park of Fortuna – now known as Rohner Park.  By 1940, the WPA was part of the reorganized Federal Works Agency (later to become the General Services Administration). The WPA project card indicates that relief workers were supposed to build baseball dugouts, restrooms, picnic tables and fireplaces, as well as a water and sewer system and hiking trails. A plaque in the park credits the WPA and city with developing the entire park.   There have been many additions and renovations since 1940. The restrooms, picnic area...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the rodeo grounds at the Municipal Park, now Rohner Park, in Fortuna.  WPA relief workers built the grandstand, judges stand, concession stands, restrooms and more – most of which appear to still be in place.   Next to the rodeo grounds is a large building called "Firemen's Hall", which may well be the barn  indicated in the original WPA work order (see image). At the entrance to the rodeo grounds, there is a marker crediting the WPA and the city of Fortuna with creating the Municipal Park.

The Roosevelt Field House, at the north end of Roosevelt Park in Piqua, Ohio, was constructed as a New Deal project with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Piqua Daily Call, Sept. 12, 1935: "Work of laying brick for the walls of the new field house at Roosevelt Park was scheduled to start sometime this week, according to Carl Anderson, of the Arm of H. L. and C. P. Anderson, general contractors of Dayton, constructing the new PWA project. Practically all steel work has been completed on the recreation hall, Contractor Anderson Indicated and everything was nearly ready for the...

Sabino Canyon Recreation Area is in Coronado National Forest at the northeast corner of Tucson AZ.  At the behest of the city of Tucson and Pima County, it was developed out of former mining and grazing land in the Santa Catalina Mountains by New Deal agencies, which built access roads, dams and recreational facilities.  Relief workers hired under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) all contributed to the park's improvement.  A major recreational lake never materialized, as funds ran out in the mid-1930s and, beside, dams in the desert quickly fill with sediment...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The Works Progress Administration built the Saltar's Point Park pavilion and comfort stations in Steilacoom WA in 1939.

On July 9, 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion of what is now the Eugene Sarsfield Playground in Brooklyn. The press release announcing the park's opening reported: "To provide a flat play surface it was necessary to construct a concrete retaining wall of variable height along the north property line with a short stairway access provided from Avenue "M". An 8' chain link boundary fence has been placed on top of this wall and along the entire property line. A second entrance leads from Flatlands Avenue near the corner of Ryder Street. Seventeen 2½-3" diameter Norway maples have been planted...

"Scenic State Park CCC/Rustic Style historic resources are located in two historic districts that include a public use area and service yard. The park contains ten contributing buildings and structures built among stands of virgin Norway and white pine on the shores of Coon and Sandwick Lakes. Architects for the park buildings were from the National Park Service... Scenic State Park was the first in the state to provide a complete range of recreational facilities developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The park’s Rustic Style buildings represent a remarkable collection of log structures that received considerable acclaim from the National Park...

The Department of Parks issued a press release on April 19, 1939 announcing the opening of Schmul Park on Staten Island. Park Commissioner Robert Moses presided over the ceremonies. The release explained that: "Approximately one-half of this 8½-acre plot has been developed by the Works Progress Administration under the supervision of the Park Department into a recreational area, equipped with playground apparatus, for the children of the adjacent community. There is also a one-story brick comfort station. Later, when sufficient fill is available, the remaining portion of the park will be developed to provide facilities for baseball and other types of group...

Multiple New Deal organizations, particularly the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), worked to develop Scotts Bluff National Monument during the 1930s. From the National Park Service: For a short time, construction efforts came under the guidance of an agency known as the Civil Work Administration, which continued until April 28, 1934, when all construction came to a stop. At this time a complete survey was conducted to identify the bluff's historic and natural resources and to determine its future needs. During this survey, Dr. Harold J. Cook was named the monument's first ranger and on December 20, 1934, another federal agency, the Public...

When the recreation area in Seward Park first opened in 1903, it was "the first permanent, municipally built playground in the United States" (NYC Parks). The park was significantly redeveloped during the New Deal. In April 1935, relief workers completed the reconstruction of the section of the park as a setting for the Jacob H. Schiff fountain, which had formerly been located in Rutgers Park. On November 26, 1940, Parks announced the completion of a good deal of this work: "This recreation area, one of the oldest and most extensively used in Manhattan, has been redesigned, reconstructed, and landscaped to provide wider all...

This modest playground near the Northern edge of Brooklyn was developed under the New Deal. A Department of Parks press release from April 1, 1935 announced the opening of this playground "constructed with Work Relief Funds" and went on to describe the park's development and new facilities: "The playground at Vandervoort Avenue and Cherry Street has an area of nearly an acre. The land was acquired by the Sinking Fund Commission by purchase at a cost of £22,500 and it was turned over to the Department of Parks on April 3, 1924, for development as a playground, but the land lay...

"Between May 11, 1933 and March 31, 1942, ten CCC camps were established within, or on leased land adjacent to, Shenandoah. At any one time, more than 1,000 boys and young men lived in camps supervised by the Army and worked on projects directed by the Service and the Bureau of Public Roads. Until the park was established officially on December 26, 1935, the bulk of CCC activity took place on the narrow 100 foot right-of-way of the Skyline Drive, in the few areas of purchased or donated land transferred to the federal government by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or on...

One of the first CCC camps in the park, (Camp N.P.-2), was established at Big Meadows. Some of the CCC camp structures remain. The CCC also created many of the structures that make up today's Big Meadows Campground. CCC works remaining include water fountains, comfort stations, picnic grounds, roads, cabins, a maintenance office, a gas/oil building, a stable/storage structure and more.

"Located south along the drive from Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain Development Area sits on a plateau approximately 3,400 feet above sea level east of Lewis Mountain and consists of a picnic grounds, lodge and eight cabins (having 15 overnight units), and a campground, 30 sites for tents or trailers, a picnic area, a camp store, and two comfort stations... Lewis Mountain’s facilities were built to accommodate African American visitors during the period of racial segregation that marked Depression-era Virginia. The developed area opened in the summer of 1939 but closed in 1942 for the duration of WWII. Desegregated after the war,...

The fire lookout tower and associated outbuildings at Sinking Creek were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934, probably under the supervision of the US Forest Service (USFS). The complex includes various buildings including a house, garage, and outhouse. Also on site are a water well and presumably a pump beneath concrete tops.   Access to the fire lookout tower is by a metal ladder rather than the stairs that were subsequently used by towers.  Currently, it is not in active use, but is near the sinking Creek Trailhead and part of the extensive Ozark trail system. The complex is located...

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the creation of the South Gate Entrance Station to Yosemite National Park.  This followed enlargement of the park by the addition of the area from Wawona south and was done as part of the Wawona Road reconstruction.  The new entrance station included a parking area, entrance station, comfort station (restroom), residences for park rangers and a garage. Of this work, the restroom and ranger residence are original New Deal structures.   The Historic American Engineer Record (HAER) report on the Wawona Road provides these details:  "In 1934, roads around the South Entrance station were...

South Mountain Park in Phoenix AZ was developed for public recreation by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1940. Among the works of the CCC were two ramadas, which are large, elaborate picnic areas, with stunning views north over the city of Phoenix. The ramadas consist of polished concrete picnic tables protected from the desert sun by wooden roofs raised on stone or concrete pillars, with large central spaces surrounded by stone walls.  The big ramada is very extensive and reached by stone steps.  Low stone walls line the approach road to the ramadas and the complex includes a path...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began to pursue improvements at San Jose’s St. James Park in 1937. While the two-square block city park had long been central to public and political life in the city, project leaders hoped that the New Deal initiative would make it “more attractive than ever.” Specific improvements such as “revamping” the park’s landscape and constructing an underground sprinkler system were estimated to cost $35,000. Another $150,000 were initially penciled in for the construction of new facilities and more general improvements in and around the park, but only restrooms were built. It appears.   An historical evaluation of...