Anacostia Park is one of Washington DC’s two largest parks and recreation areas, along with Rock Creek Park. It covers over 1200 acres along the Anacostia River from South Capitol Street SE to the Maryland boundary in NE. The New… read more
The Langston Golf Course in Anacostia Park was opened as a 9-hole course in 1939 (and expanded to 18 holes in the 1950s). It was constructed with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Project Administration (WPA)…. read more
Referred to in the archives as Arcadia Recreation Center. “During World War I, this site was known as Ross Field, a U.S. balloon training school for more than 3,500 military personnel. WPA workers transformed the area into a park and… read more
There is a record in the National Archives of the Public Works Administration (PWA) funding the construction of a golf course at the Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe (now the Arizona State University). It is unclear what kind of… read more
This beautiful park is nestled in the “Lost Pines” area of Texas. The park was built as a CCC project and opened to the public in 1937. In September 2011 96% of the park was burned by a devastating wildfire;… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve the public golf course at Battle Island State Park.
Bethpage State Park is a 1,476-acre New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. It is best known for its five golf courses, including the Bethpage Black Course. “The park’s clubhouse and… read more
The WPA helped build Bowden Golf Course in 1940. From the Bowden Golf Course website: “The 18-hole Bowden Golf Course in Macon, Georgia is a public golf course that opened in 1940. Designed by W.P.A., Bowden Golf Course measures 6570… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Brewton Alabama Country Club and facilities for an adjacent airport on Highway 31 in Brewton. Next to the country club, the WPA built a nine-hole golf course, a landing field, 5000 linear feet of runway, and… read more
A former municipal golf course in Brunswick Georgia built by Donald Ross and the WPA. It was purchased in the 1950’s as a private club and has recently been rehabilitated.
The Works Progress Administration built the club house for the Buffalo Golf Course in Buffalo, Johnson County.
The WPA constructed the 9-hole Cameron Course at what is now Buffalo Hill Golf Club. From the Buffalo Hill Golf Club website: “In the early 1930’s, land was purchased where part of the Cameron 9 holes now resides. The Cameron… read more
Camp Long is a 68-acre park in West Seattle. The park was constructed with WPA help starting n 1937. It was dedicated in 1941. WPA work in the park includes extensive rock work, the construction of a golf course, cabins… read more
The Capital City County Club Golf Course was originally a 9-hole golf course developed by George Perkins. In 1924, the newly-incorporated Tallahassee Country Club purchased the golf course from Perkins. In 1935, the Tallahassee Country Club donated the land to… read more
NYSParks.com: “Located in Chenango Valley State Park in scenic Broome County, the original 9-hole course, known as Riverside Golf Course, was designed by engineer James Evans and landscape architect Laurie Cox and constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the… read more
The golf course was built in 1940, and is one of only two golf courses built by the Federal Works Progress Administration in Oklahoma. This a 160-acre, 18-hole course sits on the southeast edge of town and is currently leased to… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work on the development of a city park, swimming pool, and golf course in January 1939. Bath houses, seats, wading pool, bandstand, rock veneer golf house with showers, and picnic tables of rock veneer… read more
“South of town, the WPA built a rustic club building for the 9-hole golf course at a new country club; the building, however, was heavily altered and later burned.” The building “served as a city-owned recreation center until its conversion… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers expanded D.W. Field Golf Course in Brockton, Mass. WPA Bulletin: Brockton WPA added ten acres to the original 30 acres of fairways, built bunkers to tax the skill of players, widened fairways and did extensive… read more
"Golf was played on land leased and eventually purchased from the City of Deming. The original course (nine holes) started with sand greens, but since sand tended to blow out in strong winds magnetite was used to replace the sand…. read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Municipal Golf Course and club house in Douglas, Converse County, Wyoming. The facility is still in service today and operates under the name Douglas Community Club.
The Dyker Beach Golf Course first opened in 1897. It was redesigned by Jon Van Kleek in 1935-1936. On May 7, 1936, the Department of Parks announced that the Dyker Beach Golf Course had been “thoroughly reconstructed with new tees… read more
East Potomac Park rests on an artificial peninsula created with dredge spoils from the Potomac River by the Corps of Engineers. The park opened to the public in 1912 and was largely developed in the 1920s. The Civilian Conservation Corps… read more
Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers provided landscaping improvements to the Eastmoreland Golf Course, the City of Portland’s oldest municipal course, during 1937. The $26,348 project budget was made up almost entirely of labor costs. As a Parks Bureau report notes,… read more
The historic El Monte Clubhouse in Ogden, Utah was constructed as part of a New Deal project by Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). These agencies preced the Works Progress Administration (WPA), to which the building… read more
FERA started and the WPA completed the construction of these two 18-hole golf courses between 1933 and 1940.
From the Flatirons Golf Course website: “Flatirons Golf Course has a long and illustrious history as Boulder’s premier golf club. Architect William H. Tucker was commissioned by the members of the Boulder Country Club, located at 28th and Iris, to… read more
The Florida Caverns Golf Course is located on the grounds of the Florida Caverns State Park near the city of Marianna in Jackson County. In February 1938, State Forester and Park Executive Harry Lee Baker brought in golf course architect… read more
Salt Lake City acquired the Forest Dale golf course, formerly the Salt Lake City Country Club, in 1935. The inclusion of the above photograph in the National Archives WPA records suggests that the WPA conducted work on the clubhouse depicted in the… read more
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… read more
In 1936, WPA crews expanded the Forest Park Golf Course from 9 holes to 18 holes.
On July 16, 1935, the Department of Parks announced that the Forest Park Golf Course in Queens had been “entirely rebuilt with new greens and tees in line with the most modern golf architecture.” A later press release confirmed that… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers conducted the following work in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: WPA beautification of the Cambridge Fresh Pond Parkway golf course includes the filling of unsightly water filled pools, messed with an accumulation of assorted… read more
The George Wright Clubhouse is a facility part of a municipal golf course located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, MA. The course was designed by Donald Ross and named for George Wright, one of the original members of the… read more
“George Wright Golf Course is a Donald Ross designed, public golf course in Hyde Park, Massachusetts that was opened in 1938 after receiving President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding to complete the construction.”
From Marguerite Cline in the Cherokee Tribune: “Construction of the current Canton Golf Course was a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal. It was built by the WPA – Works Progress Administration program. Critics joked about the program… read more
From the Elizabethton Golf Course website: “In late 1935 a group of Elizabethton business men made plans to buy and develop some local property into a golf course. They retained Raymond Campbell, Attorney and charter member of the group, to… read more
Check out our latest map and guide to the work of the New Deal in Washington, D.C. It includes 500 New Deal sites in the District alone, highlighting 34 notable sites, and includes an inset map of the area around the National Mall which can be used for self-guided walking tours.
Take a look at our previous guides, equally comprehensive, covering key New Deal sites in San Francisco and New York City.
