Golf Courses Sites

The WPA helped build Forstyth Golf Course in 1935.

The WPA constructed the Town of Hancock Golf Course in Hancock, New York in 1941.

The construction of Mahnomen Golf Course east of the town of Mahnomen was a WPA project from 1935 to 1936. The course is now part of Mahnomen County Country Club.

Between 1935 and 1939, the WPA constructed the first nine holes of this golf course.

The 9-hole golf course was designed by Perry Maxwell in 1939 and constructed with WPA labor. Although another 9 holes were added in later years, the original design by Maxwell is still in use. "...public recreation centers offered the greatest benefit to society as a means of promoting health and happiness" (Jerris, 2009).

The WPA constructed the first nine holes of the Tipton golf course in 1937.  

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "Because of WPA and the Winthrop Golf Club the formerly ugly marsh is now a recreational beauty spot. The golf club reclaimed a spot in the centre of the marsh and created a nine-hole course."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a golf course in Crawford, Nebraska in 1936. Living New Deal believes the golf course to be no longer extant, located at a bend in Dodd road to the northwest of the city and the current city park. Northwest Nebraska News: "The WPA project for the improvement of the Crawford city golf course which has been in progress for the last two months was completed this week New greens were built, bunkers and other improvements have been made which makes the Crawford course one of the best in this sector of the state. To keep automobile...

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported: "Work started recently on a clubhouse at the Kalispell golf course, according to Mayor J. P. Bruckhauser. The building. 70 feet by 38 feet, will be built by WPA labor at a cost of approximately $10.000." Exact location and current status unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) expanded and improved the Goodwin Park Golf Course in Hartford CT. The WPA extended the golf course to 9 holes. The Goodwin Park Golf Course is still in use today.

"During the Great Depression (1929-1939), the New York State Department of Conservation (under the administration of then-governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and later the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the park's roads, buildings, cabins, golf course and trails. CCC camps for project SP-12 were created on the property of the park. CCC company 1203, and subsequently 2211 (a company of veterans of the 1898 Spanish–American War), were assigned to the project. These men hauled loads of sand from Sylvan Beach (on nearby Oneida Lake) to create a sandy beach; they dug the basements of the park buildings by hand. The CCC...

"Green Lakes State Park has an 18-hole public golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1935. The course was one of Trent Jones' earliest; ultimately, he was credited with designing about 500 courses. In lieu of payment for its design, he was given a ten-year lease for $1.00/year. Jones opened the course on May 6, 1936."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed improvements at the municipal Greenbelt Golf Course in Columbus, IN. The Evening Republican, (1/12/1939) states that the funds allocated amounted to "$28,399 for improvements at city golf course." The article describes the approval of the WPA project including improvements to the golf course, flood control work—straightening the creek bed and widening the channel at the Tenth Street bridge—on the creek through the property, and construction of picnic grounds (now removed). An article in The Evening Republican (5/4/1939) describes the rescue of a swimmer near the "dam at the golf course" and notes that WPA workers from...

WPA crews constructed the Greenhaven Golf Course, originally a nine-hole course, in 1937. It is now part of Greenhaven Country Club.

"WPA funds were responsible for various projects in park, including construction of a 9 hole golf course on the former Griffith Reservation. At the urging of Mayor Frank Shaw, it was named in honor of President Roosevelt in 1937."

A mission revival style building. In July 1933, the Illustrated Daily News reported that under various projects that were being initiated under the CWA and CCC in Griffith Park as part of the first large wave of mass employment projects was a club house and a sprinkler system for the golf course at a cost of $128,988. The plaque on the clubhouse though says Built by the United States Works Progress Administration 1937

Located approximately seven miles south of Harlan, Kentucky by U.S. 421 and Highway 3001, Harlan Country Club was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) and completed in 1941. The course, designed by Sye Simonton, is still in service.

"In Clovis, the Curry County Court House is listed as one of the buildings built in 1936. Twila Ky Rutter, Grant Facilitator and Procurement Clerk, unable to locate a photograph of the building as it was originally, referred me to Don McAlavy, a local historian. He didn't have the photo I was chasing but he gave me other valuable information: i.e., the sunken garden and the arch over Hillcrest Park as WPA projects. The City provided materials, much of which were found in the area, and WPA provided manpower. There are other evidences of WPA work in Clovis but remodeling...

WPA crews conducted improvements to this course from 1935 to 1936. From a 1936 story in Golfdom Magazine: "$75,000 is being spent through the WPA for remodeling fairways on the J. Edward Good Park Golf Club at Akron, Ohio."  

"The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge and Golf Course Complex is a resort located near Copper Harbor, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and is open to the public... During the early 1930s, the Great Depression hit Keweenaw County hard. The mining industry had fallen on hard times, and unemployment stood at over seventy percent. Ocha Potter, the head of the Keweenaw Road Commission and superintendent of Ahmeek Mine, conceived of constructing a resort complex in the county. In 1933, he applied to the Federal government for...

This golf course at Kissena Park in outer Queens was one of several golf courses created with federal funding under Robert Moses' tenure as Parks Commissioner. The Department of Parks first announced the opening of the course in August 1935. Another Department press release in May 1936 announced the opening of the Kissena Park golf course again, suggesting that there was likely further work done in the meantime. The 1936 release further noted that the work was completed "with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A."

On May 7, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of the newly constructed second nine and the reconstructed first nine at La Tourette Golf Course in Staten Island, which had been “thoroughly reconstructed with new tees and greens throughout…with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A.” The course is still in use.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the club house at the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course in 1939-40, in conjunction with the City of Oakland Parks Department. The Mission Revival style building is still intact, including most of the interior.  It has a lovely main hall with a bar and behind that, the Chabot Cafe.  The entrance hall has a closed-off fireplace and original tile work.  In front, there is a Mission-style breezeway with tiled floor. Decorative stone walls line the road, both entry paths, and the practice putting green next to the clubhouse. In 1939, the WPA was brought under the umbrella...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved and enlarged every hole at the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course, in conjunction with the City of Oakland Parks Department.  The WPA workers also construction a two level parking area with stone walls. It is an 18-hole course that serves a diverse population from Oakland, including many African American and Asian American golfers.  A 36-hole disk (frisbee) course has been added in recent years. One claim to fame for the course is that it served the young Tony Lema, an Oakland native, who was taught by the course pros and elder statesmen.

According to the Jones County governmental website, “The original 9-hole layout was designed and built in 1939 by the WPA in conjunction with the Jonesco Clubhouse. The original construction included two small lakes, a pavilion, a swimming and diving facility and male and female bathhouses which were used by the general public until the mid 1960’s.”

In the summer of 1933, the City of Sweetwater offered land on Lake Sweetwater to the State of Texas in exchange for the state developing a park. Development started with the Civil Works Administration in the winter of 1933 with construction of a refectory at the site. In fall 1934, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(V) arrived to continue work. The company was a mix of white and black enrollees. Six months later the unit became the state's only all black company. As a result, politicians demanded the removal of the camp, and the company moved to Lake Abilene State Park. While...

Description of a project undertaken by the W.P.A. in 1937: "Riverside Public Golf Course; this golf course, in Weston, was greatly improved by the completion of work started in 1936. The major items of work were: the removal of a hill (3,500 cubic yards of gravel) and construction of a new tee and green at No. 16 hole; seventeen tees were enlarged by approximately 35 square yards each; dead trees at No. 12 and 15 fairways were removed and 75 young pines were set out; approximately 5,000 feet of irrigation pipe was installed." Riverside was renamed Leo J. Martin Memorial Golf Course.

Built this modern clubhouse with latest devices for the pleasure and comfort of the public. Like Harding Golf Club it has become a very popular asset.--Healy, p. 59.

Lions Municipal Golf Course was constructed in 1924 for the Lions Club and has been operated by the City of Austin, Texas since 1937. The course was Austin's first public golf course and is historically notable for being the first golf course south of the Mason-Dixon Line to racially integrate. The Works Progress Administration approved a project for the installation of a sprinkling system on the greens and fairways of the golf course and other general improvements to the grounds. The project involved the expenditure of $9,538.70 of federal funds and $11,539.00 of city funds.

Lockhart State Park is located at the southwestern edge of Lockhart, Texas and is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park consists of 263.7 acres of land that was purchased by the State of Texas on December 14, 1934. The park was constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 3803 between 1935 and 1938. The park was leased to a local country club until 1948 and then opened to the public as a state park. The CCC built the park residence, the combination building, Park Road 10, a stone arch bridge, a swimming pool, a concrete water storage...

The second nine holes of the Milham Park Golf Course in Kalamazoo, Michigan, were constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. From the Milham Park website: "The course is considered to be one of the best-conditioned municipal courses anywhere, and regularly hosts city and county tournaments.  The first nine holes at were completed in 1931 and turned over to the KMGA for operation and maintenance. Robert Millar was the first golf professional at Milham Park.  The second nine holes were built as a WPA-assisted project and put into play in June, 1936." Built at the depth of the...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements Morro Bay State Park, as it did throughout California's new state park system.  These included picnic areas, an entrance road, comfort staton, ranger lodge, and stone walls.  The work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and state relief workers. As Engbeck (2002) explains: "CCC Company 1916-V, made up of World War I veterans, moved into Camp Morro Bay on May 11, 1934.... Check dams were constructed on Chorro Creek above Morro Bay in order to prevent flooding of the 're-claimed lands' that were to be 'utilized as beach areas and scenic...

Mosholu Golf Course is in the southeast corner of Van Cortlandt Park is a public golf course built with 9 holes rather than 18. It specializes in children and teenagers. It opened in 1914. A New York City Parks Department press release from May 7, 1936 described New Deal improvements to the golf course: “Van Cortlandt and Mosholu in the Bronx ... have been reconditioned and remodeled to some extent. All this work has been done with relief funds provided by the C.W.A., T.E.R.A. and W.P.A.”

WPA Bulletin, Aug. 1936: A new Mt. Hood Golf Course Clubhouse has been constructed by WPA. The building, one story and attic, is fire- proof throughout, has a stone exterior, asbestos shingle roof, contains a brick fireplace and is finished inside with natural wood, wood finish tile and has some flagstone floors. "The park and golf course were completed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1937." (MtHoodPA.com)

www.amsterdammuni.com describes the development of Amsterdam, New York's Municipal Golf Course: The effort to create the Amsterdam Municipal Golf Course began on July 17, 1934 with the allocation of $3,500 by the Recreation Commission , City Council and Mayor Arthur Carter. In December 1934, Mayor Carter and the Common Council approved the purchase of approximately 182 acres of land. Construction was made possible through a $100,000 federal appropriation under the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). As many as 175 WPA employees worked on the project. The designer of the course was Robert Trent Jones, Sr., who went on to be a legend...

Circa 1933 to 1935, FERA and CWA workers (and possibly WPA workers) constructed this golf course. From the City of Schenectady website: The course opened in 1935. It was designed by A. F. Knight (the inventor of the "Schenectady Putter") and Jim Thompson, and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA), both predecessors of the well-known Works Progress Administration (WPA). Schenectady Municipal Golf Course stretches to 6600 yards (6000 m) and features fast, undulating greens and tight fairways blanketed within grasses and native vegetation. Schenectady Municipal Golf Course was ranked by Golf Digest...

Although the golf course is no longer being maintained or used, the fairways and recently constructed cart paths remain. It was part of a larger WPA project that included development of the municipal park and swimming pool construction. The park remains and is in use with shelters, playgrounds, though the swimming pool is no longer present. The site is now known as the Sikeston Recreation Complex.

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was a "Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse, $14,945.72." The golf course in question and the status of the facility are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) conducted improvement / development work at Casper's municipal golf course, also known as the Casper Community Club. The work was described in a newspaper article as "municipal golf club-house and fairways." Casper Star-Tribune, March 3, 1935: "The new Casper Community club golf house was built at a cost of $21,047. In addition, nine supplementary greens were constructed on the course." Based on recent imagery Living New Deal believes the clubhouse is no longer extant.

This Caroga Lake golf course was opened in 1929. In the 1930s, WPA workers cleared underbrush, built bridges and benches, and installed tennis courts at the course.