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  • Huntsville State Park - Huntsville TX
    In the early 1930s, at a meeting of the Huntsville-Walker County Chamber of Commerce, it was suggested that a park be built around Huntsville. The Chamber of Commerce took the proposal to the Texas State Parks Board. The board required that the community provide the land for the park. Twenty thousand dollars in bonds would have to be sold by Walker County to pay for the land needed. In early 1936, the bond issue passed with more than four to one in favor of selling the bonds. From 1937 to 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(CV), an experienced company of...
  • International Peace Garden - Dunseith ND
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the International Peace Garden during the 1930s.
  • Itasca State Park: Development - Park Rapids MN
    Between 1933 and 1942, relief workers stationed at two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps and one Works Progress Administration (WPA) camp carried out extensive development of Itasca State Park at the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  They constructed 45 buildings in the Rustic Style, and myriad other structures, as well as creating campgrounds, picnic areas and a trail system. Buildings were constructed under the supervision of the Minnesota Central Design Office of the National Park Service and Edward W. Barber and V. C. Martin were the principal architects. According to the Minnesota Historical Society “Log construction was generally used because timber...
  • Jackson Pond (former) Improvements - Richmond Hill NY
    "Local children frequented the popular Jackson Pond in all seasons, swimming, fishing, sailing model boats, and ice-skating. Parks replaced the mud bottom with a brownstone pebble gravel bottom in 1931, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved it for the local residents in 1941. By 1966, the pebble bottom became structurally unsound, raising concern about the safety of park-goers, especially during ice-skating season. The pond was filled with cement, and became used for basketball courts." Two basketball courts are located across the street from the still-used Jackson Pond Playground. Thus, the old Jackson Pond was located along the north side of...
  • Jackson-Washington State Forest Pond (Cypress Pond) - Brownstown IN
    Impounded nearly circle pond of approx. ¾ acre. Overflow outlet at Southeast. Intended to display aquatic plantings cypress trees line the far edge on the north and west. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935.
  • Jackson-Washington State Forest Sawmill Hollow Lake & Dam - Brownstown IN
    Approx. 7 acre. lake, impounded by earth dam with small concrete overflow outlet. Small hip-roof frame structure. The two structures below the dam comprised a filter plant. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934.
  • Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area Duck Pond - Medaryville IN
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a duck pond between 1934-35. The round lake is approximately 1 acre surrounded by concrete posts. In the center of the lake is a round island with stone lining.
  • Jefferson Lake State Park - Richmond OH
    "Jefferson Lake State Park was developed on 962 acres in the valley of the Town Fork of Yellow Creek. Land acquisition began in 1928. The lake and other facilities were constructed by the National Park Service in cooperation with the old Ohio Division of Conservation as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The dam was constructed in 1934 and the 17-acre lake was filled in 1946. In 1950, the area was turned over to the newly created Division of Parks and Recreation."
  • John James Audubon State Park - Henderson KY
    “In 1930, the Henderson Audubon Society requested $100,000 from the Federal government to help construct an Audubon Museum. The Society had a large and growing collection of Audubon artifacts that needed proper housing. National interest in the works of Audubon had increased through the years and now seemed the right time to involve the government in helping preserve and promote the Audubon collection. A bill introduced in Congress to appropriate money for the Audubon project failed to pass. Undeterred, local citizens continued to raise funds for the proposed museum. By 1934, 275 acres had been acquired through donations and purchase....
  • Kendall State Park - Brecksville OH
    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...
  • Kissena Lake Draining - Flushing NY
    In 2002 New York City's Parks Department wrote: "March’s Capital Project of the Month is the restoration of Kissena Lake. It will be undergoing a $1.77 million restoration project, funded by Council Member Julia Harrison, beginning this spring. It is said that the lake and park are named after the Chippewa word "kissina," meaning "it is cold." This capital project is necessary because of construction done to the lake sixty years ago. The WPA drained the lake in 1943 and filled it with a concrete liner, giving it the nickname of a "bathtub lake." While originally this project was meant to improve...
  • Kissena Park - Flushing NY
    The extensive Kissena Park was first established in the early 1900s and now forms part of the "Queens Corridor" park system. In addition to building a golf course at the east end of the park in the mid 1930s, in 1941, the WPA completed extensive work on the main section of the park surrounding Kissena Lake in 1941: "Included in the new improvement is a new modern one story brick boat house and boat landing constructed on the east shore of the lake replacing the old outmoded frame boat house and dock formerly located on the south bank adjacent to the...
  • Kooser State Park - Somerset PA
    Kooser State Park in Western Pennsylvania is surrounded by the Forbes State Forest. "The park’s original design character was stamped by the Civilian Conservation Corps projects of the 1930s that established the existing lake and most of its use areas, its architecture and site details."   (https://www.dcnr.state.pa.us) "The CCC established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression built a camp on the western edge of Kooser State Park. The young men of the CCC built the dam on Kooser Run creating Kooser Lake. They also built roads, outdoor fireplaces and cabins. Much of their work can still be seen today...
  • Lake - Gitano MS
    A chain of lakes for the hill counties of Mississippi was proposed in 1936 by Si Corley, director of conservation of the State Game and Fish commission. Funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in concert with the sponsorship of the Game and Fish commission began the construction of a series of lakes adjacent to cities in the hill counties including a small artificial lake near Gitano. Exact location is unknown.
  • Lake - Pelahatchie MS
    A chain of lakes for the hill counties of Mississippi was proposed in 1936 by Si Corley, director of conservation of the State Game and Fish commission. Funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in concert with the sponsorship of the Game and Fish commission began the construction of a series of lakes adjacent to a number of hill county cities including at Pelahatchie. Corley pointed out that in addition to providing sites for outdoor sports, when fully stocked, the lakes could produce 2,000 pounds of fish per acre each year. In addition, they would be migratory bird sanctuaries. The...
  • Lake - Raymond MS
    A chain of lakes for the hill counties of Mississippi was proposed in 1936 by Si Corley, director of conservation of the State Game and Fish commission. Funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in concert with the sponsorship of the Game and Fish commission began the construction of a series of lakes adjacent to several hill county cities including Raymond. WPA workers constructed the lake about one mile from Raymond. Corley pointed out that in addition to providing sites for outdoor sports, when fully stocked, the lakes could produce 2,000 pounds of fish per acre each year. In addition,...
  • Lake Ashburton Pumping Station and Improvements - Baltimore MD
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the park at Lake Ashburton, constructing a fence and walkway around said. Maryland WPA Project #13. The Public Works Administration also built the lake's pumping station for the Baltimore water system.
  • Lake Bogue Homa - Laurel MS
    Mississippi State Game and Fish Commission sponsored the Works Progress Administration to create a number of lakes for recreation purposes. Near Laurel, Lake Gates was approximately 1500 acres, fed by the Boguehoma Creek. The project began in 1936, and was completed in 1939. At some point by 1947, the name had been changed to Lake Bogue Homa. The lake remains an active fishing location and has been improved over the years.
  • Lake Carasaljo Boat House - Lakewood NJ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a boat house along Lake Carasaljo in Lakewood, New Jersey in 1936. The structure was constructed "from wood and stone salvaged from the surrounding countryside." The exact location of the house and its current status are unknown to Living New Deal. WPA Project No. 5-15-11.
  • Lake Fort Phantom Hill Dam - Abilene TX
    New Deal funds aided in the construction a dam north of Abilene on Elm Creek, resulting in the creation of Lake Fort Phantom Hill. The lake continues to be "the city’s main water source." Sources do not indicate exactly which New Deal program(s) provided the funding and/or labor for this project.
  • Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge - Dunn Center ND
    Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1939 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which wikipedia incorrectly calls an act of Congress in 1938).  The land was purchased and administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey (which morphed into the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940). The region was one of the last parts of the country to be settled by farmers and before long the area suffered from drought and dust storms like much of the rest of the Great Plains in the 1930s. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) help the locals realize their plan to...
  • Lake Konomoc Improvements - Warerford CT
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Lake Konomoc in Waterford, Connecticut. Work included "overcoming plant and microscopic growth and cleaning brush from the watershed."
  • Lake Leatherwood Park - Eureka Springs AR
    "This nomination seeks to recognize the entire property comprising Lake Leatherwood Park as a National Register Historic District.  Previously, Lake Leatherwood Dam and Recreational Facilities, consisting of the bathhouse and the picnic shelter, were listed individually in the National Register on August 12, 1992.  Since that time, additional AHPP survey efforts through the initiation of the Eureka Springs Parks Commission have revealed a large number of additional buildings, structures, and sites within the park that were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps as well as resources dating before and after the CCC period.  It is being nominated under Criteria A,...
  • Lake Manawa Improvements - Council Bluffs IA
    The WPA dredged and improved the lake in 1935-1936.
  • Lake Marion Land Clearing - SC
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers worked to clear land in preparation for the creation of the 155-square-mile Lake Marion, part of the Santee Cooper Project. South Carolina Encyclopedia: "Following a four-year court battle, construction began in 1939. At its peak, the project employed nearly fifteen thousand workers, most of whom came from Depression relief rolls. Living in military-style camps scattered throughout the Santee and Pinopolis basins, the laborers cleared more than 160,000 acres with handsaws and mule-drawn wagons. They hauled dirt and clay to dam sites, built railroads, relocated cemeteries, and aided in the construction of the diversion and tail-race canals...
  • Lake Mitchell - Mitchell SD
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed this lake in Mitchell, South Dakota.
  • Lake Moultrie Land Clearing - SC
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers worked to clear land in preparation for the creation of the 95-square-mile Lake Moultrie, part of the Santee Cooper Project. South Carolina Encyclopedia: "Following a four-year court battle, construction began in 1939. At its peak, the project employed nearly fifteen thousand workers, most of whom came from Depression relief rolls. Living in military-style camps scattered throughout the Santee and Pinopolis basins, the laborers cleared more than 160,000 acres with handsaws and mule-drawn wagons. They hauled dirt and clay to dam sites, built railroads, relocated cemeteries, and aided in the construction of the diversion and tail-race canals...
  • Lake Murray State Park - Ardmore OK
    Both the CCC and the WPA worked extensively on Lake Murray State Park in the 1930s. The lake itself was completed in 1937 and opened to the public in 1938. The Lake's iconic Tucker Tower was started by the New Deal workers, but not finished until the early 1950s. An article on www.americasstateparks.org describes CCC work in the park in detail: "Members of the CCC constructed 10 state parks in Oklahoma, beginning with Lake Murray State Park, the first and largest of the original parks. Recruits began construction on park structures in 1935, two years after the inception of the CCC....
  • Lake Placid - Stover MO
    This water retention dam and lake was constructed by the WPA in 1937. It was was justified as being for potential needs in a drought, but which primarily served as a place for water recreation for African American families in the Kansas City area. At the time, there was very limited opportunity for outdoor recreation for blacks in Kansas City, essentially being a small section of Swope Park nicknamed "watermelon hill." The surrounding land was privately owned by some of the wealthier black families in the Kansas City area.
  • Lake Sammamish Dredging - Issaquah WA
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook the dredging of Lake Sammamish, in Lake Sammamish State Park, in 1934.
  • Lake Sealy - Santa Anna TX
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built Lake Sealy in 1940 under official project number 665-66-2-391. The WPA constructed a 750 foot earthen dam to impound the lake, covering the lakeside of the dam with riprap and sodding the back side. The lake currently provides no water or revenue for the City of Santa Anna which owns it. The lake was used for recreational fishing and then leased to a private landowner.
  • Lake Shetek State Park - Currie MN
    The Wikipedia page for Lake Shetek State Park, indicates that both the FERA and the WPA played instrumental roles in the early development of the park, including roads, sewers, and the construction of several structures, some of which are still in the park today. From the Murray County website: Much of the early development and construction of park facilities was done by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. The workers were part of a WPA Camp which was located on Keeley Island, across the lake to the west, from 1934 to 1940. The camp employed 200 transient and homeless men. Initially operated...
  • Lake Springfield Beach and Beach House - Springfield IL
    "The bathhouse at the new Lake Springfield beach area started out as a Civil Works Administration program but couldn’t be finished as a work relief program because there was “an absence of skilled workers on the relief rolls,” according to the Illinois State Journal in 1933. It was completed by private construction. The beach opened in 1935 with help from the federal programs. Public parks, the wildlife sanctuary and other recreational areas also benefited."
  • Lake Springfield Development - Springfield IL
    "The PWA and WPA also provided funding for projects around Lake Springfield, including landscaping and placing riprap. ... The WPA would later aid in ... other Lake Springfield projects."
  • Lake Taghkanic State Park - Ancram NY
    NYSParks.com: "The park was donated to the State of New York in 1929 by Dr. McRa Livingston with the provision that the lake and park be named Lake Taghkanic. The lake had been previously known as Lake Charlott. In 1933 a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp was established at the park. C.C.C. projects in the park included construction of the East Bathhouse, the East Beach, the camping and cabin areas and the water tower."
  • Lake Tangipahoa - McComb MS
    Preliminary work on one of the largest earth dams to be constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees in the south began with the clearing of the site for a 540-acre lake along the Tangipahoa river. Excavation began July 1, with work on the dam construction planned for mid July. Plans called for a barrier of 100,000 cubic yards of earth, spillway 300 feet wide and 800 feet long. The work was on Highway 48, five miles southwest of McComb. Engineer was George Long supervising the local crew of the Civilian Conservation Corp enrollees. Lake Tangipahoa was adjacent to the...
  • Lake Tomahawk and Community Building - Black Mountain NC
    In 1934 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Lake Administration (FERA) constructed a dam to impound a recreational lake: Lake Tomahawk, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, as well as a community building and boathouse at its shore. The lake "was officially opened on Labor Day weekend in 1934." The community building featured shingle siding and a large room for social gatherings and boating and bathing facilities. The building is still in use today and the lake continues as a gathering spot. "The community house, built at Black Mountain, in Buncombe County, under project No. 11A-B11-2, is situated on the shore...
  • Lake Wabaunsee - Eskridge KS
    This recreational lake in Eastern Kansas was completed by the WPA and German POWs. Work included a dam and spill way. The lake is still a popular recreational area for residents of Topeka and nearby towns.
  • Lake Wapello State Park - Drakesville IA
    Construction on the man-made lake itself began in 1932 and was completed with help from the CCC: "In April of 1933, reforestation camps (Civilian Conservation Corps) were located in Iowa.  Camp #773, Camp Roosevelt Civilian Reforestation Army, was stationed at Lake Wapello.  George W. Vaughn was the army officer in charge of the men.  The 187 recruits assigned to Camp Roosevelt arrived on May 30th, the additional 25 men who completed the camp's enrollment were mustered from local unemployed men.  These men were assigned to gully erosion work, because erosion might dump crumbling tons of shore into the newly formed body...
  • Lake Wappapello Dam - Wappapello MO
    Constructed in 1940 by the Army Corps of Engineers, this dam created the 45,000-acre Lake Wappapello reservoir on the St. Francis River. Constructed with the primary intention of flood control, Lake Wappapello continues to offer recreational opportunities including boating, fishing, and camping to the public.
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