Marinas and Aquatic Parks Sites

Miami and the surrounding Dade County were effectively without city or county parks until the 1930s.  The city got its first park in 1925, after which the city was devastated by a hurricane the following year. The county received its first donation of land for a park in 1929, which became Matheson Hammock Park.  In 1930, the park system got its own director and a beach park, Surfside, was added in 1932. The county began improvements on the parks using mostly convict labor and men sent by the Charity Office once the Depression hit, as well as starting a Roadside...

The Lake Clara bridge, boat house, band shell and retaining wall were all built by WPA workers of native limestone and are still standing. The bandshell was completed in 1938.

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...

During the 1930s the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at Ogdensburg's municipal dock.

An article in the Illustrated Daily News noted that as part of a group of 8 federally funded projects in the early period of the New Deal was "No. 3 - Construction of a municipal fish market in San Pedro. $205,000 will employ 130 to 170 men for 10 months." The Mission Revival style building exists today and provides fish wholesale to businesses and to the public early Saturday mornings from 3:30 to 7:30am.  

Extensive work was done in Berlin by a combination of the CWA, FERA, PWA, NYA, CCC and WPA all during the existence of the New Deal when “in 1935, under the leadership of newly-elected Mayor Arthur Bergeron, the Farmer-Labor Party began the process of reorganizing city government and acting as a conduit for federal monies in response to the mass lay-offs in the the Great Northern and Brown paper mills” (https://www.berlinnh.gov) 1935 The period of the Civil Works Administration ended on April 1, with jobs incomplete as follows Athletic Field, Boating and Bathing Pool at the Bog. 1936 "The Federal Work Projects have assisted...

This Tennessee state park was developed by several New Deal  "on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion." (wikipedia.org) "Three New Deal agencies, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Resettlement Administration, assumed responsibility for the park's initial planning and development. Like other early state parks, the Resettlement Administration relocated property owners from unproductive and overused farm land; the CCC and WPA began land replenishment and park construction. The CCC concentrated its efforts on reforestation work and instigated land stabilization programs that included the introduction of the Japanese vine...

The Blue Room is one of the original dining areas in the San Francisco Aquatic Park bathhouse,  constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building is now the visitors center for the National Maritime Historical Park. The building architects were William Mooser Jr and William Mooser III. The painting and murals were paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) and done under the supervision of Hilaire Hiler, lead artist for the entire building's artworks. Original drawings refer to this circular room on the eastern side of the second level as “restaurant.” There is no known record as to how it...

"Nichols Park is a municipal park developed between 1938 and 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Park Service (NPS). The park is located two miles south of downtown Henryetta in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma... Beginning in October 1938, the CCC constructed a handful of buildings, as well as a number of smaller resources including culverts, picnic tables, water faucets and fire pits in the park. With the 1910 dam on the west side, the CCC concentrated their construction efforts on the long sides of the lake with development occurring on nearly opposite sides of the lake... The...

Orchard Beach is an artificial beach 6,000 feet long on Pelham Bay in Pelham Bay Park on the east side of The Bronx, built by WPA workers under the direction of the New York City Parks Department. It required a major reconfiguration of the shoreline and sand imported from the Atlantic coast.  It included many auxillary improvements, most notably a large bathhouse behind the beach.  Researcher Frank da Cruz sums up New Deal involvement in developing the area based on multiple Parks Department press releases from the 1930s: "Orchard Beach  created by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) from a plan developed in...

"Lake Ottawa Recreation area is in a beautiful forested northwoods setting located 5 miles southwest of Iron River, Mi., on the Iron River Ranger District. Located in the general area is Lake Ottawa, Brule Lake, Hagerman Lake, Brule River, Bass Lake, the Historic Mile Post Zero/Treaty Tree, The Ge-Che Trail, and miles of hiking trails. Lake Ottawa Campground is 95% surrounded by National Forest System Land and offers a picnic shelter with two stone fireplaces and original log picnic tables, and two log toilet buildings, which were constructed by the CCC in the late 1930's. A pressurized water system and...

3 CCC camps were actively involved in the park's development from 1933-1942. In addition to repairing the pond and building Parker Dam, the CCC cleared beaches and bought a bathhouse and other bathing facilities. They also carried out extensive reforestation efforts, and built miles of roads, trails and bridges. Some traces of the CCC camps still remain.

The Pawnee bathhouse was built by the WPA in 1939: "The Pawnee Bath House, a WPA (Work Projects Administration) project built of hand-cut native stone with terraced stairway and landscaping, including a three acre lake for swimming, was originally intended to not only bring needed jobs for the area, but to also provide recreation for Pawnee and the surrounding communities. The project was an immediate success with the Grand Opening featuring a water carnival and dignitary visitation to include the Governor of Oklahoma along with the US WPA project coordinator. The bath house and swimming hole was a popular spot for...

Located along the Henry Hudson Parkway, the 79th Street Boat Basin is a marina, restaurant and still popular Manhattan destination. It was built in the 1930s with extensive New Deal support: "In a way, we owe the existence of the entire Riverside - Fort Washington Park complex to the 79th Street Boat Basin. In 1934, Robert Moses wanted to build a whole new park from 72nd Street all the way to the top of Manhattan but he needed to find the money. He already had funding for the Henry Hudson Parkway. Since the Parkway was to have an exit and entry...

“One of the CCC’s most important contributions was the well-engineered twenty-six-million-gallon capacity reservoir and dam in Rose Creek Meadow. The Rose Creek Reservoir was an incredible undertaking due to its location more than halfway up the mountainside. The labor-intensive water impoundment was largely constructed by manual labor and horse-drawn Fresno Scrapers. The long-term advantages of the Rose Creel Reservoir live on as the reservoir continues to provide a significant source of water to this day. Subsequent efforts focused on transporting additional water to the depot on the valley floor. CCC crews soon completed a 4.5-mile duplicate water-supply system (pipeline) and...

According to Big Timber Pioneer newspaper, Sacajawea Park in the town of Livingston, MT was one of 55 public parks 'built or improved' by the WPA in Montana between fall 1935 and Sept. 1938. The construction of Sacajawea Park involved a diversion of the Yellowstone River, creating a lake "that provide habitat for waterfowl. An arched stone bridge built by the WPA separates two of the ponds creating Sacajawea Lake." In addition to other "extensive improvements," WPA labor built a "lighted turf athletic field; and a spacious hard-surface tennis court area." Swimming and boating facilities were also provided.

This large island park in Omro, Wisconsin was established in the early 20th century and improved by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s: "In 1933, an adult swimming pool and a children's wading pool were built using a mix of local money and federal C.W.A. funds, which was followed by the construction of a bathhouse and dock in 1939 using village and W.P.A. funds."  (www.omro-wi.com)

In the late 1930s, the WPA rebuilt the piers along Emmons Avenue and the pedestrian footbridge spanning Sheepshead Bay. The footbridge connects Emmons Avenue with Shore Boulevard and Manhattan Beach. Excerpt from the (1939) WPA Guide to New York City, Federal Writers Project: The Sheepshead Bay Neighborhood, whose low wooden houses spread north of Emmons Avenue from the basin, has drawn metropolitan anglers and epicures since its founding in the early 1800's. Fronting the bay are many restaurants noted for their shore dinners. Best known are Lundy's, Villepigue's, Seidel's, the Beau Rivage, and Tappen's.   The Sheephead Bay fishing "fleet," consisting of about fifty boats,...

"As the economy began to shrink in 1931, the Santa Fe Railway had to cut its Albuquerque workforce by nearly 40 percent and reduce its workweek to four and a-half days. The county tried to help with temporary road jobs, and the federal government provided commodities, but it wasnt enough. In 1933 the Roosevelt Administration began the Civil Works Administration, which would provide a 90 percent match for public works projects. The CWA in 1933 and 1934 supported more than 30 projects in Albuquerque, including construction of Roosevelt Park and Tingley Beach, and provided hundreds of jobs." -Albuquerque Historical Society

Tyler State Park was developed by CCC Company 2888 from 1935-1941: "Set into the Piney Woods of East Texas, Tyler State Park reflects two major park development efforts. The first, directed by landscape architect Ben K. Chambers, involved extensive forest reclamation and land rehabilitation that included tree planting, development of a road system, and construction of a dam and lake. Architect Joe C. Lair oversaw the other effort, which focused on the development of essential park buildings. Particularly noteworthy, the architect’s designs represent a clear break from the National Park Service rustic style so often used at CCC parks, including many...

The Washington Marina was originally called Yacht Basin No. 1 and was part of a multi-million dollar improvement program for the Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront, funded by both the Army Corps of Engineers and the District Commission (DC government).  In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared by Executive Order that the nation’s capital needed a first class marina to meet the needs of recreational boaters (FDR was a great yachtsman). Roosevelt commissioned Charles Chaney, the Philadelphia Harbor engineer, to design and supervise the construction of what was then called Yacht Basin One.  The eastern half of the basin was built by the...

"Between 1933 and 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a work camp at Owl’s Gap (S-60-PA), east of the park. The corps members built pavilions, roads, beach and restrooms during this period. In 1935, the CCC dismantled the old dam and constructed the existing dam and bridge. In 1987, the 32-acre park day use area was designated the Whipple Dam National Historic District. This entry on the National Register of Historic Places recognizes, protects, and preserves the work site of one of the Depression-Era's most important relief programs, the CCC. The CCC work was performed to guidelines embraced by the...