Parks and Recreation Sites

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in the newly-minted Death Valley National Monument  from 1933 to 1942.  As one of their many projects, the CCC 'boys' constructed a summer headquarters and residential area for the National Park Service at Wildrose, high in the Panamint Mountains.   Summer heat made the regular headquarters and CCC camp at Cow Creek unliveable, so another CCC camp was added at Wildrose in 1935 so that the men could work year-round (at that time there were not permanent NPS staff in the monument yet). As the monument gained a permanent staff, the Superintendent made plans...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at Wildwood Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Among other efforts, such as conservation work, they constructed a bridge along a bridle path over a stream. The location and status of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal. The park is bordered by highways that did not exist during the Great Depression.

Suffolk County News reported that between 1935 and 1936, the WPA "improved recreational facilities in following State Parks : Sunken Meadow, Heckscher, Wildwood, Orient Point and Hither Hills..."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Vermont's Wilgus State Park during the 1930s. Vermont.gov: "The land of Wilgus State Park was given to the State of Vermont in 1933 by Colonel and Mrs. William Wilgus for the creation of Wilgus State Park. The original park, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs), consisted of a picnic area with large flue-type stone fireplaces and picnic tables, and the ranger's quarters." "CCC crews from Mt. Ascutney State Park constructed the park between 1933 and 1935. Park structures and features built by the CCC that contribute to the historical significance of the park include the stone...

"Development of this 118-acre park began in the 1930s as a joint project of the Oklahoma City Parks Department and the National Parks Service, with labor from the CCC and WPA. The CCC cleared trees and brush, pruned, built terraces and dammed two small tributaries of the North Fork River to form two small lakes. The WPA work consisted of many native sandstone structures, including picnic shelters, a wood and stone Rose Arbor, footbridges, low walls and terraces, curbing, gardens, curved roads, and a beautiful amphitheater. These stone structures are still used today and are in excellent condition. The coordinates...

The College of Charleston's Willard A. Silcox Physical Education and Health Center gymnasium was a WPA project.

"In 1934, under the Resettlement Administration, federal and state agencies united to buy 5,000 acres of this submarginal land to develop a recreation area. The Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as the Works Progress Administration, helped construct the site while providing much needed jobs. Four camps along with day-use and picnic facilities were built and the park opened to the public in 1937."

The WPA built the rock garden near the lake as well gutters and other improvements throughout the park.

From NYC Parks: "William McCray Playground is one of nine playgrounds that was built by the Parks Department through a war memorial fund, and was opened simultaneously on July 15, 1934. The War Memorial Fund of $250,000 was established in 1921 with monies collected by the Police Department, and by 1934 the fund—never spent—had grown in value to $350,000. Seeking additional open spaces for children, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses obtained a legal ruling which permitted use of the fund for playground development. Marked with a commemorative tablet, each property was to honor the memory of a soldier who gave his life...

The PWA completed this stone fire observation tower atop Mt. Penn, overlooking Reading, PA and the surrounding area, in 1939. From the Literary and Cultural Heritage Map of Pennsylvania interactive website: "When President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal created the Public Works Administration in the mid 1930s, Reading had found a way to create jobs. On September 15, 1938, the city received $15,091 in Federal grant money for the tower. This amount was combined with the city's $18,445 and in the wintry months that followed construction began. G.C. Freeman designed the tower, incorporating cosmetic and functional elements from over a half-dozen towers...

The beautiful and well-used William Penn Park in Whittier, California was built by the WPA. Some WPA stamps from 1940 remain in the sidewalks.    

NYC Parks' website explains that "The City purchased this land for park purposes in 1934, and Adolf A. Berle, Jr. signed the deed as trustee of the War Memorial Fund, which donated the playground in Sheridan’s name. One of nine memorial playgrounds, it was dedicated on July 15, 1934." This was one of nine playgrounds constructed with War Memorial and TERA funds in 1934.

A small park in Bangor with playground equipment, a basketball court and non functioning tennis court with plans to convert it into a Pickleball court. When constructed by the WPA as part of their comprehensive city-wide work program it originally contained a tennis court, concrete wading pool, playground area, baseball diamond and football field. According to various people who grew up in Bangor, the playground was a very important part of their lives and memories. "We always called it Newberry St. Park. Had a lot of fun there." "My Dad's family, the Burke's lived on Gridley St. and he (Bobby Burke)...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the original ranger station at Williams AZ.  A new main ranger station building and other structures have been added, but two CCC residences and barn/garage are still there (we are uncertain about the status of the shed and small garage). "Williams Ranger Station contains five historic buildings: two residences, horse barn/garage and corral, shed, and small garage that were constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees in the Bungalow/Craftsman style in 1934. The well-preserved buildings and their setting offer an excellent example of depression-era architecture and Forest Service design. Bungalows in the Craftsman style were usually...

The massive Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina was originally constructed as the 17,600-seat Columbia Municipal Stadium in 1934. Sources claim that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided significant funds / labor for the project's construction; however, as the WPA was not officially established until 1935 further research is needed to validate the federal program that was responsible for this project.

From 1934 to 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed workers to construct Williamsbridge Oval in The Bronx's Norwood neighborhood, one of the most diverse areas of the City. Researcher Frank da Cruz notes the WPA Classic Moderne Style of its recreation center that he tells us was "constructed from granite quarried and cut on the site by WPA workers." He also points out that the park got it's name because of its oval shape which is "inherited from the reservoir it replaced." Da Cruz goes on to explain that Oval Park was, "Originally the site of Gun Hill Williamsbridge Reservoir, constructed in 1884-89, that supplied...

"The park is associated with several Great Depression era federal relief programs. Constructed between 1933 and 1938 under the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), creation of the park provided a source of employment in Lamar during much of the Depression. Willow Creek Park was Colorado’s first CWA project and the first planned park in Lamar, providing a location for active and passive recreation activities. A prominent feature of the city, the park’s buildings and stone features are good examples of the Rustic style as interpreted by New Deal agencies....

An inventory of WPA project photographs compiled by Becky Jordan at Iowa State University includes reference to numerous public works projects undertaken by the agency in Iowa between 1935 and 1940. The collection of 1,271 photographs documents the variety and extent of New Deal related efforts undertaken in the Hawkeye State. The Mason City park retaining wall on Willow Creek in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa (Project 3650) is included among the many WPA projects described in the collection.

Willow Creek dam and reservoir were constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding in 1938-39.  Willow Lake is now the centerpiece of Willow Lake Park and there is a 6-mile trail around the lake.  It sits in an area called the Granite Dells, with impressive rock hills all around and prehistoric indigenous sites and petroglyphs. Willow Creek Dam is constructed of concrete that tapers fro 6 feet thick at the base to 2 1/2 feet thick at the top and it is 85 feet high.  It created a reservoir of about 400 acres, with a storage capacity of 8,000 acre-feet. The...

The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at Wilson Ave. and Willoughby Ave. were constructed in 1908; the building has since been demolished. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.

"It was not uncommon for WPA employees to work side by side with Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) members on projects throughout the Black Hills and in Rapid City. Some of these projects included landscaping work that utilized native stone in rock walls and ponds throughout Canyon Lake and Wilson parks."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Wilson Park Entrance in Bedford IN in 1936. According to Ron Bell writing for Times-Mail, the WPA added "new entrances at Otis, Thornton and Wilson parks "

Civil Works Administration funded improvement work at Wilson-Ledbetter Park in Cameron. Lizzy Batey Ledbetter deeded the twenty-five acres of land for Wilson-Ledbetter Park to the City of Cameron in 1914. An excerpt from the state historical marker at the site reads: "The Cameron Herald reported on November 16, 1933 that the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a federal new deal program, would fund improvements at the park and provide work for hundreds of unemployed men. The Herald reported on May 2, 1935 that “when the Texas centennial celebration is held in Texas in 1936, Cameron should have one of the most beautiful parks in...

"Winch Park is the sister park to Butterworth and is located in Saxonville adjacent to the Framingham High School. It includes a baseball stadium that includes permanent bleachers on one side of the field, a basketball court, tennis courts and two large practice fields used for football, soccer and lacrosse. There are two additional multi-use fields located on the other side of the high school's gymnasium building." "Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects." (Wikipedia)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made a host of improvements to Wind Cave National Park, which had been established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The improvements made in the 1930s included a new administration building, a new operator's building, two new residences, and a large garage/storage facility.  Three other buildings were remodeled as residences. Other projects at the park included the construction of a reservoir and water system,  elevator housing and concrete stairs within the cave, game fences around the park, and new signs at the park's entrance. In addition, the CCC built bridges in the...

The Windfall Harbor Shelter Cabin is a historic cabin in the Admiralty Island National Monument. It is one of the several cabins the Civilian Conservation Corps built in the Tongass National Forest for public recreation during the 1930s, and is part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places reports on the condition of the cabin as of 1995: “The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Windfall Harbor Shelter Cabin during the 1930s as part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. It is a three-sided Adirondack shelter cabin with a peeled log superstructure and shake walls...

The Civilian Conservation Corps completed work at the Windsor State Forest in Windsor MA, between 1933 and 1938. "Located deep in the rolling hills of the Berkshires, Windsor State Forest is known for its beauty. Visitors can experience the cascading waterfall at Windsor Jambs, and the Windsor Jambs Brook winds through a wide gorge with 80-foot granite walls." (https://www.mass.gov/locations/windsor-state-forest) "In 1933, CCC Camp SP-9 (Company 115) was established at Windsor State Forest. The first year was spent on building roads and on forestry work, as well as improvements at Windsor Jambs where a trail, parking lot and picnic area were constructed.... Other...

This park was built on land donated by George Wingfield, a Nevada banker and miner. During the late 1930s the WPA made improvements to the facilities, including building retaining walls to support the island banks. Today the park is a center for some of the city’s most popular events. One of the main features of Wingfield Park is the amphitheater where various plays and concerts take place during the summer months.

"The Winslow High School, with a modern building costing nearly $175,000, had no satisfactory grounds for athletic contests. The lot upon which the High School was built was very uneven, a brook and gully running through the middle. The town had raised a fund for grading the lot and upon completion of the grading for the Building and tennis courts, there was only $2,300 left for grading the remainder of the four acre lot. This was inadequate and no work had been done other than some fill being placed by local manufacturing companies and others using it as a dump. When the...

In the 1930s the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built this winter playground house in Tupper Lake, New York. The Living New Deal does not know the present status or exact location of this project.

Winter Quarters Log Cabin was built by the WPA in 1940, and continues to serve the community today. From the Pocomoke City Government website for the cabin: “Are you looking for a quiet and beautiful setting for your next retreat, wedding reception, company meeting or conference?...Our rustic log cabin was built in the 1940's offers a full kitchen, handicap accessibility, ample parking and easy access from highway Rt 13 & Rt 113.  The interior features a beautiful fireplace and tables/chairs for up to 50 persons.  The log cabin faces the unspoiled Pocomoke River with adjacent public docks and a boat ramp. There...

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942. CCC enrollees worked during summer...

This sports arena was constructed in 1938 by the WPA. "When opened, the facility accommodated the local hockey program and meeting spaces for community groups. The arena continued in that fashion for many years, but by mid-century, growth in the hockey program required use of all spaces for the sport alone and eventually the construction of the new arena to the east."   (https://www.akayconsulting.com) The arena's final season was held in winter of 2009. The building was demolished in 2011.

"Wintersmith Park was originally established in 1907 with the damming of Lake Creek. This 150-acre park had extensive work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933-34. "In the late 1930's, the WPA was brought in to continue the work begun earlier by the CCC. They constructed several picnic areas, and the WPA shield can be seen in the concrete table tops. They built the Firefly (Girl Scouts) cabin, a small house with a gabled roof, constructed of native sandstone, and clad with petrified wood. Several small flat bridges were built across creeks along the trails. Two stone arched road...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, including the construction of a modest wooden bridge across Bright Angel Wash that can be found along a path between the railroad tracks and Village Loop Drive, about 300 feet down hill (but inaccessible) from Coulter Hall. CCC Walking Tour: "The CCC built two bridges across this normally dry drainage leading to the railroad tracks. The remaining bridge dates to 1937. A close look reveals that some of the timbers have been replaced recently, including adding metal beams underneath."

"Woodland Park contains two ponds and one shelter house built by the WPA. The ponds are framed with stone walls and have a small stairway in between them. The shelter house is a rectangular (28' x 25') structure of coursed and rusticated native stone of buff color. A new brown gabled roof is attached. Two privies are located next to the structure. Newer shelters, concrete tables, and cookers have been added to the park."

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in April 1937: "Woodland park, a $600,000 WPA project, will be completed in June, Mayor J. P. Bruckhauser was recently advised. The project consists of improvement work on an established park." On July 15, 1937, the same paper reported on the completed work: "Among the 11 large projects comprising the WPA civic-center program in Montana upon which $676,641.12 has been expended, is the civic-center park at Kalispell. Known as Woodland Park, this beautifully developed 30 acre area now contains a concrete swimming pool, rustic club house, lagoons, roads, bridges, winter sports area, landscaped picic and park grounds...

In the mid-1930s the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided support for the construction of a 495 ft. long rock wall, several rock picnic benches, two full-sized tennis courts, and a large bathhouse with pool in Woodland Park. The Waymarking webpage for this site describes the improvements and the contemporary condition of the facilities as follows: "The bathhouse is 143 x 116 with an extended central wing with the main entrance. This is a one-story building with uncoursed native sandstone walls, with beaded mortar. The flat roof has been covered with green aluminum in later years. At the center of the building, there is a dogtrot...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided funding and labor for numerous improvement projects at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo during the New Deal period. The initial projects were completed in 1933. In the following years, dozens of additional projects resulted in significant upgrades to the zoo's infrastructure and animal quarters. Work on the zoo continued until late 1941, when the United States entered World War II. The first New Deal projects at the zoo were completed through the CWA in 1933 and 1934. These included the construction of new sewers, walkways, and fences in various parts...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to improve Woodland Veterans Park in Shawnee, Oklahoma, installing new concrete walks and constructing tennis courts.