Parks and Recreation Sites

One-story, brick, H-shaped building with tile roof. This building was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration as the swimming pool and bathhouse for Nashville's Centennial Park. The swimming pool and bathhouse were closed during the Civil Rights movement as many Southern communities simply closed pools rather than de-segregating them. In 1972, the bathhouse was converted to the Centennial Art Center, and the pool converted to a sunken sculpture garden.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bandshell ca. 1939 at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee, "to the right of the present structure." That structure, which Living New Deal believes served between 1937 and 1963, has since been demolished and replaced.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop Centennial Park in Plymouth, Indiana.

In 1934, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) furnished the cost of labor for the construction of a playground behind Center School in Hatfield, Massachusetts. The 35-man project cost the Town of Hatfield only the price of materials for the project ($982), while the federal government paid for the labor (3,028). The Center School itself was constructed as Hatfield's middle school in 1914. The building much later became the Western Massachusetts Regional Library and, as of 2016, has been vacant for about 10 years. It appears that the playground was demolished at some point as the aerial view of the site shows...

Mott, North Dakota's Central Park, is located "between 3rd and 4th Sts. Its recreation facilities were built as an FERA project." Tennis courts were suggested as being among the facilities.

NHRP Nomination Form: "The City of Alliance Central Park Fountain was constructed on the corner of 10th Street and Niobrara Avenue in Alliance, Nebraska in 1935. The Fountain, an octagonal concrete structure which features tiers of water patterns and electrically controlled colored lights, was assembled with the combined efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and crews from the City of Alliance. The Fountain occupies a prominent location in Alliance's Central Park along an original county and now city, thoroughfare. From the time of its first use in 1935 to the present, the Fountain has been a source of beauty and community...

"Projects completed by the WPA included ... improving the city park (BX01-067) ..."

Central Park was originally established in the 1860s, but New Deal workers carried out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. In addition to the many specific projects listed by name, there were any number of improvements done with the help of the New Deal.  As Frank da Cruz explains,  New Deal funds, labor, and designers reconstructed the park, with thousands of men working in three shifts around the clock in all weather.   They built new walls and entrance markers; removed dead trees and pruned others; plowed, seeded, planted, and revived the landscaping; created new footpath, trails, and drainage; and...

The Works Progress Administration built restroom facilities in Central Park in Davis, in 1937. Davis Wiki: "The WPA Building houses the public restrooms on the northeast corner of Central Park. It was built in 1937 as a WPA project and was the first public restroom in Davis. It is also the only WPA building in the City of Davis, lending it additional historical significance." In 2011, the Davis City Council approved the demolition of the WPA building with the intention of building a "History Plaza" in its place. The proposal gave rise to public disagreement and many local writers and residents expressed support for the conservation of...

The Central Park Zoo was built over the course of eight months in 1934 by workers employed by the Civil Works Administration and, after that program’s demise, by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. It succeeded the old Central Park Menagerie, a once popular attraction that by the early 1930s was so severely dilapidated that Parks Department officials feared its lions and tigers would break out of the rotted wood structures that housed them. Newly-appointed Parks Commissioner Robert Moses set about replacing the menagerie, not with a full-sized zoo, but with what he called a “picture-book zoo”—a smaller-scale facility meant as...

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 68th St. and Central Park West, appears to be what is now known as Adventure Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935,...

The Central Park Arsenal was built 1847-51, but served only briefly in that function.  After 1853, it was a police precinct house, the American Museum of Natural History, a menagerie, an art gallery, the Municipal Weather Bureau, a restaurant, and, finally in 1914, the Manhattan Parks Department. In 1934, the five borough Parks Departments were consolidated into a unified New York City Parks Department. Then, the Arsenal was overhauled by Depression-era relief labor paid for by New Deal programs.    The architect for the project was Aymar Embury II, who was the chief designer for New Deal/Parks Department projects around the city (the Wikipedia entry on Embury says that, "it is...

Though Central Park was created in the 19th century by Olmsted and Vaux, the New Deal helped the Parks Department carry out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. Work relief funds and labor were used to construct 4 1/2 miles of bridle paths in the park: one circling the Reservoir, one around the North Meadow and one at the southern end of the park.   (www.kermitproject.org)

"The Conservatory Garden is a six-acre formal garden named after a conservatory (i.e. greenhouse) that was built here in 1898. During the Depression, Parks commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) decreed the aging structure too expensive to maintain and had it demolished during a major renovation of the park in 1934 that was paid for largely with WPA funds. The garden that replaced the Conservatory was developed by architects Gilmore Clarke (1892-1982) and Betty Sprout (1906-1962) (who later married) and opened officially on September 18, 1937. The garden is divided into three separate sections: the central Italian-style garden, the southern English-style garden...

Though Central Park was originally established in the 1850s, New Deal workers carried out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. Work included the creation of the park's Great Lawn. The site was formerly the Lower Reservoir, which had recently been drained only to become a 'Hooverville' of people left unemployed and homeless by the Great Depression. With the help of CWA funding and labor in 1934 and most likely further WPA aid in 1935, the Parks Department had transformed the area into today's Great Lawn by 1936, featuring 8 ball fields and a promenade around the perimeter.   (www.kermitproject.org)  

The Harlem Meer is an artificial lake at the north end of Central Park, added to the original park by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux on the site of a former marsh. The New York Times reported in Sept. 1941 that the WPA, in conjunction with New York's Department of Parks, was working to improve Central Park for Harlem residents in "the area from Conservatory Gardens to 110th Street." "Major attention," The Times wrote, was being "given to the fourteen-acre lake and the series of rocky knolls rising from its southern bank." The WPA constructed a masonry wall "a foot high"...

After the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was launched in April 1935 (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939), it quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. Heckscher Playground in Central Park was one of many playgrounds in New York to be renovated or constructed with WPA funding and labor: "Before the New Deal, Heckscher Playground was the only playground in all of Central Park, and prior to 1926 there were no playgrounds at all. In 1935 a plan was announced for the "complete renovation and redevelopment of the area", to include a memorial...

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 77th St. and 5th Ave., is now called the James Michael Levin Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935, the WPA quickly...

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 84th St. is now known as Mariners' Playground. It was "commissioned by Robert Moses as one of his 18 original playscapes for the park" (dnainfo). A 2015 article explained that a renovation would soon restore some of the original features that had since been lost. Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks...

The Model Boathouse on Conservatory Lake in Central Park was designed and built by Robert Moses' “force of relief workers” (www.kermitproject.org).

Though Central Park was created in the 19th century by Olmsted and Vaux, the New Deal help the Parks Department carry out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938.  Work relief funds and labor were used to create 15 new baseball fields in the old North Meadow, where ball playing had long gone on informally.       

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 100th St. and 5th Ave., is now called the Robert Bendheim Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935, the WPA quickly became...

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 96th St. is now known as the Rudin Family Playground. Today's Central Park Conservancy website confirms that this is the park that was built "between 1935 and 1936 as part of the perimeter playground system." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out...

The history of Rumsey Playfield, the site of the City's popular SummerStage festival and other performances, is closely tied to the WPA. In 1864, a building was constructed on this site first as the Ladies Refreshment Saloon and soon became an expensive restaurant known as the "Casino." The building was torn down by the WPA after a long legal fight between the restaurant owners and Robert Moses. On May 7th, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the new Mary Harriman Rumsey Playground and explained the legal conflict that had preceded it: "The Park Department announces that the Mary...

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 100th St. is now known as the Tarr Family Playground. Today's Central Park Conservancy website confirms that this is the park that was originally built between 1935 and 1936. Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out with New Deal funds and/or labor,...

Based on Department of Parks press releases from the 1930s, researcher Frank da Cruz describes the role of federal funding in constructing this restaurant in Central Park: "What we know today as the Tavern on the Green in Central Park at West 66th Street was originally a “sheep fold”; that is, a barn for the sheep that used to graze on the Sheep Meadow." Meanwhile the Central Park Casino, an exclusive club for the rich and powerful situated across the park, was deemed an improper use of public land and torn down and the sheep fold converted into a ”popular priced...

Concrete foundation, clapboard walls. Gabled roof, asphalt shingles, stone chimney. Carpenters is other skilled workers employed through the Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked on the buildings as well as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The building is now only used occasionally.

This New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps camp was built to house CCC laborers as they assisted with infrastructure development and upkeep for the East San Francisco Bay Area water system. In addition to work on water infrastructure, CCC workers at Chabot built fences and managed second growth stumps in the nearby eucalyptus grove.

According to CCC alumnus Charles E. Humberger, quoted in the Nebraska History journal, “guest cabins were constructed and improvements made at the swimming pool and picnic and recreation area. Roads and trails were improved and drainage structures built. Brush dams were built to control soil and stream bank erosion, and the water supply system at the headquarters area was improved. They also carried out extensive rodent control and soil erosion programs on private property north of Chadron.” According to the city of Hemingford, “, one of Nebraska’s most beautiful, was developed to a large degree, by Civilian Conservation Corporation (CCC) forces…”

This pool was designed by architect Wesley Bintz and constructed by the Works Progress Administration between 1937 and 1939 for $31,000. It is one of two above-ground pools  designed by Bintz in the state of Missouri (Fayette has the other), two of the last existing above-ground public swimming pools in the United States. The two pools have markedly different appearances as a result of local control and flexibility for the planning and execution of WPA projects. Chaffee's pool is adjacent to Harmon Field.

CCC Camp F-407 was stationed near Clayton in the Challis National Forest. Camp F-407 left structures at Clayton, Loon Creek, and Cape Horn. From the Forest Service: "The site for the Clayton Ranger Station was acquired as an administrative site in 1913. The original station consisted of a three room dwelling, barn, and woodshed built in 1914. During 1933 and 1934, the present buildings were constructed by the CCC."

From a 1993 “Maryland Register of Historic Properties Internal Listing Notice” (prepared by Dr. Conrad Gregory): “The Chambers Park Log Cabin is significant as an example (of) New Deal park architecture more commonly associated with western Maryland parks than those on the eastern shore…The log cabin is located inside Chambers Park…While the NYA constructed the log cabin, another recovery alphabet program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), developed the rest of the park and the lake.” (The land for the park was a gift to the town of Federalsburg by Thomas H. Chambers, mayor of Federalsburg from 1915-1947.) Today, “Chambers Park offers tennis...

According to the Minnesota Historical Society: “By the 1930s, the boyhood home of famous aviator Charles A. Lindbergh had been badly damaged by souvenir-hunters. In 1936, the WPA began restoration of the house, which, along with the adjoining farmland, had been given to the state of Minnesota by the Lindberghs. Today, the homesite is a National Historic Landmark managed by the Minnesota Historical Society.” The WPA also put in two miles of footpaths, planted 4,000 trees and bushes, and built parking lots and other amenities on the Lindbergh property, creating what is now a state park.

Known as the “Kitchen Shelter” because it includes a fireplace and stove, it was constructed in 1936, making it one of the first WPA buildings in the park. The WPA also put in two miles of footpaths, planted 4,000 trees and bushes, and built parking lots and other amenities on the Lindbergh property, creating what is now a state park.

Built of native granite in 1939, it once held 5,000 gallons of water. The WPA also put in two miles of footpaths, planted 4,000 trees and bushes, and built parking lots and other amenities on the Lindbergh property, creating what is now a state park.

Charles R. Adams Park is a 32-acre public city park located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The park is surrounded by the neighborhood of Cascade Heights. Construction of the park began in the mid-1930s, and the dedication ceremony took place in 1940. The park used county funds, federal relief money and Works Progress Administration labor to construct many of the facilities and landscape features. William L. Monroe, Sr., a noted Atlanta landscaper, is credited with the design. "The property consists of a 32-acre designed landscape including passive greenspace, a lake and stream, and active recreational and community facilities. The...

W.P.A. project description: "Charles River Reservation, Cambridge; a supplementary project for the completion of, and additional improvements of, the Charles River Reservation between Charles River Dam and Mount Auburn Street was approved in November of 1938 and work will be continued through the winter as weather permits. The project provides for the construction of 1,500 linear feet of 6-ft. wide stone dust walks, 1,500 square yards of bituminous concrete walks, 320 square yards of Portland cement concrete walks; the installation of 5,500 linear feet of concrete curbing for parking spaces, 100 linear feet of 1-ft. by 4-ft. concrete wall; placing of...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a bathing beach and recreation site along the Charles River by the end of Longfellow Bridge, in 1936. The project included a baseball diamond, benches, and shelters. WPA Bulletin: Children from Boston's hot and overcrowded West and North Ends, from Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, and East Cambridge, are smiling at the heat. For now, within short hiking distance, at the Boston end of the West Boston Bridge, WPA has built a bathing beach and recreation site. Charlesbank Beach, official title of the WPA Project, has proved to be one of the most popular swimming places in...

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a campground and picnic area at Charlton Flat in the Angeles National Forest, CA. The same CCC Company was responsible for building the campground, ranger station, and maintenance facilities at nearby Chilao, as well as the fire lookout on Mount Vetter.

Between 1937 and 1939 the WPA made improvements to Chase Park in Seminole, Oklahoma. The improvements included the construction of a wading pool and bathhouse. The Oklahoma Historic Preservation Survey notes that "...The workers who built the bathhouse and pool were drawn from relief rolls and had lost their jobs due to the economic depression. Their labor supplied the city of Seminole with recreational facilities that have been of benefit to many children on the hot summer days of southern Oklahoma. The facilities are unique to Seminole for their type and materials. They also demonstrate the variety of construction undertaken by...