Parks and Recreation Sites

CCC work in the area includes a picnic area, gazebo, and historic rock fireplaces as well as a guard station now used as a lodge.

Built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Antlers Guard Station was originally used to house project and fire crews. Later on, guard stations lost their utility, because the Forest Service had quicker ways to get to forest areas without these stations. Starting in the 1990s, the Antlers Guard Station was rented out to the public, and in 1991 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a stadium and athletic field at what was then known as Appalachian State Teachers College (A.S.T.C.). Work was completed in 1939. Per The News and Observer, the college has "a class one field on which to display their prowess. Naturally, the main item is a 2500-seat steel and concrete stadium. No, the college is not an adjunct to its football team. The sport is just a normal college activity here." The facility, which was located north / east of Rivers Street at what is now the site of Rankin Hall and Edwin Duncan Hall, has...

"As early as 1924, published accounts of plans for the Appalachian Trail called for it to extend to the summit of Maine's Katahdin. Later, although some (notably Myron Avery) urged that the Trail continue to Katahdin, the scarcity of existing trails, the lack of hiking clubs to assume the maintenance of the new trail, and the remoteness of the land along the proposed route combined to discourage an extension beyond New Hampshire's Mt. Washington. But, in 1933, following a two-year survey of possible routes, a location for the Maine section was developed by using existing trails and logging roads, as...

The Civilian Conservation Corps completed the final link of the Appalachian Trail in Carrabassett Valley near Sugarloaf Mountain, on August 14, 1937. A plaque near the site reads: "In honor of the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps who, from 1935-1939, contributed greatly to the completion of the Appalachian Trail in Maine and who, on August 14, 1937, near this spot completed the final link of the entire 2,054-mile trail. Dedicated August 14, 1987 by the volunteers of the Appalachian Trail Club."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp at Steamboat Creek from 1933 to 1941. It was a US Forest Service camp serving Umpqua National Forest.  The enrollees made many improvements along the North Umpqua River, including campgrounds, trails and bridges. One of the campgrounds developed by the CCC was Apple Creek along the North Umpqua River and Highway 138.  It is a small, plain campground without special features. Apple Creek Campground was closed when we visited in 2022, probably a carryover from the pandemic. The entrance sign is covered in black plastic, which may be protection against winter deterioration, but the...

"n 1937, the Merced City Council applied for a Works Progress Administration project to construct a new park -- a park that would cost about $41,000 total, with the city providing $9,800 and the federal government $30,800. Included in the new park would be seven acres of lawn, more than a mile of water pipe, demolition of the grandstand and bleachers in the old park's athletic field, a new fence, pens for animals and birds, duck pond, and deer shed, along with trees, shrubs, flowers and landscaping... The project required 590 man-months of labor, according to G.E. Winton, the city engineer at...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop Aptos Playground in San Francisco during the Great Depression.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the mile-long Berkeley Aquatic Park on the bay front south of University Avenue in 1935-37.  It was created as a water park for water skiing, canoeing, sculling and model yacht racing, and is still used for practice by collegiate rowers and for water sports. The park lies between the freeway (Interstate 80) and the former Southern Pacific Railroad tracks (now Union Pacific).  Tidal gates under the freeway keep the water level constant and refresh the basin with water from San Francisco Bay.  The aquatic park project grew out of the Eastshore Highway, a feeder road for the...

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 114,657-acre, federally protected area at San Antonio Bay on the coast of Texas. The refuge was established by Executive Order 7784 on December 31, 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Aransas Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. The name was changed in 1939. It was created under the Bureau of Biological Survey and is administered today by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (created in 1940 from previous agencies). The refuge was set aside to protect the breeding grounds of migratory birds and the vanishing wildlife of coastal Texas. In particular, Aransas was the focal point of...

"During the Great Depression, the federal government established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to employ Americans in a series of public construction projects. Almost 19,000 New Yorkers labored on Staten Island. They built sidewalks through wooded areas that were supposed to eventually have roads laid through them. Many of these planned roads were never built, but the sidewalks remain in many of the island’s parks, including this one. Remnants of unfinished roadbeds for Eyelandt and Collins Avenues run through or near the park as well."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed a municipal baseball park in Arcata, California, just north of the City Hall.  The work was first approved in 1936, finalized in 1937 and then completed in 1938 (WPA funding was greatly reduced in 1937 and then pumped up again in 1938). This is full-sized ball park, with a grandstand behind home plate, has been upgraded over time, but the entrance and barrier behind the grandstand appear to be original (wood).  The bleachers, lights, field and fencing all appear to be much newer.  It is still in use (and hard to view because the fencing...

Arches National Monument was established in 1929 with only 4,500 acres and enlarged dramatically to over 33,000 acres by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938 (Arches became a National Park in 1971).  Some of the first improvements to the monument were made by workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  CCC camp NP-7 was established in nearby Moab UT in April 1940 and lasted until March 1942, one of the last in the country to be closed. CCC 'boys' worked on roads, trails and erosion control, and notably a headquarters building and bridge over the wash that often blocked access to the...

The Argos Izaak Walton League clubhouse and attendant (former) fish hatchery were constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935 to 1937. The fish hatchery in Argos, Indiana had "a capacity of 375,000 fingerlings annually."The facility is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "This building of glacial stone and the surrounding 17 acres of fishing ponds and structures are a tribute to natural aesthetics, an idea important to the League who made this building their clubhouse. The Argos Izaak Walton League was established in 1929 in response to concern for the conservation of natural resources, fish and wildlife...

The Works Progress Administration built the grandstand at the Arizona State Fair grounds in Phoenix. "As the Great Depression deepened and thousands were uprooted and looking for work, numerous fairgrounds were turned into camps for these transients. The Arizona State Fairgrounds provided a temporary place to stay and an opportunity to earn money through labor. Funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and later the Works Progress Administration, transients helped to construct the stadium. A fifty-foot grandstand, an adobe wall on three sides of the grounds, and an auto racing track inside the horse track were created in 1936. Exhibit buildings...

There is a record in the National Archives of the Public Works Administration (PWA) funding the construction of a golf course at the Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe (now the Arizona State University).  It is unclear what kind of golf course is meant and where it was located, and the picture shows students putting behind a campus building – not a golf course at all.  There was a true golf course built northeast of the ASU campus, but apparently much later.  Further information is needed to verify the history of this golf course.

"The stables, constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), are an important record of the federal relief programs administered on Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression. The stables were one of a series of WPA improvement projects at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds that provided a significant source of employment. It is the best surviving example of WPA work in Rocky Ford. The WPA used adobe for many of its eastern Colorado projects as it was both inexpensive and labor intensive—a good fit with the agency’s objectives to ensure that most of the money went to labor rather...

St. Nicholas Park is a long stretch of park between Harlem and Manhattanville, reaching from 127th St. to 141st St. The park contains two playgrounds. The larger one at 129th St., known as St. Nicholas Playground, opened before the New Deal in 1931. A July 1934 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of a second playground at the opposite end of the park near 141st St.. When it opened, the 200 ft. by 60 ft. playground contained an "open pavilion, a comfort station and a wading pool which can be converted into a basketball court, and slides, jungle...

The Arlington Heights Recreation Center, which was built between 1936 and 1939, was created through the Works Progress Administration. The idea for the project was first conceived in 1934, but financial support did not become available to start the building of the Center until 1936. The community could not fund the project on its own, but it still wanted to provide its citizens with some sort of community recreation center. When a straw vote failed to pass the plans for a public swimming facility, Arlington Heights reached out to officials in Washington and of the WPA for $200,000 in funding to...

The former armory building in Red Bank, New Jersey was the recipient of WPA improvement efforts: "Improve, renovate, and make alterations at Armory." WPA Official Project Number: 65‐1‐22‐163 The former armory later served as an equestrian riding hall, and presently houses an ice rink.

Additions to this municipal park, which sits behind the armory, are noted in the Oklahoma Landmarks Database showing a Federal Works Progress Administration appropriation of $6,240. The additions include a performance stage, picnic tables and a fireplace.  

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did extensive improvements at Armstrong State Park, 1933 to 1941.    The most impressive of the CCC works is a large amphitheater, which was under renovation during a visit in December 2022.    Many other features of the CCC's work remain, as well, such as stone stoves, stone drinking fountains, water lines, trails and the old community center.  Some buildings near the park entrance may be left over from the CCC camp.  In 1990, an informational plaque at the front of the park  was installed by members of the National Association of CCC Alumni, Luther Burbank Chapter 131.  But...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did extensive improvements at Armstrong State Park, 1933 to 1941.   Over the years, CCC Companies 594, 1553. 1920, 1988 and 2916 were stationed at Camp Armstrong, SP-39 (originally known as Camp Armstrong Woods, P-804), which was located by the present entrance to the park.  The enrollees built an amphitheater, a community building (including warden's headquarters), picnic areas with stone stoves and tables of redwood, a timber bridge, two miles of road improvements, cleared underbrush, and made general improvements to park grounds and other facilities (Goddard 1976). Many of those features remain.  The amphitheater was under renovation during a...

"In 1938, the newly created State Park Commission (which had been formed in 1935) recommended that the State accept a gift of 100 acres of land near Presque Isle. This became Aroostook State Park, the first in the State Park system... On October 26, 1938, it was announced that WPA work on the State Park would begin within a few weeks; with Mr. C.P. Bradford as the engineer. $7,715 had been allotted and that the first work would be the building of a trail on the west side of the mountain, a ski and toboggan slide, a ski tow, skating rink...

WPA workers were active in the park from 1934 to 1937 and built several structures during that time, including a triple arch stone bridge, a look-out shelter, an open picnic shelter, and a grave shelter.

The WPA was extensively involved in flood control construction in Arroyo Seco during the 1930s. Excerpts of WPA involvement in that history follow: 1934-35: Trapezoidal channel is constructed in the Central Arroyo from Devils Gate Dam through the Rose Bowl area to Holly Street with a soft bottom as part of a CWA, SERA, WPA project. 1935: The Works Progress Administration takes over the gravel operation in LA, designating it as a flood control project sponsored by the city of Los Angeles. Trapezoidal cross-section construction chosen since it minimized steel and lumber and maximized hand labor, satisfying requirements of relief funding. 1935-40: The...

Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center/Park was developed between 1936 and 1939 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), working with the Oakland Recreation Department.  The WPA funded the project for around $60,000 in 1935 (Chronicle 1935). The 16 acre site on Arroyo Viejo Creek was purchased by the city in pieces, starting in 1935.  The entire purchase cost about $36,000 (Post-Enquirer 1935). The property had belonged to the Japanese Domoto family, who operated a nursery there.  (An interesting sidelight is that Kenji Domoto went on to be a famous landscape architect) The work of creating a new park began with tearing down acres of...

"The Artesia Improvement Company donated the land for a city park in 1906. In 1937, the corner pillars and stone walkways to the center of the park were added as a WPA project. Artesia Main Street, a local downtown revitalization organization, has plans for a complete renovation of the park. Central Park continues to be used as a popular location for many downtown events and family outings." -Artesia Walking Tour

"Artesia is home to several WPA construction projects including the Municipal Hospital, the Old City Hall, the gym on the Artesia Schools campus and the wall around Morris Field. The Hospital is in private hands. The Old City Hall is also a private office, but looks much the same as when it was built. The gym is still the gym and Morris Field is still in use, also on the school campus. Much of the construction uses beautiful local stone, which can be seen throughout Artesia, including the once private residence that is now the Artesia Historical Museum & Art...

Originally the Riverview Stadium and then the Alliant Energy Field. This stadium was built by the WPA in 1935-1937. It still has its WPA plaque.

"The Ashwood School Gymnasium and Auditorium is situated south of Bishopville, South Carolina just off U.S. Highway 15 on Ashwood School Road near Ashwood Lake, all namesakes and products of the rural New Deal resettlement community of 'Ashwood Plantation.' The gymnasium/auditorium was completed in December of 1938 for a total cost of $63,888.81 by the Goode Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, contracted by the Farm Security Administration." (NRHP Registration Form)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was active in Rocky Mountain National Park throughout the New Deal era, 1933-42.  Among the other works undertaken by CCC enrollees was the construction of three amphitheaters, at Aspenglen Campground, Moraine Park Museum and Glacier Basin campground.  These were used for educational presentations by park rangers and staff. The Aspenglen and Glacier Basin amphitheaters were built in 1938 (Brock, p. 43), as part of general upgrades to those campgrounds (Brock, p 41).  The amphitheaters were designed by the National Park Service in Rustic Style and meant to blend into the landscape and surrounding trees.  The one...

On May 31, 1938, the Department of Parks announced "that plans were being prepared for the renovation of nine public bath houses transferred to them from the jurisdiction of the Borough President of Manhattan." The improvements were to be done "with relief labor under the supervision of the Works Progress Administration and inspected by the Department of Parks." At what is now the Asser Levy Recreation Center, the renovations included the construction of two new swimming pools: "At 23rd Street and Avenue A where there is adequate vacant city-owned land available, a new outdoor swimming pool, 125 ft. long x 50 ft....

On July 2, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a playground on the site of what is now the Astoria Health Playground: "In Queens, at 14th Street south of 31st Avenue adjacent to the Astoria Health Center, the new playground is equipped with swings, see-saws, play houses, slide, sand pit and a portable shower. A brick comfort station with facilities for boys and girls, and permanent concrete benches are also provided. The perimeter of the entire playground is landscaped with shade trees. …The work was performed by the Works Progress Administration, but planned and inspected by the Department of...

The Astoria Heights Playground, covering most of the block between 30th Rd., 31st Ave., 45th St. and 46th St., was developed by the Parks Department and the WPA in two stages between 1937 and 1938. In September 1937, a playground for small children was opened, "as well as handball courts for older children and benches for mothers and guardians." Just over two years later, the Parks Department announced the completion of the rest of the playground: "he new 2.3 acre area supplements and includes the small recreational area opened in 1937, and rounds out the entire block, the southerly end of which...

The 56-acre park dates from the early 20th century, but "major improvements in Astoria Park were undertaken by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and the Works Progress Administration during a hot summer in 1936. The stunning pool complex opened on July 4 of that year and hosted the swimming and diving trials for the U.S. Olympic Teams in 1936 and 1964" (NYC Parks). "Besides the swimming pool, various playgrounds and comfort stations were added or renovated during the course of the New Deal using relief labor" (kermitproject.org). This included "an adult play area with handball, basketball, horseshoe and shuffleboard courts, horizontal...

Astoria Park  pool opened on July 2, 1936. It was the largest of the eleven WPA pools built throughout the city that year. It was the site of the Olympic swimming and diving trials for the 1936 Olympics, just as Randall's Island Stadium was for track and field. "Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, an avid swimmer himself, recognized the importance of aquatic recreation and launched a campaign to open eleven new pools throughout the city during the summer of 1936. The labor and construction came from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), whose administrator Harry Hopkins described the pool in Queens as, 'The finest in the world.'...

In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on Atascadero Lake Park.  WPA project cards indicate the following work: "Improve the recreational area at Atascadero Lake near Atascadero, San Luis Obispo Co., by improving earthen dam, and performing other incidental work, to provide additional parking spaces." We cannot ascertain what was done to the dam and the parking lots have been greatly enlarged since the 1930s.  Nevertheless, there are stone rings around trees, stone benches along the lake shore and stone drinking fountains that are characteristic of the rustic style used by WPA relief workers.  Further confirmation is needed. WPA Proj....

The Works Progress Administration built the Decatur County lake in Decatur County KS, as part of Kansas' Water Conservation Program.  

Kearney State Teachers College was granted almost $10,000.00 in a WPA grant to improve its athletic facilities. The project was planned to be very “inclusive.” It included improving the current football and athletic field at the college, and leveling and grading the area to the north of the gridiron and practice field, formerly part of the “college farm.” Preliminary surveys called for the moving of much earth, and additional parking space would be among the improvements. Tennis courts and other recreational facilities would also be provided. If costs proved reasonable, the track and bleachers were possible additions to the project. In...