Parks and Recreation Sites

The Civilian Conservation Corps carried out improvement work at the Guanica State Forest (Bosque Estatal de Guánica). The work included “roads, trails, timber stand improvements and tree planting, as well as recreational developments.”

Guernsey State Park is built around the Guernsey Dam and Reservoir, constructed in the 1920s as a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project along the North Platte River in  southeastern Wyoming. In the 1930s, the Bureau worked with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to develop the area around the reservoir as a recreational park. The land is owned by the Bureau and managed by the state of Wyoming. The CCC developed the park's recreational facilities from 1934 to 1937, working out of two camps: Camp BR-9, on a bluff north of Guernsey Dam, and Camp BR-10, about a...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Casino and Muncipal Pier in Gulfport FL. The marker on site states that, "The U.S. Department of the Interior has listed the Gulfport Casino in the National Register of Historic Places. This is the third such Casino on this location. The first fell in the 1921 hurricane; the second came down in the early 1930s. Using funds from the Works Progress Administration's Civil Works Authority. Gulfport dedicated the Casino on December 1, 1935. A crowd of 1,200 people attended the dedication, which included a flag raising and a concert by the Florida Military Academy. Throughout...

Guy W. Talbot State Park, also known as Latourell Falls State Park, entered the Oregon State Park system in 1929 when the Talbot family donated 125 acres of land adjacent to Latourell Falls. Significant development of the park, however, began in 1933 when Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from nearby CCC Camp Benson initiated work. CCC projects improved the park during the second period of the CCC (October 1933 to Arpil 1934), the third period (April to October 1934), and the fifth period (April to October 1935). As noted in a report completed in 1946 under the supervision of the Oregon State...

From Waymarking.com: "This gymnasium was constructed in 1935 as a WPA project. It is a rectangular building constructed of coursed and rusticated native sandstone. The building is no longer in use, and is heavily overgrown with vines and plants. It appears on the Oklahoma Historical Society's Region 3 list under the town of Okmulgee."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a gymnasium in Elizabethtown, North Carolina in 1939-40. Living New Deal believes this to be the facility on King Street that now houses the Bladen County Recreation Department.

The Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium in Luling, Texas in 1937.

The Pflugerville Gym, which was built for $17,000 in 1934 through the Works Progress Administration, has a rocky interior and exterior of limestone. The “Rock Gym,”as it is called, served as the only high school volleyball and basketball gym in the Pflugerville area for many years. It received a Texas Historical Marker in October 2012 and remains utilized by the Pflugerville Independent School District.

This two-story gym, Miss. Proj. 1144D, was constructed by the PWA in 1939. The gym remains in use.

"Two Buttes Gymnasium, constructed between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), is significant under the New Deal Resources on Colorado's Eastern Plains Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF).  The gymnasium is significant in the area of Social History for its association with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislative agenda to rescue the United States from the Great Depression.  Additionally, it is significant for Education and Entertainment/ Recreation.  This community building is a good example of the efforts of the WPA to boost morale during the Depression through the construction of buildings for the enjoyment of the entire community. ...

The two-story red-brick former gymnasium was constructed by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (later the PWA) in 1936-1937. It retains its original massing and pedimented parapet. It was renovated in 1964 to become a first floor library and second floor science laboratories/classroom space.

The Public Works Administration (project W1154) constructed the gymnasium, athletic field, and swimming pool for the Fernwood school. The project was approved on 11/14/1935 with a loan of $16,000 and grant of $13,090. Bids were advertised in November for the gymnasium construction, swimming pool and bath house, "to be constructed under the old PWA plan" (p.1). Contract was awarded 12/16/1935 and construction began 1/22/1936. The project was completed 9/25/1937.

The local high school football stadium known as H. A. Eggerss Stadium was a WPA project dedicated September 18 1936, the night of the first high school football game held there. Hans Eggerss, founder of the Continental Can Co. which had a factory in Van Wert, provided the money and chaired the citizen’s committee.

"THE HATCHERY GETS A “NEW DEAL” Oddly, the Great Depression brought a new wave of improvements at Hackettstown. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal created the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), a public work-relief program related to the conservation and development of natural resources on lands owned by federal, state and local governments. In October of 1933, CCC Camp #62 was established in Hackettstown. The camps were comprised of young men between the ages of 18 and 25 who enrolled for six-month time segments for a maximum of two years. The men were paid $30 a month and provided room, board and...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop New Jersey's Hacklebarney State Park during the 1930s.

Henderson Park has a sister WPA-constructed park near Hillmar, called Hagaman Park. Both were designed by William Bedesen. Both have cobble stone-faced entrances.

Haleakala National Park is located on the island of Maui. "Between 1934 and 1941 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated work camps at Haleakalā... Here at Haleakalā National Park the CCC was engaged in a variety of projects. CCC enrollees removed invasive plants and feral animals such as pigs and goats, constructed the Sliding Sands and Halemau'u trails, and built the backountry cabins and water tanks within Haleakalā crater. They also built many of the frontcountry structures still used by park employees and visitors today."   (https://www.nps.gov)

The Half Dome cables, originally installed in 1920 by the Sierra Club, were replaced and strengthened by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1934. These cables allow thousands of people each year to hike to the top of this famous peak. The Half Dome trails runs from the valley floor to the top of Half Dome, over 8 miles (via the Mist Trail) with a 4,800-foot elevation gain.  The final 400 feet are so steep that   two steel cables, bolted to the rocks, are needed for handholds. Every Spring the cables are brought out from winter storage and  raised onto...

"Various wells connected with the city water supply at Excelsior Springs were found to contain certain chemicals of medicinal and therapeutic value. This water is firs purified and then pumped to the dispensing outlets in the 'hall of waters' which was erected by the city as part of a program of the mineral-water development. The building contains a large swimming pool, hydrotherapy departments for men and women, locker and shower rooms, and rooms for cooling and packing treatment. Also included are offices for the chamber of commerce, city council, manager, and for sales, production, and distribution of water. The building...

"Halliburton was founded in 1919, and is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the oil and gas industry. It employs more than 75,000 people, in approximately 80 countries. Named for this high-profile presence in Duncan, Halliburton Field was constructed as a WPA project in 1941, with an appropriation of $19,311. It is located at 17th and Pine. Stone and concrete walls and bleacher foundations, as well as ticket offices and locker rooms show the distinct use of native stone in Oklahoma WPA projects. The tall announcer's booth on the west wall has been added at a...

Hamilton Fish Park was first opened in 1900, featuring a gymnasium and playground. In 1936, it was thoroughly remodeled and the new WPA swimming pool (the first of eleven to open that summer) became the main attraction. A June 1936 press release announced the opening of the new pool, describing it and the other WPA pools in glowing terms: “Mayor LaGuardia, Park Commissioner Robert Moses and Works Progress Administrator Victor Ridder participated Wednesday in ceremonies in connection with the official opening of the Hamilton Fish Swimming Pool at East Houston and Sheriff Streets, on the lower east side of Manhattan. The...

In April 1942, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed the reconstruction of Hamilton Metz Field in Brooklyn. After removing an existing football field and other facilities, the WPA constructed extensive new facilities: "The area has been completely enclosed by chain link fence, a portion of which, along the north and south property lines, is set on new concrete retaining walls. These structures have permitted the grading and paving of level play surfaces. Two gate controlled entrance stairways from Lefferts Avenue will provide access to the one and one quarter acre grass surfaced athletic field, at the west end of...

In 1936, the Washington Post reported improvement work at several city playgrounds, the Hamilton Playground among them.  This would have been part of a major New Deal park renovation effort across the district.  The work was likely done by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which had undertaken a nearly $1 million program of park and playground improvements in 1935-36.

"HAMLIN BEACH PARK is one of the largest county parks of Monroe. It has an area of 600 acres and includes a mile and a quarter of lake frontage with an excellent bathing beach. Extensive road building and other improvements are in progress, carried on by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which maintains a camp near the park. This project includes the construction of a concrete sea wall and promenade along the entire lake front, six long stone and concrete jetties to hold sand for bathing beaches, 3 miles of macadam and 2 miles of hard-surfaced roads, 2 miles of concrete...

Designed by African-American architect Clarence "Cal" Wigington, the Hamline Park Playground building was completed in 1938. The building now houses an art shop and studio.

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) funded labor toward the development of Hammer Park in Branford, CT. The town's Annual Report, 1937 said: "The W. P. A. has assisted in laying out, grading, seeding and planting shrubs and trees on that portion of the Field at the corner of Prospect Street and Church Street so what was a dumping ground that was an eye sore ... has now become a place of beauty ..."

"The shoreline parks: Hammonassett Beach, Sherwood Island and Rocky Neck were all completed during this time period as WPA projects."   (waymarking.com) "Though the park was heavily damaged by the hurricane on September 21, 1938, the park reopened the following summer after extensive restoration by the federal government's Works Progress Administration (WPA)."   (https://connecticutexplored.org) Additionally, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Chapman undertook "construction of a new entrance road for Hammonasset Beach State Park."

Description of a project undertaken by the W.P.A. in 1938: "Hammond Pond Parkway, Newton Street traffic circle to Boylston Street, Newton; to construct a 5-foot wide pea stone and stone dust walk and a 10-foot wide planting space, each 4,200 feet in length."

Description of a project undertaken by the W.P.A. in 1937: "Hammond Pond Parkway; work was begun in November on a project which provides for the improvement of an area between the parkway and Hammond Pond in Newton. The work includes laying 300 linear feet of 24-inch drain pipe, filling a low area with about 12,000 cubic yards of gravel borrow, spreading about 3,000 cubic yards of loam, grading and seeding and thinning and grubbing 20,000 square yards of underbrush. Most of this work will also be done during 1938."

In the late 1920s, the city of Piedmont was outgrowing its schools and many classes were being held in temporary buildings.  In the 1930s, voters passed a bond issue and the school district undertook a major rebuilding program.  It took the assistance of the New Deal to get the job done, however.   One planned new school, in the St. James neighborhood, was never built.  Instead, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built retaining walls and leveled the site in anticipation of the new school.   The extensive concrete retaining walls, with Art Moderne touches, are still there at the corner of Hampton...

"The Works Progress Administration, an agency of the Federal Government, adopted as one of its projects the improvement of Hanes Park, which is a public park and playground owned by the city of Winston-Salem. Within the park is located an elementary school, the high school gymnasium, baseball diamond, a football field, a race track, bridges and walks, and other park improvements. It is used to a large extent as a playground connected with the elementary school and the Richard J. Reynolds High School. The W. P. A. project provided for improvements to the tennis courts and race track, three bridges,...

Hanford received $5,000 in federal funds the for Municipal Park at the end of Douty Rd, used for community building, bandstand, athletic field, barbecues, 2 baseball diamonds, landscaping, irrigation, paths, etc.

Hanging Rock State Park was developed as a federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project during the 1930s. "Many facilities in the park were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1935 and 1942. A concrete and earthen dam completed in 1938 impounded a 12-acre lake, and a stone bathhouse, diving tower and sandy beach also were built. Other facilities constructed by the CCC include a park road and parking area, a picnic area and shelter, and hiking trails. In 1991, the bathhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places." The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is also cited in some...

National Youth Administration built a picnic shelter and stone community building and did landscaping work in Hanna-Nuttman Park, Decatur, Indiana. The community building does not appear to be in use but retains the NYA plaque. The parks department did not respond to an inquiry through their web site about the status of the building (in 2023).

The Civil Works Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funded improvements at the Happy Hollow Playground in Washington DC. A wading pool was installed. In 1934-1935, FERA, “esurfaced one tennis court; painted house.”

An onsite marker commemorates the extensive work of the CCC at this site, reading in part: "This park was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal program sponsored by President Roosevelt. It was administered as a division of the U.S. Army to reclaim unusable farm land, create recreational areas, and teach young men a skill or trade. Enlistees of the CCC were paid about $30 for a six-month enlistment, $25 of which was automatically sent to the enlistee’s family. There were two CCC camps housed at the Park. The first camp, District “B” Company 450 Ga. SP-8,...

Increased the space and facilities for the public use by building a golf club house with concrete floors, frame construiction with stucco exterior and plastic interior and tile roof, installing plumbing, heating and electric equipment, painting inside and out. Private clubs have no better appointments. This is a very popular golf course and the new facilities ahve added materially to the enjoyment of players--Healy, p. 55.

Located approximately seven miles south of Harlan, Kentucky by U.S. 421 and Highway 3001, Harlan Country Club was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) and completed in 1941. The course, designed by Sye Simonton, is still in service.

Harley Park is historically significant as the home of 4 Hopewell Indian mounds.  It has an overlook of the Missouri River, recently having a Lewis and Clark campsite marker placed at the overlook.  Several WPA projects were completed in the 1930’s including rock walls, roads, and the shelter.

Renovations on this field, first built in 1924, were made in 1934 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).