Parks and Recreation Sites

Hawthorn Glen is a park and nature and education center administered by the Milwaukee Public Schools recreation division. The twenty-three acre site includes a long curving bluff, ravines, and a deciduous forest, as well as a soccer field, several nature trails with interpretive signs, and a small “nature museum” with limited hours. Potawatomi and the Menomonee Indians lived on the site before European settlement, and part of the park was a gravel pit at the turn of the twentieth century. The WPA constructed the building that now houses the nature museum, as well as a small stone amphitheater and a picnic...

The park contains four concrete WPA tennis courts. New nets and a fence have been added.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed two pools at Hayes Park in Newark, New Jersey ca. 1936. It is probable that the pools are no longer extant.

This swimming pool facility is now called the Hayward Plunge.

The Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners describes federal involvement in the development of Hazard Park: "Work in this park consisted mainly in improving what is known as the west addition, or that portion of the grounds lying east of the Pacific Electric Railroad right of way to Soto Street. This land while a portion of the main park, lay undeveloped for a number of years because of lack of funds for its improvement. During the past two years, however, with the help of labor from Unemployment bonds and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation relief organization...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed athletic fields for Healdsburg High School in Healdsburg, California.   They lie on the east side of the school, which is still in its original location. Much of the original baseball field appeared intact in 2018 but a fancy new soccer field has been built on the west portion of the fields and we could not verify that the baseball diamond is still there.

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $17,586 in funding for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to build and/or make improvements to the Phoebe Hearst Playground, now the Hearst Recreation Center.   It is not certain if any of the current play fields, tennis courts or playground at the Elementary School are products of this New Deal work.

In 1935, the city of Hastings was notified that they had been given approval from the state Works Progress Administration (WPA) office for three projects, two of which were to be of benefit to Heartwell Park. Final approval from Washington would be given in late September 1935. In the first, Heartwell Lake would be deepened to prevent the water from stagnating. The total cost was expected to be $11,268.60, all of which would be borne by the WPA. In November, the weather began to turn cold, and there was a concern that the ground in the lake would freeze, preventing...

The NYC Parks website explains that, "This playground received its name after the city purchased the land from the Heckscher Foundation for Children in 1935.  The property had served as a public playground since 1934.  When Parks took over, the property included a recreation building with a dental facility and an indoor play area.  The park was home to summer activities such as puppet shows, storytelling, and arts and crafts.  Originally, the playground was a little under one acre in size." The Department of Parks further improved the playground and officially opened it to the public in December 1935. As researcher...

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…” One such allotment, for $13,959.63 and reported in Nov. 1935, called for "repairing and painting buildings, playgrounds, and beach equipment" at Heckscher State Park.

"Heights Community Center was the first community recreation center in the city and has served generations of Albuquerque residents. It was constructed between 1938 and 1942 as a National Youth Administration Project, one of several New Deal programs active in Albuquerque during the Great Depression. NYA projects were intended to give youth thorough vocational training and revive their interest in education. At the time, it was considered the largest NYA project in the country. Much of the work for the center was carried out by volunteers using donated or salvaged materials. Several different civic groups in the Heights thought up the...

Helen Wills Park was improved by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935-36. The WPA relief workers regraded the park, paved the tennis courts and playground area, and repainted the recreation center. The park was established in 1915 as the Spring Valley Playground and renamed the Helen Wills Playground in 1929, in honor of local tennis pioneer, Helen Wills. The park was thoroughly overhauled in the 2000s and the recreation building and playground are completely new.  The tennis court and basketball court could well go back to the WPA era, with new surfaces.  The concrete support wall that levels up the whole...

"Hemenway State Forest/Big Pines Natural Area Consisting of glacial carved foothills, this state forest includes Great Hill, Duck Pond and the 135-acre Big Pines Natural Area. The park’s many trails provide great hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling and cross country skiing opportunities. Don’t miss the outstanding view from Great Hill fire tower, -- a short hike from the parking area on Great Hill Road." Camp 10 was once the location of the Hemenway CCC camp #117 built 5/5/1933.

Designed by county surveyor and architect William "Bill" E. Bedesen, Henderson Park is similar to Lake Yosemite which Bedesen also designed for the WPA. Henderson Park has a sister WPA-constructed park near Hillmar, called Hagaman Park. Both have cobble stone-faced entrances. WPA work at Henderson Park includes a clubhouse, comfort station and utility shed, as well as curved stone walls. All are built of concrete blocks with a cobblestone veneer of stones that were dredged from the Merced River.

The Log Lodge at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from pine and white oak logs harvested on-site.  Construction of the lodge was started in 1934 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), but little advanced when work halted. It was completed in 1937 by the CCC. "Construction of the lodge was started in 1934 by the Works Progress Administration, but work stopped when the structure was four logs high. It was completed in 1937 by the CCC. The building was modeled after lodges in Yellowstone National Park. All logs and lumber used...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed cat and bear cages at what was then known as the Riverview Park Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. A 1936 article cites "new cement cages" begun in the fall of 1935 that would house animals once the WPA completed construction. The status of the project is unknown to Living New Deal.

The  Henry Hudson Parkway runs along the Hudson River from West 72nd Street to the Bronx-Westchester border and includes the Henry Hudson Bridge, which connects Manhattan with the Bronx. The Parkway was part and parcel of the West Side Improvement project of 1934-37, which included the reconstruction of Riverside Park.  The Parkway and Riverside Park were financed and built together, as noted here by researcher Frank da Cruz. Part of its route also runs through Van Cortlandt Park, as described here: "Moses chose to run the new parkway through Van Cortlandt Park because it was already city property. To run it outside...

In 1940, the WPA rehabilitated the "hourglass" intersection formed by Broadway, 6th Ave., 35th St. and 32nd St, the north end of which is known as Herald Square and the south end as Greeley Square. The project centered around the restoration and re-placing of a large sculptured clock originally constructed by Antoin Jean Carles in the late 1800s. The Parks press release announcing the completion of this work was especially long and enthusiastic: "The rehabilitation of the hour-glass intersection of Broadway and Sixth Avenue extending from 32nd Street to 35th Street is now completed. Elevated structures, and surface car tracks have...

The federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) built the Hermit Road in Grand Canyon Village in 1934-35.  The National Park Service (NPS) website says this: "Hermit Road and most of its associated overlooks and parking areas are historic, designed and constructed in 1934-1935 by the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service." Hermit Road and its overlooks have some of the best views of the Grand Canyon on the south rim.  It is commonly thought that the overlooks and wall were the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but it was the BPR and NPS. The road was modernized...

"The Hermosa Beach Community Center at Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway (below) was rebuilt by the WPA after the original building was destroyed in the 1933 earthquake. It was the home of Pier Avenue Junior High before the school closed in 1975. In 1976, it was used to film the dance scene in "Carrie." The city has since remodeled it into a theater space and community center." The WPA completed the school building for $5,449 in federal funds and $6,757 total. The WPA was also involved in landscaping and improving the school grounds, spending $6,989 in federal funds and a total...

The Civilian Conservation Corps created Herrington Manor Lake by damming Herrington Creek. They also built ten cabins, the lake concession building (which has been altered since), and a pavilion. The CCC boys also planted trees throughout the area. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, “The park offers swimming, canoeing, kayaking, picnicking, hiking, tennis, volleyball and 20 furnished log cabins for rental use year round” (this includes the ten CCC-built cabins). The park also offers fishing and cross-country skiing opportunities.

A comfort station at the end of Evergreen Road above O'Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy reservoir was almost surely built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s, judging by the construction.  The building is done in classic National Park rustic style, with walls constructed of large boulders. Comfort station is the name used at the time for restrooms with additional washing facilities, which this one does not appear to have; hence, it is literally just a 'restroom'. There is no written record we can find of this structure, perhaps because of the poor relations between the National Park Service and...

"Heyburn State Park is the oldest state park in the Pacific Northwest, created by an act of Congress in 1908. Heyburn includes approximately 5,800 acres of land and 2,300 acres of water. Much of the early construction was performed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. Today, many of these facilities are still in use the CCCs proud legacy." (www.reserveamerica.com) Between 1934 and 1941, the CCC built roads, trails, bridges, campgrounds, picnic areas, picnic shelters and the Rocky Point Lodge. CCC work includes the Chatcolet picnic and camping area, the Plummer Point picnic and hiking area, and Rocky Point properties.

"In 1935, the National Park Service purchased Hickory Run to create a national recreation demonstration area. These areas were placed near large urban centers to provide fresh air recreation for lower class urban dwellers. In 1936, Works Progress Administration workers arrived and began building roads, trails, fire roads, water lines and the group camps. In 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established Camp NP-6. The CCC camp was adjacent to the current campground by the CCC Dam. A playground and open field now occupy the site where 200 young men had their camp. In 1945, the Hickory Run National Recreation Demonstration...

"Hicks Field was built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration project in 1939 at the corner of East Freemason and Woodward, adjacent to John A. Holmes High School."

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 486 Hicks Street were constructed in 1903; the building was "demolished in 1941 for construction of the BQE" (Brooklyn Relics). 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.

"When Franklin D. Roosevelt took presidential office in 1933, the Great Depression was in its fourth year. He was elected partly because he promised relief for the common man. He enacted the New Deal programs and the Works Progress Administration, which was later called Works Project Administration. The program put unemployed men to work in all areas of the county to build strength and self-respect in the working class. The projects, both in the process of putting people to work and in the resulting buildings, greatly impacted the suffering nation and especially the Southwest, which was also in a severe...

Landscape architect Horace Cleveland, known for his leadership in developing the Twin Cities’ park system, set aside the land now known as Hidden Falls Regional Park in 1887. The spring-fed waterfall is indeed “hidden” in a small ravine on the north end of the park, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The falls feed into a small creek, which runs south into the Mississippi. The park stayed largely undeveloped until the WPA constructed a stone staircase leading from the falls up to the East River Parkway and a lookout area at the top of the river bluff.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to improve what is now the U.S. Department of Agriculture's High Plains Grasslands Research Station (then Cheyenne Horticultural Field Station), located northwest of Cheyenne, Wyoming. USDA.gov: "1935 – Many inprovements were made to the station; the main road was oiled from the entrance to the buildings. Civilian Conservation Corps camp of 200 men opened on station. They constructed roads, 2 miles of concrete lined ditches, irrigation system, planted thousands of trees and shrubs. They picked up hundreds of tons of stones from the experimental plots. And manure collected from nearby ranches was hauled in and spread over...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) drastically impacted New Jersey's High Point State Park. In 1933, when "the CCC boys first arrived at High Point Park, they found a relatively undeveloped 11,000-acre parcel of land. ... By the time the CCC boys were done working eight years later, they had built 25 miles of roads, two lakes, repaired the badly damaged forest, fought forest fires, cleared trails, built campgrounds and shelters, and partially completed an athletic complex. The park, as visitors enjoy it today, is largely the fruition of their efforts."

"The new sixty-foot fire tower on High Rock is nearing completion. The work has been done by the men of the C. C. C. The glass-enclosed observation room at the top of the tower will be occupied during the period from April to October next year, by a man whose duty it will be to detect forest fires and notify the fire fighting forces where the blaze is located. By triangulating with maps and instruments these observers locate the blazes with amazing accuracy." A personal visit to this site in 2014 suggests that the CCC structure has been demolished and replaced.

The former high school in Auburn, Massachusetts was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "For the past two decades, the increasing cost of tuition and transportation of pupils to Worcester caused agitation for an Auburn high school, and while land had been acquired on the Dunn property on Auburn Street in 1926 for such a school, it was not until a special town meeting held August 29, 1933, that $250,000 was appropriated. Federal aid was sought under the provisions of the Public Works Administration and on March 5, 1935, the plans drawn by Lucius W. Briggs,...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) "added a practice field newly leveled and landscaped" at the since-demolished high school in Sheridan, Wyoming in 1933/4. The school, which was dedicated in 1926, served as the high school until 1987. It later became a junior high school and has since been demolished. The current Sheridan Junior High School occupies the site, which was on the south side of Lewis Street between Bellevue Ave. and Adair Ave.

"Work is expected to start November 29th for the improvement of the grounds and the construction of tennis courts, grandstnnd and other recreational appurtenances for the Arlington High School, Arlington, Snohomish County ... t was stated that this would be the only tennis court in the town and that over 600 enthusiastic citizens would be benefited. The WPA allotment for labor on the project amounts to $6,598 to which the School Board contributed $3,351.20 for equipment and material. Fifteen men will be employed some eight months to complete the work in time for the tennis season next year."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a stadium on what was then the high school's athletic field in Audubon, New Jersey. The exact location or status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built a new high school and athletic field in Griswold CT. The school was built in Moderne style with brick veneer walls. Pictured is a football game in progress, circa 1937. The exact location and condition of this structure are unknown to the Living New Deal.

The WPA photo pictured here shows an athletic field constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for West Rutland High School. The photo is dated to 1937. The Living New Deal does not know the current status of the athletic field.  

The Works Progress Administration built a high school athletic field and grandstand in Worland, Washakie County. The exact location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.

More than 100 National Youth Administration (NYA) workers operated over three shifts to renovate the athletic fields (including football and baseball fields) at Camden High School in 1936.

The city of Greenville sponsored the Works Progress Administration project to improve the high school athletic field. The field was graded and bleachers added with a capacity to seat 2,000. The cost of the project was $2,122 and employed fifteen men. The field is not extant.