Parks and Recreation Sites

The Works Progress Administration built the Johnson County Fairground in Franklin IN.

Although the majority of the New Deal era work completed on Johnson Creek addressed the stream’s annual flooding problems, the project brought some recreational benefits as well. WPA (Works Progress Administration) workers built a fish ladder in the channel and provided access to the stream for fishing. An overlook was built with local rock, which was quarried as part of the project.

Three different federal relief agencies took on the challenge of Johnson Creek’s annual flooding during the New Deal period, beginning with Oregon’s SERA (State Emergency Relief Agency) efforts. Responsibility for the project was transferred to the PWA (Public Works Administration) in 1935 and ultimately to the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1936. The Oregonian, Portland’s primary newspaper, noted in 1935 that the Johnson Creek flood control project would become one of the largest projects in the area as workers attempted “to curb the unruly stream” that caused thousands of dollars of damage every year. Over several miles of the...

Lehman Caves National Monument was established in 1922 and put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived in 1934, setting up a camp and going to work on improvements to make the monument more welcoming for visitors. One of their tasks was to construct part of the Johnson Lake Trail.  We have no information on what other trails the CCC enrollees built in the park. The monument was incorporated into a new Great Basin National Park in 1986.  

This small municipal park was built by the WPA in 1939. It was developed on a reclaimed dump site and contains about .5 acres, is an open space and park for the adjacent school.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former Jonathon Maynard School the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) graded the land behind the school and built a new playground (1933-4). The W.P.A. conducted work at the site as well, including the installation of new bathroom facilities in 1937.

Mcall.com article: Union Terrace, Jordan Park, Fountain Park and the Lehigh Parkway in Allentown and Saucon Park, Monocacy Park and Franklin Park at Sand Island in Bethlehem were built under WPA and its precursor ...   "Probably it would have taken 50 years of slow progress to accomplish what has been done under WPA in two years," Robert J. Wheeler, then-secretary to the Allentown Planning Commission, told The Morning Call in 1937.

The Jordan Peak Lookout was built by the CCC and is in the Tule River Range District: "Jordan Peak has the distinction of quite possibly being the oldest lookout site in Sequoia National Forest. Dudley, in 1899, reported seeing a dozen fires burning from the summit of Jordan Peak in 1898... The current lookout was constructed in 1934 and is a modified L-4 style live in cab that measures 13 x 13 inside. The roof is a Hip-2 style and all of the materials were hauled in by pack animals. The 20 foot steel tower originally had...

The New Deal constructed tennis courts for what was then Jordan High School and is now the Jordan-Elbridge Middle School.  The agency in charge was almost surely the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which built thousands of recreational facilities at schools across the country.   This needs to be verified.

From NYC Parks: "Sauer Park is one of nine playgrounds that were built by the Parks Department through the War Memorial Fund, and were opened simultaneously on July 15, 1934. The War Memorial Fund was established in 1921 with $250,000 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. The properties were intended to honor the memories of individual soldiers who gave their lives in combat. The Fund was transferred to...

A June 1936 press release announced the opening of a new playground in Canarsie Park "fully equipped with play apparatus for young and older children." The NYC Parks site confirms this date and explains the history of this site: "Located at East 93rd Street and Seaview Avenue, this playground is situated in the northeastern part of Canarsie Park, which takes its name from the Canarsie Indians who once lived there. It stands on the oldest parcel of land, acquired in 1895 by the City of Brooklyn and transferred to Parks in 1898, in the 132 acre park which is bounded by Paedergat...

"Joseph H. Lyons Pool, the largest public pool on Staten Island, was built in 1936. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Lyons Pool was one of eleven pools that opened throughout New York City in a single summer during the Great Depression." (NYC Parks) "Opened July 7, 1936, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia summed up one of the main goals of the WPA pools, calling the facility "a monument to the progressive government which would not and could not see unemployed men on the breadline." (NYC Parks - Pools history) The year of the pool’s opening – 1936 – became known in...

Pritchett Field is a historic football stadium at Sam Houston State University. The first football game at Pritchett Field was on October 6, 1912. The Work Progress Administration constructed stone bleachers on both sides of Pritchett Field in the 1930s. In 1967, the stone bleachers on the east side were removed. Pritchett field is currently the home field of Sam Houston State women's soccer.

The sign on this park says Josephine Caminiti Playground. The NYC Parks website also refers to it as Alstyne Playground and notes that it was formerly known as Corona Playground. The land for this park was purchased by the City in 1930. The press release announcing its opening in October 1934 described the new facilities: "A new playground for small children will be opened at Corona Avenue and 102nd Street in the Borough of Queens. The area includes a recreational building outdoor play apparatus. A unique feature of this playground is its oval, concrete surfaced roller skating rink around the...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the Josey Boy Scout Lodge in Huntsville in 1934. Huntsville native and self made millionaire Robert A. Josey donated $5000 for the construction of a Boy Scout lodge in 1933. "The material for the construction was donated by J. P. Gibbs of Gibbs Brothers and Co. and included treated logs and stones from local forests and quarries. Lewis. E. Meekins of Austin was hired as contractor to build the log cabin style lodge. The structure was designed by architect Mike Mebane and based on a scale model made by the Scouts themselves." The lodge has five rooms,...

The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace is a unique New Deal project located in Como Park in St. Paul. Saint Paul Almanac: "Labor for the fireplace was provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal relief program that provided jobs for unemployed workers during the Great Depression. An old newspaper article said that the stone used to build the fireplace came from the Saint Paul City Hall, which had been demolished three years earlier in 1933."

A 1935 New York City Department of Parks Press release announced a: 'plan for the reconstruction of Joyce Kilmer Park, north of the Bronx County Court House between Walton Avenue and the Grand Concourse and extending from 161st Street to 164th Street... The new plan calls for the continuation of the Grand Concourse through these small triangles. The panels planted with Linden trees will be also carried through to 161st Street, The diagonal street through the south end of the Park will be closed and the open well on 161st Street in front of the Court House will be covered over... It will...

Constructed tennis courts and basketball court. This work will be complete when a Field House is built. The location was an ordinary sand lot.--Healy, p. 64.

"The work of the CCC influenced virtually every national forest. While the architectural style was consistently rustic, featuring stone and massive timbers, regional variations that reflected cultural context and the availability of building materials did occur. For example, in the Juan Tabo and La Cueva Picnic Area on the Cibola National Forest in New Mexico and in Sabino Canyon on the Coronado National Forest in Arizona, picnic shelters, restrooms, and bridges are made entirely of large granite boulders and native stone. These fit well within the rocky, arid character of the site."   (https://www.fs.fed.us)

Juanita Jewel Craft Park was originally called Wahoo Park and was purchased by the City of Dallas in1924. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) community building, retaining wall, landscaping, planting, walks and other improvements were executed 1936-38. The park was renamed for civil rights activist, civic leader, and Dallas City Council member Craft in 1974.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers built sidewalks, curbs, a redwood pergola (known as the "arbor"), a stone drinking fountain, and stone retaining wall in Juilliard Park in central Santa Rosa (Sonoma County).

(6.03 Acres) Presidio Reservation. Surfaced tennis courts, painted Field House inside and outside, erected 700 lineal feet of 10 feet wire fence; planted trees and shrubs and seeded approximately two acres.--Healy, p. 64.

On January 4, 1938, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a new playground: "In Queens, at 34th Avenue between 96th Street and Junction Boulevard, the new playground has slides, swings, see-saws, sand table, shuffleboard and handball courts. A rectangular wading pool which can be used for basketball and volleyball in spring and fall is also provided. Shade trees and permanent concrete benches are included in the landscape treatment. In this playground there is also a new building of brick construction, with comfort facilities for boys and girls." There is still a playground located at this site today. Although the 1938 press...

The city of Juniata was given a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant in the amount of $8,014.00 for park improvements.

This large park in the Middle Village neighborhood of Queens provides a wealth of leisure and recreational attractions to local residents. Before it became a park, "it was used variously as a farm, a cemetery, a source for peat moss, the property of a racketeer, and a garbage dump...In the early 1930s the City of New York acquired the bog to settle a $225,000 claim in back taxes against the estate of the infamous Arnold Rothstein (1882-1928), who had been accused of fixing the 1919 World Series" (nycgovparks). The WPA greatly transformed the park, first in 1936 and again in...

Kabetogama Lake CCC Camp number S-81, Company 724 was active in the Kabetogama State Forest from 1933-37. A marker at the site today describes CCC activity in the forest: "In 1934 a CCC camp of 400 men was established a mile south of Lake Kabetogama. This most northerly camp in the US had all its facilities under one roof and the lowest sickness rate.The CCC boys worked on forest and building projects in Kabetogama State Forest. In 1936 they fought and 18,100 acre forest fire saving the Kettle Falls Hotel from destruction. A few structures remain to memorialize this depression era program....

NYC Parks describes the history of this park: "The property on which the park is located was acquired by Parks from the Sinking Fund in two parcels. The first parcel was assigned on July 11, 1934, the second on June 23, 1937. Kaiser Park was formerly known as the Coney Island Lots because the northwestern corner of the park is situated on Coney Island." A Department of Parks press release from November 1936 announced the completion of new facilities at the site, including "a wading pool 54' x 96', two hard ball diamonds for older boys and see-saws, swings, jungle gym,...

Kanawha State Forest—seven miles south of Charleston, West Virginia—offers 9,300 acres of nature and recreation. Activities in the park include camping, hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, and hunting & fishing. There is also a swimming pool, a shooting range, and playgrounds (see source #1 below). These activities are possible, in part, due to the labor of the Civilian Conservation Corps, as pointed out by the West Virginia Humanities Council: “The West Virginia Conservation Commission acquired 6,705 acres in Kanawha County for the creation of Kanawha State Forest. Redevelopment of the land, which had been heavily mined and timbered, began the next year by...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers built the Bison Arena at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. Other WPA-built improvements included "upgrading the fair's sewer, rebuilding the Old Mill ride with permanent fireproof concrete, and putting in a reinforced concrete stage and basement at the grandstand." The Bison Arena and the rebuilt Old Mill ride are still in use.

One of many campgrounds that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed throughout Maine, this one in Baxter State Park in 1934. Katahdin Stream is a popular family campground providing access to Mount Katahdin via the Appalachian Trail as well as access to numerous streams and ponds in the Kidney / Daicey area.  

"Although included by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in his Mountain Park System Plan of 1914, the land was not acquired until 1935. The park served as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp from 1937 to 1941. Surviving buildings and foundations date from this period."

Construction of the concrete “stadium” at the Kearney High School athletic field on West 21st Street was designed primarily to provide dressing rooms for the high school athletes, but also provides seating for a large number of sports fans. It was built on the north side of the track, and measured 76 by 37 feet in size, costing $15,500.00. The stadium and locker room building was in its final stages of construction in December 1938, and Kearneyites were excited that their students would, for the first time, have the benefit of modern, convenient sports facilities. Plans for the stadium were prepared...

This park area consists of Kelly Park to the West of the BMT Brighton Beach transit line and the smaller Kelly Playground to the East of the line. Both were developed by the WPA in 1940. Kelly Park was first acquired by Parks in 1924, but expanded and improved by the WPA in 1940 to include "new baseball diamonds and tennis courts (adaptable for ice-skating after flooding and freezing), shuffleboard and volleyball courts, game tables, horseshoe pits, and children’s play structures" (NYC Parks). Kelly Playground, just east of the tracks was first acquired in 1937 and developed as part of...

The former City Park and Athletic Field (now the Ken Lindley Park) originated in 1908, but major improvements were made with relief labor provided by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in the winter of 1933-34.  It is likely that after the CWA was discontinued in early 1934, the stone work was completed under the auspices of the Arizona Emergency Relief Administration and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).   The main work done by the New Deal crews was to build the elegant stone walls that enclose the entire square block, and which serve as retaining walls on...

The Works Progress Administration built the Ken Locke Athletic Field (previously called the called Knoxville WPA Athletic Field) in Knoxville IA.  

Kendall State Park, plus park land from the cities of Cleveland & Akron, were formed into a National Recreation Area in 1974 and then Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The story of its establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage. This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 20th century. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to...

The National Youth Administration (NYA) pursued improvements at South Bend’s Kennedy Park in 1939. The park was known as Bendix Park during the New Deal. “Plans for beautifying Bendix Park are being completed by the board of park commissioners of South Bend, Ind.,” a reporter noted in April 1939. “The board hopes to transform the bare land into one of the City’s beauty spots by next summer. The park will be landscaped around the NYA building, which is being financed jointly by the NYA and the park department as a city recreation center. Plans for landscaping include an experimental garden in...

From the summer of 1938 to early 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps Camp NP-4 provided improvements to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. During its operation, the camp's enrollees cut trails and roads, implemented fire suppression measures, improved erosion control at the site, planted tress, and constructed the park's first headquarters building. The camp contained barracks, a recreation center and library, a mess hall, and several vocational education buildings. Though much of the physical campsite was disassembled and re-used for the war effort, the landscape constructed by the CCC is still extant.

Among other work, such as "construction of a new road to access the upper portion of Kent Falls State Park," the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the picnic area and the trail that climbs alongside the falls at Kent Falls State Park.

In 1939, a rock wall was constructed along Kenwood Park Drive in Salina, Kansas by youths who were employed by the National Youth Administration (NYA). The NYA was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that focused on training, employing, and educating young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Chris Cotten, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of Salina, Kansas tells us that "n April 1939 the Salina Journal reported that 35 NYA youths, working part time and using rubble masonry, were hired to construct 'ten dead-end walls' on streets that terminated at the Smoky Hill River. Remnants of...