Parks and Recreation Sites

In addition to Mosque Point, the CCC completed many other projects at Lake Worth. The pictured National Park Service document lists the many projects built by the CCC from 1934-1937, including: foot and auto bridges, several shelters, picnic and campground facilities, roads, foot trails, landscaping, tree planting, drinking fountains, toilets, water lines, fire protection amenities and more.

Lake Worth's Mosque Point shelter was designed by Hare and Hare of Kansas City, MO and built by CCC Co. 1816. The plan shown here was developed by Hare & Hare in 1930. That was the year that H&H completed a park master plan for the Board of Park Commissioners. The shelter was actually built in 1934. It was rehabbed following a fire to its present form in 1988. Originally it was a gable roof but was changed to a hipped roof covered with metal instead of the usual wood shingles. The CCC also completed many other projects at Lake Worth. The pictured...

"Lake Yosemite, despite its vast shores and native sands is entirely man-made, right down to the splendid beach you might call your summer home away from home. The water, of course, rests in an artificial reservoir that once provided the city of Merced with its drinking water, but now serves as the lifeblood of this area's ag industry. What might come as a surprise is the fact that the sand for the main beach at Lake Yosemite was hauled from the Merced River in Cressey by a team of Works Progress Administration workers. The local WPA program also created restroom facilities, new piers,...

Lamar Porter Field, a ballpark, was built by the WPA in 1937 and has been hosting amateur baseball ever since. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

A Paterson landmark dating back to 1892, Lambert's Castle was originally home to the Lamberts, a wealthy family that owned area silk mills. The building fell into disrepair in the early twentieth century, was purchased by the city of Paterson for $125,000 in 1925 and in 1928 transferred the title to the Passaic County Parks Commission. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to expand and build up the grounds in 1940.  According to a WPA press release, “A picnic area developed by WPA which adjoins the tower is one of the most popular improvements at Garret Mountain. The tower itself was...

Lamoille Canyon is the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains in northeastern Nevada. It is a spectacular glaciated canyon, known popularly as "Nevada's Yosemite" and is surrounded by peaks rising over 11,000 feet.  Lamoille Canyon lies mostly within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which extends in patches across all of Nevada. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in the lower canyon in 1933 and did extensive work there from 1933-1937, under the supervision of the US Forest Service.  The CCC enrollees built the road up the canyon, built trails, and laid out two campgrounds in the canyon. The large Thomas Canyon...

Lamoille Canyon is the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains in northeastern Nevada. It is a spectacular glaciated canyon with several side valleys, surrounded by peaks over 11,000 feet.  Much of the canyon lies within the huge Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest complex across Nevada and is jointly managed with the Trust for Public Land. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in the canyon in 1933 and did extensive work there until 1937.  Notably, the CCC enrollees built the 12-mile road up Lamoille canyon (NF-660) from highway 227.   The road climbs from about 6,000 feet at Lamoille to 8,800 at the...

In 1933, the Lampasas Chamber of Commerce raised $2,500 to buy 154 acres of land along Sulphur Creek and presented the land to the State of Texas as a site for a state park. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 896 arrived the same year, set up Camp Miriam (in honor of Miriam "Ma" Ferguson, the Governor of Texas) and began development of the park. The CCC cleared brush and cactus, built gravel roads, a native stone entrance, a concession house, a low water dam, native stone picnic tables, barbecue pits, native stone cabins, a baseball field, and a polo field....

In the 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) build the stone observatory (later visitor's center) at Land's End on the western tip of Grand Mesa. It was built in the Rustic Style popular in the early 20th century, of heavy basalt stone from the mesa and rough timbers. Grand Mesa is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, around 500 square miles in area and 10,500 high.  It is entirely within the Grand Mesa National Forest. The observatory was shuttered when we visited, but not permanently closed, we hope.

Merchant Joseph Landa purchased the property that bears his name in 1859 to build gristmills powered by water from the Comal River. During the 1890s, the Landa property became known as Landa's Pasture and was a popular picnic spot. Landa's Park was established by Joseph's son, Harry Landa, in 1898. Excursion trains from San Antonio and Austin brought tourists to Landa's Park, which was hailed as one of the most popular resorts in the Southwest. In 1927, Harry Landa, sold the property to Jarrett Investment Company, which operated the park until it defaulted on its loan due to financial losses...

According to a book on Joplin by Leslie Simpson, "In 1933, WPA workers cleared out the slums and created Landreth Park, which boasted a swimming pool, a playground, a tennis court, and flower gardens."  WPA work at the park included the construction of an elegant stone entrance at NW Murphy Blvd.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Amesbury High School was located on Main Street in the town of Amesbury, MA. In 1938 the school was selected for the construction of an athletic stadium by the Works Progress Administration. The original high school burned down in 1964 and was rebuilt on Highland St. Now the property on Main Street is home to the Amesbury Middle School. The stadium was constructed with an odd and peculiar design that can best be described as a bowl structure built into the side of a small hill. On two opposing sides there are...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted landscaping work at a "triangular plot at the intersection of Bronx Blvd. and Duncomb Ave." The New York Times reported on an adorable story that occurred during the project, involving the hatching of six baby birds from eggs in a nest "no larger than fist."

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in 1938 that 40 WPA laborers were "doing a $40,000 job of tree painting, landscaping, road oiling, leveling and general beautification" at what was then known as the Montana School of Mines, now Montana Tech of the University of Montana. Most evidence of such renovations is long gone, but one rock wall we observed looks suspiciously like WPA work. WPA employment was vital to the welfare of unemployed miners around Butte, Montana during the Great Depression.

"Lane Field is a former baseball stadium located in San Diego, California. The ballpark was home to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League from 1936 through 1957. The ballpark was located in downtown San Diego, at the end of West Broadway near the waterfront. Broadway bounded the park to the south (first base). Its other two close bounding streets were Harbor Drive (third base) and Pacific Highway (right field). There were various buildings to the north (left field) between the ballpark and Ash Street. Before it was called Lane Field, the stadium began its life as a U.S. Navy...

Birmingham's Lane Park was the site of substantial work relief efforts on the part of multiple New Deal agencies: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Historical marker: "The land was also used for the Allen Gray Fish Hatchery (fed by Pullen Springs), a stone quarry, a complete baseball diamond, and a golf driving range. Several of the stone structures were erected by the WPA. Two hundred acres are now the home of the Birmingham Zoo (est. 1954) and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (est. 1962)." A CWA/Alabama Relief Administration project was soon after launched to fully develop the...

 During the 1930s, Langdon Park was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A Washington Daily News article from 1936 described New Deal work in the park: "Wading pool built; new walks, picnic groves and parking area completed." In this case, the improvements were most likely done by the WPA, which was at work on a million-dollar program of parks renovation in 1935-36.  Langdon Park today contains a swimming pool and pool building, basketball courts, tennis courts and as...

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $16,500 in funding for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to build and/or make improvements to the Langston Recreation Center (now the Langston Playground) in Anacostia Park, next to the Langston Golf Course. It is known if the present football field, basketball courts and other improvements at the site are left from the New Deal era.

According to a National Register of Historic Places form for Lassen National Park, “In 1933, with the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), trail construction, campground development and road maintenance benefited from hundreds of laborers, who accelerated the pace of park infrastructure development….CCC workers provided most of the labor on spring clean up and road maintenance projects, including gutter line cleaning and slope stabilization. They built facilities at the park's developed campgrounds, as well as many of the park's 150 miles of hiking trails.” The CCC also removed dead timber (for fire prevention), developed scenic parking areas, made trail signs,...

In July 1935, the Laurel School Board sponsored a proposal for a new athletic field adjacent to the school grounds. The land had been used as a school “park”, but since the school had no athletic field to speak of, the Board proposed to procure 6,000 cubic yards of dirt from the nearby borrow pit of the State Highway Department and level the yard. Thirty men were given employment as a result of this Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.

"Another distinctive and ambitious project was at Pine Mountain, the site of the annual Mountain Laurel Festival. CCC corpsmen excavated an amphitheater from the hillside and constructed new seats and facilities for the thousands of visitors who made the annual spring pilgrimage to see the governor crown a new queen. More than $500,000 of CCC money went into this park alone." "The Laurel Cove Amphitheater is part of Pine Mountain State Resort Park. This incredible venue has been the home of the Mountain Laurel Coronation for 90 years, the world famous Book of Job drama, spectacular weddings, and the Laurel Cove...

"Beginning in 1935, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration began purchasing sub-marginal agricultural and forest land so that it could be converted to better use. In 1936, the National Park Service was given the responsibility of the Recreational Demonstration Areas. Laurel Hill was one of five areas in Pennsylvania and targeted for restoration and reforestation, and organized group camping and day picnicking. Beginning in 1935, with cooperation of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, men of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began building roads, trails, bridges and recreational facilities. Two CCC camps, SP-8 and SP-15 arrived...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) became the New Deal's primary work relief program for the general population in 1935. WPA funds supported a number of projects in City of Portland parks. In the case of Laurelhurst Park, WPA funds provided wages for unemployed men to work on park maintenance.

During the late 1930s, with funds from various New Deal programs, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Laurelhurst Playfield. The largest of these improvement projects was the construction of a field house near the southern end of the playfield. Workers with the CWA began constructing the field house in January 1934. Work had not yet been completed when the federal government shut down the CWA program at the end of March 1934. The remaining work on the structure was completed in 1935 with assistance from the Washington (State) Emergency Relief Administration. Designed by Seattle architect Lloyd J. Lovegren,...

The Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Laurelhurst Playfield along NE 41st Street between 45th Avenue NE and 48th Avenue NE in 1927. Although a few improvements to the site were completed between 1929 and 1932, a series of New Deal projects between 1933 and 1941 allowed the Park Department to move forward with additional upgrades despite the hardships of the Great Depression. Laurelhurst Playfield was one of a limited number of Seattle park facilities to receive funding under the New Deal's Civil Works Administration program. During the winter of 1933-1934, CWA laborers began construction on a brick field house...

The NYC Parks website explains that: "In May 1934, after closing P.S. 38, the Board of Education transferred the property to Parks. Parks opened Laurelton Playground on August 23, 1935 in service of the local community. Parks acquired two small parcels that were added to this playground during 1936." A Parks press release announcing the opening explained that it was then "developed as a small children's play area." As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor. Given the date of this project,...

The CCC at Lava Beds built roads, laid the first power and telephone lines, and built a superintendents residence and headquarters building at Indian Well, which is now a Visitor Center. They built a campground (which is now the "A" loop at the park), the picnic tables at Fleener Chimneys, and built dozens of trails through the lava tube caves. Without using any heavy equipment, they were able to move over ten million cubic yards of earth and debris, largely by hand, from the caves near the Visitor Center and install ladders and stairways there.   The following is an excerpt from...

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Abe Boehm, a CCC enrollee (Company 3740) stationed at Camp Clear Lake in northeastern California between February and June of 1937: "The CCC boys from Clear Lake fenced off the Petroglyphs. The reason they needed a fence was that the tourists would chip the rocks off for souvenirs . When we first went there, 90% of the Petroglyphs were still intact, but every day you’d see a few fresh chips missing. So out crew’s job was to build the fence and a tower that the game wardens and sheriffs could use for...

"Early projects proposed by the town and paid for by the WPA included ... new athletic fields on Lawn Avenue ..."

This outdoor amphitheater was built into a hillside of a city park so the sounds from summer concerts and other events could easily project up through the audience. This popular gathering spot was renovated in 2009, with $220,000 covering improvements to the structure itself, as well as new barrier-free concrete ramps, new landscaping and new sound and lighting equipment. According to Michigan Live, "Set at the bottom of a wooded hill, just west of the downtown area, the bowl was built as part of a federal Works Progress Administration project at Lawrence Park in the mid-1930s."  

The New York City Parks Department website details the history of Lawrence Triangle, a 0.14-acre park in Flushing, New York. "In July , the Flushing Garden Club presented the land to the Flushing Hospital to be used by hospital patients as an outdoor retreat during their stay. The hospital then granted the park to the City of New York in July 1939. The WPA (Works Progress Administration) worked to improve the park for general use by planting trees, grass and flowers, paving the paths, and removing an old gate. A local law named the park in honor of Lawrence in 1951."

On July 28, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and funds," noting that "These playgrounds are five of the twenty-four sites in neglected areas selected by the Commissioner of Parks and acquired by condemnation after authorization by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment on July 15, 1936." One of these five playgrounds was what is now known as the Lawrence Virgilio Playground in Windmuller Park. Today's NYC Parks website confirms that "The land comprising Windmuller Park was acquired from the Windmuller family in 1936 and the park...

Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, originally Lawrence Stadium, was a baseball stadium built by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1934. Home to minor league baseball and National Baseball Congress tournament for many years. It was demolished in 2018 to make room for Riverfront Park.

"Park facilities constructed of native timber and field stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's are still standing today. These examples of fine craftsmanship include an arch stone bridge, shelter in Oak Woods, stone trail steps and the stone shelter in lower Ledges."

The Works Progress Administration built the Lee Park in Cordell OK. Contributor note: "Lee Park lies between 2nd and 3rd Streets, and between Glenn L. England (Highway 183) and Cordell Avenue. An extension north of 3rd Street also contains basketball court and skate park, as well as some playground equipment and an old hut. This park was a WPA project in 1940 and contains numerous rock structures, such as two bridges, drinking fountains, fire pits, drainage ditches and walkway curbing, as well as a rock hut. Over the years, items have been added, such as volleyball court and a nice Kiwanis sponsored playground. The...

"Lee State Natural Area is one of South Carolina's first state parks. It was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression of the 1930s as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. Formerly Lee State Park, it is situated along the banks of the Lynches River. The park is open to visitors year round for activities like camping, hiking, nature walks, horseback riding and fishing. The park has a boardwalk into the wetlands to reach habitats that would otherwise be difficult to reach. Visitors can see white-tail deer, herons and egrets, warblers and reptiles and amphibians like...

Federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted improvement work in South Bend's Leeper Park during the 1930s. "In 1936, a retaining wall faced with scrap salvage concrete was constructed around the island and the channel of the slough was dredged. In 1938 a shelter house near the tennis courts was also built with WPA labor." The shelter house has since been removed.

Then known as Municipal Stadium, Birmingham's Legion Field was improved by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The historic bandshell in Auburn, Nebraska's Legion Park was constructed as a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project starting in 1940. About 30' x 40' in size, the shell features a dark stone foundation and brick designed to mesh with other WPA-built improvements in the park. "The back of the stage is a scientifically designed concave surface, which will be covered in a material adapted for the best acoustics." The basement of the bandshell featured dressing rooms and a 22' x 23' recreation room. The estimated cost of the project was $6,500.

Auburn, Nebraska's Legion Park was dramatically improved as a result of Work Projects Administration (WPA) efforts. In addition to the park's bandshell, "uring the late 1930’s, the City received WPA funding to build the ... playground, picnic shelter, and the arched entrance."