The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a municipal pool and bathhouse near the beach in Santa Barbara CA. This was part of a larger program of improvements of the beach area parks – much of it done… read more
“The Boulder City and Overton Camps are probably best known for their involvement in salvage archaeology, most notably excavations at Lost City in the lower Moapa Valley. The rising Lake Mead threatened a number of important archeological sites along the… read more
The CCC’s role in developing the park, as explained by the state of West Virginia: “During the Great Depression, beginning May 15, 1934, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1524 occupied Camp Hardy, which was located near the present day entrance… read more
Love’s Lookout Park, north of Jacksonville, Texas in north Cherokee County, was developed by the WPA. After John Wesley Love’s death, his “family gave 22.22 acres, including the lookout site, to the state for a park. The city of Jacksonville… read more
Lowery Field is a multi-use recreation field with 4 baseball diamonds, a football field, a basketball court and a playground. The state archives show a picture baseball field that was built by the Civil Works Administration or Alabama Relief Administration.
Lowman Beach Park, a small park property that provides access to Puget Sound in a primarily residential area of southwest Seattle, was the site of two Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first project involved the construction of a cement… read more
A marker erected in 1998 describes the CCC’s role in developing Loy Park and Loy Lake: “Grayson County officials became aware of a growing need for a public recreation facility for the area’s approximately 65,500 residents in 1930. Three years… read more
The Seattle Park Department acquired the property for Loyal Heights Playground in 1941 and, that same year, employed WPA workers to clear and regrade the site, which naturally sloped downward from north to south. More than 7,300 cubic yards of… read more
On January 15, 1940, the New York City Department of Parks announced the completion of this “new facility” at Alexander Ave. and 136th St.: “It contains four handball courts, a large, open, bi[t]uminous-surfaced play area for group games, small and… read more
An August 1935 Parks Department press release lists what is now the Lt. Joseph Petrosino Park as one of seventy-three play areas developed in the preceding year with “city, state and federal relief funds.” The release describes this park as having… read more
When the state of Michigan was given 3,500 acres of logged-over land on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1926, it was hoped that the nearby Big Sable Point Lighthouse might become a beacon not only for ships but for… read more
This Lake Michigan Beach House in Ludington State Park was built by the CCC. Under the direction of the National Park Service, the CCC built roads, retaining walls, campgrounds, hiking trails, the park’s headquarters, and the Lake Michigan Beach House…. read more
The federal Works Progress Administration worked to improve the facilities of Luke Easter Park in Cleveland. “Ten baseball diamonds were later added, along with clay tennis courts, a football field, a running track, an office and service building, and landscaping…. read more
Lummus Park is a beach-side park stretching along the Eastern side of Ocean Dr. from 5th – 15th streets. Under FERA projects 13-129: 13-B3-146, federal workers built 8 new shuffleboard courts and a new concrete-floored pavilion. The park was renovated… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a bathing beach at Luther [Hill] Park at Lake Whittemore in Spencer, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Down came an old dance pavilion, 300,000 square feet of scratchy brush was cleared and for replacement… read more
This ballpark (also known as Calvin Falwell Field) was built with the assistance of WPA funds is currently home to the Lynchburg Hillcats, a Minor League baseball team. “The ballpark project began in 1936, after the city purchased 28 acres… read more
Lynn Woods Reservation was founded in 1881 by local residents and remains under jurisdiction of the city of Lynn. Lynn Woods contains over 30 miles of trails for hiking, biking, running, and horseback riding. Three active reservoirs exist in the… read more
The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts in Lyons Park in Mobile. The park is still in service today under the name Lyons Park Tennis Center.
CCC Camp SP-1, 1191 was established in Macedonia Brook State Park in 1935. The CCC “did much site development here in the 1930s, including construction of a pavilion and a carriage road with massive retaining walls constructed without mortar.” (www.townofkentct.org)… read more
Mackenzie Field is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, next to Holyoke High School. In 1938, the concrete bleachers on the 1st base side of the field are a WPA project done at a cost of $35,392.
Mackenzie State Recreation Area, commonly referred to as Mackenzie Park, is located in the northeast portion of Lubbock. The park was first built in 1921, and included a pool and a golf course. During the Depression city leaders desired to… read more
Macleay Park, a 130-acre portion of the City of Portland’s enormous Forest Park, was the site of Works Progress Administration (WPA) works projects during the mid-1930s. WPA workers built several miles of trails, access roads, and comfort stations, improving a park… read more
Located in College Point, this green space on the East River is built on the grounds of an old mansion. It was originally known as Chisolm Park: “In 1930 the City of New York acquired the mansion and its grounds… read more
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funded improvements at the Macomb Playground in Washington DC between 1935 and 1936. The crews graded 1,500 cubic yards.
The New York City Parks Department Press Release for October 14, 1935 announces the opening of a new playground at the site of what was later called Macombs Dam Park, with some or all of the following amenities: wading pools,… read more
Early Twin Bridges offered few public gathering places, and so these fifty acres, once part of the Lott and Seidensticker homesteads, were developed as “The Park” in 1887. A “harvest home barbecue” was held that year, and two years later… read more
WPA engineer C. D. Paxton designed this impressive octagonal community building as part of the federally funded project to rebuild the fairground in 1936. Master log craftsman Tosten Stenberg of WPA headquarters in Livingston supervised the building. The primary construction… read more
Madison Park, located at the eastern end of Madison Streeet, next to Lake Washington, was the site of several small Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first of these projects involved the replacement of the park’s clay tennis courts near… read more
In 1927, the Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Madrona Playground at East Spring Street and 34th Avenue. The playground site received a few improvements during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including the grading of the playfield and… read more
During the late 1930s, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration, the Seattle Park Department upgraded Madrona Playground. The largest component of the improvement project was the construction of a new shelter house near the north end of the… read more
Magruder Park is Hyattsville’s major park facility. According to an index of WPA projects in the National Archives the WPA worked on the park in 1935, improving the park, clearing the stream, constructing playground courts, a wading pool and curbs… read more
The land for Mahoney Playground was acquired in two parts in 1933 and in 1961. Parks announced the opening of a new playground on the first half in 1937, with “a fully equipped small children’s section besides facilities for handball,… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Vermont’s Maidstone State Park during the 1930s. “Maidstone was designated by the state of Vermont as a state park in 1938. The camp areas were wilderness, but the area around the lodge was a… read more
The Group Utility Building (original name) in Yosemite Valley opened 1935. It was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The utility building consolidated a hodgepodge of old shops, forges, storage and maintenance into one facility. It also provided three bays… read more
The state historical marker erected at this site describes the still standing arched entryway to the now demolished Majors Stadium as having been built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940.
As noted in the State of Oregon’s Historic Preservation database: “The John Day Compound, Supervisor’s Warehouse is a complex of work buildings, employee residences, and related infrastructure owned an operated by the Malheur National Forest in John Day,… read more
The federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop southeast Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge during the 1930s. “The Refuge was expanded on February 21st, 1935 to incorporate the 164,503 acre Blitzen Valley. The Blitzen Valley was purchased using funds… read more
W.P.A. project descriptions: “Malibu Beach; a parking space of about 3,000 square yards was constructed at the beach, off the Old Colony Parkway, Dorchester” Old Colony Parkway has since been renamed Morrissey Blvd.
In 1935, the Works Progress Administration built a club house and tennis court, along with picnic structures. The club house survives in near original condition. The tennis court picnic structures have been updated over the years.
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor created Malone Park in Chelsea, Mass.