Parks and Recreation Sites

Improvements to Lincoln Park (Los Angeles, CA) were carried out by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in 1932-33. According to the 1932-33 Annual Report of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners, "Two hundred lineal feet of walks were built, and 5,075 feet of redwood curbing used to define the older walks. A fire break, 1,500 feet long and 30 feet wide, was built along the north end and east side of the park, protecting the grounds from fires from adjacent vacant land. Catch basins were installed to control the water from rains that wash down from the hills surrounding the...

"n 1936 Lincoln Park was graded and landscaped under a WPA project ..."

Built this modern clubhouse with latest devices for the pleasure and comfort of the public. Like Harding Golf Club it has become a very popular asset.--Healy, p. 59.

"During the Depression, Mayor Sam Snively and Park Superintendent F. Rodney Paine took advantage of government funding to put unemployed men to work on projects in the city’s parks. Lincoln Park’s stone pavilion was built in 1934 with funds and labor from two of the earliest government relief programs—the Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA). Reportedly two dozen of the CWA laborers gave three days’ work without pay to get the Lincoln Park pavilion ready for the annual Midsummer Festival." (zenithcity.com)

From Waymarking.com: "Lincoln Park is a large area on the east side of Northeast Lake and the Oklahoma City Zoo. The CCC was responsible for the construction of the lake, and several buildings in the zoo were constructed by the CCC and WPA. In Lincoln Park, there are dozens of picnic tables built by the WPA in 1936, located throughout the wooded picnic areas. They are actively used by the citizens of Oklahoma City. They consist of a rusticated native sandstone cube on top of which is a poured concrete table top. Each table has four seats which have a rectangular...

In 1933-34, New Deal relief workers built trails in Lincoln Park. We do not know exactly which ones, but the work almost certainly included the stone-lined steps down to the beach – which are classic New Deal stonework -- and the picnic shelter looks typical of that era, as well (but may well have been rebuilt over time). A photo from the University of Washington digital collections shows workmen constructing a trail along a steep hillside (see below). The caption on the photo says, "State of Wash., E.R.A. K.C.D., Proj. 509, Dec. 26, 1933, Neg. No. 19; Lincoln Park."   ERA refers...

The lily pool is located in Chicago's north side in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, just one block from Lake Michigan. It was dilapidated before 1936 when Chicago Park District employee Alfred Caldwell was asked to redesign it. With funds provided by the WPA, Caldwell designed a beautiful, 3-acre garden in an urban metropolis. With big slabs of limestone, he even created a waterfall. Walking paths guide visitors around the garden, where they can get in touch with native plants and trees. In the southeast corner, Caldwell designed a council ring to sit and relax at. It was a beautiful urban oasis...

"In 1934, the Lincoln Park Commission became part of the newly consolidated Chicago Park District and the new agency received substantial funding through President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. The completion of North Avenue Beach was one of many projects in Lincoln Park funded through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Construction began in 1939 and the $1,250,000 project included a major improvement to Lake Shore Drive with grade separation providing a new overpass at North Avenue. The new North Avenue Beach, totaled more than 875,000 square feet of new parkland and extended all the way to Fullerton Avenue. Chicago Park...

WPA workers developed the Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum from 1935 to 1936. Work also included landscaping and the building of cabins and a lake. From the State of Indiana's website on the attraction: "The Lincoln Pioneer Village & Museum houses hundreds of fascinating artifacts from the area’s historic past including a hutch made by Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas Lincoln. The Pioneer Village features 14 Lincoln-era replica cabins from Spencer County. This site was originally a WPA project." From the Evansville Sunday Courier and Journal, July 5, 1936: ROCKPORT, July 4—With both the democratic and republican nominees for governor on the program,...

The field house at the former Lincoln Playground (now Joy Evans Park and Lincoln Capper Pool) was built by Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers in 1934. It appears to have been demolished and replaced by the Joy Evans Early Childhood Center. The design was brick Colonial Revival, the standard plan for field houses from the period. The Lincoln Playground field house was a notable example of its type and follows the design first established by Municipal Architect Albert L. Harris, whose work is closely identified with civic architecture in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Playground field house was the only one of...

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former Lincoln School the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) painted classrooms and repaired ceilings in 1933. Heating facilities and floors were improved in 1934. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) funds also allowed for a new playground for the school that year. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.)  conducted numerous repairs, including varnishing interior woodwork; painting, both inside and out; patching ceilings; and re-pointing bricks. New concrete walkways were installed by the W.P.A. in 1937. A school addition project was completed by the...

Trenton, New Jersey's old Lincoln School, then a segregated facility, was improved by the federal National Youth Administration (NYA) ca. 1936. The facility now operates as the Rivera School. Quote "The Dawn," a monthly WPA newsletter, July 1936: Twelve colored boys are constructing a baseball diamond at the Lincoln School, and eight girls are doing bookbinding work at the same school.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at what was then Lincoln High School in Plymouth, Indiana. The educational facility, fronting N Liberty Street, appears to have no athletic fields—just parking lots.

Lincoln State Park was occupied by three New Deal agencies from 1933-1942. The first agency to occupy Lincoln Park was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC Company 1543 was active in Lincoln State Park from 1933-1934. The CCC laborers planted trees and constructed a fire tower, shelters, and a ranger cabin. After the CCC laborers were relocated in 1935, Federal Emergency Relief Administration laborers arrived and continued to build improvements for the park. FERA workers developed numerous fish rearing ponds. Later the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was stationed at Lincoln Park. WPA workers built hiking trails, a service building,...

CCC Co. 1543 abandoned their campsite and relocated to Turkey Run in 1934. FERA workers seeded the abandoned campsite and WPA laborers salvaged the lumber.  Some remaining evidence of the CCC Camp include rock walls, ditches, and concrete foundations.

The CCC constructed firetowers on steel frameworks to help protect the new plantings and existing forests. The firetower at Lincoln State Park was completed in 1934 by CCC laborers. The firetower stands around 120' tall.

CCC laborers completed the first bridge in 1933. The bridge is accessible to vehicles and is positioned between nature center and group camp.

CCC laborers completed the second footbridge in 1933.

The Ranger's Cabin, also known as the boathouse, sits on the shore of Lake Lincoln. It was completed by CCC Company 1543 in 1934. The structure was intended for park personnel residence but is now used as a boat rental office. The style of the cabin is classified as parks rustic.

The lakeside shelter was completed by CCC workers in 1934. The style of the shelter is classified as parks rustic.

The house was part of a planned service area, which developed after World War II. The superintendent's residence was nearly completed by CCC laborers when the CCC Camp abandoned in 1942.

This large, tiered park in Brooklyn was acquired by the City in stages between 1916 and 1935. In 1939-1940, the WPA constructed a brand new playground on the lower level of the park and then completely redesigned the upper levels as well. The August 1939 press release announcing the opening of the lower section described this work in detail: "The Brooklyn playground, in Lincoln Terrace Park, is one of the most intensively developed recreational areas that has been constructed by the Park Department. It is thirteen acres in size and contains a large open play area for group games for older...

“Also with Public Works Administration funds, a beach house is being constructed at the government-owned Lindbergh Bay beach, one of the best in the world, where also golf will be available on the links on which Colonel Lindbergh landed his "Spirit of St. Louis" in 1928. On this same esste is reserved a site for another hotel when required, and the botanical garden nearby lends additional attraction to the vicinity.”

The Public Works Administration (PWA) carried out the construction of a pier "at Lindbergh Bay on Government-owned property." The cost of the PWA work—which included a beach house—was $3,230.85.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed an extension to the multi-purpose former community building and Linden Fire Station in Malden, Mass. WPA Bulletin: A ward meeting place has been built, recreational quarters added and library floor space doubled by a recent WPA addition to the Linden Fire Station, and branch public library, Maiden. The addition is provided with modern heating, plumbing and electricity. The expansion housed a small branch library, in addition to the fire station. The building has not been an active fire station or library for years, however, it remains the property of the City of Malden which utilizes it for...

CCC Camp SP-3, made up of World War I veterans, "complete extensive work at three city parks in Fargo (Lindenwood, Edgewood, and Oak Grove) ca. 1935.

Lindsay Park is a 31-acre park located east Davenport, Iowa. The Works Progress Administration landscaped and improved the park in 1935. Pictured is Lindsay park in 1992. The appearance of the park has changed little since then.

A Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey documents both CCC and WPA work on the park: "The CCC and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) jointly developed Linn Run State Park. There is some indication from secondary sources that the WPA constructed the cabins and other buildings and structures, while the CCC landscaped the logged area and constructed roads, water and sewage systems, and other utilities... Other CCC-built resources within the district include two stone foot bridges, an automobile bridge constructed of steel I-beams with stone abutments, and low profile stone cooking fireplaces."

The Department of Parks announced the opening of this playground on August 30, 1935 and noted that it contained a wading pool and playground apparatus. Although federal involvement is not explicitly mentioned, federal funding for laborers, materials, architects, landscapers and engineers employed on Parks projects is acknowledged in about 350 press releases from 1934 to 1943. As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, from these and other sources, it can be confidently stated that all New York City parks projects from 1934 to 1938 and almost all from 1939-1943 were completed in whole or in part with New Deal funding...

Lions Municipal Golf Course was constructed in 1924 for the Lions Club and has been operated by the City of Austin, Texas since 1937. The course was Austin's first public golf course and is historically notable for being the first golf course south of the Mason-Dixon Line to racially integrate. The Works Progress Administration approved a project for the installation of a sprinkling system on the greens and fairways of the golf course and other general improvements to the grounds. The project involved the expenditure of $9,538.70 of federal funds and $11,539.00 of city funds.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and/or Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed a building in Lions Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, most likely in 1934. "Already a city of beautiful parks, Cheyenne erected a red stone building with relief labor at Lions park to house equipment and a wall was raised as well to shut off any unsightly display of implements." The location and status of this project is unknown to Living New Deal.

Casper Star-Tribune: "Convention and social sessions were transferred this afternoon to the Lions recuperation camp for undernourished children on Casper mountain. There in the new assembly and recreational building erected of logs as a CWA project, visitors also learned of the program through a talk given by A. Baker, Casper club member and a past district governor of the Lions. He reviewed both the history and the achievements of the camp, which ministers annually to between 60 and 70 deserving Casper children who are extended the benefits of wholesome and invigorating recreation combined with body-building food and care." The status and...

This large park and fountain, two miles north of the Brown campus, were erected by the WPA in 1935-37 and 1940 respectively.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made extensive improvements to Lithia Park, a 100-acre park at the heart of Ashland OR, from 1935 to 1938. Lithia Park was established in the early 20th century along Ashland Creek above the main town plaza, next to a small Chautauqua Park (added to Lithia Park in 1917).  A duck pond with waterfall was built on the site of an old flour mill in 1910 and then John McLaren, the designer of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, was invited to landscape the park in 1914-15.  McLaren transformed the little valley around the creek into a romantic...

"This playground, formerly La Guardia Houses Park, refers to the popular nickname of New York City mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882-1947), Little Flower. The nickname is a literal translation of the Italian mayor’s first name and an allusion to his small physical stature of 5 feet 2 inches." It was completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA)." It is also the site of Jo Davidson's bust of LaGuardia.  

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built this octagonal stone shelter The shelter was designed by Denver architect J.J.B. Benedict in the popular parks rustic style of the time, using native stone and timber to blend with the natural setting.  Little Park was added to the Denver Mountain Park system in 1917.  We do not know exactly what year the shelter was built.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) first developed Little River State Beach in the early 1930s.  CCC enrollees built a park boundary fence, an entrance gate, a parking area, and a day-use picnic facility with tables, benches, stoves, cupboards, and restrooms. All of these improvements have been lost to winter storms and the shifting sands typical of Pacific Coast beaches and dunes, especially in far Northern California. The work was carried out some time between 1933 and 1937 by the men of Company 1903 at Camp Prairie Creek, from where the CCC worked on state parks all along the north coast of California.

"Little River State Forest is an Alabama state forest in the counties of Escambia and Monroe. The forest is approximately 2,100 acres (850 ha) and sits at an elevation of 161 feet (49 m). The forest had its beginnings in the 1930s, when the property was deeded to the state. In 1934, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began work to create a state park at the site. Many current structures date from the CCC period, including the office building, a cabin, pavilions, a nature trail, and a 25-acre (10 ha) lake. The site is managed and maintained by the...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) had a great impact on War Memorial Park, including constructing "the original zoo buildings" at Little Rock Zoo.

"At Seneca State Forest, Little Thorny Creek was dammed to form Seneca Lake. The original dam stood 24 feet wide at the top, 16 feet high, and 162 feet long. The CCC constructed the original dam in three months using 116,000 feet of cribbed logs and 4,000 cubic yards of clay."