Parks and Recreation Sites

The WPA constructed a 4-H Club building for the Muskogee Fairgrounds in 1936. A 1985 Oklahoma Historical Landmarks survey of extant WPA properties describes the building: "The 4-H Club building on the Muskogee County Fairgrounds is a single story structure that is composed to two intersecting units... The structure is constructed of colorful uncut native stone laid randomly with beaded mortar... The 4-H Club building is an excellent example of the interpretation the WPA gave to 'useful.' The building was used by 4-H Club members during fair time as a dormitory and exhibit hall. Thus its educational and commercial purpose fit well...

In March, 1939 the federal government approved $65,000 for a new football stadium in Sweetwater, Texas. Texas Senator Tom Connally and U.S. Representative from Texas Clyde L. Garrett received credit for getting the project signed off. The Works Project Administration built the stadium in 1939. The Mustang Bowl seats 7,500 in the bleachers and 9,500 in the tiered concrete embankments around the end zones. The bleachers were originally wood sitting on grass, but were changed to metal on concrete in 1972. Other improvements over the years include new restrooms and press box in 1959 and new concession stand, restrooms and railings...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the amphitheater at Mutual Dell camp in 1936.  It is a modest sized outdoor theater with a concrete and stone stage and wooden plank seating for about 200 people. It was constructed by CCC enrollees working out of Camp F-43 in Pleasant Grove UT. Mutual Dell is a girls camp run by the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church. The amphitheater is still actively used for camp programs.

Bristol, Connecticut's Muzzy Field ballpark was constructed between 1938 and 1939 as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It is still in use today. The PWA provided a $15,301 grant toward the $34,071 total cost of the project. 1317.]

The CCC did extensive work creating Myakka River State Park between 1934 and 1941. According to the Florida Public Architecture blog, it was the only camp in Florida established by an African-American division of the CCC, reminding the visitor that segregation obtained even in great public works of the New Deal. From the Florida State Parks website: In the 1930's, during the Great Depression, over 17,000 acres of the Palmer estate was purchased by the government to develop Myakka River State Park as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The New Deal was intended to boost the economy and spirit of the American population during...

Construction of a main shelter at the Myrick Park Zoo as part of a WPA project. The Zoo is currently closed.

"The Civilian Conservation Corps performed a variety of work throughout the state, including soil conservation, reforestation, fire prevention, and the development of recreational areas. The work of the CCC in South Carolina provided the genesis of South Carolina's state park system. South Carolina's first state park opened at Myrtle Beach in July 1936, and by 1938 fourteen state parks had opened and over 450,000 people had visited them."

Descriptions of W.P.A. projects conducted in 1937: "Nahant Beach Reservation; the large automobile parking space adjacent to the boulevard was improved and enlarged by the completion of a project started in 1936. The area was improved and made safer for the use of automobiles by the installation of rip-rap shore protection and filling and grading of the parking space. About 3,200 cubic yards of heavy stone was placed for shore protection and 12,500 cubic yards of earth and rock were excavated and placed in regrading the auto park, the usable area of which is now about 70,000 square yards. Nahant Beach Reservation;...

A partnership between the Forest Service and Works Progress Administration resulted in a rudimentary picnic shelter and campground at Namekagon Lake in northern Wisconsin's Chequamegon National Forest. Originally, the shelter had changing rooms at each end which were later removed. Today, the campground boasts 34 sites, a sandy beach, boat landing, and trails.

According to a historical sign on site, "Named for Fridjof Nansen, the Greenland explorer. Berlin's first ski club formed in 1872. The club sponsored the "Big Nansen" constructed in 1936 -38 by the National Youth Administration and the City of Berlin. At the time, it was possibly the tallest steel-tower ski jump in the world, standing 171 feet high. The first jumper Clarence "Spike" Oleson in 1937. In 1938, the Olympic trials were held here. Four times Milan hosted the United States Ski Jumping National Championships: 1940, '57, '65, '72." The architect of the ski jump was John Barnard Nichol, a...

"The hotel at Nantasket Beach was renovated and painted by the Civil Works Administration in 1934, "floors reconditioned, furniture cleaned and varnished and the outside of building painted. Labor was paid for from Federal Funds, but a large portion of the materials was furnished by the state."  

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Camp Fernow, which housed Company #183, was stationed at Natchaug State Forest in Eastford, Connecticut. The camp was established June 29, 1933 and was discontinued May 28, 1941. Among other projects independently listed on other pages, work included: "tree planting, 8 miles of truck trails, improvements to the Forest Ranger's house, and construction of the Eastern District sawmill, a sawdust and plainer shed, a warehouse, a machine shop, and the 3 lumber sheds that supplied the entire eastern half of Connecticut."

"The Natchez Trace Parkway is a National Park Service unit in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Old Natchez Traceand preserves sections of the original trail. The Natchez Trace Parkway logo can be seen on signs and trail markings along the parkway. Its central feature is a two-lane parkway road that extends 444 miles (715 km) from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Access to the parkway is limited, with more than 50 access points in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee... Construction was begun by the federal government in the 1930s. The development of the modern roadway was one of the...

The 445-mile parkway follows the general path of the old Natchez Trace, originally a footpath for Native American Choctaw and Chickasaw (Littman). The parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, across the northeast corner of Alabama, and into Tennessee. The Northern Terminus (Tupelo-Nashville) ends just out of Nashville after passing by Franklin, Tennessee. The final leg of the parkway was completed in 1996 (Littman). Representative Thomas J. Busby of Mississippi introduced the first of the bills into Contgress to construct a paved road along the route of the old Trace. Work began under the Public Works Administration, and included the Works Project...

This Tennessee state park was developed by several New Deal  "on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion." (wikipedia.org) "Three New Deal agencies, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Resettlement Administration, assumed responsibility for the park's initial planning and development. Like other early state parks, the Resettlement Administration relocated property owners from unproductive and overused farm land; the CCC and WPA began land replenishment and park construction. The CCC concentrated its efforts on reforestation work and instigated land stabilization programs that included the introduction of the Japanese vine...

"In December 1929, the state of Tennessee established Nathan Bedford Forrest Memorial Park atop Pilot Knob, which had been donated by the Paffords. A road was built connecting Eva with Pilot Knob, where a memorial consisting of a granite obelisk had been erected. In the mid-to-late 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration arrived to build the park's roads, trails, and facilities."

The United States National Arboretum was established as a public center for scientific research, education, and gardens to conserve and showcase the floral bounty of America and the world.  It was authorized in 1927, but the actual development of the arboretum was accomplished during the 1930s by the New Deal. The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded land acquisition, as well as extensive planning and mapmaking, for the Arboretum. Young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) performed the work under the supervision of the Bureau of Plant Industry (today's Agricultural Research Service) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA)  The Arboretum was established by an...

The WPA did extensive work on the National Fish Hatchery in Neosho including work on the fish tanks, runs, pools, walls, and drainage ditches.  The primary materials were native stone and concrete.  The work of the WPA at this site is still largely in use.

In 1934, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees constructed the fire Guard Station in Bonanza, Idaho. Bonanza is a former mining camp on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, near its confluence with Jordan Creek. Nothing is left of the town. This small structure housed the Challis National Forest fire guard with responsibility for the Yankee Fork area, including the maintenance of the nearby Forest Service bathhouse at Sunbeam Hot Springs. The Guard Station is still intact and occupied.

The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.  Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 1939, the PWA had expended $1,050,000  on redeveloping the Mall. Work began in 1934 under the direction of the Superintendent of the National Capital Parks, which had become a branch of the National Park Service when the park system was taken over by the Interior Department under Harold Ickes in August 1933.  One element of the reconstruction of the National Mall was to move and...

The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.   Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 1939, the PWA had expended $1,050,000 on the reconstruction work.  As one newspaper put it, “...the mile long park connecting the Capitol with Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial probably would still be in an early stage of development but for the allocation of PWA funds to finish the project."  Work began in 1934 under the supervision of the Superintendent of the National Capital Parks,...

The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.  Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 1939, the PWA had expended $1,050,000 on the reconstruction work.  As one newspaper put it, “...the mile long park connecting the Capitol with Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial probably would still be in an early stage of development but for the allocation of PWA funds to finish the project."  In 1901, the McMillan Commission, composed of eminent architects and landscape architects, was created to rethink...

The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.  Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 1939, the PWA had expended $1,050,000 on the reconstruction work. As one newspaper put it, “...the mile long park connecting the Capitol with Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial probably would still be in an early stage of development but for the allocation of PWA funds to finish the project." In 1934, with the aid of funds from the PWA, work began under the supervision of the...

The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.  Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA), labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and supervision of the work was the responsibility of the Superintendent of the National Capital Parks, which had become a branch of the National Park Service when the park system was taken over by the Interior Department in 1933.  One element of the National Mall project was the building of tennis courts on the north and south sides of the Mall between 3d and 4th streets.  It...

The Blue Room is one of the original dining areas in the San Francisco Aquatic Park bathhouse,  constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building is now the visitors center for the National Maritime Historical Park. The building architects were William Mooser Jr and William Mooser III. The painting and murals were paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) and done under the supervision of Hilaire Hiler, lead artist for the entire building's artworks. Original drawings refer to this circular room on the eastern side of the second level as “restaurant.” There is no known record as to how it...

The New Deal years 1933 to 1941 were arguably the best years in the history of the National Zoo, thanks to the many projects undertaken by the Roosevelt Administration.  Labor was provided by work-relief programs — the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) — and construction was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and, later, the Federal Works Agency (FWA). New Deal agencies built or improved virtually every aspect of the zoo.  The PWA paid for a new elephant house and small mammal house and an addition to the bird house.  It funded...

The south wing of the Bird House at National Zoo – which had been left off the original building in 1927-28 – was constructed in 1936 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It completed the the imposing, Romanesque style Bird House, adding space for more cages/exhibits and housing the Bird Resource Center. The PWA contributed around $1 million to several zoo improvement projects in the 1930s, including new elephant house, a small mammal house and an addition to the bird house.  The separate cost of the Bird House addition is undetermined.  The original building had been design by Albert Harris and the...

The Elephant House at National Zoo was built in 1936-37 with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). At the time, it was known as the Pachyderm House; it is also sometimes called the Large Mammal House.   The Elephant House was designed in 1935 by Edwin Hill Clark, lead architect for all the New Deal additions to the National Zoo, as well as the Philadelphia zoo in 1930s.  The work was supervised by the Treasury Department Procurement Division's architectural office.  The actual construction was undertaken by private contractors, Harwood-Nebel Construction and Huffman and Brown. The Elephant House includes both indoor enclosures and rustic...

The Machine and Carpenter Shops building was constructed at the National Zoo in 1936-37, with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA paid for four buildings and other improvements to the zoo in the 1930s. In 1938, the National Zoo reported that “fiscal year 1937 was probably the most outstanding in the history of the Zoo.  The construction under the Public Works Administration grant of $892,920 was completed. These improvements include… machine and carpenter shops...”  The separate cost of the Machine & Carpenter Shops building is not specified in the reports. The Zoo report described the new utility building as...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the building for a restaurant at National Zoo, constructed in 1939-40.  The restaurant building still serves the public today as the Mane Cafe. In its 1939 fiscal year report, the National Zoo noted: “The Public Works Administration allotted the sum of $90,000 for the much-needed restaurant building at the Park. Work on plans for this building was commenced immediately by the Supervising Architect, Procurement Division, Treasury Department, and in a short time it is expected that bids will be let and construction begun. This will be a marked improvement in the service that the Zoo gives...

From 1933 to 1941, New Deal relief workers added a number of new animal exhibit areas to the National Zoo, as well as improving existing enclosures.  The following are sketches of the significant work performed at a dozen areas, taken from the Zoo’s annual reports, with the relevant relief agency and years in parentheses.  Many of these exhibit improvements appear to still exist today, as shown in the photographs below.  Further verification is needed, but much of the stone and concrete work is typical of the New Deal era. Antelope and wild sheep exhibit “Replacing old and unsatisfactory frame structure by a series...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a Small Mammal House at the National Zoo, constructed in 1937.  It was one of several buildings paid for by the PWA and many other improvements made at the zoo by New Deal relief agencies. It is a brick building done in Italian Renaissance style, with a triple-arch entry, one semicircular end, limestone trim and tile roofing.  It includes a ventilation system. The designed was done in 1935 by Edwin Hill Clark, lead architect for all the New Deal additions to the National Zoo, as well as the Philadelphia zoo, in 1930s.  The work was supervised...

Multiple New Deal agencies performed work in and around Natrona County High School in Casper, Wyoming, notably constructing athletic facilities. The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) began construction of "a stadium for the athletic field at Natrona County High School in Casper," work that was completed under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.). Casper Star-Tribune: "CONSTRUCTION of Casper's new $48,000 stadium under the CWA end later the ERA during 1934 rounded out the athletic facilities of Natrona County High school to the most complete and finest of any school from colleges on down in the Rocky Mountain states, and further boosted Carper's eminence...

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942, working out of the Upper...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park during the 1930s. The CCC built trails, shelters and stairways.

Navajo Lake in Kane County, UT is a natural lake formed by a prehistoric lava flow.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) added a dike to raise the lake level and extend the recreational boating, swimming and fishing season.  This is one of several projects undertaken by the CCC in Dixie National Forest during the 1930s, under the supervision of the US Forest Service.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. WPA project details: "Construct and rehabilitate buildings and facilities" Official Project Number: 109‐3‐22‐13 Total project cost: $10,000.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Make improvements at Naval Air Station" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐22‐391 Total project cost: $22,758.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Excavate, clear, and level grounds, and provide bridges, roads, and fences" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐22‐40 Total project cost: $153,464.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project Number: 709‐2‐44 Total project cost: $16,107.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project...

An amphitheater type football stadium was constructed in 1934 using WPA funds. The stadium was designed by City Manager, R.J. Brule and the field was named in his honor. Mr. Brule is remembered today as being a resourceful manager who used available resources to make what the city needed. He negotiated several beneficial WPA grants for the City of Navasota. Brule Field was used by the high school team until 2006 when a new, modern facility opened. Today Navasota Intermediate School uses the facility for their games. Note: All available records list completion date as 1934 and agency as WPA, but the...

Nazareth Boro Park (also spelled Nazareth Borough Park) was begun in 1935 as a WPA project. Stone walls, a foot bridge, and an automobile bridge were among the features constructed. By 1937, a bathhouse and an 18,500 square foot swimming pool had been constructed. The pool was replaced in 2015 due to structural damage. The bridges and stone walls and entrance to the park remain. The automobile bridge has WPA 1939 chiseled into the rock.

Giant Sequoia National Monument is a designated area encompassing 328,315 acres in the Sierra National Forest, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park. "Built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), this lookout is a 14x14 foot wooden C-3 style cab. The lookout, which sits at elevation 8,245 feet, is in very good condition with only slight modifications. The windows, siding, roof and tower remain as original. The cab has over-head shutter supports which became standard on C-3 and L-4 cabs in 1936. This type of construction lends to its historical importance. The lookout sits on a granite pinnacle....