The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: “Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster… read more
“The Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area, built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, surrounds a 45- acre lake. The lake was once a log pond and source of water for the Central Coal and Coke Company Sawmill which logged the… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated Camp NP-1-N from 1938 to 1942 at Rattlesnake Springs—now the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District—in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The group conducted substantial work at the site. Bob Hoff’s Carlsbad Caverns History Blog: At Rattlesnake… read more
“In 1934, Ravenswood Manor Park became part of the newly-formed Chicago Park District. Using federal relief funds, the park district rehabilitated the park’s landscape, planting hundreds of shrubs and an impressive perennial garden.”
“Ravine Gardens State Park is a 59-acre (240,000 m2) Florida State Park located in Palatka, Florida. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, with cypress buildings, rock gardens… read more
According to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites (2009 edition), the history of Rawlins Park dates back to about 1872, when Congress authorized $10,000 for a statue of Union General John Rawlins. From 1935 to 1938, Rawlins… read more
Two steel-reinforced concrete stadium bleachers facing each other are set in a man-made slope. The bleachers are supported at the rear by concrete columns attached with segmental arches.
This WPA athletic field was originally built for Herington High School, now Herington Elementary School. “Rising from a concrete slab the field house building has random-range, quarry-faced ashlar limestone walls and a composition shingle roof. The end gables are parapeted… read more
The Raymond M. O’Connor Park and the Kennedy Playground within it were developed with federal relief funds in the 1930s. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed work on the park in 1935. The NYC Parks site explains that the park… read more
In 1936, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews had done unspecified work at the Raymond Recreation Center, which was likely constructing the playground. This work was part of a nearly $1 million WPA program of park… read more
A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: “Bayview, Skargit County, will have a new recreation building and the grounds improved with a WPA grant of $6,935.” The exact location and status of the project is unknown to Living New… read more
A Rustic Style building with walls of vertical logs is conjectured to have been constructed by the Emergency Relief Administration. Similarly styled log buildings were documented as constructed in other areas in Mississppi.
Big Timber’s Pioneer newspaper reported: “WPA approval received here [in Superior, Montana] makes possible this winter of an outstanding log recreation center for the isolated Keystone community. Five unemployed men will clear the building site immediately.”
The WPA built this recreation center and auditorium in a city park on the shore of Lake Coeur D’Alene. The building is still in use today.
Graded and constructed 4 tennis courts 150 feet x 240 feet, convenience station and concrete retaining walls. Form[erly] a sand lot, it is now a community asset for the Richmond District.–Healy, p. 63. This park is now known as the… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Recreation Center Grandstand in Ocala FL.
Montpelier’s Recreation Field was developed as a New Deal project in 1938-9. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $45,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was listed as $100,052. PWA Docket No. Vt. 1088-F. The facility was described in… read more
The primary baseball field at Montpelier Recreation Field was built in 1939. Frequently mis-attributed to the Work Projects Administration (WPA), the facility was part of a larger park project undertaken with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The stadium was home to the New England… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a recreation hall in Vernal, Utah during the Great Depression. The exact location and present status of the structure is presently unknown to Living New Deal.
The WPA allocated $15,508 in late 1938 to “reconstruct and improve municipal golf course and tennis courts” in Glasgow, Montana. The precise location of these projects is unknown to Living New Deal.
Montana’s Big Timber Pioneer newspaper discussed recent accomplishments of the National Youth Administration in Montana. Among the projects discussed: “Polson also is to have a skating rink which will keep youngsters from the often dangerous ice of Flathead lake. The… read more
This tudor-style building in Recreation Park was constructed by the WPA in 1936-39, along with a pool and other park facilities: “In August 1934, the Village of Arlington Heights began to think about constructing a municipal swimming pool for the… read more
Montana’s Big Timber Pioneer newspaper discussed recent accomplishments of the National Youth Administration in Montana. Among the projects discussed: “Hamilton has a WPA-constructed play field to which the NYA has added a quarter-mile track. This winter there also will be… read more
'This project consisted of the erection of the recreational building and improvement of the approaches and beach front. The building is located at the shore end of the existing municipal pier. The beach south of this pier attracts a large… read more
The National Youth Administration built a recreational hall at the Naval Reserve Parkin Biloxi in 1938 as W.P. 4380. They also planted rose bushes, cedar trees, and dog wood trees and numerous flower beds along with the construction of the… read more
The Works Progress Administration built a recreational center that included a club house and a municipal golf course in Winslow, Navajo County. Project #271, completed circa 1936.
A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported that Hoquiam, Washington received a WPA grant to improve recreational facilities. The exact details of the project are unknown to Living New Deal.
The WPA constructed this golf course in Kalamazoo in 1937. From the Kalamazoo Municipal Golf Association: “Red Arrow is a downtown community greenspace established in 1937 as part of the WPA’s Depression reconstruction efforts when workmen earned $15/week, although the… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Red Hill Park Picnic Pavilion in Purcell, Oklahoma. However, the facility is no longer extant. According to the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory, “The Red Hill Park Pavilion is significant because it is the only intact structure… read more
Red Hook Park in Brooklyn was one of several major parks and hundreds of playgrounds created in New York City with Federal funds in the New Deal era. In this 1938 text, Robert Moses describes the work accomplished in New York… read more
Red Hook Park swimming pool was one of eleven pools constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief workers for the New York City Parks Department in 1936. As the Parks Department website puts it: “A new era in active recreation… read more
The CCC built much of the road from Avery to Red Ives Ranger Station as well as the Red Ives compound itself. The work was completed in 1938.
“Red Rocks was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a Depression-era public work relief program under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” that put unemployed men, ages 17-23, to work. Over a nine year span, the CCC employed 2.5… read more
From History Colorado: “During the Great Depression, George Cranmer, Manager of Improvement and Parks in Denver, utilized the Civilian Conservation Corp in the construction of a large outdoor amphitheater that is in harmony with the surrounding natural landscape. The amphitheater… read more
This former ranger station was erected in 1933 by the CCC and originally existed in Bridgeport, CA. It was later moved to Reese River Valley and remained active until the 1980s. After falling into neglect, a volunteer group of former… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) furnished the labor for a reforestation project involving multiple parcels in Millville, Massachusetts ca. 1938-9. 40 men were put to work on the project. The parcels involved comprised an area of more than 200… read more
The East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) was formed in 1934 and acquired land for parks from the East Bay Municipal Water District in 1936. The first parks were Tilden, Sibley, Temescal and Redwood in the East Bay Hills behind… read more
In 1933, acting under the leadership of Mayor Thayer, the local C.W.A. administrator, various actions were taken to stabilize the finances of the town and reemploy as many people as possible. Reconstruction Finance Corporation Grant Received during 1933: $19,820.75 Among… read more
The Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners describes the role of federal funding in developing Reseda Park, which still serves the community today: “Reseda Park is one of the city parks located in San… read more