Parks and Recreation Sites

On December 4, 1941, the NYC Department of Parks announced the start of construction on two new playgrounds in the Bronx, including what is now known as Rienzi Playground. The release explains that the WPA was removing sixteen 1-3 story brick buildings in preparation for the WPA construction of the play area, which would include: volleyball, basketball, tennis, handball and shuffleboard courts; a wading pool; a brick comfort station; slides, swings, seesaws, a sandpit and an exercise unit; and a softball diamond. Though begun by the WPA, however, the work was only completed later. The NYC Parks Department website, as well...

"Rochester National Defense Cont., Inc., 50-acre semi-military range at West Rush, reached via State 2A to Rush, West Rush Road to Golah; a 600-yd. range, suitable for large and small bore rifle, pistol, and trap shooting. Members only. Grant has been made by WPA for enlarging facilities." The present status of this old facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

"Rim Drive is a scenic highway in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. It is a 33-mile (53 km) loop that follows the caldera rim around Crater Lake. Because of the its unique engineering and the surrounding park landscape, the drive was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008... The current Rim Drive is a 33-mile (53 km) loop built by the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps. The new road was designed to be 18 feet (5.5 m) wide with 3-foot (0.91 m) shoulders. The...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942. Among other work, the CCC crews almost surely built the Rim Trail, which departs from the Visitors' Center and heads east for roughly a quarter-mile along the north rim of Walnut Canyon, ending at a stone terrace observation point. All the sources omit this trail to focus on the Island Trail in discussing the work of the CCC at Walnut Canyon, but the stone work and railings at the Rim Trail and observation terrace are similar...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village,  1933-37. The National Park Service CCC Walking Tour notes that: "While the CCC crews were refurbishing the rock wall , they also constructed new log benches." Documentation is lacking as to whether the benches extant today were the original benches made by the CCC.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, 1933 to 1937, including resurfacing the Rim Trail from roughly Hermit Road to Yavapai Point. The resurfacing extended far beyond the part of the trail in front of the hotels where the CCC built the well-known rock wall. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour states that, "During the summer of 1935, the CCC resurfaced the path along the rim ... and improved the trail to the east as far as Yavapai Observation Station."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, including reconstruction of an approximately 0.4-mile stretch of wall along the central portion of the Rim Trail, roughly between Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar Hotel. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour says this: "Civilian Conservation Corps crews completely rebuilt the rock wall along the rim from Verkamps Curios to Lookout Studio in 1934–35, replacing a deteriorated, poorly constructed dry-laid wall and a section of wooden fence. Project planners standardized dimensions at 27 inches (69 cm) high and 18 inches (46 cm) wide." The most famous feature of...

"The year 1933 brought many significant changes into the National Park system. Up until that time President Herbert Hoover saw to it that the national parks received their allotment requests for park operations and development. Budgets and staff for the national parks had increased substantially during his administration (Tweed, 75). But the Depression changed all of this when, in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt and a new administration came on board. A variety of innovative and comprehensive relief programs were introduced to alleviate the nation’s growing unemployment crisis. These programs, instituted under the New Deal, provided work opportunities for the unemployed....

Today's U.S. Forest Service Rincon Fire Station (Azusa, CA) was one of twenty Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in the Angeles National Forest. From 1933 to 1935, CCC Company #905 shared the location with Camp Rincon, a declining private camp run by Burt Luckey. The CCC men stationed here built trails, firebreaks, and roads.

"Rita Blanca Lake’s heyday began when the Works Progress Administration came to town in 1939. The W.P.A. was formed by the government on the heels of the Great Depression to help create jobs for the unemployed in communities around the nation. The Rita Blanca Lake Project was established in 1939 and newly hired workers began again on fortifying the spillway and dam in order to create that lake that had long been a dream of W. J. Blair so many years ago. According to “A Tale of Two Counties”, the dam was of compacted earth-fill to contain the rainfall runoff...

Ritter Park is a historic park founded in 1913. The Works Progress Administration carried out improvement work in the 1930s. The National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Ritter Park notes that Gus Wofford, a landscape architect who worked for the Board of Park Commissioners, is "credited with the park's two arched stone gates at the 10th Street entrance, a formal flower garden near 12th Street, footbridges crossing Four Pole Creek and related streams, tennis courts, a greenhouse, and picnic facilities. Much of this work appears to have been accomplished through the support of the federal government in the 1930s. The Works Progress...

In 1933-36, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Grand Canyon's River Trail at the bottom of the canyon between the Bright Angel and Kaibab trails. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour, discussing various CCC trail development projects, notes: "The Colorado River Trail (also 1933-36), connecting the Bright Angel Trail and the South Kaibab Trail along the south side of the Colorado River, is only two miles (3 km) long, but has the reputation of being the most difficult and hazardous trail construction ever attempted in the canyon. Crew members blasted the trail bed into the schist and granite cliffs...

Construction of the San Antonio River Walk was undertaken during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and is one of the agency's most iconic accomplishments. During the late 1800’s citizens of San Antonio became concerned about preserving and protecting the winding little river that ran through the center of their town. In 1929 Robert H.H. Hugman had presented his master plan using an Old World theme to enhance and maintain the natural setting of the river while allowing commercial development.  In 1938 after funding was obtained through the WPA Hugman was hired as the architect of the San...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) completed improvements at Riverbank Park in Westbrook ME. "Riverbank Improved by C. W. A. Project The C.W.A. project for improving Riverbank, and greatly appreciated by the Trustees, consisted in the closing of the unsightly dump on the bank of the river and establishing of a new city dump at the foot of Foster Street. A large amount of filling required was moved by trucks in the winter to grade the river bank, also to build a road-way across the gully at the new city dump. The grading, fertilizing and seeding of the improved section was done by...

In 1939 the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Riverside Golf Course and clubhouse, as well as an adjacent swimming beach and playground in Fresno. "Riverside Golf Course was designed by Billy Bell and built in 1939 as a WPA project. This parkland-style course along the San Joaquin River, features expansive tree-lined fairways stretching over gently rolling terrain, a new lake bringing water into play on four holes and very small greens." - https://www.bestarticle.org/travel/championship-caliber-golf-in-fresno-ca/?expert=Carl_Spackler_II Prior to the construction of the WPA course, a 9 hole course, built in 1926 as a private club by several wealthy farmers, existed in the spot where Riverside...

Portland's Riverside Golf Course was one of several local sites to be improved by the WPA in 1936 when "the Public Works and Park Departments received $86,875 in WPA funds for engineering, supervision, a portion of the wages of skilled labor, equipment hire, and some materials." (Conforti) The golf course was originally built in 1932, but only expanded to an 18-hole course with this WPA funding. In the winter, the course is used for skiing, sledding, an ice rink and other seasonal activities.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) each worked to develop Riverside Park in Greenville, Pennsylvania during the 1930s.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted numerous projects at Riverside Park in Iola, Kansas. "It wasn't until the WPA projects were built that Riverside Park received the beautiful football stadium, pool, pool building, community building, shelters, and one baseball diamond."

Riverside Park was conceived of, developed, and built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the drought years of the mid-30’s, being completed in 1936. The project called for the development of 2.5 acres of pasture land along the bank of the Long Prairie River, near the intersection of Hwy 71 and Hwy 27 in Long Prairie, MN. Overall, the park encompasses a total of 7 acres. A dam was constructed on the Long Prairie River to divert water into a pond that would be used for swimming in the summer, and ice skating in the winter. The skating rink...

Shortly after the creation of Minneapolis’ park board in April 1883, the organization designated land for the future Riverside Park. Land was acquired by 1884 and the area was called Sixth Ward Park until 1885. Since then it has been called Riverside Park due to its position on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Later additions and expansions included a toboggan slide, playground equipment, basketball hoops, skating rink, tennis courts, and wading pool. The WPA completed a stone bathhouse in 1933 and built stone steps connecting the upper and lower levels of the park. As of fall 2013, the steps are...

"Along the Yellowstone River, the Civilian Conservation Corps put up the buildings at Laurel's Riverside Park as a place for workers to stay. The site later housed World War II POWs who supplied labor for the surrounding farms. Six of those log cabins were moved away from the park to the east end of Laurel, where they still remain, Easton said."

The WPA constructed a curling rink at Riverside Park.

"Repairing and painting of park board buildings, including band shells, bath houses, pavilions, bridges, residences, service buildings and play ground buildings in the following parks...Riverside Park."

Riverside Park in Buffalo, New York was improved in 1938 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). 230 men were put to work on the project.

Riverside Park is a 6.7-mile long waterside public park in Manhattan's Upper West Side, running between the Hudson River and Riverside Drive. Its origins go back to Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux,  the designers of Central Park in the 19th century.  In the 1930s the park was completely redeveloped and expanded, in part in conjunction with the Henry Hudson Parkway, with the help of the New Deal. Researcher Frank da Cruz describes New Deal involvement in the park: "By 1934, the park was in terrible shape; Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, using New Deal funding, designers, and labor completely...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a stunning grandstand / municipal stadium in Riverside Park in Iola, Kansas, which features a running track and football field. The project was likely completed in 1939.

This charming stone overlook and the surrounding steps in Riverside Park at 106th St. were built with New Deal funds and labor during the massive overhaul of the whole park area from 1934 to 1941. The work was supported mainly by the PWA, CWA, and WPA. The overlook marks the split between the park's upper and lower levels and houses trains that go hurtling by just beyond the arches pictured here. The overlook structure has been turned into a cafe/concession area.

Located along the Henry Hudson Parkway, the 79th Street Boat Basin is a marina, restaurant and still popular Manhattan destination. It was built in the 1930s with extensive New Deal support: "In a way, we owe the existence of the entire Riverside - Fort Washington Park complex to the 79th Street Boat Basin. In 1934, Robert Moses wanted to build a whole new park from 72nd Street all the way to the top of Manhattan but he needed to find the money. He already had funding for the Henry Hudson Parkway. Since the Parkway was to have an exit and entry...

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains that: “By 1934, the park was in terrible shape; Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, using New Deal funding, designers, and labor completely leveled the original park and replaced it with a new one in which the railroad ran beneath ground level and which, unlike the original park, was full of playgrounds, ball fields, and game courts… The construction of Riverside Park…was a mammoth undertaking supported mainly by PWA, CWA, and WPA from 1934 to 1941, such a huge undertaking that the records don’t even bother to mention individual features like specific playgrounds, ballfields,...

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that a major part of the New Deal creation of what is now Riverside Park involved completely re-shaping the land itself. The park was re-engineered from its natural rather steep slope "into two relatively flat areas separated by a retaining wall... The train tracks run behind the retaining wall and under the upper level of the park. The lower level...is on the same level as the river and contains a vast amount of parkland and numerous ball fields, athletic fields, game courts, and playgrounds." In addition to shaping the land itself, New Deal workers...

Researcher Frank da Cruz explains that: "By 1934, the park was in terrible shape; Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, using New Deal funding, designers, and labor completely leveled the original park and replaced it with a new one in which the railroad ran beneath ground level and which, unlike the original park, was full of playgrounds, ball fields, and game courts... The construction of Riverside Park...was a mammoth undertaking supported mainly by PWA, CWA, and WPA from 1934 to 1941, such a huge undertaking that the records don't even bother to mention individual features like specific playgrounds, ballfields,...

In April 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) approved a project for the construction of a new grandstand and tunnel at the Riverside Speedway in Neligh. The project would necessitate the razing of the existing grandstand, which was too small, and erecting a new one along with a tunnel under the speedway at the south end of the grandstand. Plans called for seating of approximately 2000, which would greatly improve the seating capacity of the speedway. The cost was anticipated to be approximately $4,200.00, 20% of which would be borne by the city. Work on the grandstand began in September 1936....

"In 1941, WPA workers built the visitors' center, a fountain and stone entrance walls at Riverview Park on the North Side, a project spearheaded by Griswold. Out-of-work Pittsburghers also made drainage repairs, paved roads and improved entrances in Riverview Park, Ms. Rademacher said."

In 1934-35, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped develop Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary out of the marshes along the south shore of the Potomac River. Roaches Run  is located at the north end of National Airport, which was developed a few years later.  The CCC enrollees built a tidal gate between the lagoon and the river, cleared out brush and landscaped the area.  They built a parking lot for visitors and entry/exit roads from the George Washington Parkway, along with a trail around the lagoon.  A gamekeeper's cottage and feed storage unit were also added. The CCC crews presumably worked under...

In March 1935, nearly one hundred Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) workers started work at Cottonmill Lake, located west of Kearney. Primarily, they were involved in widening and improving the driveway around the lake. The shovel crews were widening the roadway, cutting away the sharp turns, reducing the steep grades, and surfacing the roadway with gravel. The Buffalo County Sportmans’ League underwrote the project by supplying all the gravel and covering the costs of hauling it in. In this way, the FERA funding could be reserved for labor alone. The first “survey” of the road was made very simply: Arnold...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was present in the newly-minted Death Valley National Monument  from 1933 to 1942.   At the time, Death Valley had almost no developed roads or other infrastructure.  So the CCC ‘boys’ laid out the basic road system, grading over 500 miles (800 km) of roads.  Most of the modern roads in the park are, therefore, paved and improved versions of CCC roads.    The CCC also built roads and trails to points of scenic interest, such as Ubehebe crater, Artists' Palette and Golden Canyon.  The longest and highest trail was to Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountains...

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out from 1933 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS).  Some, if not all, was paid for by a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Among other works, the CCC enrollees improved and paved the parks' dirt roads, including the main Petrified Forest Road and the Blue Mesa Scenic Road, adding bridges over the washes.  The also built the park's trail system, including...

The National Youth Administration (NYA) in cooperation with the Texas Highway Department created roadside picnic areas in Texas. The Gonzales park, constructed adjacent to U. S. Highway 183 near the south bank of the Guadalupe River was part of the development of roadside parks begun in 1935 in anticipation of tourists and visitors to Texas for the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration. The typically shaded areas of these roadside parks offered drivers and their passengers respite on hot summer days as cars of this era had no air conditioning. The Gonzales park is one of the few of the 674 parks...

A roadside park near Arkadelphia, was constructed fall, 1936 as NYA Proj. 2777-Y-10. The exact location and current status of the park are unknown to the Living New Deal.

This picnic area on U.S. 281 in Hamilton County is an early roadside park constructed by the Texas Highway Department (now Texas Department of Transportation). This roadside park was completed in 1936 to accommodate motorists attending the State's Centennial Events. This park is home to the 1936 Pink County Centennial Marker. Listed on TX DOT flyer as a surviving depression era roadside park. These early picnic area were constructed by young men of the National Youth Administration (NYA). Construction of park facilities was quite labor-intensive. NYA workers usually quarried and dressed their own stone and felled their own trees for lumber. Stone...