Parks and Recreation Sites

This stone stadium, primarily designed for high school football, was constructed with funds and labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-39.

"Along the Upper Mississippi, WPA employees built ... Municipal Stadium (now Modern Woodman Park) in Davenport, Iowa ..."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a "concrete stadium" in Ridgefield Park.

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) received funding for a $66,000 project to build a high school athletic field and stadium for the Watertown school district. The construction was completed in 1941, and the site included a baseball field, football field, running track, and seats for up to 5000 spectators. After completion, the stadium hosted the majority of football games played by the Watertown Arrows. The site is still used today by the Watertown Arrows. The site has also been used for hosting musical concerts, and for launching fireworks for Fourth of July celebrations. In 2000, the site was registered...

This culvert, located on the east side of Pecan Bowl Stadium in Okemah, Oklahoma was constructed of large cut stones by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The culvert runs east-west, at the intersection of N. 6th St. and W. Frisco. The opening is about 2 ft. high and 6 ft. wide. The WPA was very visible in Okemah. The Armory directly south of this culvert was also a WPA project, as was Pecan Bowl Stadium adjacent to the culvert.  

Humboldt Redwoods State Park was established in 1921 with purchases of some of the last remaining Old Growth stands of Coast Redwoods by the Save the Redwoods League. It has since been expanded several times and now includes over 51,000 acres, of which 17,000 are old growth redwood stands.   California did not establish a state parks system until 1928, and little improvement work had been done at Humboldt Redwoods before the New Deal.  When the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived at Dyerville camp in 1933, the young men got to work right away developing the state park.  CCC company 1607 built...

The New Deal contributed many residential buildings for park staff at Rocky Mountain National Park, particularly in the large cluster of housing next to the utility area – the main maintenance station for the park which is near the Beaver Meadows entrance. The National Park Service began construction of the area in the 1920s and completed it in the 1930s with the help of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor.  The New Deal agencies built four residences,  renovated six others and left behind some CCC camp buildings. The overall style of the buildings is national park rustic,...

"Standing Stone State Park is a state park in Overton County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 855 acres (3.46 km2) along the shoreline of the man-made 69-acre (0.28 km2) Standing Stone Lake. The 11,000-acre (45 km2) Standing Stone State Forest surrounds the park. The park and forest were developed in the 1930s as part of New Deal-era initiatives to relocate impoverished farmers and restore forests to degraded and heavily eroded lands. The park was named after the Standing Stone, a mysterious rock believed to be of Native American origin or importance that once stood along the old Walton Road...

The WPA built the Stanislaus Forestry Headquarters in the 1930s.

The Forest Service ranger station at Stanley, Idaho was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. It replaced an earlier ranger station built in the 1900s.  The style is Park Rustic, popular for parks and forest service facilities at the time, built with whole logs and a large veranda porch. The Idaho State Historical Society describes the structure as follows: "The Stanley Ranger Station includes a one-and-one-half story log ranger station and a one-story log outbuilding. Both sit on concrete foundations, and their round-log walls employ saddle notching with logs extending well beyond the joint. The 1933 station itself is...

In 1935-36, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted cleanup efforts at Stanton Park, just northeast of the Capitol. Crews removed underbrush, poisonous plants, and dead trees to make the park more usable for the public. The park's redesign in 1933 was also likely done by the New Deal, but more evidence is needed.

This historic CCC structure is located just west of Upper Applegate Rd and on a hillside, across the road from the current ranger station in Jackson County, OR. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This former ranger office was also constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934. "The agency utilized Companies 5463, 290 and 926 of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) stationed at nearby Camp Applegate F-41 to build new structures at the Star Ranger Station complex. The CCC construction activity occurred between 1934 and 1936 (Brown 1934-1937; RRNF. Historical Photograph Collection, ·File...

Civilian Conservation Corps workers from Camp Canyon Creek constructed a warming cabin to the south of Starr Ridge and just to the east of Highway 395 sometime between 1937 and 1940. The log structure with its impressive fireplace and chimney sits adjacent to a groomed sledding hill.

This stone building on the edge of the Historic Brackenridge Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas is attributed the work of the National Youth Administration. The NYA completed many projects in the park. The registration form for the park's nomination to the National Register of Historic Places refers to the construction of a starter house, caddy house, tee boxes and drinking fountains on the golf course by the NYA. The form states that only the starter house is standing at this time.

Building was the hatchery office, since replaced by a pole barn to the South (Building now empty). More recent development is to the south (an additional pond, a property manager’s residence), and west of the lower ponds (headquarters and maintenance buildings). Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1937 and 1939.

Concrete foundation, hipped and gabled roof, and flat-roofed dormers all 4 sides. Site of Starve Hollow nursery immediately to South with white pine plantings. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1938 and 1939.

175-acre lake impounded by earth dam. Large concrete spillway Southeast end. Set in heavily wooded hollow. Fish hatchery below dam. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1938 and 1939.

"Starved Rock State Park is a state park in Illinois, characterized by the many canyons within its 2,630 acres (1,064 ha). Located just southeast of the village of Utica, in Deer Park Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, along the south bank of the Illinois River, the park hosts over two million visitors annually... Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation in the 1930s called for the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to provide jobs for young men. The focus of this group was to preserve natural areas in the rural United States. CCC Camp 614 was deployed to Starved Rock State Park...

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to develop an athletic field at the old New York State Agricultural School in Canton, New York. The student body helped to spearhead the project by obtaining funds for the cost of materials. The institution now partly comprises SUNY Canton.

The West Virginia historical marker program began in 1934 with the beginning research for the markers with the intention of placing markers around the state to encourage tourism. Dr. Roy Bird Cook, a Charleston druggist, a longtime commission member, and avocational historian worked on the project. 5,000 sites were collected with 440 markers selected by the commission for placement. Most of these along 44 state and federal highways. The money came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In addition to the markers, a book of the 440 markers was published in a format easy to...

The WPA constructed buildings and did ground work at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds.

A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 reported: "Word of $25,081 for WPA construction work in Yakima County was received today from the office of Don G. Abel, State Administrator, with the employment of 123 men from WPA rolls on projects to start December 28. The Washington State Fair grounds at Yakima will be landscaped, the trees topped and a cess-pool constructed. An allotment of $9,845 has been made by WPA, the Department of Agriculture, as sponsors, pledging $2,186. Forty-six men from WPA rolls will be employed five months. At the east city limits of Yakima the grounds will be cleared, leveled and...

The Clarence T. Barrett Park Zoo (also known as Staten Island Zoo) is located in Barrett Park, on the former estate grounds of Colonel Edward Hardin. After Hardin's wife willed the property to the city in the early 1930s, it was developed into a zoo with New Deal support: "When construction began in 1933-34, the zoo's plans were state of the art. Parks used New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps labor to help build the $150,000 facility. The exhibits and the zoo's care for its animals were modern for their time and helped the institution avoid some of the trouble other city...

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France in 1886. It was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War. In 1937, FDR proclaimed the entire island a National Monument administered by the National Park Service. From 1937-1941, the WPA and PWA carried out extensive renovations of the statue and Bedloe (now Liberty) island. In his history of the Statue of Liberty, Berenson (2012) elaborates on the federal government's role: "the NPS devised an ambitious plan to remove all structures save for the statue itself, shore up the...

This park was originally known as Second Ward Park. In 1935, "WPA workers constructed a wall of fieldstone around the pond," turning it into what was for years a popular swimming pool. The pond still exists but is no longer used for swimming (www.dailygazette.com).

A waymarker in Oklahoma describes this municipal park, located within a block of the WPA built American Legion Hut and the WPA State Armory: "Stephenson Park contains several of the familiar WPA-constructed clues. Although I was unable to located any plaques or etchings in the concrete reading "WPA", the typical wall and bridge construction gave it away. The Edmond Historical Society website confirms that the park was a WPA Project. The park has a rolling landscape, with a small creek run-off which has two WPA-constructed pedestrian bridges. They are both arched across the waterway, with concrete platform and stone walls. At the...

The lake was developed by the WPA from a commercial sandpit and has functioned as Sterling's City Park since. A bathhouse and footbridge, plus stone, barrel-style entry markers, enhanced the setting. Notably, the 1955 movie Picnic featured Sterling Lake as a setting. Annually, Sterling Lake Park is the site of the community's Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration.

This stone pavilion was constructed by the WPA in 1934-1936. After many years it was in danger of collapsing into a nearby creek, until the city recently moved the entire pavilion 25 feet to a more secure location.

Stewart Park, formerly a city dump, was completed in 1937 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

One of the several areas of Groton State Forest developed by the CCC was Stillwater State Park: "This Park was originally a picnic area with stone fireplaces. In 1938, four campsites, a central bathroom, a picnic shelter with fireplaces on both ends, and a small caretaker’s house were built. All facilities are still in use."

This unique octagonal 2 story livestock barn and pavilion on the Grundy County Agriculture Fair site was built by the WPA in 1938. It is also known as the Rock Barn.

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $11,600 in funding for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to make improvements and/or additions to Stoddert Playground – today's Stoddert Recreation Center. It is not certain what work was done, but the baseball field at the present Recreation Center has all the marks of a New Deal ball field and the Recreation Center building is possibly from the 1940s.

Stolte Memorial Field was constructed in 1939-1940 with labor provided by the W.P.A. Funding was provided by the Alumni Association and private donations. Town reports describe the project as follows: 1939: "The project has been carried on with W.P.A. labor. The splendid co-operation of the town officials has made it possible to push forward this work. Incidentally, this has given employment to many men who would otherwise have gone on the relief rolls and the material used has been furnished without cost to the town. Many citizens have been much interested in this project and it is planned, this spring,...

The CCC built bleachers and a surrounding rock wall for Fredericktown's high school baseball diamond. The project features a tall rock wall with periodic columns for strength that is capped with concrete. It surrounds 3 sides of a large baseball field. One of the corners has a curved façade.

"he historic Nature Museum features displays on forestry, flora and fauna native to Connecticut, local history artifacts, rocks and minerals, and insects. Programs are offered throughout the summer. The Museum is on the National Register of Historic Places." "The museum was built in 1934-35 by a crew of the Civilian Conservation Corps based across the river in American Legion State Forest, and was formally dedicated by Governor Wilbur Cross in 1935. It closed in the early 1950s, and was reopened in 1992 after standing unused for many years."

Multiple New Deal agencies worked to develop Ashland, Massachusetts's Stone Park. The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) constructed toilet facilities and bleachers in 1934. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) continued work in 1935. Federally funded labor also improved the park's drainage and conducted other repairs.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted development / improvement projects at what was Stones Ranch Military Reservation in East Lyme. "Improve public buildings" Official Project Numbers: 465‐15‐2‐113 Total project cost: $12,687.00 Sponsor: Quartermaster General's Department, State of Connecticut Additionally, Stones Ranch was the site of one of the few Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) camps located on a military reservation: Camp Chapman, C.C.C. Company #177. Work included "recreation area improvements, road building, gypsy moth removal, and Dutch Elm disease sanitation."

W.P.A. project description: 1937 Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission annual report: "Stony Brook Reservation; 8 miles of bridle roads in the reservation were improved by widening, grading and the application of gravel"

Located in Dansville, NY, this waterfall-lined oasis eventually became complete with trails and stone-stacked bridges as a result of work done in the 1930’s by Works Progress Administration and CCC employees through the Finger Lakes State Parks Commission. Unfortunately, specific details were inaccessible -- making it difficult to determine which agency contributed to specific work done on the park. The most notable aspect of the trails are the concrete stairs that appear at some of the steeper points, which have worn over with time – some having nails broken off. When going off the trails, there were additionally some concrete structures...

A marvelous amphitheater graces the Storm Mountain picnic area.  It was created in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). The amphitheater is built from local stone and backs up against a striking stone cliff, part of the dramatic geology of lower Big Cottonwood Canyon. A path and bridge lead to the amphitheater. The site was renovated by the US Forest Service and Chevron Corp workers in the early 1990s and is still actively used. It is marked by a plaque added at that time and an informational sign, which speaks proudly of the CCC "Forest Army" of the New Deal era...