Park Roads and Bridges Sites

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "At the southern end of the marsh that was in the center of Winthrop, WPA has created a skating area and rendezvous for aquatic sports out of the formerly ugly Lewis Lake. A dump on one side of the lake was removed. Jagged banks have been changed to gentle grassy slopes, topped by walks. The pond has been changed to two small ponds connected by points of land which will be joined by a rustic bridge. A perfect spot for model yacht races, swimming races, a stroll in the sunlight or under a starry, moonlit sky."

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.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) developed Tucumcari Metropolitan Park, a.k.a. Five Mile Park, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. "At one time Tucumcari Metropolitan Park had the largest outdoor pool in the entire state of New Mexico, a playground with lots of equipment, a fully landscaped drive through park with bridges, creeks, a pistol and rifle range, a skeet and trap shooting range, and off-road course, horseback riding and was home to the then annual Founder’s Day Picnics." NRHP nomination form: "Referred to as Metropolitan Park, the park became known as Five Mile Park in the 1950s. The completed project marked a five year process...

The park, formerly City Park, was constructed, including clearing grounds, building bridges, sidewalks, tables, benches entrance, water and lights. An entrance was erected, croquet courts and other conveniences and attractions were built throughout the park. The creek was also walled. City park costs were $8,921 and employed 22 men initially, and a total of 32 men for six months. The work included cleaning and preparing the site and erecting culverts over the creek. Additional city park improvements were made for $4,273, hired 34 workers, and was financed by the Works Progress Administration in 1936. The park is still extant and...

"Moeur Park North and South is located at the NE and SE corners of Mill Avenue and Curry Road. Moeur Park ramadas and associated structures are identified in the 1997 Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update (#255) as individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Built in U.S. Park Services style, these roadway, rest, and landscape elements are typical of the New Deal Works Administration Era (WPA). Field stone and concrete materials were used by the WPA to construct features throughout the park. These include; raised planters, stairs, planter borders, stone benches, stone tables, an automobile...

The WPA constructed stone walks, walls, benches, tables, fireplace, pavilions, and footbridges to build Monocacy Park between 1936 and 1937. A swimming pool was also constructed above the dam, but this feature is no longer in use due to sediment. Mcall.com: "The Monocacy Park bridge features two 30-foot towers of hand-cut stone. The creek had to be diverted, most likely with sandbags, to enable the stone masons to erect the towers. Block and tackle, a series of ropes and pulleys, had to be used to set the pieces in place." As of 2016 the park is under restoration.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements Morro Bay State Park, as it did throughout California's new state park system.  These included picnic areas, an entrance road, comfort staton, ranger lodge, and stone walls.  The work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and state relief workers. As Engbeck (2002) explains: "CCC Company 1916-V, made up of World War I veterans, moved into Camp Morro Bay on May 11, 1934.... Check dams were constructed on Chorro Creek above Morro Bay in order to prevent flooding of the 're-claimed lands' that were to be 'utilized as beach areas and scenic...

Both the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out projects at the Mount Diablo State Park from 1933 to 1942.  The CCC work is well-known, and it is acknowledged by the State Parks on their website and in signage at the Summit Building. Less recognized is the WPA work in the park, which was mostly on roads.  There is also extensive drainage work alongside and under the roads that features lovely rustic stonework.  The State Parks website attributes drainage works to the CCC but they may well have been done by WPA workers, too. WPA job cards in...

Starting in 1933, the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Mount Nebo loop road in Utah (and part of Juab) County, Utah. Today, it is forest road FR 015 and officially designated as the Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway by the US Transportation Department. Mount Nebo is both the southern-most and highest peak in the Wasatch Mountains, at 11,929 feet. It is snow covered all winter and the Mt. Nebo road is closed for the winter season. Mt. Nebo Loop Road travels from Payson to Nephi, climbing over the back of Mt. Nebo at more than 9,000 feet, with...

The Civilian Conservation Corps carried out work at Mount Philo State Park near Charlotte VT. According to the Vermont State Park website, "In the early 1930s a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) unit was assigned to the mountain. This crew built the current access road, campground, ranger’s quarters, picnic area and summit lodge.”

Nipmuck State Forest's Mountain Laurel Sanctuary began "as a beautification project of the Civilian Conservation Corps" in 1935. Located along Snow Hill Road, it features Connecticuts state flowers, and is particularly beautiful during peak bloom.

The CCC did extensive work in Muir Woods National Monument. The National Park Service site summarizes their activity: "The men began work in Muir Woods and the surrounding Tamalpais State Park. Projects included a revetment (rockwork stream banks) in Redwood Creek; construction of a stone-faced concrete bridge on Fern Creek; construction of utility buildings and benches; and the construction of the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater (the "Mountain Theater"), near Rock Springs, on Mt. Tamalpais. The CCC completed its last project in Muir Woods in May 1941, and was disbanded shortly thereafter."   (https://www.nps.gov/) Not everything the CCC did was ideal by modern standards,...

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 Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted development work at Old Mill State Park. The park contains a 25-acre historic district that includes eight structures built by the WPA in 1937, including a suspension bridge and a water tower.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Overlook shelter on Brian Head Peak in the Dixie National Forest in 1935.  The rustic stone shelter at 11,300 feet provides a panoramic view of the Cedar Breaks, which were declared a national monument by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933.  The CCC team also built the road up to the overlook. A CCC camp had been established at Zion National Park in 1933, and in 1934 the CCC set up a 'stub camp' (closed in the winter months) at Cedar Breaks. In 1935, work teams were sent into Dixie National Forest where they worked...

The Henry Hudson Drive provides access to sections of the Palisades Interstate Park in New Jersey located on the banks of the Hudson River. The section of the drive from the Englewood Cliffs entrance to the Edgewater entrance were built by New Deal laborers.  (A section to the north of this portion precedes the New Deal.) Three New Deal agencies—the Civil Works Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration—were involved in the construction of the road. Further north, the Alpine Approach Road and its retaining walls in the northern section of the park were also built by New Deal...

The WPA constructed a rock retaining wall in the parking lot at the James Marshall Monument, located within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma, California.

"The Paugnut Forest Administration Building (also known as Burr Pond Park Bungalow) is a historic building at 385 Burr Mountain Road in Burr Pond State Park, Torrington, Connecticut. Built in 1937 by a crew of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), it is one of the finest examples of Bungalow/Craftsman architecture built by the CCC in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986."

This is a suspension-type bridge with steel cables by 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). A restoration was completed in 2017 and was reopened for foot traffic. It is the only WPA project remaining in Fairfield County.

Pelham Bay Park, the largest in the city of New York (three times the size of Central Park), sits on Pelham Bay in the northeast corner of The Bronx. It was established in 1888, when The Bronx was still separate from New York City. The park was greatly improved by Robert Moses and the NY City Parks Department, with the help of federal New Deal funds and workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). On November 10, 1941, the New York City Department of Parks announced the completion of the massive overhaul of the 60-acre Isaac L. Rice Memorial...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted numerous projects at what is now Petersburg National Battlefield, as detailed in Wallace and Conway's "A History of Petersburg National Battlefield," developing infrastructure, creating illustrations for the museum, and even serving as park guides. "CCC Company 1364 arrived from Camp Meade, Maryland, early on the morning of July 13, 1933, and established a camp, Camp MP-2, in the Fort Stedman area of the park." "Since the establishment of the camp in the park in 1933, most of the work of clearing underbrush, road building, sodding, and tree planting was done by...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use. The state parks commission acquired the land in 1933, but had no funds for development.  The CCC worked in the park from 1933 to 1941, but the sources do not always specify exact dates for each improvement.  Probably the most impressive structure built by the CCC enrollees is the road bridge across the Big Sur river to Weyland campground. It consists of two huge stone piers and a deck of redwood logs supported by steel cables....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use after the state parks commission acquired the land in 1933.  The enrollees worked out of Camp Big Sur from 1933 to 1941.  We believe Camp Big Sur was located either at the present Main Campground or at the Group Picnic Area. The CCC built campgrounds, picnic areas, a campfire center, and several stone restrooms (comfort stations). They also constructed the main lodge with a post office and cabins.  To this, they added a park headquarters and administration...

Two stone arch bridges were built by the Works Progress Administration in Phillipsburg City Park. One is a pedestrian bridge and the other bridge is used for automotive traffic. Built in 1936, these historic stone stone bridges are located on U.S. Hwy 36.

In 1940, CCC 'boys' from the Boonville Civilian Conservation Corps camp S-122 built the facilities at Pixley Falls State Park on Route 46 south of Boonville NY.  According to Podskach: "They made clearings for campsites and created a wading pool with a stone masonry dam on the stream. The next summer the boys built a 25-ft reinforced concrete bridge and the park project was completed."  Podskach also includes a photo (see below) of a picnic shelter presumably built by the CCC boys. The original picnic shelter is still prominent and there are picnic tables but no designated campsites.  A path down to...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did the initial development work at Point Lobos State Reserve in the late 1930s. The CCC enrollees worked out of a camp at Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park. Point Lobos was acquired by the state in 1932 after a major mobilization of local citizenry in Carmel and a national fund-raising effort.  Because the site and its seashore wildlife are so spectacular, F.L. Olmsted, Jr. was brought in to draw up a plan for restricted development that would preserve the place while allowing for limited public use.  That plan was adopted by the State Parks Commission in 1936...

According to the park's website: "1940 Jack Zedaker leads boys from the National Youth Administration in building two shelter houses (Zedaker Pavilion and the Shelter House at “Indian Spring” near Gutknecht Entrance), four footbridges, planting of trees, construction of trail markers, improvements to trails, and the creation of a parking area. 18,000 maple trees planted, 50,000 willows along Yellow Creek for erosion control."

Prince William Forest Park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), with help from skilled workers of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), from 1935 to 1942.  It was then known as Chopawamsic Recreation Demonstration Area (the name was changed in 1948).  RDAs were meant for getting inner city children out into the country to enjoy the benefits of nature and outdoor recreation. The New Deal programs built permanent structures, including the park headquarters and five cabin camps, extensive roads and trails, and five recreational lakes.  Almost all these improvements are still in use today.  The National Park Service, which operates...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided labor for the construction of multiple facilities at Recreation Park in Asheville, NC. The CWA constructed a barracks at the park, as well as developing a skating rink. The FERA improved roads at the park. The status of these structures is unknown to Living New Deal.

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 Berkeley and Oakland CA.  The New Deal provided extensive aid towards improving the new parks (except for Sibley) for public recreation, working with the Parks District's first general manager, Elbert Vail. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up five camps in the East Bay hills and operated in the parks for the entire New Deal decade, 1933-42.   The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made several improvements to Richardson Grove State Park during the period 1933-40.  Richardson Grove was one of the original Old Growth redwood groves purchased by the Save the Redwoods League in the early 20th century and passed over to the California state parks. It was officially established around a single grove in 1922 and has been expanded to 1,800 acres since. Little had been done in the way of improvements before the New Deal, in part because California did not establish a full state parks system until 1928.  Working from camps farther north in Humboldt Redwoods...

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.

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 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...

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 planning and construction of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway largely predates the New Deal, but it was only completed in 1933-36 with help from the National Park Service (NPS), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).   The Parkway runs 2.5 miles from the Lincoln Memorial on the Potomac River along Rock Creek to the Connecticut Avenue bridge, just south of the National Zoo.   At that point, the road becomes Beach Drive and the Parkway join Rock Creek Park.  The two are separate units of the National Capital...

At the same time as the New Deal completed the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, it extended the system of trails south from Rock Creek Park (a separate park unit) into the parkway.  All such paths were converted to general purpose walking and biking trails in the 1970s. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built more than two miles of bridle paths in both Rock Creek Park and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.  This work was done under supervision of the National Park Service, which had gained oversight of all DC parks in 1933. The Public Works Administration (PWA) paid for the replacement...

The Shoreham Hill bridge was constructed in 1938 as part of the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway project of the 1930s.  It lies just south of the large Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenue bridges.  It is the third and most northerly of three parkway crossings of Rock Creek by the parkway. The Shoreham Hill bridge replaced a steel truss bridge of 1929, which was considered by the National Park Service (NPS) as a traffic hazard and out of keeping with the established look of the parkway and its other bridges. In 1937, the NPS and the DC Board of...