Picnic and Other Facilities Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped construct Salem-Winston’s Reynolds Park and Recreation Center between 1939 and 1940. “A $300,000 proposed municipal park and recreation center at Winston-Salem, N.C., has received final approval in Washington,” a journalist for Park & Recreation magazine reported. “The development, to be known as Reynolds Park, will be located two miles east of the courthouse square…Within the area will be an 18-hole golf course, a large swimming pool, tennis courts, an athletic field and wooded area for walking and picnicking.” The fruits of this WPA-funded project can still be enjoyed today.

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...

"Portions of the park have historical significance because they were constructed and financed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). One charmingly rustic single-story picnic shelter, for example, was built in 1942 by the W.P.A."

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.

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...

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...

The National Youth Administration (NYA) in cooperation with the Texas Highway Department created roadside picnic areas in Texas. The La Grange park, constructed adjacent to U. S. Highway 77 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 La Grange park is one of the few of the 674 parks constructed that remain and still has...

Picnic table and steps on the left as you head out of Fort Davis toward Fort Davis State Park. This is just one of several along this scenic route. In 1927 the legislature instructed the State Highway Department to build the Davis Mountains State Park Highway on donated right of way, now the Davis Mountains Scenic Loop (State Highways 118 and 166). The new byway construction created much-needed jobs for the region. This location is #19 on the TXDOT map of existing National Youth Administration era roadside parks. The NYA paid for the labor, while the highway department was responsible for providing...

Formerly known as Enfield Glen State Park, New York's Robert H. Treman State Park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1933 and 1941. From 1933-1941, "...the men of Camp SP-6, Company 1265 were, according to the late local historian Neil Poppensiek, “trucked to work sites in Enfield Glen (later Robert H. Treman), Buttermilk Falls, and Taughannock Falls State Parks. There they excavated flagstone and did masonry work, blasted, excavated fill, graded, planted trees, shrubs and grass, built roads, bridges, and water systems, erected park buildings, and – after the disastrous floods of July 1935 and August 1937 –...

The CCC developed this state park.    

Civilian Conservation Corps members provided the original improvements for this ocean-front park between 1934 and 1936. The improvements involved an access road, landscaping to protect the view, and a picnic area. Located approximately two miles south of Depot Bay OR, the scenic viewpoint is immediately off of Highway 101. The property lays between Whale Cove to the north and Rocky Creek to the south. Current park property is located on both sides of Highway 101.

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in concert with the city, developed the Municipal Park of Fortuna – now known as Rohner Park.  By 1940, the WPA was part of the reorganized Federal Works Agency (later to become the General Services Administration). The WPA project card indicates that relief workers were supposed to build baseball dugouts, restrooms, picnic tables and fireplaces, as well as a water and sewer system and hiking trails. A plaque in the park credits the WPA and city with developing the entire park.   There have been many additions and renovations since 1940. The restrooms, picnic area...

Roman Nose State Park was created with extensive CCC work from 1935 to 1937. From Wayfinding.com: Henry Caruthers Roman Nose was a chief of the southern Cheyenne. Born in 1856, this 600 acres was his federal allotment. He lived here from 1887 until his death in 1917. This is a canyon with bluffs overlooking ancient mesas. Company 2819 of the Civilian Conservation Corps labored to make this area a beautiful sight. Work began on September 10, 1935 and the park was opened on May 16, 1937. The park is located on rolling hills, with gypsum bluffs. Throughout the park, stonework can be...

Devils Lake, North Dakota's Roosevelt Park was developed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the 1930s. Swimming, picnicking, and camping are noted as available activities in a WPA guide.

"While on mountain, the CCC crews improved camping and picnic grounds, “to make Casper Mountain a heaven on earth for local picnic parties and passing tourists” and also substantial work at Rotary Park part way up the mountain near Garden Creek Falls, constructing fireplaces, picnic tables and benches, and other features." Furthermore, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) improved roads and trails at Rotary Park.

Sabino Canyon Recreation Area is in Coronado National Forest at the northeast corner of Tucson AZ.  At the behest of the city of Tucson and Pima County, it was developed out of former mining and grazing land in the Santa Catalina Mountains by New Deal agencies, which built access roads, dams and recreational facilities.  Relief workers hired under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) all contributed to the park's improvement.  A major recreational lake never materialized, as funds ran out in the mid-1930s and, beside, dams in the desert quickly fill with sediment...

Development of Saddle Mountain State Park began with the arrival of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company #1258 in 1935. Over a five-year period, the CCC enrollees built the seven-mile access road to the base of Saddle Mountain, picnic grounds and a parking lot at the trail head, and the hiking trail to the mountain's summit. Saddle Mountain is a north coast landmark, known for its colorful wildflowers and rare plants, its basalt formations, and the impressive panoramic views from its 3290-foot summit. Access to these natural amenities still rely on the CCC-built zig-zag hiking trail that rises 1620 feet over a...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed the picnic shelter in 1937. The picnic shelter was constructed from timber and stone. The two fireplaces were constructed from stone.

From the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation: Before 1935 York Lake did not exist. It is man-made. It was created out of a swampy wetland, built as part of the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a U.S. Federal Government conservation program. The CCC improved the nation’s natural and human resources and created opportunities for the public to recreate and appreciate a healthy outdoor experience. From 1933-37 the 196 Company CCC, whose nearby camp site off Route 183 just south of here, once supplied 200 men a season to work in the state forest. Formerly unemployed men then earned a dollar-a-day,...

The WPA built a bathing pavilion at Scarborough Beach. The precise location of the structure, if it remains, is unclear.

"Scenic State Park CCC/Rustic Style historic resources are located in two historic districts that include a public use area and service yard. The park contains ten contributing buildings and structures built among stands of virgin Norway and white pine on the shores of Coon and Sandwick Lakes. Architects for the park buildings were from the National Park Service... Scenic State Park was the first in the state to provide a complete range of recreational facilities developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The park’s Rustic Style buildings represent a remarkable collection of log structures that received considerable acclaim from the National Park...

The cemetery is located in tiny Scott Bar in Siskiyou County, far northern California. The oldest grave is dated 1856, most recent 2013. The cemetery is large, in the woods and surrounded by a beautiful rock wall of native rock. On the wall at the entrance gate is a small sign fashioned out of cement with "WPA 1936" etched into it.

Multiple New Deal organizations, particularly the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), worked to develop Scotts Bluff National Monument during the 1930s. From the National Park Service: For a short time, construction efforts came under the guidance of an agency known as the Civil Work Administration, which continued until April 28, 1934, when all construction came to a stop. At this time a complete survey was conducted to identify the bluff's historic and natural resources and to determine its future needs. During this survey, Dr. Harold J. Cook was named the monument's first ranger and on December 20, 1934, another federal agency, the Public...

The Seymour City Park was one of several city parks constructed or enhanced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Texas. The CCC built the rock walls that extend around the perimeter of the park, and the entrance features to the park.

The oven shelter was completed by CCC workers in 1935. It is a good representation of the CCC development of Indiana state parks. The style of the shelter is classified as parks rustic.

"Shelbina boasts a beautiful city lake, built in 1936 as a WPA project, to serve as the city's water reservoir. A second WPA project begun in 1941, added picnic tables, landscaping, shelter houses, and a 9 hole golf course. The lake area is beautifully maintained by the city. This beauty enhanced by mature trees and grassy rolling hills, makes camping, picnicking, fishing, or just visiting the lake area, a very pleasant experience for both young and old." -City of Shelbina

The Civilian Conservation Corps built a shelter and picnic facilities at Mount Kearsarge between 1933-1942.

During the summer of 1935, the Oregonian newspaper announced that among Oregon's 67 Civilian Conservation Camps that summer one would be located at Shelton State Park in Wheeler County. The 200 member work crew made improvements in the state park along with other tasks associated with CCC workers, such as reforestation work and fire fighting, and road construction. Shelton Wayside Park is the park's current name. It is located approximately ten miles southeast of Fossil on Highway 19.

"Between May 11, 1933 and March 31, 1942, ten CCC camps were established within, or on leased land adjacent to, Shenandoah. At any one time, more than 1,000 boys and young men lived in camps supervised by the Army and worked on projects directed by the Service and the Bureau of Public Roads. Until the park was established officially on December 26, 1935, the bulk of CCC activity took place on the narrow 100 foot right-of-way of the Skyline Drive, in the few areas of purchased or donated land transferred to the federal government by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or on...

One of the first CCC camps in the park, (Camp N.P.-2), was established at Big Meadows. Some of the CCC camp structures remain. The CCC also created many of the structures that make up today's Big Meadows Campground. CCC works remaining include water fountains, comfort stations, picnic grounds, roads, cabins, a maintenance office, a gas/oil building, a stable/storage structure and more.

"Located south along the drive from Big Meadows, Lewis Mountain Development Area sits on a plateau approximately 3,400 feet above sea level east of Lewis Mountain and consists of a picnic grounds, lodge and eight cabins (having 15 overnight units), and a campground, 30 sites for tents or trailers, a picnic area, a camp store, and two comfort stations... Lewis Mountain’s facilities were built to accommodate African American visitors during the period of racial segregation that marked Depression-era Virginia. The developed area opened in the summer of 1939 but closed in 1942 for the duration of WWII. Desegregated after the war,...

Per the US Forest Service: "This recreation site was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the 1930s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Shoshone County Sportsman’s Association purchased the land and donated it to the Forest Service for development of the recreation site. The site is located along the old Yellowstone or Mullan Trail that allowed early day travel across Lookout Pass between Idaho and Montana. The historic structures within the picnic area consist of two picnic pavilions built in 1936, a rectangular single room, single story log cabin, and a single story rectangular framed...

Although the State's initial acquisition of land for the park occurred in 1931, the early development of Silver Falls State Park can be credited to several of the New Deal programs. A significant portion of the land for the park was purchased by the federal Resettlement Administration (RA) c 1935, and developed for recreational use through the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1942. As shown on the map below, a portion of the land that became Silver Falls State Park was once Silver Falls City.  Surrounding this old logging town, the...

Silver Lake Park sits in the Coastal Plain Province of Pennsylvania. "Owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the lake scarcely had any open water by the 1920's.  In 1927 the Pensylvania Railroad completed a survey and we believe it was them who marked the boundary with a square stone having a small hole at the top. You can find a few of these along the trails in the park. In 1935-6, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission purchased the lake which was mostly wetlands.  It was at this time that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work on the present lake, by then called Silver Lake. Most...

"In 1936, through a federally financed work program, the National Park Service bought portions of the land surrounding Singletary Lake for a recreational demonstration project. One of two projects in North Carolina, the federal government purchased the land at an average cost of $4.51 per acre. The land was managed by the Resettlement Administration until 1939, and during this period resettlement workers and local residents constructed Singletary Recreation Center, which included an office, maintenance building and recreation facilities. In addition, using local talents and materials, an infirmary building, ten cabins, a dining and recreation hall, and a workshop—a fully operational group...

South Mountain Park in Phoenix AZ was developed for public recreation by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1940. Among the works of the CCC were two ramadas, which are large, elaborate picnic areas, with stunning views north over the city of Phoenix. The ramadas consist of polished concrete picnic tables protected from the desert sun by wooden roofs raised on stone or concrete pillars, with large central spaces surrounded by stone walls.  The big ramada is very extensive and reached by stone steps.  Low stone walls line the approach road to the ramadas and the complex includes a path...

Among the 26 WPA projects in Allegheny County approved in Sept. 1935 were two allocations for improvements to South Park, which lies about 10 miles south of downtown Pittsburgh. The allocations were approved for "construction of a grandstand," for which the Federal government allocated $40,057 and local sponsors supplied $39,981; and "construction of picnic tables, shelters, and ovens," for which the Federal government allocated $26,118 and local sponsors supplied $18,604.