Private First Class Thomas Norton Memorial Playground, located on Nostrand Avenue south of Kings Highway, was acquired by the Parks Department in 1940 and completed by the WPA in 1941. The press release announcing the playground’s opening described the WPA’s… read more
The playground inside Prospect Park, located at the eastern end of 10th Street, was one of 11 Works Progress Administration (WPA) parks that opened April 4, 1936.
In August 1941, the WPA completed the construction of extensive improvements to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The work was focused along the West border of Prospect Park between Garfield Place and 15th st., where the WPA built “marginal playgrounds, two… read more
On August 23, 1941, Parks announced the completion of a new WPA playground at Lincoln Rd. and Ocean Avenue (now known as the Lincoln Road Playground): “The playground at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road, approximately one-half acre in size, is… read more
The NYC Department of Parks announced the official opening of Pulaski Park (named in honor of Revolutionary War soldier Casimir Pulaski) on October 11, 1939: “The park was named in honor of Pulaski ten years ago. The reconstruction was done… read more
Parks acquired this land to the West and the South of the WPA’s Queensbridge Housing development in 1939. The press release announcing the completion of a WPA playground on the site in July 1941 explained: “The southerly section lying alongside… read more
The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) beautified the grounds of what was then known as Jordan High School, now Ramsdell Middle School. “The redeveloped and newly landscaped grounds are on the Old Erie Canal site.”
A 1938 report from the Los Angeles Department of Playground and Recreation describes the WPA’s role in creating the Rancho Cienega recreation area: “Forerunner of the great regional recreation centers of the future, the Rancho Cienega Playground was the outstanding… read more
Randall’s Island Park cover more than 400 acres of the 500+ acre island. It contains dozens of tennis courts, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, playgrounds and other recreational facilities, as well as paths, greenways and a marsh. Frank da Cruz summarizes the extensive… 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
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
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
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… read more
“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 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… read more
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… read more
The Works Progress Administration and the National Youth Administration renovated the Rosedale Playground in Washington DC in 1937.
Rudd Playground, located at Bushwick Ave. and Aberdeen St. in Brooklyn, was one of seven Works Progress Administration (WPA) playgrounds opened in New York City on November 22, 1935.
The Sara Delano Roosevelt Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side was named after F.D.R.’s mother. The NYC Parks Department website reports: “The parkland was acquired by the City in 1929 for the purpose of widening Chrystie and Forsythe Streets and… read more
On July 9, 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion of what is now the Eugene Sarsfield Playground in Brooklyn. The press release announcing the park’s opening reported: “To provide a flat play surface it was necessary to construct… read more
This site was acquired by the city through condemnation in 1929 and 1930 and became parkland shortly thereafter. In August 1935, the Department of Parks announced the opening of a new playground at the site, which included “a wading pool… read more
The Department of Parks issued a press release on April 19, 1939 announcing the opening of Schmul Park on Staten Island. Park Commissioner Robert Moses presided over the ceremonies. The release explained that: “Approximately one-half of this 8½-acre plot has… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed school playgrounds in Keeline, Wyoming in 1933/4. Cassity: “School life appears to have been significantly upgraded by the CWA workers at schools in the towns and countryside alike. Playground facilities, often taken for granted,… read more
This five-acre playground in Brooklyn was first established in 1924. In 1941 the WPA completed an extensive reconstruction of the main area of the park as well as the addition of a new 1/4 acre sitting area (Bealin Triangle) separated… read more
The Works Progress Administration funded improvements at the Seventh and H Streets SW Playground in Washington DC between 1935 and 1936. The crews graded 1,000 cubic yards.
When the recreation area in Seward Park first opened in 1903, it was “the first permanent, municipally built playground in the United States” (NYC Parks). The park was significantly redeveloped during the New Deal. In April 1935, relief workers completed… read more
This modest playground near the Northern edge of Brooklyn was developed under the New Deal. A Department of Parks press release from April 1, 1935 announced the opening of this playground “constructed with Work Relief Funds” and went on to… read more
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded improvements at the Sherwood Playground in Washington DC. The work consisted of the following improvements: FERA, 1934-1935, “Wrecked two houses; remodeled garage into shelter house (50 percent… read more
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… read more
On July 28, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the opening of “five playgrounds, constructed by the Department of Parks with relief labor and funds,” noting that “These playgrounds are five of the twenty-four sites in neglected areas selected by… read more
The land for St. Albans Memorial Park in Queens was first acquired by Parks in 1914 and received its current name in 1932. A Department of Parks press release announced the opening of a new playground in St. Albans Park… read more
In June 1941, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the reconstruction of the St. Catherine’s Park playground in Manhattan: “This 1 1/3 acre recreation area is fenced in with a 6′ chain link fence and bordered with rows… read more
“St. Mary’s Park, the largest park in the southeast Bronx, bounded by East 149th Street, St. Ann’s Avenue, St. Mary’s Street, and Jackson Avenue, June 22, 2015. This park was totally reconstructed by the WPA at the same time as… read more
St. Mary’s Playground in stretches along Smith St. between Huntington St. and Nelson St., and Nelson St. and Luquer St. in Brooklyn. It sits at the border of three neighborhoods: Gowanus, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. The NYC Parks site… read more
In late 1936, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a major reconstruction of what was then known as St. Gabriel’s Park. Today’s NYC Parks site further describes this work: “The park was reconstructed in 1936, and a playground,… read more
Stewart Park, formerly a city dump, was completed in 1937 through the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
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… read more
Strong Street Playground is located within Old Fort Four Park next to the Jerome Park Reservoir. On June 13, 1941, the New York City Department of Parks announced “the completion, of work on the redesign of a play area on… read more
Sunset Park in Brooklyn was improved by the WPA in 1935 (when a small children’s playground was added) and, more extensively, in 1940. A press release announced the completion of the later project: “In Sunset Park, the westerly portion located… read more