Recreation Halls Sites

The present day Anacostia Pool & Recreation Center was constructed at the very end of the New Deal, as it overlapped with the country's entry into World War II.   On May 15, 1942, the Evening Star newspaper reported that “A $69,000 recreation center for servicemen to be erected in Anacostia and operated by the United Service Organization has been approved by President Roosevelt… the new center will include a large social hall, refreshment stand, reading, writing, and game rooms and other facilities. The hall will be used for dances, movies and sports.” The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was to plan...

Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center/Park was developed between 1936 and 1939 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), working with the Oakland Recreation Department.  The WPA funded the project for around $60,000 in 1935 (Chronicle 1935). The 16 acre site on Arroyo Viejo Creek was purchased by the city in pieces, starting in 1935.  The entire purchase cost about $36,000 (Post-Enquirer 1935). The property had belonged to the Japanese Domoto family, who operated a nursery there.  (An interesting sidelight is that Kenji Domoto went on to be a famous landscape architect) The work of creating a new park began with tearing down acres of...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) pursued a number of improvements at Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota in 1938. Initial improvement plans called for the “construction of a bathhouse, facilities for picnicking and camping and general recreation.” The WPA also built dams and other structures.  In what was then called Mounds Springs Recreational Reserve, “workers in the WPA (Works Progress Administration) built five structures: a latrine and the upper and lower dams on Mound Creek, which created Upper and Lower Mound Lakes. The rustic style of the structures features native materials such as locally quarried quartzite. Rustic-style architecture, as defined by...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a field house (recreation hall) and athletic courts at the Cabrillo Playground in San Francisco, CA.   The exact date of this work is unknown to us. "Constructed field house for district recreation headquarters; basketball and 2 tennis courts, 1 volleyball etc. This improvement provided facilities for intensive supervised play." (Healy, p. 63). The "Hansel & Gretel" style field house, with restrooms, is still there, as are basketball and tennis courts which have been greatly modernized in recent years.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, including construction of the Community Building, with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS CCC Walking Tour says this: "The two-story wooden building just to the west of the corral is the Community Building. The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Community Building, while the CCC and the National Park Service provided the labor. Begun in 1934 and completed in 1935, it replaced a structure in another location that had burned the year...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Conservation Club House at Magnetic Park in Plymouth, Indiana. City website: "This facility is located on 16 beautiful acres bordering the Yellow River on Plymouth's north side. It has been declared a historic landmark. The WPA built structure offers a large main floor with two stone fireplaces, hardwood floors and wicker furniture, which gives it a real rustic charm. On the lower level you will find a full kitchen that includes a stove, refrigerator and a triple sink. The lower level also has a large dining area that seats approximately 100 people."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Davie Tennis Stadium in 1936-37 with an allocation of $65,000.  WPA relief workers built five tennis courts, with lights for night play and bleachers for viewing,  plus a community center in rustic style  that has a WPA plaque in front.  Low stone walls circle the courts and run around the short entrance road; stone pillars flank the park gate.  The park opened to the public on September 1, 1937. The park lies within the city limits of Piedmont CA, itself entirely within the city limits of Oakland!  Piedmont residents opposed the park but Oakland built...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a recreation building at Elizabeth Park in Nashville, Tennessee. The building now serves as a senior citizen center.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped create the old Forest Dale city park in the Sugarhouse section of southern Salt Lake City UT in 1935-37. The name was later changed to Fairmont Park (the adjoining Forest Dale golf course kept the old name). The park has been renovated and altered in recent years, especially the addition of a pond create on the little creek that runs through it (a branch of Parlays Creek), new pickleball courts, a skate park and a modern aquatic center.  But elements of the WPA-built park remain, including, no doubt, many of the old trees. At the northeast...

Farnsworth Park is a Los Angeles County park established in Altadena, CA, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, 4 miles north of Pasadena in 1934. Its 15 acres contain covered and open picnic tables, barbecue pits, baseball diamonds, a basketball court, tennis (now pickle ball) courts, a bocce ball area and a children's playground. The park's northeast corner features its original 1934 recreation building and a wooden bench amphitheater added in 1938; both are still actively in use. After serving first as a reforestation nursery run by the LA County Forestry Dept. from 1916 until 1929, the Altadena Citizens'...

In 1941-42, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made major improvements to the Municipal Park in Ferndale, today known as the Firemen's Park.  According to the WPA project card, the improvements consisted of building a softball field with bleachers, reconstructing a recreation hall, adding picnic tables and fireplaces, and changing the channel of Francis Creek. The baseball field, bleachers and recreation hall are all still in place, though altered through the intervening years.  The ball field is dedicated to local sports hero, Carl Oeschger, who enjoyed success as a pitcher in the major leagues in the 1920s.  The recreation hall appears to...

Fort Mountain State Park in northern Georgia was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. Part of the Cohutta Mountain Range, the park gained its name for a stone structure located along a mountaintop in the area.   The park officially opened in 1936. The CCC built the park’s infrastructure and constructed many of its facilities such as the lake and recreational buildings. CCC work crews also did forestry work and made hiking trails. “One of the most notable contributions by the CCC,” according to Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, “is the large stone fire tower that stands...

In 1942, the Oakland Recreation Department dedicated the newly renovated Recreation House at Park Boulevard and Newton Street – now the Recreation Center at Francis Marion Smith Park – which was completely remodeled with the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) (under the Federal Works Administration). The brick structure contains a large, open hall in Craftsman style and a kitchen on the first floor; there are play and club rooms in the basement (Oakland Tribune 1942).  It had previously been known as the Park Boulevard Clubhouse, a popular site for weddings, meetings, lectures and entertainments.   It remains in good condition. A...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its relief workers built the Angler's Lodge and Casting Pools in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, for the benefit of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. In return, Club members agreed to help train anyone who asked, a pledge they still honor.  The club had previously used nearby Stow Lake, which could only accommodate a few casters at a time, so the club encouraged the Golden Gate Park directors to ask the WPA to new facilities. The project was done in 1938 and the facility opened in March 1939. The first national casting tournament was...

As park of extensive improvements around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a clubhouse for the San Francisco Model Yacht Club, the members of which sail their elaborate model boats on Spreckels Lake across the road. The WPA report of 1939 included this description: "...a small club house with rest rooms, lockers, storage and repair room for toy boats at Spreckels Lake in Golden Gate Park. The club house is placed in a picturesque setting and affords a delightful resting place for women and children. The club has stimulated great interest in the sport among...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was extremely active in Grand Canyon National Park throughout the New Deal. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS) and some of the projects were funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA).  The first CCC camp was established on the South Rim, where Company 819 started working on improvements to the facilities around Grand Canyon Village, the main visitor center for the park, c. 1933-1937. The CCC enrollees built a stone wall along the Rim Trail, the Kolb Studio stairs, the Community Building, rock pillars on Navajo Street, and various paths, culverts,...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Casino and Muncipal Pier in Gulfport FL. The marker on site states that, "The U.S. Department of the Interior has listed the Gulfport Casino in the National Register of Historic Places. This is the third such Casino on this location. The first fell in the 1921 hurricane; the second came down in the early 1930s. Using funds from the Works Progress Administration's Civil Works Authority. Gulfport dedicated the Casino on December 1, 1935. A crowd of 1,200 people attended the dedication, which included a flag raising and a concert by the Florida Military Academy. Throughout...

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $40,270 in funding for the Federal Works Administration (FWA) to build and/or make improvements to the Hillcrest Recreation Center. This was the largest sum appropriated for parks work in the Lanham Act. Exactly what was done is unknown to us, but the facility has a recreation hall, tennis courts (at another location), and a putting green.  The present Hillcrest Recreation Center dates from the early 2000s.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) gave Jackson Park a facelift during the 1930s, or what the City Engineer called "General repairs and dressing up" (Healy, p. 58). We have no evidence on what, if any, traces remain of the WPA work. The park's recreation hall and ballfields were created by the SF Parks and Recreation Commission many year earlier and Jackson Park is where Major League baseball star Tony Lazzeri practiced as a kid. The WPA worked on many of the city's parks and playgrounds during the New Deal.

Casper Star-Tribune: "Convention and social sessions were transferred this afternoon to the Lions recuperation camp for undernourished children on Casper mountain. There in the new assembly and recreational building erected of logs as a CWA project, visitors also learned of the program through a talk given by A. Baker, Casper club member and a past district governor of the Lions. He reviewed both the history and the achievements of the camp, which ministers annually to between 60 and 70 deserving Casper children who are extended the benefits of wholesome and invigorating recreation combined with body-building food and care." The status and...

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a clubhouse and tennis court at Mallows Park in Claremont, CA. The club house survives in near original condition; the tennis court has been updated over the years.

The seven-acre Montclair Park in Oakland was built with the aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-40.  This gem of a park lies just north of Montclair Village in the Oakland hills and below Montclair Elementary School.   The Recreation Center is a fine Mission Revival building at the north end of the park, built in 1939-40 by the WPA. The park also includes a duck pond, extensive rock walls and stairs, large lawns and trees, tennis courts, a baseball field, picnic area, children's play area, and more.   The City of Oakland Recreation Department put in $90,000 for the park and...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped develop Morganfield Legion Park in Morganfield, Kentucky.  The WPA relief workers built a recreation hall (known locally as the "Legion Hut"); a pool and pool house; tennis courts; playgrounds; and a football stadium and field (for Morganfield High School).  These were built in 1936. The city of Morganfield, the local American Legion, and the public school district all sponsored the project.  We do not know when the park was originally set aside or what, if any, improvements had been made before the WPA arrived. Much of the WPA work at the park is still in place. The...

Originally known as the Plummer Park Community Clubhouse, the Great Hall/Long Hall was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. It is the only New Deal structure located in West Hollywood, CA. Plummer Park was dedicated the same year by Los Angeles County in partnership with the WPA as part of county-wide efforts to increase public green space. "Formerly the homestead of Captain Eugene Plummer," historian Laura Dominguez notes, "the property was the last remnant of the pioneer family’s vast Rancho La Brea." The Great Hall/Long Hall's "Spanish Colonial Revival design, chosen to reflect Plummer Park’s heritage and link to the...

The National Youth Administration built a recreational hall at the Naval Reserve Parkin Biloxi in 1938 as W.P. 4380. They also planted rose bushes, cedar trees, and dog wood trees and numerous flower beds along with the construction of the recreation building. The project employed 40 boys.

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...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the rodeo grounds at the Municipal Park, now Rohner Park, in Fortuna.  WPA relief workers built the grandstand, judges stand, concession stands, restrooms and more – most of which appear to still be in place.   Next to the rodeo grounds is a large building called "Firemen's Hall", which may well be the barn  indicated in the original WPA work order (see image). At the entrance to the rodeo grounds, there is a marker crediting the WPA and the city of Fortuna with creating the Municipal Park.

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 Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped build the Sunset Playground in 1937-1940, working with the San Francisco Recreation Department.  The playground included a field house plus volleyball, basketball and tennis courts. "In 1937, the three-acre site at 29th Avenue and Lawton Street was bought for $50,676 and began as a playground. Built by the Recreation Department and the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration), Sunset Playground opened in 1940 with a small field house, volleyball, basketball and tennis courts." (ParkScan) We believe that the WPA relief workers developed the entire playground and not just the grading of the site, as indicated by Healy.  "Like...

Built in 1940-41 to serve as a multi-purpose community center for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, this tribal hall is the last known intact New Deal Indian Community Building left in Oregon. Its funding came through the Works Projects Administration (WPA), the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA), and the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC-ID). The hall was designed to support what was then an unorganized group of Indians in southwestern Oregon in addressing economic, social, health and political needs. The functional building provided an auditorium to seat 300, a kitchen for canning...

Wyandotte County Lake Park's rustic boathouse is one of numerous Works Progress Administration (WPA) structures constructed in the park. The building features "architectural flourishes" such as the distinctive lamps.

Wyandotte County Lake Park's James P. Davis is one of numerous Works Progress Administration (WPA) structures constructed in the park. The structure was designed to complement its natural surroundings while resembling "lodges from the western national parks."

Wyandotte County Lake Park's historic lake house (and associated buildings, including a stable) is among the numerous Works Progress Administration (WPA) structures constructed in the park. While reputedly still extant, the location of the lake house facility is unknown to Living New Deal.