Swimming Pools Sites

There is a three page history of the pool in the Castine Historical Society newsletter by Lynn Parsons (winter 2011) detailing the role of the New Deal in bringing about this fine example of public recreation. According to a Selectman's report from March 2, 1934, the town voted $1,000 for a CWA project on land donated by Warren Hooper and William Bevan. It opened July 4, 1935 under the supervision of the Public Grounds Department, receiving considerable public support and was very popular with children. In 1937 the Public Grounds Dept. suggested the construction of a bath house. $1,967.55 was...

Cazenovia Park and the nearby South Park in Buffalo were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century. Improvements to the park continued throughout the early 1900s. In 1935, the WPA built a pedestrian suspension bridge across a creek in the Cazenovia Park golf course. The WPA photo pictured here also shows a swimming pool listed as being "South Park Swimming Pool - Cazenovia Park." This may well be the swimming pool in Cazenovia Park, which was also constructed in 1935.

Naperville's Centennial Park beach received a bathhouse during the New Deal, which is still standing today: "In 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the bathhouse, built from limestone taken from the quarry at the facility’s western edge. The completed bathhouse had stone steps leading down to the swimming area. The shallow section included a sandy area and the deep section had three anchored rafts, a 12-foot diving tower, two spring boards and one lifeguard stand." The bathhouse was recently renovated: "One of the top priorities was to preserve the historic bathhouse and much care was taken to ensure that its character remained...

One-story, brick, H-shaped building with tile roof. This building was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration as the swimming pool and bathhouse for Nashville's Centennial Park. The swimming pool and bathhouse were closed during the Civil Rights movement as many Southern communities simply closed pools rather than de-segregating them. In 1972, the bathhouse was converted to the Centennial Art Center, and the pool converted to a sunken sculpture garden.

This pool was designed by architect Wesley Bintz and constructed by the Works Progress Administration between 1937 and 1939 for $31,000. It is one of two above-ground pools  designed by Bintz in the state of Missouri (Fayette has the other), two of the last existing above-ground public swimming pools in the United States. The two pools have markedly different appearances as a result of local control and flexibility for the planning and execution of WPA projects. Chaffee's pool is adjacent to Harmon Field.

Camp Roosevelt: C.C.C. Company #171 operated from May 23, 1933 to March 31, 1937, and worked to develop what was later designated as Chatfield Hollow State Park. It was originally "developed as a Civilian Conservation Corps recreation area within Cockaponset State Forest."

The CCC was extensively involved in development of the portion of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area formerly known as Platt National Park: "Originally known as Sulphur Springs Reservation, and later renamed Platt National Park, the park was established in 1902 through an agreement with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations and the federal government... Though a number of landscape elements in the Platt District relate to the early period of the park’s establishment, the majority of historic landscape resources relate to the period 1933-1940. During this period, NPS professionals planned and designed extensive park infrastructure which was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)....

A WPA photo (pictured) shows a bathhouse and two swimming pools built by the WPA for what was then the Buffalo City Hospital. The hospital was renamed the Edward J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in 1939, and has since been expanded into the Erie County Medical Center. Google images show that the bath house building and pools (now empty) are still standing. Their current function is unknown.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began work on the development of a city park, swimming pool, and golf course in January 1939. Bath houses, seats, wading pool, bandstand, rock veneer golf house with showers, and picnic tables of rock veneer and concrete were also constructed. The WPA provided a grant of approximately $45,000 and the city voted $12,000 in bonds to construct the swimming pool and municipal park. Engineer Cecil Hauk drew plans for the project. Frank H. Spicer of the WPA was in charge. The project was estimated to take ten months and initially employed 54 men. The park...

The Portales City Park and swimming pool were constructed as New Deal projects, most likely by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The WPA pool and building pictured here was voted in in 1936 and completed in 1939.  The pool was closed and filled in in the 1970's. There is now a basketball court where part of the pool was.  The pool house building is now a shelter house at City Park.

This beautiful circular pool was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938.

The accompanying photo was used on p. 50 of "All Aboard! A Journey Through Historic Winter Garden 1880-1950," written by The Winter Garden Heritage Foundation. The photograph portrays the Winter Garden City Pool at 1, Surprise Drive, Winter Garden. This popular facility was one of the WPA projects made possible through the efforts of Mayor George Walker. The pool was originally filled by a natural artesian well. The pool is still in use and is now called Farnsworth Pool.

The 17-acre Claremont Park in the Bronx was extensively renovated and improved in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. The renovated park opened on December 7, 1940. A press release from opening day describes WPA work in the park: "This park has been redesigned by the Department of Parks and constructed by the Work Projects Administration to provide wider year round usage for all ages and groups of citizens of the surrounding community. Besides three new children's playgrounds which were opened on September 14 of this year, the old playground at the East 170 Street end of the park has been...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a swimming pool in Greenville’s Cleveland Park between 1939 and 1940. The city officially dedicated the pool on June 26, 1940. The total cost of the project amounted to $63,000. Children paid a dime to swim. The pool was but one of several WPA-sponsored projects in Greenville during the Depression, including park improvement and landscaping proposals. In 1961, the NAACP filed a lawsuit targeting segregated recreational facilities, including the Cleveland Park Pool. The following year, courts ruled that segregated park facilities were indeed unconstitutional, and the pool shut down for good in 1963. The city council...

The PWA built this pool outside Big Spring near the town's eponymous spring. Between 2008 and 2011 the pool was demolished and redeveloped as a more modern water park. Based on satellite imagery from Google Earth, no visible traces remain, but it is possible there is a marker.

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) converted Ross Field, a World War balloon training school for more than 3,500 military personnel located in Arcadia, CA, into a public park. They constructed a golf course, swimming pool, and tennis courts. "Before opening day Oct. 12, 1938, the WPA crew christened each golf hole: The fifth is 'Railroad' because it paralleled the Pacific Electric tracks; the 11th is 'Wind' because the prevailing wind blows in players' faces, and the 16th is 'Clubhouse Turn' because it was the first turn on pioneer Lucky Baldwin's original racetrack site. A plaque paying tribute to the...

Crispin Center was constructed with the assistance of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). "Crispin Center - with its large swimming pool, golf shop and Pine Room area - has changed little on the outside. Built in 1937-38 of natural sandstone, much of it quarried locally, the facility stands as a tribute to the quality of work in Depression-era projects."

"This Olympic-size swimming pool and bathhouse complex opened on July 24, 1936. It was one of ten dedicated that year by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981). The project, funded by a special Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant of $10 million, featured a 925,000 gallon swimming pool, 39,000 gallon wading pool, 450,000 gallon diving pool and a bathhouse. The latter was designed by noted architect Aymar Embury II (1880-1966), and is an art deco interpretation of a French castle." This pool was one of many WPA projects in Crotona Park.

The park existed before the Depression, but was completely rebuilt in 1934-41 by the WPA: "As ice skating grew popular in the Bronx around the turn of the century, Parks paved the perimeter of Indian Pond and installed a warming hut and concession stand for skaters. In the 1930s, Works Progress Administration (WPA) employees built the boathouse on the east side of the pond and entirely rebuilt the area around the lake. Other projects in Crotona Park completed during the tenure of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) included the construction or renovation of five baseball diamonds, twenty tennis courts, twenty-six handball...

Works Progress Administration built the Crystal Beach Pool and Bath House in Madison IN. The National Parks Service describes the history of the pool: "Madison’s Crystal Beach Swimming Pool and Bath House are two monuments of the WPA’s work in southern Indiana. They showcase the marriage of functionality and artistry seen in many WPA projects. Constructed in 1938, the pool and bath house embody the Craftsman style popular during the 1930s and 1940s. Vincennes, Indiana, architect Lester Routt designed the two-story, rough-cut stone bath house, which features a full front porch with a wood balcony supported by stone columns. The gable-on-hip roof...

The David City Park begins long before the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1889, Mrs. Phoebe Miles donated twelve acres to David City for a park, with the stipulation that the city pay the taxes and make improvements. During the depressed financial climate of the 1890s the city was unable to uphold their bargain, and the land reverted to Mrs. Miles. In 1902, a group of citizens organized the David City Park Association and purchased the twelve acres. In addition to buying the land, they also planted trees and made other improvements. In 1905, the city passed a bond issue...

The Works Progress Administration constructed Mobile's Davis Avenue Community Center. The center opened in 1936 and it included facilities such as tennis courts and a pool. Today, the facility is known as the Davis Avenue Recreation Center. The center holds historical significance for the African American history in Mobile and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 27, 2011.

The spring-fed Deep Eddy Swimming Pool was originally built in 1916 as part of a private resort on the banks of the Colorado River called "Deep Eddy Bathing Beach." The City of Austin purchased the resort on May 31, 1935 to use as a park. Early June 1935 saw heavy rains and flooding in Central Texas with peak discharge along the Colorado River at Austin occurring on June 15. This flood destroyed all the buildings at the resort and filled the pool with debris. The city quickly took advantage of New Deal funds for work relief projects. The Works Progress Administration...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Deer Park Pool in Sparks, Nevada.  Construction began in 1941 and the pool opened in 1942.  The pool was entirely renovated in 2007, including rebuilding the pool structure itself. Stonework around the pool is in typical WPA fashion.    

The Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) "...did add to its physical plant with the completion in 1936 of an outdoor swimming pool with $20,000 from the Works Progress Administration" (Gunn & Castle, 1980, p. 45). The pool opened in May, 1936 for the senior class party. The pool was eventually demolished, and the site remodeled into a natatorium.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) worked to develop Devou Park, supplying a $97,251 grant to the city for park improvements. In addition to a band shell and shelter house, the W.P.A. constructed swimming pools at the park.

The public swimming pool at Rafferty Slough in Dubuque, IA was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. Measuring 75 x 225 feet, the Dubuque pool was the largest and most expensive of a number of publicly constructed swimming pools in Iowa during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Over the course of its construction, the pool project secured employment for sixty-one laborers. The dedication of the pool culminated a total expenditure of $17,000 by the city of Dubuque with the rest of the funding coming from the WPA. The opening ceremony included public speeches, diving exhibitions, and swimmers performing...

F.E.R.A. developed a bathing beach at Dudley Pond in Wayland, Mass.

WPA Proj. No. 646-02-2-300, $2,200, June 7, 1938. "Make improvements to the City Park in the city of Parlier, Fresno County, including constructing restroom with utility connections, wading pool, swings, sand boxes, and other recreational facilities; grading and oiling roads; landscaping; removing and transplanting trees; and performing appurtenant and incidental work. City-owned property. In addition to projects specifically approved." Total Federal and sponsor funds $3,100, average employed 19. During a February 2018 site visit, the WPA built toilets appeared to be non functional. Newer toilets were located on the other side of the park. There was no wading pool and swings. Most likely,...

East Potomac Park rests on an artificial peninsula created with dredge spoils from the Potomac River by the Corps of Engineers.  The park opened to the public in 1912 and was largely developed in the 1920s. A swimming pool had been contracted for in 1927 but never built.  So, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) stepped up in 1935 to take on the project – which was begun in 1936, interrupted by the Potomac flood that year, and completed afterward. The pool was located at the north end of the golf course and for three-quarters of a century it was a "favorite for...

The Edmondson Park Swimming Pool and Bathhouse in Oskaloos IA was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. It was one of over a dozen public swimming pools constructed in Iowa during the New Deal. The Oskaloosa pool measures 75 x 150 feet and was of “particular pride” to the WPA officials and engineers who designed it. Oskaloosa’s bathhouse was regarded as one of the most beautiful in the state upon its completion. Built out of limestone quarried in Mahaska County IA the 53 x 75 foot structure is set upon a scenic spot in the municipal park. In 2005, the...

An inscription on a bronze plaque on the Flag Pole (top of hill) reads on either side: West Side “This Park was made possible by a bequest to Oskaloosa by James DePew Edmundson 1936.” East Side-  “How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood.” "This $100,000 Edmundson Memorial Park honors two famous men in our County – our first sheriff, William Edmundson, 24 and his son, James Depew Edmundson, 25 whose gift made it possible when in 1937, he donated $20, 000 toward this Park.   All of the labor was done by about 120 men in our...

In addition to the New Deal Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration ( PRRA), the PWA, CCC, and Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration (PRERA) all operated on the island as well. As on the US mainland, the CCC built many of the trails, lookouts, buildings, and roads in various federal and insular parks and forests, including in the majestic El Yunque National Rainforest. "El Yunque is a monument to the impact of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Most of the trails and observation points, and even Highway 191, were CCC projects-and they have seen better days. The major roadside recreational sites include two interpretive trails, the tiny...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Elijah Perry Park (then called "South Camden Park") in Camden, New Jersey. Among the amenities were a "spacious bath house ... swimming pool, 200 feet by 78 feet; wading pool amid a playground for children; tennis court." Camden's Evening Reporter described the facilities in June 1936: The bath house is constructed of concrete block and stone. Its exterior is of salmon-tinted California stucco with white granite trim. Locker rooms on the main floor are equipped with 1,600 clothing baskets of wire, each with a numbered brass tag. As many as 2,400 persons can use the...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Ellis Kinney Swimming Pool in Pratt, Kansas. However, the original pool was demolished in September of 2022. It has been replaced by a new pool funded by a private donor.

Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas was dramatically transformed and improved by construction projects enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The park "was donated to the City of Houston in 1916. For more than twenty years, Emancipation Park was the only public park in Houston open to African-Americans. In 1938-39, the Public Works Administration constructed on the park site a recreation center, swimming pool, and bathhouse, designed by prominent Houston architect William Ward Watkin, on the site. The buildings are important examples of PWA construction in Houston and have been used since their construction for after-school...

F. D. Roosevelt State Park is the largest state park in Georgia: "Many facilities within the park were built by FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, including stone cabins overlooking the mountain, a Liberty Bell-shaped swimming pool, and the arched bridge at Hwys. 190 and 354. A small lake is open to fishing and canoeing, and picnic shelters are available for group gatherings."   (www.pinemountain.org)

The pool was refurbished as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in the mid 1930’s. The previous pool was a circular pool that measured 420 feet in diameter and was one of the largest outdoor pools in the world. It could hold between 10 and 25,000 swimmers. At the time of the WPA project, it was a segregated, white’s only pool. Interestingly, Fairground Park in which it is located is a large park on the north side of St. Louis that has an interesting history itself, one facet being that it was the landing spot for the first air mail...

This WPA swimming pool in Fayette City Park was built in 1936. This above ground pool is one of the few remaining Bintz Pools built during the 1930’s.  It has an oval shaped design with the entrance on the north side, flanked by dressing rooms, the roofs of which form the walkways around the pool.  It has an art deco design, one of only such buildings in Fayette, though the school in New Franklin also has an art deco design.