Swimming Pools Sites

"Galena wanted better fire protection. They also began efforts to get the federal government to build the new station. They would ultimately be successful ... The WPA (Works Progress Administration) began construction on the fire station in 1940."

Dating from WWI, Fort Dix provided training for soldiers enlisted in the U.S. Army. According to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) Information Division document, the WPA engaged in “Campwide improvement to grounds, including grading, checking of soil erosion, improvements to drainage to eliminate mud, and clearing fire trails and brush; construction of target pits and machine gun range, landing field, one mile of railroad. Construction or repair of garage, motor repair shop, schools, tent floors, incinerator, sawmill, woodshop, quarters, storage buildings, mess hall, cold storage plant, hospital, airport buildings, disposal plant, improvements of water supply system, clearing of ditches...

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.  The WPA added several homes for senior officers (buildings 621-625 on the central parade grounds, along De Trobriand Street) and non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), along with entrance columns.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared:  a recreation hall (gone), bath house (still standing), swimming pool (filled in?), gas station (modified from an earlier stone building that still stands), and improvements to the water and street systems (invisible). The only...

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.  The WPA added several homes for senior officers (buildings 621-625 on the central parade grounds, along De Trobriand Street) and non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), along with entrance columns.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared:  a recreation building (pictured), swimming pool (filled in?), a gas station (modified from an earlier stone building that still stands), and improvements to the water and street systems (invisible). The only site marked...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Fowler Swimming Pool and Bathhouse in Fowler KS. Fowler was apparently hard hit by the dust storms of the 1930s, and the construction of a swimming pool would bring not only construction jobs but welcome relief from dirt and heat. Cost in 1936-1937 was $13,000, of which the town paid $3000. The pool's dedication ceremony on July 30, 1937 drew 1,000 people. The project was approved in may 1935, but construction was delayed and began in March 1936 and was completed in November 1936. According to the Kansas Historical Society, "Among 40 Kansas pools improved or...

A New Deal Fresno brochure lists the swimming pool at Frank H. Ball park as being built by the PWA. The playground also received $42,000 for an NYA project to give youth training in building trades. The recreation building plaque shows that it, too, was an NYA project.

Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park was constructed between the years 1928 and 1930, as the result of a large one hundred and fifty acre land grant from Mrs. Fannie Burr Look who was the wife of the late Frank Newhall Look. At the time of construction Mrs. Look provided the land and the money needed to develop the land, and she established a trust fund so that the park could be kept up and maintained for future generations to enjoy. The original park contained a variety of paths, ponds, streams, gardens, and sitting areas to enjoy nature. There were also...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to construct "a recreation field extending from 15th to 19th Sts. inclusive on Newark Bay front." Additionally they constructed two comfort stations, walks, pathways and roadways; and undertook "filling, grading, and seeding the lowland park at 16th St." The WPA also demolished an old park house at the park, constructed two baseball fields, and constructed a shower and wading pool for children; among other improvements. G. Thomas DiDomenico Park is still in use today; modern facilities include: "restrooms, playgrounds, handball court, municipal pool, amphitheatre, boat launch, walking paths, benches, baseball/softball/soccer fields, basketball court, tennis...

Constructed by the WPA under projects 3635, 6994, 7706 and 9392 in 1938. When constructed it was called the Verdugo Municipal Recreation Center and was sponsored by the city of Glendale. "This project, costing a total of $736,422 of which $650,731 was supplied by the Federal Government, consisted of the construction of an auditorium containing 560,000 cubic feet with facilities for plays, concerts, conventions, dances and other public gatherings. A 50 meter swimming pool of the modern cloverleaf design, and conforming to intercollegiate and international specifications, was built together with a reinforced concrete grandstand. A connecting bathhouse containing 160,00 cubic feet...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a wading pool at Flendale Park in Everett, Mass.

In 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers stationed in the Bridger-Teton National Forest constructed the Granite Hot Springs Swimming Pool recreational site by building a deck, changing room, and campground around the natural springs. Today, the Granite Hot Springs Swimming Pool is used by tourists and Wyoming residents alike. Water temperatures range from 93° in the summer to 112° in the winter. A historical marker placed near the site describes the CCC’s work on the swimming pool. No doubt, the deck has been renovated over the years.

"A major park that African Americans on the west side frequented was Grant Park, located at 3rd Avenue and Grant Street. Grant Park existed as an empty lot with grass and trees until the city Parks and Recreation Department renovated it in 1934 through Civil Works Administration funding. In 1937 Works Progress Administration funding provided for the construction at Eastlake Park of a bathhouse, showers, and dressing rooms for the pool. Two years later, the city added lights, swings, sandboxes, sports facilities, and equipment. The park added a bandstand, tennis courts, and a recreation hall where teens in the 1950s...

"Graydon Park is at the heart of the Village of Ridgewood – its seven acres of open space provide an oasis of green parkland for the residents of this densely developed suburb. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, this historic park is home to a threatened unique resource – Graydon Pool. This 2.68 acre natural, sandy-bottomed spring-fed swimming pond, was constructed in 1926 as part of a larger national movement to create municipal parks and pools to promote community interaction. The pool (or pool/lake, called a "plake") was enlarged to its current size as part of a Works Progress Administration...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers developed recreation improvements at Greenfield's Green River Swimming and Recreation Area and Murphy Park, during the 1930s. WPA Bulletin: Children of Greenfield have benefited by the WPA construction of a new bath house and other improvements at the Greenfield Swimming Pool. Tennis courts and a soft ball diamond were built in the adjoining public park property.

"A large outdoor swimming pool was constructed at Greenfield Park by the WPA to serve the western part of the community. The water supply was obtained from a deep well, pumped into small lagoons, or warming basins, where it was tempered by the atmosphere and then chemically treated before entering the pool."

The Public Works Administration (project W1154) constructed the gymnasium, athletic field, and swimming pool for the Fernwood school. The project was approved on 11/14/1935 with a loan of $16,000 and grant of $13,090. Bids were advertised in November for the gymnasium construction, swimming pool and bath house, "to be constructed under the old PWA plan" (p.1). Contract was awarded 12/16/1935 and construction began 1/22/1936. The project was completed 9/25/1937.

Hamilton Fish Park was first opened in 1900, featuring a gymnasium and playground. In 1936, it was thoroughly remodeled and the new WPA swimming pool (the first of eleven to open that summer) became the main attraction. A June 1936 press release announced the opening of the new pool, describing it and the other WPA pools in glowing terms: “Mayor LaGuardia, Park Commissioner Robert Moses and Works Progress Administrator Victor Ridder participated Wednesday in ceremonies in connection with the official opening of the Hamilton Fish Swimming Pool at East Houston and Sheriff Streets, on the lower east side of Manhattan. The...

Williston, North Dakota's Harmon Park was developed as a federal Civil Works Administration (WPA) project ca. 1933-4. Facilities were listed by a WPA publication as including a baseball diamond, football field, cinder track, and swimming pool.

Hatten Park in New London, Wisconsin was developed during the Great Depression and constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). WPA-built structures in the park include Hatten Memorial Stadium, a swimming pool, and stone pillars and walls. It all began with a discussion in 1935 centered on the community’s desire for a swimming pool. This quickly expanded into the need for a city park, shelter facilities, athletic fields, playgrounds, walking trails, and a stadium. Rolled into this conversation was a need to get people back to work during the height of the Great Depression. It was the creation of the Works...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed two pools at Hayes Park in Newark, New Jersey ca. 1936. It is probable that the pools are no longer extant.

This swimming pool facility is now called the Hayward Plunge.

NYC Parks describes the WPA's role in developing the Highbridge Pool: "The Highbridge Pool and Recreation Center were built in 1936. The pool was the fifth of eleven city pools built with labor supplied by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA). It opened during the hot summer of 1936, leading Fortune magazine to dub 1936 “the swimming pool year.”" In July 1937, Parks announced the further completion of "a new brick building, with copper roof...   be used as a concession stand to serve spectators and bathers at the swimming pool."

"The swimming pool and bathhouse at Highland Park, built by the WPA in the 1930s is still in use today. Established in 1890, one year after the city was first settled in the Land Run of 1889, Highland Park is part of the National Historic District of Guthrie. The main entrance faces south onto E. Warner Street in the 1100 block. On the west side of the large swimming pool, a one-story masonry bathhouse stands. The building has been covered with stucco and painted a light color, with its main entrance on the west side in a projected vestible. The entrance is...

"In Clovis, the Curry County Court House is listed as one of the buildings built in 1936. Twila Ky Rutter, Grant Facilitator and Procurement Clerk, unable to locate a photograph of the building as it was originally, referred me to Don McAlavy, a local historian. He didn't have the photo I was chasing but he gave me other valuable information: i.e., the sunken garden and the arch over Hillcrest Park as WPA projects. The City provided materials, much of which were found in the area, and WPA provided manpower. There are other evidences of WPA work in Clovis but remodeling...

"WPA’s legacy is visible today in those and many other ways" in Wilkes-Barre. "Thanks to WPA labor, ... he Miner Park and Hollenback swimming pools were built." Living New Deal believes the pool to be no longer extant.

"Later in 1936, the regional planning department prepared plans for the new pool and bathhouse that was then constructed by the WPA. The new facility opened in 1939. The pool had a capacity of one million gallons."

"This structure, housing the swimming pool, was erected as an addition to the physical-education building. The swimming pool is 42 by 75 feet and galleries for spectators are provided to seat 1,000. The construction is reinforced concrete with exterior walls faced with brick and trimmed with cast stone. The steel roof trusses support a wood roof. The project was completed in September 1938 at a construction cost of $193,818 and a project cost of $205,887." (Short and Brown)

The PWA constructed a swimming pool at Idlewild Park in Reno in 1937.

Fargo, North Dakota's Island Park swimming pool complex was originally constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. On Decoration Day in 1941, a new swimming pool in Fargo, North Dakota opened its doors to residents for the first time. Built by the WPA, the pool – 165 feet long by 100 feet wide – was designed by the architectural firm of Braseth and Houkom. The complex included spectator bleachers and a filter system able to process 600,000 gallons of pool water every six hours. The pool offered a beautiful outdoor setting for a spring or summer dip. During the...

The spacious Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem, originally called Colonial Park and known for many years as Bradhurst Park, first opened in 1911, but was only fully developed under the New Deal. When the Department of Parks announced the planned reconstruction in August 1935, they gave an unusual level of detail about this important project: "The Department of Parks has determined the location and completed the development plan of a major recreational center in Harlem. For over a year the Department has been searching this section of the city for an area large enough to provide space for the active play...

Originally known as "Colonial Park Pool" this was the tenth of eleven pools to be constructed by the WPA in New York. 25,000 people attended the opening ceremony on August 7, 1936, which was presided over by Mayor LaGuardia and Robert Mose. The pool is 82 feet x 235 feet and the diving pool is 65 feet x 82 feet. The press release announcing the opening explained: "While only the south half of the two story brick bathhouse building, of medieval architecture with Roman arched windows, buttresses and towers, accommodating 1800 persons, will be ready for the opening, there will be...

The municipal pool in Jefferson, Iowa was constructed with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was opened to the public in July of 1937. One of over a dozen public pools constructed in Iowa with the aid of New Deal agencies and funds, the Jefferson Municipal swimming pool incorporated “the most modern equipment.” Its initial dimensions were 75 x 120 feet, with the tile and brick bathhouse standing at 22 x 88 feet. WPA officials and swimming pool designers took special care to equip New Deal pools with the latest engineering features. The pool included rounded corners to prevent injuries,...

The New York Times reported in Sept. 1941 that the WPA worked on the "reconstruction of John Jay Park along the East River Drive, between Seventy-sixth and Seventy-eighth Streets." Specific improvements included the installation of a new diving pool with concrete bleachers; the remodeling of an "old bath building" to "include a recreation room, gymnasium and auditorium"; and a new "completely equipped playground." A May 1942 Department of Parks press release further reported that the WPA had relocated the concession building, paved areas of the park, installed benches and planted trees.

Today's NYC Parks site explains: "The swimming complex was opened in stages between 1940 and 1942 as part of a massive Work Projects Administration (WPA) capital construction program. The outdoor swimming pool was opened in 1940 and measured 50 by 145 feet. Legend has it that Parks Commissioner Robert Moses required the pool to be five feet short of the length necessary for 150-foot sprints. In 1941 the bathhouse was remodeled and reopened with an auditorium, large recreation room, gym, and changing facility which could accommodate 1,002 male and 590 female bathers. Systems were installed to filter, purify, and re-circulate...

"Joseph H. Lyons Pool, the largest public pool on Staten Island, was built in 1936. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Lyons Pool was one of eleven pools that opened throughout New York City in a single summer during the Great Depression." (NYC Parks) "Opened July 7, 1936, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia summed up one of the main goals of the WPA pools, calling the facility "a monument to the progressive government which would not and could not see unemployed men on the breadline." (NYC Parks - Pools history) The year of the pool’s opening – 1936 – became known in...

"One of the later WPA projects was the construction of the Kosciuszko pool and bathhouse. As one of the parks transferred from the city in 1937, the county set out to update the facilities. Plans for the project were complete in 1939 and approval for funding by the federal government soon followed. Construction for the pool began in 1941. The bathhouse was not completed until 1943."

 During the 1930s, Langdon Park was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A Washington Daily News article from 1936 described New Deal work in the park: "Wading pool built; new walks, picnic groves and parking area completed." In this case, the improvements were most likely done by the WPA, which was at work on a million-dollar program of parks renovation in 1935-36.  Langdon Park today contains a swimming pool and pool building, basketball courts, tennis courts and as...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor constructed numerous facilities at Bridgewater's Legions Field. The facility was located at WPA Bulletin: WPA is completing construction of a Playground and Athletic Field, Bed- ford Street, Bridgewater. Work includes the building of a football field, a baseball diamond, two clay tennis courts, a wading pool and a locker building with showers and a road bordering one end of the property.

Through proceeds of a bond issued in 1925, the City of Beaumont acquired 2.75 acres of land to construct a segregated swimming pool and park for black residents. The modern Bintz pool, 45 x 90 feet, was equipped with dressing rooms, a concourse for spectators, and other accessories supporting residential access. When officially opened in 1927, the park was named “Liberia” after the African Republic. Playgrounds, a softball diamond, a basketball court, a boxing ring, a concrete tennis court, and picnic and handicraft benches were used by approximately 250,000 people annually. The establishment of New Deal programs during the depression supported...

Herald-Tribune: "In the late 1930s, with financial aid of the Works Progress Administration, the city of Sarasota built the Lido Beach Casino. Designed by Ralph Twitchell, the "grandfather of the Sarasota school of architecture," the art deco-style "palace" boasted a swimming pool, restaurants and bars, cabanas, shops and a ballroom. The casino opened in May 1940 as a mecca of dining, drinking and dancing. For more than two decades, it attracted famous bands and Hollywood celebrities and was the venue for all kinds of events, from beauty pageants to proms to athletic competitions to political rallies." The facility, save its swimming pool, was...