Swimming Pools Sites

"The Decorah Municipal Swimming Pool building design is an architectural specimen of an advanced contemporary style of its day. It is a vision of both the Art Moderne and the International styles of architecture, as designed by Edward Novak, who worked at the well-known Charles Altfillisch architectural firm in Decorah... The construction of the pool building has additional importance in local history. Constructing the Decorah Swimming Pool was a partnership project between the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the city of Decorah during the Great Depression. Land Deed Record No. 179 from Winneshiek County shows the three lots where the pool...

The Works Progress Administration built a municipal swimming pool in Fort Morgan CO. The five-acre pool was built in a swamp area. The condition of the original, WPA-built facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"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 government having already built a new public swimming pool for the community..."

"The Glen Park Municipal Swimming Pool complex was completed as a Federal jobs program project during the Great Depression. Construction began in the winter of 1933-1934 when President Franklin Roosevelt's administration rushed to get the unemployed to work during the first months of a new program - the Civil Works Administration (CWA). After heating the frozen ground with wood fires, workers excavated with pick axes and hauled dirt by wheelbarrows to form an 8 foot-deep hole measuring 105 by 40 feet for the pool. The construction crew poured concrete beneath an enclosure heated by seven wood-burning stoves. CWA laborers worked...

The Works Progress Administration built the Municipal Swimming Pool in Tucson. The exact location and condition of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal. Additional contributor note, August 2018: The Tucson Municipal Pool is likely the same facility as the pool located at Himmel Park. The park was built roughly the same year as the pool. The WPA worked on other projects in the part of town where the pool is located. Many of the sidewalks in the vicinity of the pool bear the WPA stamp with 1930s dates.

A municipal swimming pool in Weiser was constructed as a PWA project (docket #1077-DS). Located near the county courthouse, that pool has since been torn down and replaced.

"The Community of Elko got a new swimming pool and dressing rooms" was a result of New Deal construction in northern Nevada. Further information about this project is needed.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Waldwick, New Jersey's old Municipal Pool in 1936. The exact location of the old pool is unknown; Living New Deal believes the pool has been replaced.

The Works Progress Administration built the municipal swimming pool in Navasota, Texas between 1935 and 1936. The complex includes the main swimming pool, a wading pool and a bath house. The bath house was originally built as a single story structure. A second story was added in the 1960s.

Nazareth Boro Park (also spelled Nazareth Borough Park) was begun in 1935 as a WPA project. Stone walls, a foot bridge, and an automobile bridge were among the features constructed. By 1937, a bathhouse and an 18,500 square foot swimming pool had been constructed. The pool was replaced in 2015 due to structural damage. The bridges and stone walls and entrance to the park remain. The automobile bridge has WPA 1939 chiseled into the rock.

The National Youth Administration (N.Y.A.) conducted grading work and development of a cement wading pool at the North Barre Playground at Fourth St.

From 1934-1936 the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed North Lake Park, including Lake Garnett. "The project included a 48-acre (840 acre-feet) man-made lake with dam and spillway, a road, and the planting of over 300 cedar trees, lilac bushes, rose bushes and shrubs." Other construction included roads, plantings, two shelter houses, restrooms, a football stadium, and a swimming pool.

The Works Progress Administration built a swimming center for Northwestern State University. Northwestern State University closed the Nesom Natatorium in May of 2012.

"During the 1930s numerous improvement projects were carried out through federal relief programs. A Civilian Conservation Corps Camp of about 200 young men was located in the beech woods where the former Caddy Camp building stands. Gift and loans were solicited to match the Works Progress Administration funds, making possible the building of nature trails and roads, picnic sites, cabins, tennis courts, the outdoor theater, Camp Russel, and the entire Crispin Center area. 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...

oglebayfoundation.org, 2012: "Several dozen Works Progress Administration (WPA) workmen began construction on the Oglebay pool in late 1936, using a federal grant of $68,000, supplemented by a loan from the Sarita Oglebay Russel trust (with the loan to be paid back with pool revenue). John Hargleroad, operations director for the Wheeling Park Commission, shares information about the unique original plumbing. “All the rain water that fell in the area, plus the drains in the locker rooms, flowed into the pool,” he says. “Flush and fill pools were very common at that time.” Although the pool opened quietly to the public in late...

In 1934, The Civil Works Administration built a latrine and wading pool on land in the Olmos Creek floodplain. The City Council of San Antonio named the area Franklin Fields in 1940, presumably in honor of President Franklin Roosevelt. The area was to be "fully developed as a natural forest area and to include various fields, all manner of recreation facilities, as well as for the purpose of conservation and the preservation of the natural beauty of this place." The park received additional federal funds for development in July 1940, when the park was designated a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp....

The gazebo bandstand and pool in Upper Onondaga Park in Syracuse, New York were renovated by the Works Progress Administration. They remain in use to this day. Further information is needed about the exact time period of the renovation project.

Located behind the Dance-Gymnastics Laboratory Building, the outdoor swimming pool (and accompanying brick entrance building) was constructed between 1928 and 1940 by the W.P.A. The W.P.A. contributed $25,000 toward the project. While the building is still extant, the pool itself was filled in ca. 2014.

Overlook Park sits on a bluff above the east bank of the Willamette River in the north Portland Overlook neighborhood. Recognizing the demand for recreational opportunities in a neighborhood built-out during the 1920s, the City of Portland acquired land for the park in 1930. Developing the park during the Depression Era, however, placed two pressures on this as well as other neighborhood parks – increased demand for affordable activities and a decrease in city funds for the development. Progress in attaining the improvements identified in the Overlook Park general plan depended on relief funding. In addition to landscaping, playground equipment, a...

The "Jefferson Lions Club Swimming Pool located at the extreme west end of West Whelan Street, one block west of Highway 59 North, also known as North Walcott Street. The site today is occupied by the Jefferson Independent School District's Transportation Building and parking lot for its school bus fleet. It was constructed by the , sometime in the late 1930’s. It was originally part of a City Park Complex that ran from Tuttle Street to Ferris Street (now MLK), and from West Harrison Street north to the swimming pool. It included the old high school football field, a...

The municipal park at the end of Mill Street, alongside Parkside Terrace, in Barre, Vermont, was developed and improved with the assistance of federal funds and labor in 1934. According to a town report work attributable in part to the Federal/Vermont Emergency Relief Administration included: n addition to the cement pier being built at the swimming pool, the construction of a third tennis court, equipping same, and painting the bath houses. ... rom V. E. R. A. funds, the City Street Department greatly improved the approach to the field by working and graveling Mill Street, thus making easy and safe access...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided labor for the development of Park Drive in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The work was conducted in tandem with development on the park and its pool. "On Monday, November 19, 1934, ... 83 men reported to work. The work force was set to ... road that would wind around the pool high on the hillside (Park Drive)."

1933 Mayor Alvin Lucier in his inaugural address listed 4 major projects done in cooperation with Federal Relief agencies. 3. PARKS AND COMMONS AND RECREATION FACILITIES. This project was designed to further develop the Artillery Pond project and includes some building. This would bring nearer to realization a well thought out plan for the development of an area particularly well suited by nature for a recreational center. It also includes work to be done at the South Common and at the swimming pool at Field's Grove. 1934 Mayor Lucier in his annual report wrote: "No less than seven Federal programs have directly affected our people. During...

"Peoples Park on Brook Avenue and East 141st Street in the Bronx, June 22, 2015. The New York City Parks Department press release for July 27, 1934, announces the opening of fourteen playgrounds on August 11, including: PLAYGROUND at 141st STREET between BROOKand ST. ANN'S AVENUES, 587 ft. x 175 ft. Facilities: Recreation building, wading pool, handball and basketball courts and playground and gymnasium apparatus.and goes on to say that the 'labor and materials for the construction of these additional playground areas are being supplied thru Work Relief funds.'"  (https://kermitproject.org)

Though the WPA did not build the pool itself it constructed much of the cement around the pool.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use after the state parks commission acquired the land in 1933.  The enrollees worked out of Camp Big Sur from 1933 to 1941.  We believe Camp Big Sur was located either at the present Main Campground or at the Group Picnic Area. The CCC built campgrounds, picnic areas, a campfire center, and several stone restrooms (comfort stations). They also constructed the main lodge with a post office and cabins.  To this, they added a park headquarters and administration...

"The Peirce Island Outdoor Pool in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (population 21,000), is a Great Depression–era municipal facility that has served several generations during its 69-year history. The pool’s unique location, storied past, and status as a beloved recreational asset make it distinctive. The pool sits on a 27-acre municipally-owned island adjacent to Portsmouth’s downtown. Purchased in 1923 for $11,000, Peirce Island is a popular recreation asset that also offers a boat launch, a network of walking trails, shore access for fishing, a playground, a sand volleyball court, and picnic areas. Built in 1937 by the federal Works Progress Administration, the pool...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) began construction on "a collegiate-sized pool with underwater lighting and an adjacent bath house" in 1936 at what is now Valdosta State University. The school was completed by the state in 1938.  The exact position of the pool on the campus is unknown to Living New Deal; the pool has since been replaced.

The Works Progress Administration built a Pool and Bathhouse in Weatherford OK. Contributor note: "As originally built in 1936, this was a flat-roofed brick building, with brick pilasters flanking the entrances. A bronze plaque on the bathhouse indicates the Weatherford Municipal Pool and the year 1996. We cannot confirm, but it appears that the pool and bathhouse were renovated in that year. Today, the pool is a very active source of summer recreation for the town. It is located at 600 N. Indiana in the Means Park area. The WPA bathhouse is far different from what it looked like before. It now has a...

Portage Park is located between West Irving Park Road to the South, West Berteau Avenue to the North, North Long Avenue to the East, and North Central Avenue to the West; it occupies four city blocks and has an area of 37 acres . It was established in 1913, as a means to increase property values for the neighboring homes and provide residents with space for recreational and cultural activities. Originally, the park was essentially its own park district, one of 22 individual “districts” existing in Chicago at the time. In 1934, William Martin was elected as head of the Southwest...

This large and unusual WPA-built swimming pool was begun in September, 1936 and was scheduled to be complete within 6 months.  It has an unusual fan-shape for the main large pool and an adjacent shallow pool.  The bathhouse/dressing rooms are within the rock faced building to the east of the pool.  At this time, a chain link fence surrounds the pool, though it is doubtful that it did originally.  It has an extensive filter system on side of the hill above the pool.  The filter has an active sand filter with additional layers of rock and sand above it to...

A swimming pool and bathhouse at Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina were constructed as part of a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. (ncsu.edu) The current status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) and, later, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted substantial construction and improvement work at Queen City Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the 1930s. CWA labor constructed roads and tennis courts, and drained fields for baseball diamonds. WPA labor constructed nature walks featuring stone walkways and bridges. The Queen City Park Pool was a WPA project as well.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided funding and labor for construction of what was then known as the Queen City Pool and Pool House at Queen City Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The WPA supplied $100,000 of the $125,000 total cost of the construction project. The facility now serves as the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum. Wikipedia: "Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice Don Buel Schuyler, the Queen City Pool served the citizens of Tuscaloosa from 1943 through it closure in 1989. It was constructed as a ... Works Project Administration relief project of the Great Depression. The site features a poured concrete...

"The original Rainbow Beach was built in 1936 as a WPA project.  The current pool was built in 1970 and opened Memorial Day 1971."

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 City parks, including Red Hook, by relief workers: "There are today 372 playgrounds, ranging from small neighborhood plots of a quarter acre to large developments such as Macombs Dam Park in The Bronx, Red Hook and McCarren Parks in Brooklyn, and Randall's Island, adjacent to the East Harlem section of Manhattan, all developed to take care of every type of recreation for both children and...

Red Hook Park swimming pool was one of eleven pools constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief workers for the New York City Parks Department in 1936.  As the Parks Department website puts it: "A new era in active recreation arrived in the 1930s and 1940s, when the Department of Parks assumed jurisdiction over the city's bathhouses and harnessed Works Progress Administration labor to develop a series of outdoor pools for the city. The WPA swimming pools were among the most remarkable public recreational facilities in the country, representing the forefront of design and technology in advanced filtration and chlorination systems. The...

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.

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 brick buildings in preparation for the WPA construction of the play area, which would include: volleyball, basketball, tennis, handball and shuffleboard courts; a wading pool; a brick comfort station; slides, swings, seesaws, a sandpit and an exercise unit; and a softball diamond. Though begun by the WPA, however, the work was only completed later. The NYC Parks Department website, as well...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted numerous projects at Riverside Park in Iola, Kansas. "It wasn't until the WPA projects were built that Riverside Park received the beautiful football stadium, pool, pool building, community building, shelters, and one baseball diamond."