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  • De Mores Memorial Park - Medora ND
    In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed improvements at, and helped beautify, De Mores Memorial Park in downtown Medora ND. The city park improvement project was one of several beautification initiatives around Medora that depended on WPA work crews. “WPA labor is being used with Ben Lantz acting as landscape architect,” a journalistic commentator remarked at the time. “Scoria walks are being built through the park. A fountain will be constructed and the whole area nclosed with a stone wall fence, surmounted by iron grill work.” The park remains an attraction and site of leisure and recreation for town residents.
  • De Witt Clinton Park - New York NY
    This park was first established in 1901. In October 1941, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed the reconstruction of the park: "The old pavilion and comfort station was demolished and replaced by a modern brick building. The play was enlarged by the construction of retaining walls. There are two wide gate controlled entrances on each side of the new comfort station, which is located on the center line adjacent to the east fence, leading to the wading pool area. The wading pool may also be used for basketball and volleyball in the fall and winter. Two shuffleboard courts are parallel...
  • Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park - Crescent City CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed recreational facilities for Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, near Crescent City, California.  Del Norte Park was one of the newly-formed State Park Commission's first acquisitions c. 1930.   According to Engbeck, "CCC Company 1903, working out of Camp Prairie Creek, built a park entrance road, a campground and day-use picnic area, and coastal access trails." While Engbeck doesn't specify, the only campground in Del Norte Coast Redwoods is at Mill Creek, east of Highway 101 and it has a two-mile entrance road; both are surely the work of the CCC. It was closed when we...
  • Dells of the Eau Claire County Park - Aniwa WI
    Dells of the Eau Claire County Park has significant New Deal resources in the areas of recreation, conservation, landscape architecture, and architecture thanks to the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Between 1935 and 1942, the CCC greatly enhanced the park as it designated and constructed the north park entrance; constructed two small trail-side shelters, a set of stone steps, a stone stairway, a foot bridge, a pumphouse, an overlook, and the Combination Building. These resources are still extant and contribute to the historic character and significance of the park. The CCC also designated parking areas with massive boulders;...
  • Den Rock Park - Lawrence MA
    "According to a write-up in the Andovers Trail Guide, the land that makes up the park was purchased by the city in 1877 originally for use as a cemetery. It was changed into a city park in 1896, and was improved in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration, whose workers built trails, two amphitheaters, and a boardwalk, among other improvements."
  • Detroit Zoological Park Exhibit Improvements - Royal Oak MI
    New Deal agencies undertook a variety of improvements at the Detroit Zoological Park in Royal Oak, Michigan. Between 1933 and 1937, the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and built exhibits, service facilities, and buildings at the park. “The Federal Government, as means of alleviating the distressful unemployment condition in Detroit, appropriated funds in 1933-1934 under the CWA and the FERA for construction work at the Detroit Zoological Park. As a result, an extensive program was carried out which practically completed the western end of the park and comprised the...
  • Detroit Zoological Park Improvements - Royal Oak MI
    New Deal agencies undertook a variety of improvements at the Detroit Zoological Park in Royal Oak, Michigan. Between 1933 and 1937, the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and built exhibits, service facilities, and buildings at the park. The WPA carried out construction and landscaping in the park between 1935 and 1937. This investment resulted in the completion of an animal hospital and administration building.  (Detroit Zoo website)  
  • Devil's Punchbowl State Natural Area - Otter Rock OR
    In the 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed the Devil's Punchbowl day-use area for public use.  The improvements included picnic tables, fireplaces, restroom, drinking fountain, water supply, a foot trail and steps to the beach. The majority of these improvements have been repaired or changed over the years, but the popularity of this distinctive viewpoint remains. Visitors are drawn for whale watching and views of its distinctive geology.
  • Devils Tower National Monument - Devils Tower WY
    Devils Tower is a dramatic igneous rock formation rising 1,267 feet above the surrounding area. It and the surrounding area were declared a national monument in 1906. "From 1935-1938 a CCC camp was located there. Practically all the improvements on the area at the present time are the results of their efforts. New roads were built, modern water and electrical systems installed, footpaths were laid out, picnic areas were established with tables and comfortable benches, and trailer and overnight camping areas were provided the visitors. Residences for employees, workshops and machine shops were erected. In 1938 a museum of sturdy log...
  • Dimond Park: Dimond Recreation Area - Oakland CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the impressive Recreation Area in Dimond Park at the foot of the Sausal Creek canyon in East Oakland in 1936. In late 1935, the WPA approved $38,000 in grants for this project out of over $1 million allotted for various works in the city of Oakland. WPA workers laid out a recreation area where the Sausal Creek flood plain widens as it exits the canyon, laying out fields, picnic areas, amphitheater seating, benches and retaining walls.   There is a lovely redwood grove where the two main picnic clusters (with BBQ pits) are located, and...
  • Dimond Park: Land Clearance and Trails - Oakland CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) prepared the way for Dimond Park in 1936, in coordination with the Oakland Parks Department.  The relief workers cleared trees and brush from the steep Sausal Creek Canyon before constructing the Recreation Area, reworking the creek bed and building trails. In late 1935, the WPA approved $38,000 for this project out of over $1 million allotted for various works in the city of Oakland. There are trails running up the canyon on both sides of Sausal Creek from the Recreation Area to just beyond the Leimert Street bridge, which then join and soon climb up the south...
  • Dolliver Memorial State Park - Lehigh IA
    "C.C.C. Company 2725 established camp DSP-3 (now SP-6) in Dolliver Memorial State Park on August 7, 1934, and immediately set to work constructing a series of barracks (Fig,.10) and a shop (Fig. 11). Aerial photography of Webster County from 1939 by the A.A.A. (Agricultural Adjustment Agency – a New Deal program to pay farmers to reduce their crop production) captured the area of the C.C.C. camp at Dolliver shorly after the barracks were constructed (Fig 12a). It shows the loge, cabins, the mess hall, rest room facilities, shortly after they were constructed and the remains of a baseball diamond. It...
  • Dolly Sods Wilderness - Dry Fork WV
    The Dolly Sods Wilderness is 17,371 acres of natural area, located in Grant, Randolph, and Tucker counties, West Virginia. Visitors to the area can enjoy hiking, hunting, camping, and picnic areas. Dolly Sods Wilderness has regulations intended to preserve its natural appearance as much as possible. For example, no camping is allowed within 300 feet of the roads. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, logging activities damaged the Dolly Sods area in the late 1800s / early 1900s and “The U.S. Forest Service purchased the land, and during the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps planted red pine and other...
  • Douglas State Forest - Douglas MA
    From the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: "CCC features at Douglas include a picnic pavilion, administration building, stone culverts and well maintained water holes."
  • Dyker Beach Park - Brooklyn NY
    Dyker Beach Park, located just south of the Dyker Beach Golf Course and north of the Belt Parkway was assembled in eight stages between 1895 and 1934. In 1942, the WPA and the Department of Parks completed extensive work on the park, much of which is still visible today. A press release announcing the completion of a field house and playground described the finished and ongoing work: "The field house, a one story brick structure, approximately 44' x 100' is located at the east end of the athletic field in a paved plaza designed as a focal point for the park...
  • Eagle Point Park - Clinton IA
    Not to be confused with the park of the same name in Dubuque, Iowa, the WPA did extensive work on Eagle Point Park from 1935-1937. Workers deepened and widened Battle Creek, built trails and footbridges, and constructed many stone structures in the park: "Overlooking the Mississippi River and General Zebulon Pike Lock and Dam (No. 13) are the 164 acres known as Eagle Point Park. Visitors are provided with spectacular views of the river and parts of Illinois, and Iowa. Shelter buildings constructed from native stone are available by reservation. The park offers many more amenities, such as: picnic tables, barbecue...
  • East Bay Regional Parks: Roads and Trails - Berkeley CA and Oakland CA
    The East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) was formed in 1934 and acquired land for parks from the East Bay Municipal Water District.  The first parks were Tilden, Sibley, Temescal and Redwood in the East Bay Hills behind Berkeley and Oakland CA.   Even before the parks were acquired, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up camps in the hills and operated in the parks for the entire New Deal decade, 1933-42. The first camp was in Wildcat Canyon at the present site of the Nature Center. The first road built by CCC work crews was the Loop Road at the center...
  • East Park - Connellsville PA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built East Park in Connellsville, Pennsylvania between 1936 and 1940.  “In January 1936, Connellsville came together for suggestions to transform the dump back into a more recreational attraction….This transformation started in 1936 and continued until 1940. One of the first things to happen at this site was a fence being built to keep out trucks from dumping. One of the first improvements created as a playground area. By August 1939, many were starting to use the playground area for recreation and even boxing exhibitions.” “As the East Park improvements continued, they were also put on hold with...
  • Eastern Sierra Nevada Improvements - CCC Camp Galena - Washoe County NV
    “As the demise of the CCC program neared, the Forest Service escalated CCC work along the eastern Sierra Nevada, in western Nevada. Still, the program at Camp Galena was modest in comparison to the large programs at Camps Paradise, Lamoille, and Charleston Mountain…The men of Camp Galena (assisted by the WPA) built a ski hut on Galena Creek, a ski trail for the University of Nevada ski team, and a stone fish hatchery at Galena State Park. A mobile spike camp in Verdi installed check dams to control bank erosion and construct drift fences along the California-Nevada state line in...
  • Ecola State Park - Cannon Beach OR
    Ecola State Park offers one of the most widely recognized views of the Pacific on the Oregon Coast. Development of the four miles of coastline for park began in 1934 with the work of CCC enrollees from CCC Camp Saddle Mountain (#1258). A number of CCC workers from Company #1258 were located in the 450-acre park from fall 1934 through the spring of 1936. During that time, under the direction of the National Park Service, they completed improvements including an access road, a water system, and a picnic area. They also constructed new trails through rugged terrain and engaged in forest...
  • El Yunque National Rainforest - Rio Grande PR
    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...
  • Elk Neck State Park - North East MD
    At Elk Neck State Park, visitors can enjoy swimming in the Chesapeake Bay, boating on the Elk River, fishing, crabbing, camping, hiking, and biking. Hunting is also allowed, in-season. Of course, this recreational resource did not always exist. It was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (Camps S 5, Company 1363) beginning in 1937. The CCC boys built trails, roads, parking areas, water fountains, and fireplaces. The work of the CCC continues to serve people who visit and enjoy Elk Neck State Park today.
  • Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area (Emigrant Springs State Park) - Pendleton OR
    Located between Pendleton and La Grande, Oregon, near the summit of the Blue Mountains along Interstate -84, Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area offers an interpretation of the significance of this location on the Oregon Trail as it provides camping, picnicking, and hiking opportunities. While land acquisition for the park area began in 1925 and continued for nearly fifty years, significant improvement of the park for day use activities took place in the mid-1930s. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was located at the site and assigned to the State Park Commission. From 1935 to 1937, CCC enrollees improved the area...
  • Emma Long Metropolitan Park - Austin TX
    In the early 1930s, the City of Austin acquired about 1008 acres of ash and juniper woodland west of the city with a mile of lake front on Lake Austin. In December 1939, Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1805 arrived at the site to develop the tract of land into a municipal park. The company's primary work included seeding and sodding grass, planting trees, and protecting the bank of the lake from erosion. They also cleared brush, built roads and developed permanent improvements to the site such as a bathhouse and concession stand. These wooden structures later burned and were replaced...
  • Erving State Forest - Erving MA
    The CCC did extensive work to build Erving State Forest. From Wikipedia: “The property is largely wooded and hilly with an extensive network of park roads and hiking trails, the majority of which were created by the Civilian Conservation Corps.”    
  • Estate Whim Homestead Community, Fire Trails - Frederiksted, St. Croix VI
    The CCC built two miles of fire trails around the Estate Whim homestead community, located on St. Croix, near Frederiksted.
  • F. Gilbert Hills State Forest - Foxboro MA
    "Locally, the 1,000-acre F. Gilbert Hills State Forest in Foxboro, once surplus farmland, now welcomes about 40,000 visitors a year long after the CCC installed roads, improved trails and constructed buildings on the site."
  • Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden - Coral Gables FL
    Miami and the surrounding Dade County were effectively without city or county parks until the 1930s.  The city got its first park in 1925, after which the city was devastated by a hurricane the following year. The county received its first donation of land for a park in 1929, which became Matheson Hammock Park.  In 1930, the park system got its own director and a beach park, Surfside, was added in 1932. The county began improvements on the parks using mostly convict labor and men sent by the Charity Office once the Depression hit, as well as starting a Roadside...
  • Fellsmere Pond Overlook - Malden MA
    The W.P.A. worked at Fellsmere Park in Malden, MA. Efforts included the development of an overlook of Fellsmere Pond.
  • Fish Lake Remount Depot/Fish Lake Guard Station Historic District - Willamette National Forest OR
    By constructing several buildings and the necessary facilities for management of mules and horses, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers played an integral role in  transforming the Fish Lake Guard Station into the Fish Lake Remount Depot. To operate in the rough terrain of the surrounding national forest and nearby wilderness areas, the Forest Service depended on pack animals. The CCC located a side camp at Fish Lake from 1934 - 1939 to improve the Depot for this purpose while assisting in fire fighting and development of recreation opportunities in the Willamette National Forest as well. In 2016, the Fish Lake Remount...
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Bluebell-Baird Trail - Boulder CO
    The Bluebell-Baird Trail, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1933 and 1935, connects "the mouth of Gregory Canyon (Baird Park) with Bluebell Canyon and the Bluebell Shelter."  It lies within the present City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Trail Improvements - Boulder CO
    “Between July 1933 and May 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps made a number of improvements to the summit of  mountain, including a trail between Realization Point (referred to at the time as Inspiration Point) and the Morse Well.” This area today lies within the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
  • Flandrau State Park - New Ulm MN
    According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the WPA built several stone structures that visitors can still enjoy today. The Wikipedia page for Flandrau State Park indicates that both the WPA and CCC engaged in extensive work in the park, e.g., creating trails, planting trees, and building a dam.
  • Folger Park Redevelopment - Washington DC
    Folger Park on the south side of Capitol Hill was named for Charles J. Folger, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1881 to 1884. Part of the original L'Enfant plan of Washington DC, the park was significantly improved in the late 19th century – probably at the same time it was renamed. Folger Park was substantially redeveloped under the New Deal, with funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1935 and work carried out by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief labor in 1936.  This was part of a sweeping program of parks and playground renewal across Washington undertaken by...
  • Fontainebleau State Park - Mandeville LA
    "On the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, this 2800-acre park encompasses the remains of a nineteenth-century plantation, Fontainebleau, named after the Parisian forest... The plantation was converted to a park beginning in 1938, one of Louisiana’s first state parks. Originally called Tchefuncte State Park, it opened in 1943 as Fontainebleau State Park. The State Parks Commission hired landscape architect William W. Wells to design the master plan, which was partially implemented by the Civilian Conservation Corp. The plan included group campsites, numerous Creole-influenced brick and rustic wood buildings, a beach, and a picnic area with an open-air shelter. An access road...
  • Forest Park - St. Louis MO
    Forest Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, just larger than Central Park in NYC. It was the site of the 1904 Worlds Fair and the WPA projects in the park transformed it and brought it up to date, including much clearing of brush in places where it had become overgrown. In places, it truly was and still is a forest. Projects included: roads through-out the park, handball courts, tennis courts (now the Davis Tennis Center), draining lakes that had been constructed for the World's Fair and which had filled in and had debris-filled to an...
  • Fort Bunker Hill Park (abandoned) - Washington DC
    Fort Bunker Hill was a part of the Civil War ring of forts defending the capital. The site was transformed into a park in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a park for a recently built suburban neighborhood. Sadly, it has been abandonned by the city park authorities and left in an overgrown and dilapidated condition. A HABS report details the CCC development of the park: “By the end of 1935, CCC work had begun at the site with Camp NP-11-DC planting trees and constructing walks.  Work at the site continued into at least early 1937.  This Camp and...
  • Fort Dupont Park - Washington DC
    From a HABS Survey Report on CCC involvement in the park's development: "This park is located on the east side of the Anacostia River just to the south of East Capitol Street in Southeast Washington.  The initial, roughly sixteen-acre land purchase encompassing the original section of Fort Dupont Park, including the fort, occurred in 1916.   In 1933, the site came under the purview of the NPS and they quickly advanced existing plans to enlarge the park.  They envisioned ‘that the ultimate development of Fort Dupont will be somewhat similar to Rock Creek Park’ and ‘will serve the large population of Northeast...
  • Fort Greene Park - Brooklyn NY
    This large, lush Brooklyn park dates back 150 years. NYC Parks explains that "Another series of renovations made in the 1930s further enhanced the classical design of the park. Parks architect Gilmore D. Clarke regraded the grounds, added new trees and shrubs, replaced the winding paths with more formal walks, remodeled the playgrounds, and created new spaces for athletic activities." These and other activities were announced in several Department of Parks press releases at the time. In May 1936, a new playground was opened in the northwest corner of the park. In October of the same year, the children's garden in...
  • Fort Griffin Restoration - Albany TX
    The 3803 Junior White Company was established in Texas Jan. 5, 1938. They worked for three years prior to the program's discontinuance developing the park's campground, roads, and completing a partial reconstruction of the fort. The fort's bakery was one of the buildings reconstructed. The camp was abandoned in 1941 due to World War II.      
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