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  • Memory Grove Park - Salt Lake City UT
    The WPA conducted extensive work on Memory Grove Park, or Memory Park, including landscaping, building rock walls, cutting paths, and so on.
  • Meridian Hill Park Completion - Washington DC
    Meridian Hill Park is a formal, landscaped park in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, with terraces, pools, balustrades and a large cascade in the Italian baroque style. It is, in many people's estimation, the jewel of the District parks system.   Land for the park was purchased in 1910 and construction began in 1912, but was never completed.  In 1935-36, the PWA stepped in to fund completion of the park by providing a grant of $145,000. A 1936 article in the Washington Daily News described the work being done: “Cascades completed and placed in operation. South terraces graded; top soiled and seeded; shrubs and...
  • Meshomasic State Forest - Portland CT
    Meshomasic State Forest, the first such entity in all of New England, was improved and developed by the efforts of two C.C.C. camps: Camp Jenkins (C.C.C. Company #181), in operation from June 14, 1933 to Jan. 1, 1936; and Camp Buck (C.C.C. Company #1197), in operation from Sept. 13, 1935 to Jul. 22, 1941. Among the work accomplished was "pouring a cement foundation for a sawmill," "building a lumber shed, a creosoting plant, a brick charcoal kiln ...," "miles of trails," and construction of "Milford Road." Other accomplishments are linked to from this page.
  • Middle Village Playground - Middle Village NY
    The NYC Parks website explains the provenance of this modest playground in Queens: "Between 1935 and 1938, Parks leased this property from the Gorbess Realty Corporation. In April 1938, the City of New York purchased one parcel of the property for $10,450. A month later, the city acquired the second parcel through condemnation, and Parks assumed jurisdiction over both areas." During the same period, the land was developed by Parks with New Deal support. First, in September 1935, Parks announced the opening of a playground with "two handball courts and the usual children's play facilities." In 1942, after the park had...
  • Middlesex Fells Reservation: Lawrence Woods Trails - Medford MA
    The Middlesex Fells Reservation spans multiple towns north of Boston. Here is a description of a couple of the projects undertaken by the W.P.A. in the park: "Middlesex Fells Reservation; four miles of bridle trails in the Lawrence Woods section of the reservation were reconstructed. The trails were widened and graded and new cross drains and culverts were installed where necessary. The work was started in 1936 and completed in 1937."
  • Middlesex Fells Reservation: Whip Hill Paths - Stoneham MA
    The W.P.A. conducted path development and improvement work in the Whip Hill portion of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, in Stoneham, Mass.
  • Middlesex Fells Reservation: Winchester Section Trails - Winchester MA
    Description of a W.P.A. project undertaken in 1938: "Middlesex Fells Reservation, Winchester Section; to widen, drain and grade three miles of bridle trails. The trails to be for equestrian, police patrol, fire control and maintenance use." The Winchester section is the far western portion of the park.
  • Miller Park - Salt Lake City UT
    The WPA (and possibly CCC) conducted extensive work to create Miller Park from 1935 to 1936. From the Intermountain Antiquities Computer System (IMACS) report: Site 42SL000711 is Miller Park, a historic public park, with seven built features, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The features consist of a stone double staircase (F-01 ), a stone platform wall and culvert (F-02), a stone bridge (F-03), two stone benches and stairs (F-04, a stone bench and raised platform F-05), a metal bridge (F-06), and stone retaining walls (F-07). Two maintained walking trails run along the east and west sides of the park. The park...
  • Minneopa State Park - Mankato MN
    Established by the Minnesota legislature in 1905 to allow public access to Minneopa Falls, the Minneopa State Park was enlarged and improved during the New Deal period by Works Progress Administration funding. WPA workers improved the falls with new stairs, built public hiking trails, and constructed seven new buildings, including a public shelter, new maintenance buildings, restrooms, and other structures. Constructed from local sandstone and lumber, the seven rustic-styled WPA buildings constructed on the site were added to the National Historic Register in 1989.  
  • Mission Tejas State Park - Grapeland TX
    Franciscan Monks established the Spanish Mission San Francisco de los Tejas in what is now East Texas in 1690. The monks were forced by the local Indians to abandon the mission in 1693. The monks burned the mission when they left. The discovery of a Spanish cannon barrel led to the park's development near the village of Weches, where the CCC set up a reforestation camp in 1933. The Texas Forest Service developed San Francisco Mission State Forest as a tourist attraction and commemoration of early Texas history, just in time for the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936. Those individuals involved in...
  • Moeur Park - Tempe AZ
    "Moeur Park North and South is located at the NE and SE corners of Mill Avenue and Curry Road. Moeur Park ramadas and associated structures are identified in the 1997 Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update (#255) as individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Built in U.S. Park Services style, these roadway, rest, and landscape elements are typical of the New Deal Works Administration Era (WPA). Field stone and concrete materials were used by the WPA to construct features throughout the park. These include; raised planters, stairs, planter borders, stone benches, stone tables, an automobile...
  • Mohawk Trail State Forest - Charlemont MA
    From the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: “The administration building and four log cabins built by the CCC at Mohawk Trail were featured in Albert Good’s 1938 book, Park and Recreation Structures, as outstanding examples of CCC rustic design and are still used today.”
  • Monocacy Park - Bethlehem PA
    The WPA constructed stone walks, walls, benches, tables, fireplace, pavilions, and footbridges to build Monocacy Park between 1936 and 1937. A swimming pool was also constructed above the dam, but this feature is no longer in use due to sediment. Mcall.com: "The Monocacy Park bridge features two 30-foot towers of hand-cut stone. The creek had to be diverted, most likely with sandbags, to enable the stone masons to erect the towers. Block and tackle, a series of ropes and pulleys, had to be used to set the pieces in place." As of 2016 the park is under restoration.
  • Monrovia Mountain Park - Monrovia CA
    An 80 acre park in the San Gabriel Mountains that was the site for CCC camp F-131 that was constructed May 26, 1933. One of 20 camps in the Angeles National Forest. "The U.S. Forest Service extended the fire road from White Saddle to join a network of fire roads around Monrovia Peak. Most of the labor was done by the C.C.C."
  • Montclair Park: Stone Walls and Steps - Oakland CA
    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 park includes a recreation center, duck pond, large grass fields, a baseball field, pickleball courts, a picnic area, children's playground and a play area under a group of large trees.     The most striking feature of Montclair Park is its extensive stonework, which has held up admirably over the years.  The west side of the park, along Moraga Avenue, has a...
  • Morristown National Historic Park - Morristown NJ
    "Morristown's Other Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) ...In Jockey Hollow the men built many of the trails, performed extensive archeology around the Soldiers Huts, Wick Farm and Guerin House. They also constructed the tour road, Wick House garden and replanted the apple orchard at the Wick House... Next time you are in a park, especially Jockey Hollow, take a minute to appreciate the hard work that had to be done for us to enjoy Jockey Hollow and other public lands the way we do today. If you would like to learn more about the CCC at Morristown NHP join one...
  • Mount Diablo State Park: Trails & Other Improvements - Mount Diablo CA
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked at Mount Diablo State Park for nine years, 1933-1942. Along with such notable features as the Summit Building, campgrounds and picnic areas (see linked project pages), the CCC 'boys' made many other improvements to the park.  These include hiking trails, entrance gates, retaining walls, drinking fountains, comfort stations, turn-outs and observation areas, residences for park staff, barracks for fire crews, a mess hall and other service buildings, and a water supply system.  The State Parks Department is quite cognizant of its debt to the New Deal for improving all the parks existing in the 1930s, as noted...
  • Mount Edgecumbe Trail and Cabin - Sitka AK
    "Mount Edgecumbe can be easily ascended in a day hike. Although finding marine transportation from the nearby town of Sitka to Kruzof Island is often the biggest obstacle, once hikers reach the island and the Mt. Edgecumbe's trailhead of Fred's Creek, the trip to the base of volcano is relatively flat while passing through open expanses of muskeg. There is a three-sided shelter at about mile 3.5, halfway to the mountain and a small campsite right before the final ascent . At about mile six, the climb begins. Soon tree line is achieved and a series of posts guide hikers...
  • Mount Greylock State Reservation - Lanesborough MA
    The CCC conducted extensive work on Mount Greylock State Reservation between 1933 and 1942. From the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: “The Mount Greylock Summit, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, contains an exceptional collection of CCC resources. Most notable is Bascom Lodge, as well as the associated outbuildings, roads, trails and a particularly well designed parking area.” From Wikipedia: The greatest period of development on Mount Greylock occurred in the 1930s. ... The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) 107th Company, MA camp SP-7, from 1933-1941 made extensive improvements on roads, trails, scenic vistas, firebreaks, forest health improvement,...
  • Mount Mitchell State Park - Burnsville NC
    "The newly established Department of Conservation and Development...immediately requested a CCC work camp for Mount Mitchell... ...the upper reaches of the East's highest mountain underwent a remarkable transformation. Fire prevention crews fanned out along the trails and parking areas, clearing away brush and standing dead timber. Other workers took charge of trail maintenance, refurbishing all the footpaths, including the well-worn and badly eroded trail to the summit. The CCC briefly revived reforestation in the park, planting addition Fraser fir and Norway spruce. Just below the summit workers cut and hewed red spruce logs for a new concession stand, a rain shelter,...
  • Mount Nebo Loop Trails - Mt Nebo UT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive recreational improvements on Mt. Nebo, the highest and southern-most peak of the Wasatch Mountains.  The CCC teams worked out of three camps: F-9 at the south end of the Mt. Nebo Loop, F-3 at Hubble Canyon and F-40 near Provo, from 1933 to 1938 – and possibly to 1941 when the last camp closed. After building the Mt Nebo Loop Road (Scenic Byway), the CCC enrollees created several campgrounds, picnic areas and many trails. Not all this work can be identified precisely, but some can be verified from reliable sources. The trails laid out by...
  • Mount Rainier National Park - WA
    Mount Rainier was the nation's fifth National Park, established 1899. During the Great Depression the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps greatly aided the park's development. NPS.gov: "The Civilian Conservation Corps was busily building and repairing park lands and structures from 1933 to 1941. In addition to landscape work, they helped plant over 10,000,000 trout in the lakes and streams." "Five Emergency Conservation Work Camps are authorized for the park. They are manned by newly recruited Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) men from various parts of the United States. Training is provided by park service personnel. The CCC use inexpensive skills to build and repair...
  • Mount Tom State Reservation - Holyoke MA
    According to the Wikipedia page for Mount Tom, “In 1933 the Civilian Conservation Corps assisted with the construction of reservation structures and park roads; their work also remains visible today.”
  • Mt. Tamalpais State Park Improvements - Mount Tamalpais State Park CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to the newly-formed Mount Tamalpais State Park on Mount Tamalpais – a favorite hiking and recreational spot for San Franciscans all the way back to the Gold Rush era (1850s). The California State Parks website adds these details: "The CCC expanded the recreational opportunities of park visitors with new trails, camping facilities, and the monumental amphitheater. Except for the winter of 1938, veteran companies occupied the CCC camp from April 1934 through April 1940.  Mount Tamalpais State Park has other CCC features: Mountain Theatre (Cushing Memorial Theatre) and Actor Dressing Rooms, Footbridges, Camp Stoves, Sixteen campsites...
  • Muir Woods National Monument Improvements - Muir Woods National Monument CA
    The CCC did extensive work in Muir Woods National Monument. The National Park Service site summarizes their activity: "The men began work in Muir Woods and the surrounding Tamalpais State Park. Projects included a revetment (rockwork stream banks) in Redwood Creek; construction of a stone-faced concrete bridge on Fern Creek; construction of utility buildings and benches; and the construction of the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater (the "Mountain Theater"), near Rock Springs, on Mt. Tamalpais. The CCC completed its last project in Muir Woods in May 1941, and was disbanded shortly thereafter."   (https://www.nps.gov/) Not everything the CCC did was ideal by modern standards,...
  • Municipal improvements - Auburn ME
    The Lewiston Evening Journal reported that by 1935, a combination of the CWA, FERA, and ERA had completed numerous work projects in Auburn Maine: A two mile hiking trail along the Little Androscoggin River called the Baker Mill Trail was started. An athletic field was built at the Walton Elementary School along with shrubs and landscaping. The interiors of the Webster Grammar school, Webster Jr. High, Lake Street school, & Washburn school were painted. The roof was repainted at the Chamberlain school. At Edward Little High School, the windows were replaced. The roof of the city building was repaired, floors refinished, & both the interior and...
  • Munson Valley Historic District Projects - Crater Lake National Park OR
    "Munson Valley Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 for its landscaping and eighteen of the buildings.  During the 1930’s and 1940’s, landscape architects Thomas Vint, Merel Sager, and Francis Lange oversaw the development of the rustic landscape around Munson Valley at almost every level.  The landscaping of Munson Valley no longer has much of the original work of Vint, Sager, Lange and the CCC, but the layout and natural placement of buildings still remains. Some of the historically significant buildings within the Munson Valley Historic District include: Administration Building Ranger Dormitory Superintendent's Residence (now housing part of...
  • Myakka River State Park - Sarasota FL
    The CCC did extensive work creating Myakka River State Park between 1934 and 1941. According to the Florida Public Architecture blog, it was the only camp in Florida established by an African-American division of the CCC, reminding the visitor that segregation obtained even in great public works of the New Deal. From the Florida State Parks website: In the 1930's, during the Great Depression, over 17,000 acres of the Palmer estate was purchased by the government to develop Myakka River State Park as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The New Deal was intended to boost the economy and spirit of the American population during...
  • Nahant Beach Development - Nahant MA
    Descriptions of W.P.A. projects conducted in 1937: "Nahant Beach Reservation; the large automobile parking space adjacent to the boulevard was improved and enlarged by the completion of a project started in 1936. The area was improved and made safer for the use of automobiles by the installation of rip-rap shore protection and filling and grading of the parking space. About 3,200 cubic yards of heavy stone was placed for shore protection and 12,500 cubic yards of earth and rock were excavated and placed in regrading the auto park, the usable area of which is now about 70,000 square yards. Nahant Beach Reservation;...
  • Natchez Trace Parkway - Natchez MS
    The 445-mile parkway follows the general path of the old Natchez Trace, originally a footpath for Native American Choctaw and Chickasaw (Littman). The parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, across the northeast corner of Alabama, and into Tennessee. The Northern Terminus (Tupelo-Nashville) ends just out of Nashville after passing by Franklin, Tennessee. The final leg of the parkway was completed in 1996 (Littman). Representative Thomas J. Busby of Mississippi introduced the first of the bills into Contgress to construct a paved road along the route of the old Trace. Work began under the Public Works Administration, and included the Works Project...
  • National Mall: Landscaping and Footpaths - Washington DC
    The New Deal carried out a major renovation of the National Mall, the green centerpiece of Washington DC.   Funding was provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and labor power by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 1939, the PWA had expended $1,050,000 on the reconstruction work.  As one newspaper put it, “...the mile long park connecting the Capitol with Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial probably would still be in an early stage of development but for the allocation of PWA funds to finish the project."  Work began in 1934 under the supervision of the Superintendent of the National Capital Parks,...
  • Natural Bridge State Resort Park - Slade KY
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park during the 1930s. The CCC built trails, shelters and stairways.
  • Nazareth Boro Park - Nazareth PA
    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.
  • Nenana-to-Totatlanika Canyon Trail - Nenana AK
    Per the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) supplied labor toward constructing a large trail from Nenana, Alaska in 1934: the unemployed men of Nenana had cut eighteen and a half miles of winter trail from Nenana to Totatlanika Canyon, as part of the first project allotted by the CWA for this community. In detail, the report shows that the total man hours worked was 1920, and the amount of money expended $1,584.63. One and a half miles of old trail was used and about seventeen miles of new trail. Thirteen miles of the new trail is 10...
  • New Discovery State Park - Marshfield VT
    The CCC did extensive work at multiple sites within New Discovery State Park, one of several parks located within the Groton State Forest. "In 1933, CCC Company 146 from Rhode Island was stationed along the road to Osmore Pond. Approximately 3⁄4 mile from the campground on the left, you will see the remains of a stone fence at the entrance to the camp, the Recreation Hall chimney, and cellar holes. Company 146 was responsible for building structures at New Discovery, Osmore Pond, Owl’s Head, and Kettle Pond. Around Osmore Pond, a 75-person log shelter, 19 picnic sites with stone fireplaces, and four...
  • New Germany State Park - Grantsville MD
    CCC-built structures at New Germany State Park, that are still in use today, include a recreation building, cabins, and picnic shelters. According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, “Today the Recreation Hall (Rec Hall) is the site for many reunions, weddings, and other special events.” The CCC transformed Swauger’s Lake into what is now New Germany Lake. Swauger’s Lake was used for powering a mill and making ice. The CCC drained the lake and cleared it out of logs & stumps, making it safe to swim in. It was then stocked with fish. Other work performed at New Germany State Park...
  • Nickerson State Park - Brewster MA
    From the Friends of Nickerson State Park website: “the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC) constructed the first roads, camping sites, parking and picnic areas near Flax Pond. CCC workers also planted 88,000 white pine hemlock and spruce trees.” Hathitrust.org: "Extensive developments were undertaken by the Civilian Conservation Corps before the park was opened to the public in 1937. Roads were laid out, forest trails cleared and marked, wells dug, shelters erected, tent floors laid, and parking areas cleared."
  • Niobrara State Park - Niobrara NE
    According to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, “Niobrara State Park opened to the public after work by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934 and 1935.”
  • Nipmuck State Forest - Union CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Graves operated between May 27, 1933 and April 22, 1936 at Nipmuck State Forest in Union, Connecticut. Among the C.C.C. accomplishments were "8 miles of truck trails" and "fire suppression on the Connecticut—Massachusetts border." Additional projects are linked to from this page.
  • Norris Dam State Park - Lake City TN
    "Norris Dam State Park is a state park in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is situated along the shores of Norris Lake, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. The park consists of 4,038 acres (16.34 km2) managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The east section of Norris Dam State Park was developed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a "demonstration recreational project" of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The CCC built a lodge, several rustic cabins, and an amphitheater. The...
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