Landscaping and Tree Planting Sites

Takoma Recreation Center is a large public recreational facility in Washington D.C., containing buildings, swimming pool, tennis courts and other facilities. New Deal agencies did extensive work on the site, 1933-36, as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program assisted by the Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The WPA alone undertook a million dollar program of improvements to district parks in 1935-36. The work at Takoma Recreation Center included: "Swimming pools and field house constructed; baseball diamonds, athletic fields graded and equipment installed; landscaping and lawn area at field house constructed; parking areas...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped develop Tautphaus Park and Zoo in Idaho Falls, Idaho around 1935-36. A 2015 Idaho Falls city press release states: "In 1934, the city of Idaho Falls purchased land in Tautphaus Park, then called 'City Park,' and in 1935 the first zoo animals were brought to the park. Log buildings were erected throughout the park and financed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.  Some of these buildings can still be seen on zoo grounds and now serve as an education center and a storage barn." The rustic style buildings are still in the park, though the...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Lake Temescal Park, now known as Temescal Regional Recreation Area, one of the original units of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD). When the EBRPD was created in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and WPA were called upon to make the first parks of the system ready for public use.  Temescal Park opened to the public in 1936. Along with the well-known beach house and cascade (see separate pages) at Lake Temescal, WPA workers made several other improvements to the park – not all of which can be pin-pointed.  They created a large...

Theodore Roosevelt Island National Memorial was created in the 1930s with the aid of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and National Park Service (NPS). Theodore Roosevelt Island sits in the middle of the Potomac between Arlington and downtown Washington, just within the District of Columbia. The island covers some 88 acres and is both a forest park and a memorial to President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1931, Mason's Island was bought by the Roosevelt Memorial Association, which presented it to the federal government in 1932 to be developed as a memorial to the former president and ardent conservationist, Teddy Roosevelt. Congress authorized the...

The Works Progress Administration built a park that included a stone bridge over Town Creek.

Funds for a seawall and fill for the exposition site were provided through a $3,043,000 WPA grant. Another WPA grant of $1,296,000 provided for roadways, a causeway, trestles, landscaping, and drainage of water systems. A PWA grant of $1,711,000, matched in part by local funds, provided for paving, ferry slips and some buildings. Private funding for the exhibition were raised through private subscriptions, through the sale of bonds. A 1940 WPA publication describes the construction of Treasure Island as follows: "Dedicated November 21, 1937, Yerba Buena Shoals, more popularly known as Treasure Island, was raised from beneath the waters of the bay through the handling...

The WPA undertook a tree-planting project from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10, 1935 in Scarsdale, New York. The WPA appropriated $1,422 for labor. The project was recommended by the Village Engineer and planning board.

"Triangle Park, the three sided “square” in Kemmerer, got a heavy dose of fertilizer and horticultural attention," as the Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to improve the park.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Camp Robinson, which housed Company #180, was stationed at Tunxis State Forest in Hartland, Connecticut. The camp was established June 13, 1933 and was discontinued July 18, 1941. Among other projects independently listed on other pages, work included: "12 miles of truck trails including today's ... Hall Road, construction of a house for the Forest Ranger, and miles of cross-country ski trails." The ski cabin and ski trail remain today. Other improvements included access roads and a cross country ski loop trail.

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA)began improvements at Turtle Creek Park in Dallas TX.  The project was one of many undertaken in the area by the WPA and other New Deal agencies. “Widespread park improvements costing $34,000 have been announced at Dallas, Texas,” a writer for Parks & Recreation reported in January of 1939. “Included in the developments will be a new South Dallas community center, a golf course for Negroes and additional work in Robert E. Lee Park and also on the White Rock beautification program.” Dallas’s Robert E. Lee Park was renamed Turtle Creek Park after a vote by...

W.P.A. project descriptions: "Veterans of Foreign Wars, West Roxbury, and Turtle Pond Parkways; the roadsides of these parkways were beautified for their entire lengths by grubbing, grading and seeding. Ten miles, or 176,000 square yards of property was reclaimed." "Dedham Parkway and Turtle Pond Parkway; a project in operation at the end of the year will provide a parking area on each of these two parkways in the Hyde Park district."

The University of Houston's old Industrial Building, now known as the Technology Annex, was constructed with the assistance of the Work Projects Administration, a New Deal agency. Houston, a history and guide: "Most of the heavily wooded campus was made available through donations of the Settegast and Ben Taub estates, of 75 acres and 35 acres respectively. The school board purchased a small tract. On the grounds are 101 varieties of trees and shrubs. This campus in 1941 was being improved by a large-scale landscaping program designed by Hare and Hare of Kansas City, Missouri, in cooperation with the Work Projects...

The UMN Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC) is the primary research and demonstration forest for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, currently a research and outreach center (ROC) for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. The Cloquet Forestry Center was called the Cloquet Forest Experiment Station when the CCC was active in providing skilled labor to the University. Projects completed at the CFC by some of the men stationed at Big Lake Camp S79 from July 1933 to June 1937 include: - the construction of five and a half miles of fire break and truck trails. - brushing and improvement of 15...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was active in Jerome, a copper mining town hit hard by the Great Depression.  The WPA hired out-of-work miners for several projects in Jerome and nearby towns, c. 1937-38.  One of those projects is "Upper Park" on the hillside between upper Main Street and Clark Street. The parks consist of two parts.  Along Main Street a spacious, curving bank of stone risers is flanked by stairways and stone walls, with a short pair of central stairs and a metal drinking fountain.  The stairways lead up to a small area with grass and trees, backed by a...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted landscaping work at the now-former VA Hospital, located northeast of the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. The property, now a luxury condo complex, is now privately owned. Its location has been described as 12th Avenue and E Street; the former VA Hospital building is closest to Capitol Park Ave.

W.P.A. project description: "Veterans of Foreign Wars, West Roxbury, and Turtle Pond Parkways; the roadsides of these parkways were beautified for their entire lengths by grubbing, grading and seeding. Ten miles, or 176,000 square yards of property was reclaimed."

W. C. Stripling Middle School was originally constructed as W. C. Stripling High School in 1927. In 1933-34, the grounds were landscaped by the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration FERA), and the Texas Relief Administration. The landscaping was designed by Hare & Hare of Kansas City, MO.   It created a raised and level area on the north side of the school, held in place by a ~5-foot buff sandstone retaining wall (and steps). There are tennis courts above the wall and a football field with running track below.  It is not certain if those were part of...

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Residents of Lynn consume 2,854,464,350 gallons of city water a year and from the same reservoir system the town of Saugus uses 333,542,250 gallons during the same period. Last week a WPA project started which will improve the purity of the water supply by clearing and grubbing 40 acres along the northerly shore of Walden Pond and cleaning out a half dozen tributary brooks which feed into the pond. When the land is cleared 25,000 three-year-old white pine seedlings will be planted. Most of these trees will be taken from the 2,200-acre Lynn Woods Reservation and will...

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) landscaped the grounds of the Utah State Training School in American Fork, just north of Provo UT. The landscaping included a quarter mile-long stone wall along the south property line of the school, along 700 North Street.  The school morphed into the Utah State Development Center and grew much larger; the original building is gone.  Part of the grounds have been carved out as Quail Cove park for the city of American Fork. But the stone wall still stands, marking the southern boundary of Quail Cove, home of a beautiful New Deal amphitheater.    

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a barn at Warder Nursery in Cincinnati OH. The project was one of several undertaken by the WPA in the city. “Three WPA projects for park improvements at Cincinnati, Ohio, have been given approval by the council finance committee of the city,” a contemporary journalist remarked at the time. “One project provides for the erection of a service and storage building at the Warder Nursery on North Ben Road, one for the construction of roads and walks in the various parks, and the other for landscape development in some of the parks.” The WPA...

The Washington Monument grounds – the core area of the National Mall – was substantially altered and improved, including a major reconfiguration of the streets. The work was paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA) from a fund of over $1 million provided for an overhaul of the entire National Mall.  Labor was mostly provided by Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relief workers. First, the Washington Monument grounds were raised and reconditioned with new topsoil, followed by reseeding of the lawns. Second, the circular roadway on the north side of Monument was eliminated and a highway in the line of...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed Washington Memorial Park in Guernsey, Wyoming. "In Guernsey, Washington Memorial Park was fenced, graded and given sidewalks and water mains." There does not presently appear to be a park by this name in Guernsey; the site and status of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Watauga County Courthouse complex in Boone, North Carolina "includes a Works Projects Administration funded building as part of its annex." The striking stone building "was completed in 1939 and housed the Watauga County Library from 1946 through 1997." The building is located at the southwest corner of Queen Street and North Water Street. The News and Observer explained: With county functions becoming greater, Watauga found itself with insufficient space in which to house the public health officer, the county agent, the home demonstration agent, the public welfare department, school superintendent and other governmental agencies. The new county native stone structure now provides...

New Deal agencies played a major role in the transformation of the narrow and dangerous Wawona wagon trail into a safe and comfortable route into Yosemite Valley. The route from the South Entrance to the Valley floor is 27 miles.  It is one of three access roads to Yosemite Valley, along with the El Portal road and Big Oak Flat Road. The National Park Service and the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) signed a Memorandum of Agreement in July 1925, authorizing the planning and construction of new roads within Yosemite National Park. Surveying was begun in 1928 and initial construction was...

W.P.A. project description: "West Roxbury Parkway; all the rough work involved in the construction of a road and parking space at the top of Bellevue Hill has been completed. The finished surfacing (bituminous) will be done in the spring of 1938." "Veterans of Foreign Wars, West Roxbury, and Turtle Pond Parkways; the roadsides of these parkways were beautified for their entire lengths by grubbing, grading and seeding. Ten miles, or 176,000 square yards of property was reclaimed."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Whitestone Playground in New York. The playground was dedicated in April 1940. The construction of Whitestone Playground was one of many recreation projects pursued by the WPA in New York. “Two thirds of this new twenty-one acre playground was formerly property of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and was known as the Whitestone Pumping Station…Here recreation facilities have been provided for all age groups.” Whitestone Playground, “designed by the Park Department and Built by the Works Progress Administration,” contributed to “a total of 323 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the New...

Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade is an astonishing feature of Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland hills and one of the largest New Deal projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Woodminster lies just off Joaquin Miller Road above Highway 13.  The large complex was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1940. Initial work began in late 1935 after $128,000 in federal funding was approved for Woodminster stairway and amphiteather, as part of a million dollars WPA effort across the city of Oakland (Chronicle 1935).  Further funds and more work came with a larger disbursement of almost $700,000 for "a master...

The Civilian Conservation Corp’s (CCC) work at Yellowstone National Park was extensive and lasted for the entirety of the CCC program, 1933-1942.  Projects included water and sewer line installation, landscaping, tree planting, the construction of fire lookouts and weather stations, firefighting and fire prevention, trail maintenance, museum assistance, snow removal, campground development, building amphitheatres, and the “Construction of buildings ranging from many of those at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch to the residences in Lower Mammoth, sheds and utility buildings throughout the park’s developed areas” (Manns, 1981). There were six main CCC camps in Yellowstone: Mammoth Camp (YNP-1), Canyon Camp (YNP-2), Lake...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees made many improvements at Yosemite Village and Curry Village at the east end of Yosemite Valley, in the heart of Yosemite National Park. At the time, these were known as the Old Village, New Village and Camp Curry. At Yosemite Village, the CCC teams installed log curbing, laid out new paths, and planted ferns, trees, and shrubs around the administration building, new hospital, residences, and Yosemite Museum. Some of the landscaping was done with native plants transplanted from various places outside the valley.  CCCers placed flagstones around the telescopes in front of the museum. Under the direction of...