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  • Alta Ski Resort Development - Alta UT
    The New Deal gave a huge boost to the development of Alta Ski Resort in the 1930s and early 1940s.  The work involved the US Forest Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration. Alta is the second or third oldest downhill ski resort in the United States. It began when the last silver mine closed in the Great Depression and the bankrupt owner deeded land to the U.S. Forest Service in lieu of back taxes. It is not clear who thought of creating a ski resort there, since miners had been skiing the canyon for years. In 1935, the Forest Service hired...
  • Alumni Field Development - Maynard MA
    The New Deal had a large impact on Maynard's Alumni Field. In 1933 the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) surfaced the running track, built a concrete foundation for bleachers, graded a field next to the highway, and surfaced tennis courts. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (E.R.A.) constructed a field house, bleachers, and a hockey rink on site the next two years. Work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).
  • Anniversary Park - Holyoke MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers worked at Anniversary Park in Holyoke, Mass. Work included the construction of a recreation center and winter sports facilities.
  • Armory (former) Improvements - Red Bank NJ
    The former armory building in Red Bank, New Jersey was the recipient of WPA improvement efforts: "Improve, renovate, and make alterations at Armory." WPA Official Project Number: 65‐1‐22‐163 The former armory later served as an equestrian riding hall, and presently houses an ice rink.
  • Badger Pass Ski Area Development - Yosemite National Park CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped develop the Badger Pass Ski Area at Yosemite National Park in the mid-to-late 1930s. Limited skiing had started in 1933 with the opening of the Glacier Point road, making Badger Pass one of the earliest California ski areas.  The Badger Pass lodge was built in 1935.   The National Park Service wanted to encourage skiing and used the CCC to assist with further improvements at Badger Pass. The CCC was involved in at least the following projects: •1938  Widening the Badger Pass Access Road. •1939 – 1940  Building the Badger Pass Ranger Residence. •1940 – 1941  Adding a Comfort Station...
  • Beartown State Forest Ski Areas - Monterey MA
    From the New England Lost Ski Areas Project: “Beartown Ski Area was a classic, and somewhat long lived CCC area that was originally built as a Ski Train Destination. It was also one of the largest areas to close in Massachusetts (820' drop)- only Brodie Mountain had a larger one (~1250'). With three rope tows and about 10 trails at its heyday, it was quite the happening place... Beartown's genesis begins in 1935, when the CCC began clearing trails and slopes at this area.”  
  • Bemis Pond Reservoir - Chicopee MA
    WPA Bulletin, 1937: "A 12-acre pond is included on the land. WPA workmen have completed construction of a dike to hold in this water and in the winter the spot can be used for winter sport purposes."
  • Breakheart Reservation - Saugus MA
    The Civilian Coservation Corps (C.C.C.) was active at the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus, Mass. 1934 Metropolitan District Commission annual report: "Under Chapter 338, Acts of 1934, the Commission were authorized to purchase about 650 acres of land in Saugus and Wakefield, adjacent to the Lynn Fells Parkway, near the junction of the Newburyport Turnpike. This area, which has been named Breakheart Reservation, will be developed into one of the most attractive recreation parks in the Metropolitan District. Application has been made for establishing a Civilian Conservation Camp by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior." 1936 report: "About 3,000 man hours...
  • Camp White Branch (White Branch Ski Area) - Willamette National Forest OR
    Interest in winter sports, particularly skiing, grew in Oregon during the 1920s. Given the Willamette National Forest (WNF) management's commitment to recreation and the availability of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor, US Forest Service Staff worked with local outdoor groups such as Eugene's Obsidian Club to identify locations within the forest for ski areas as early as 1934. The White Branch Recreational Area was  one of the first such projects. A survey crew from CCC Camp Belknap located land for the White Branch project and CCC enrollees began work in the summer of 1934. They built a two-story lodge, ski and...
  • Cannon Mountain Ski Area - Franconia NH
    "The Cannon Mountain Ski Area is state-owned and offers nine lifts servicing 165 acres (67 ha) of skiing (158 with snowmaking). In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps cut six ski trails, many of which were later incorporated into the Cannon Mountain Ski Area and, until 1984, the Mittersill Ski Area. The Mittersill Ski Area and Taft CCC Ski Trail were incorporated into the Cannon Mountain Ski Area in 2009."   (wikipedia)
  • CCC Camp Toumey - Goshen / Cornwall CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)'s Camp Toumey was stationed at Mohawk State Forest from June 25, 1933 to July 26, 1941. "Named for James W. Toumey, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry, CCC men from this camp lived among the rugged hills and panoramic vistas of northwestern Connecticut. This camp was originally designed as a camp exclusively for veterans of World Was I and, as such, the enrollees were older. But as the veterans' need for employment waned, younger enrollees were gradually added to the camp." Among other projects linked to from this page, accomplishments included: "fighting forest fires; making improvements...
  • CCC Camp Wolcott - Torrington CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)'s Company #176, Camp Wolcott, was based at Paugnut State Forest in Torrington, Connecticut. It operated from 1933 to 1937. Work accomplished included construction of 8 miles of truck trails and many miles of cross-country ski trails.
  • CCC Camp: Blue Hills Reservation - Milton MA
    From 1933-1937 a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp operated within the Blue Hills Reservation, south of Boston. Over that time the CCC made numerous improvements to the Reservation, including two lookout towers, ski trails, a toboggan run, and any number of road and trail enhancements. Bare remnants of the CCC camp remain today, but are noted with historical markers. Description of C.C.C. activities in the Blue Hills Reservation, per the Metropolitan District Commission 1938 annual report: "The camp work crews assigned to the creosoting of gypsy moth egg clusters continued the work started in the fall of 1936 until the spring hatching...
  • Deer Valley Resort Development - Park City UT
    Deer Valley Resort near Park City UT is one of Utah's major ski areas, along with Park City, Alta and Snowbird.  It is ranked among the top ski resorts in the country, thanks to the quality of powder snow in the Wasatch Mountains. Skiing began at Deer Valley with the Park City Winter Carnivals of the 1930s and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built some of the first ski trails and other facilities during the winter of 1936-1937.   No clear trace of the WPA's work remains, given the massive enlargement of Deer Valley ski area and condominium complex in recent years.
  • Green Brook Park - Plainfield NJ
    Multiple New Deal agencies worked to develop Green Brook Park in Plainfield, New Jersey beginning in 1933. The project involved the construction of a 1.55-acre artificial lake (which could be converted into an ice skating rink during the winter); the stocking of said lake with fish; the building of a footbridge across the brook; grass seeding; small dams to create modest waterfalls along the brook; paths around the lake and through the park; construction of a baseball diamond; and the planting of more than 2,000 trees, shrubs, and other plants.
  • Hubbard Park - Montpelier VT
    Montpelier Annual Report, 1937: "In the early summer of 1933 the C. C. C. started improvement work at Hubbard Park under the direction of the Vermont Forest Service cooperating with the Montpelier Park Board. From that time until the fall of 1936, they have accomplished projects which have materially enhanced and made more usable our beautiful park. All of the interior park roads have been regraded, widened, drained, and graveled. Many of the crooks and formerly muddy spots have been eliminated and all roads are now usable during all of the seasons. The entrance road from Clarendon Avenue to the Tower road...
  • Kendall State Park - Brecksville OH
    Kendall State Park, plus park land from the cities of Cleveland & Akron, were formed into a National Recreation Area in 1974 and then Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The story of its establishment highlights the impact local citizens and political leaders can have when they work together with passion and common purpose to protect aspects of America's heritage. This story is rooted in the environmental and social movements of the 20th century. It is about the desire to have scenic open spaces near to home, especially for recreation. It is about not only saving significant features but restoring a landscape to...
  • Lake Placid Ski Resort Improvements - Lake Placid NY
    This small mountain town developed Olympic quality winter sports facilities in order to host the Olympic games in 1932. These facilities, including ski slopes and the bob-sled run, were later improved by the WPA. The resort was again used for the Olympics in 1980.
  • Mohawk Mountain Ski Area - Cornwall CT
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) developed "miles of downhill and cross-country ski trails that became the Mohawk Mountain Ski Area."
  • 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 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 Rose Ski Hut - Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest NV
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in conjunction with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a ski hut on Mount Rose in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The exact location and status of this facility is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Municipal Improvements - Franconia NH
    Various relief and infrastructure efforts were provided by the New Deal for this small New Hampshire mountain village, population 514 (1930 Census). From 1933 to 1935, the Public Works Administration conducted a survey for a proposed water project, at a total cost of $488. A federal list of PWA projects constructed mentions that the water works were built and then sold to the town, as town reports mention bond money raised to purchase it. In 1933, the school superintendent noted, "We expect sometime this year to have the use of a school nurse for a week or more, and with the assistance...
  • Municipal Skating Rink - Laramie WY
    TheWorks Progress Administration built a Municipal skating rink in Laramie, Albany County.
  • Nansen Ski Jump - Milan NH
    According to a historical sign on site, "Named for Fridjof Nansen, the Greenland explorer. Berlin's first ski club formed in 1872. The club sponsored the "Big Nansen" constructed in 1936 -38 by the National Youth Administration and the City of Berlin. At the time, it was possibly the tallest steel-tower ski jump in the world, standing 171 feet high. The first jumper Clarence "Spike" Oleson in 1937. In 1938, the Olympic trials were held here. Four times Milan hosted the United States Ski Jumping National Championships: 1940, '57, '65, '72." The architect of the ski jump was John Barnard Nichol, a...
  • Olympic National Park - Port Angeles WA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop Olympic National Park, including constructing the park's headquarters, during the 1930s.
  • Ostrander Ski Hut - Yosemite National Park CA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Ostrander Ski Hut in 1941.  The ski hut is a two-story stone structure, in the classic National Park rustic style. It was built  for cross-country skiers, meant to be part of a larger system of winter trails and huts along the Sierra Crest that never were developed. The hut sits in a small glacial cirque at the edge of Ostrander Lake. Very basic overnight accommodations and cooking facilities are available at the hut. It sleeps 25 people and has bunks, mattresses, wood stove, a kitchen with a gas stove for cooking and assorted pots...
  • Paradise Ski-Tow Powerhouse - 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. Wikipedia: "The Paradise Ski-Tow Powerhouse was built to house a portable ski-tow system. Paradise was a significant skiing venue during the 1930s, but the Park Service did not permit a permanent ski lift facility. The ski-tow house was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps with a steeply pitched roof similar to that of the ranger station." Based on a map on a National Register of Historic Places nomination form (wa.gov, .pdf page 21), Living New Deal...
  • Paugnut Forest Administration Building - Torrington CT
    "The Paugnut Forest Administration Building (also known as Burr Pond Park Bungalow) is a historic building at 385 Burr Mountain Road in Burr Pond State Park, Torrington, Connecticut. Built in 1937 by a crew of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), it is one of the finest examples of Bungalow/Craftsman architecture built by the CCC in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986."
  • Pittsfield State Forest - Pittsfield MA
    The CCC worked to develop Pittsfield State Forest during the 1930s. From BerkshireWeb.com: "In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted large tracts of spruce and red pine on the former grazing land. They also constructed roads, dams, and buildings. The land, which had remained in private ownership, was then sold to the state. Many of the forest's present buildings date from the CCC era, including the ski lodge with its enormous stone fireplace." From the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: "The renovation of this administration building is a victory in the effort to preserve the rustic CCC...
  • Pullar Community Building - Sault Ste. Marie MI
    "Making the project possible was a bequest of $70,000 in the will of (late) Sophia Nolte Pullar. Her funds were largely used to build the Pullar" Community Building "in 1939 as a ... Public Works Administration project. The Pullar is one of the oldest artificial ice rinks still in operation in the United States." The P.W.A. supplied an $81,818 grant for the project, whose total cost was $164,653. PWA Docket No. MI 1628
  • Recreation Park Facilities - Asheville NC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided labor for the construction of multiple facilities at Recreation Park in Asheville, NC. The CWA constructed a barracks at the park, as well as developing a skating rink. The FERA improved roads at the park. The status of these structures is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Salmon River State Forest - Colchester CT
    Camp Stuart, Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) Company #1194, operated between July 8, 1935 and May 31, 1937. It conducted development work at the newly-established Salmon River State Park. Work included construction of one mile of truck trails, "the clearing of miles of cross-country ski trails," and dam construction.
  • Skating Pond - Keeline WY
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed a school skating pond in Superior, Wyoming in 1933/4. Cassity: "School life appears to have been significantly upgraded by the CWA workers at schools in the towns and countryside alike. ... Superior’s students got a skating pond courtesy of CWA workers."
  • Ski-Tow - West Portal CO
    Bartlett, Texas's Tribune and News noted in mid-1939 an "unusual" PWA-funded project being constructed in West Portal, Colorado -- a ski-tow.
  • St. Moritz Toboggan Slide - Quincy MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers constructed a toboggan slide at St. Moritz Park in Quincy, Mass.
  • Starr Ridge Warming Cabin - Malheur National Forest OR
    Civilian Conservation Corps workers from Camp Canyon Creek constructed a warming cabin to the south of Starr Ridge and just to the east of Highway 395 sometime between 1937 and 1940. The log structure with its impressive fireplace and chimney sits adjacent to a groomed sledding hill.
  • Szot Park - Chicopee MA
    WPA Bulletin, 1937: "On a misty, dismal day last April, a WPA crew started work on the wild and undeveloped 70-acre Bemis tract of land in the rear of the Chicopee High School, which is being converted into the city's first public recreational field. Today the physical change of a large part of the land is decidedly noticeable. Here workmen have graded, leveled and filled this area into a huge flat field which will contain a football and baseball field, a running track, eight tennis courts, three basketball courts, a field house and service building, a grandstand and a parking...
  • The Spruces Campground - Big Cottonwood Canyon UT
    The Utah Outdoor Association, working with the local Forest Service office in the Wasatch National Forest, created the Community Camp in 1921.  It was built on the site of a former tree nursery put there c. 1900 to reforest Big Cottonwood Canyon, which had been completely denuded of trees in the 19th century to build early Salt Lake City.  In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) added many new facilities to the Community Camp, including more campsites, tent platforms, baseball fields, horseshoe pitches and a volleyball court. A ski jump and toboggan slide were added in 1936-37 at the mouth of Day's Fork,...
  • Thunderbolt Ski Shelter - Lanesborough MA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Thunderbolt Ski Shelter, atop Mount Greylock, in 1940.
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