Works projects administered by the federal government during the 1930s left their presence in Auburn. Michael Otten, president of the Placer County Historical Society, researched some of those “alphabet soup” programs in the most recent issue of the museums division’s The Placer newsletter.
“Start with the restored Cooper Amphitheater in the newly opened Auburn Park Preserve behind Auburn City Hall,” Otten writes. “A short distance away is the Earl Crabbe Gym and much of the wall work around Placer High School.”
Otten goes on to mention not only New Deal-era city halls built in Auburn and Roseville, but tennis courts to Dutch Flat, the Colfax Elementary School and much of the Gold Country Fairgrounds.
The gym, an art deco classic like nearby city hall in Auburn, was constructed as a public works project in 1937 along with the original cinder track at what is now the track at Ralph LeFebvre Stadium. It was named after educator and basketball coach Crabbe in 1951.
“It’s amazing how much was done,” Otten said. “It kept a lot of families clothed, fed and sheltered during the hard times of the Depression.”