Sign noting WPA Work at Duncan Park in 1937
Sign near dam along trail indicating New Deal work at Duncan Park. Photo: Ernest Everett Blevins, MFA © All Rights Reserved January 2018.
Description
On 3 September 1935, the city of Spartanburg signed a contract with the Works Project Administration (WPA) to building Duncan Park Lake. The city furnished equipment in the amount of $14,720. A second contract at the same time provided for the construction of the American Legion Memorial Building atop a knoll known then as “University Hill.” The Duncan family donors believed in the philosophy of New York’s Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmstead who said, “Where building begins, the park ends.” In the 1923 contract with the city, the donors specified that the land could be used only as a park and playground, except for that elevation (University Hill) where public buildings or a school might be located.
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The ice on the lake is unusual. The photograph was taken after a week of unusually cold weather for Spartanburg.
Lakeside view Dam and Spillway of Duncan Park near the sign noting WPA work at the park
The ice on the lake is unusual. The photograph was taken after a week of unusually cold weather for Spartanburg.
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Duncan Park Lake view from spillway crossing dam
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Concrete spillway from the dam downstream.
Spillway of Duncan Park Lake
Concrete spillway from the dam downstream.
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Down stream view Dam and Spillway of Duncan Park near the sign noting WPA work at the park. The ice on the lake is unusual. The photograph was taken after a week of unusually cold weather for Spartanburg.
Dam and Spillway, Duncan Park, Spartanburg
Down stream view Dam and Spillway of Duncan Park near the sign noting WPA work at the park. The ice on the lake is unusual. The photograph was taken after a week of unusually cold weather for Spartanburg.
Source notes
https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/neighborhoods/duncan-park
https://www.al28sc.org/2016%20Post%2028%20Baseball%20Program%203%20July,%202016.pdf
American legion Post 28: https://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/spartanburg-county/american-legion-post-28.html
Project originally submitted by Christy Mcwhorter on June 30, 2017.
Additional contributions by Ernest Everett Blevins, January 11, 2018.
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