- City:
- Houston, TX
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Parks and Recreation, Community Centers, Swimming Pools, Bathhouses
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
Description
Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas was dramatically transformed and improved by construction projects enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression.
The park “was donated to the City of Houston in 1916. For more than twenty years, Emancipation Park was the only public park in Houston open to African-Americans. In 1938-39, the Public Works Administration constructed on the park site a recreation center, swimming pool, and bathhouse, designed by prominent Houston architect William Ward Watkin, on the site. The buildings are important examples of PWA construction in Houston and have been used since their construction for after-school and summer programs for children, community meetings, and classes for youth and adults.” (HoustonTX.gov)
Source notes
https://www.houstontx.gov/citysec/backup/2007/110707.pdfSite originally submitted by Evan Kalish on November 4, 2014.
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