- City:
- San Francisco, CA
- Site Type:
- Lakes and Ponds, Parks and Recreation, Recreation Halls
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1938
- Completed:
- 1939
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its relief workers built the Angler’s Lodge and Casting Pools in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, for the benefit of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. In return, Club members agreed to help train anyone who asked, a pledge they still honor.
The club had previously used nearby Stow Lake, which could only accommodate a few casters at a time, so the club encouraged the Golden Gate Park directors to ask the WPA to new facilities. The project was done in 1938 and the facility opened in March 1939.
The first national casting tournament was held in 1939 at the newly- dedicated facilities and other national tournaments followed in 1950, 1956, 1981, 1993 and 1998. The pools are widely recognized as one of the finest casting facilities in the world.
Source notes
Timothy Keegan. "W.P.A. Construction in San Francisco (1935-1942)." The Argonaut Vol. 14, No. 1, Spring 2003. online at: https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=W.P.A._Construction_in_San_Francisco_%281935-1942%29
Records of the WPA, General Subject Series, 1933-44. Box 62.
Site originally submitted by Gray Brechin on June 16, 2010.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Join the Conversation