Matheson Hammock Park, Coquina Coral Pool – Coral Gables FL

Description

Personal description of the park by project submitter John Walker:
“The entire park including the coquina coral atoll pool, was manmade. My grandfather, Robert “Bob” C. Long was a CCC worker, and worked on the project and helped to build the atoll pool. He and many of the other CCC workers carved their initials and names in the coral they laid around the manmade coral atoll pool deck. It is a natural salt, sea water atoll pool. A hurricane damaged the pool, and in a hasty repair of the pool, many of the stones used that bore the initials of many of the CCC workers were strewn about, and not placed back in their original spot, and are now scattered around the pool, making it difficult to find the initials of many of the CCC workers. I believe they are historically noteworthy and someday I would love to see the atoll pool rehabilitated and an serious effort made to find as many of the original coquina stones bearing the initials of the CCC workers, and have them set in place prominently around the pool deck once again, for the public to see. Of all of the jobs my grandfather did in his life as a young man, and despite the arduous conditions in Miami, dealing with the heat, the humidity, the moccasins, and the mosquitoes, he was most proud of the work he did in the CCC, and his part in building the Matheson Hammock atoll swimming pool!”