Rankin Park Development – Martinez CA

City:
Martinez, CA

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation, Paths and Trails, Picnic and Other Facilities, Landscaping and Tree Planting

New Deal Agencies:
Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs, National Youth Administration (NYA)

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Marked:
Unknown

Site Survival:
No Longer Extant

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and National Y0uth Administration (NYA) aided  in the development of Rankin Park, a 42 acre park in the hills to the west of Martinez.  The city purchased the land for $12,000 in 1938 and New Deal relief workers went right to work, helping city crews and Boy Scouts develop the park for public access and use.

The work teams cleared brush, planted trees, built roads, laid out trails, and created picnic areas with stone picnic stoves, as well as adding a ball field, a playground and sanitary facilities. (Contra Costa Times, May 28, 1939)

More information is needed on what remains of the WPA and NYA work from the 1930s.  The trails appear to be the same and some remnants of stone stoves can be found, but the city has renovated most of the facilities over the years.

Source notes

Kristin Henderson notes on Martinez City Council minutes for 1938-41, held at the National Archives, San Bruno CA

Contra Costa Gazette, March 24, April 29, and May 28, 1939.

Site originally submitted by Kristin Henderson on January 30, 2022.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker.

Location Info


Rankin Park
Martinez, CA 94553
Contra Costa County

Coordinates: 38.01438, -122.1528

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