- City:
- Middlesex, NJ
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure and Utilities, Lakes and Ponds, Picnic and Other Facilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Flood and Erosion Control, Dams
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1935
Description
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed what was then known as Willow Park (now Victor Crowell Park) in Middlesex, New Jersey. Work began in December 1935.
Among other work, Ambrose Brook was dammed “by a concrete-cored earth fill into a seven-and-a-half acre lake with an average depth of seven feet. A sluice gate was constructed for drainage and flood control.” Shrubs and trees were planted, and picnic tables and benches constructed. The WPA installed swing sets as well. Roads on the north and south shores of the lake were paved, and “an attractive stone grotto” was erected “at the entrance of the North drive.”
Federal appropriations of $42,000 made the project possible.
WPA Project #4-155.
Source notes
"Highlight," a WPA publication, December 1936 issue, page 34-6. Found at the Jersey City Public Library's New Jersey Room.Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on January 13, 2015.
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