Waitt’s Mountain Park – Malden MA

Description

“In the 1930’s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a series of improvements including the construction of the loop road around the summit [of Waitt’s Mount].” A 1937 WPA Bulletin reported:

In 1934 Waitt’s Mount in Maiden looked like a quarry-workers’ nightmare. It was a huge, bald and jagged granite ledge whose slope was covered with twisted, stunted trees and tangled underbrush; probably the most useless piece of land in this section of the state. Today the Mount is a beautifully terraced park which commands a 15-mile panorama of metropolitan Boston. The park, built by the WPA, has landscaped slopes, shade trees, rustic bridges, rock gardens, bird baths, stone walks, fireplaces, picnic benches, a complete drainage system and a 20 foot roadway which winds from the base to the top of the hill. There, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey has a station for communication with coastal defenses and other governmental signal stations. When the project first started many observers said it was a foolish gesture; that nothing could ever be done with the waste land. To sum it up — Sponsor’s Agent George Blakeslee says: “They said it couldn’t be done but we’ve done it.”

Between 2012 and 2014, the park underwent renovations while protecting some preexisting elements, such as WPA-build stone walls. The renovations were focused closer to the Mount’s summit area, whereas, the actual park boundaries extend out a bit further. In these extended areas of the park, one can find many more existing remnants/structures that were part of the original 1930s WPA project.