Whitnall Park – Hales Corners WI

Description

The WPA and the CCC carried out extensive development projects in Whitnall Park. including the Botanical Garden administration building and the golf course club house, as well as extensive landscaping.

"Whitnall Park originally consisted of 606 acres. Purchased at a cost of $376/acre, this expenditure left County coffers with little money for park development. The advent of the Great Depression further stymied the parks completion. Laborers from Depression Era government work relief programs were eventually recruited to do the job. The two primary programs were the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

CCC workers were generally 21 years of age or younger, frequently from families on relief. They lived and worked on-site, transforming farmland into parkland for $30 a month, $25 of which was sent directly home to their families.

A CCC camp was built in Whitnall Park under the direction and leadership of the US Army.

A remnant building from the CCC encampment exists on-site and is used today as an educational facility.

WPA workers lived off-site, traveling to work at Whitnall Park via interurban rail. Among their ranks were artisans and craftsmen whose handiwork can be seen today in the hand-split native fieldstone on the exterior of the Garden House; the hand-carved figures in its interior lintels, beams and fireplace mantle; and the sculpture artfully placed about the Gardens and grounds.

Stone for the statuary in the Gardens came from the quarry in Currie Park and was carved by the WPA artisans."
(www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org)

"[The CCC] built the roads and bridges of Whitnall Park, dug lagoons and a lake, cleared streams and built dams, moved and rearranged tons of earth, and planted thousands of trees and shrubs.

The WPA came on the scene in 1935 and contributed significantly to the development of the formal garden area. Consisting mainly of day workers transported to Whitnall by interurban rail, the work force included not only laborers, but also artisans and craftsmen of many trades and arts.

The construction of the Garden House is a case in point. WPA artisans hand-split native fieldstone to build the exterior walls and chimney. WPA sculptors created stone cats near the entrance, as well as statuary found throughout the Gardens. In the Exhibit Room, craftsmen hand-carved wood animals on the entrance lintel and on the base of oak beams in addition to the inscription on the fireplace mantel. These fine craftsmen also made the massive wood furniture in this room.

Along with the CCC, the WPA was a major force in the construction of the Gardens. The CCC left Camp Whitnall in 1938 and the WPA program at Whitnall ended in 1940. Help furnished by the federal agencies advanced the evolution of the park by 15 to 20 years."
(county.milwaukee.gov)