Start Year: 1933

Formerly known as the Army War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair is a U.S. Army post located at the confluence of the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. The site has been an army post for more than 200 years. During the New Deal, both the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made extensive improvements to the post. In 1933-34, the CWA did everything from sewer construction and building renovations to adding a bandstand and repairing the bowling alley. Records in the National Archives provide these details: "Building concrete coal bin & retaining walls, south of incinerator; Making necessary branch...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) installed a 16-inch water main along Alabama Avenue SE in 1933-4. This was at the beginning of an extensive program of building new water mains and sewers all across the District of Columbia by New Deal agencies.

The planning and construction of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway largely predates the New Deal, but it was only completed in 1933-36 with help from the National Park Service (NPS), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).   The Parkway runs 2.5 miles from the Lincoln Memorial on the Potomac River along Rock Creek to the Connecticut Avenue bridge, just south of the National Zoo.   At that point, the road becomes Beach Drive and the Parkway join Rock Creek Park.  The two are separate units of the National Capital...

From a HABS Survey Report on CCC involvement in the park's development: "This park is located on the east side of the Anacostia River just to the south of East Capitol Street in Southeast Washington.  The initial, roughly sixteen-acre land purchase encompassing the original section of Fort Dupont Park, including the fort, occurred in 1916.   In 1933, the site came under the purview of the NPS and they quickly advanced existing plans to enlarge the park.  They envisioned ‘that the ultimate development of Fort Dupont will be somewhat similar to Rock Creek Park’ and ‘will serve the large population of Northeast...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working for the US Forest Service, constructed four fire lookout towers around Rocky Mountain National Park.  The one on the summit of Shadow Mountain, overlooking Grand Lake CO in the southwest corner of the park, is the last survivor of the four. Completed in 1933, the three-story lookout was built in the classic Rustic style favored by the US Forest Service and National Park Service at the time.  It consists of a concrete foundation, two stories of stone masonry, and a wooden upper story. It remained in use until 1968 and is today a scenic destination for...

The CCC was extensively involved in development of the portion of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area formerly known as Platt National Park: "Originally known as Sulphur Springs Reservation, and later renamed Platt National Park, the park was established in 1902 through an agreement with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations and the federal government... Though a number of landscape elements in the Platt District relate to the early period of the park’s establishment, the majority of historic landscape resources relate to the period 1933-1940. During this period, NPS professionals planned and designed extensive park infrastructure which was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)....

The Forest Service ranger station at Stanley, Idaho was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. It replaced an earlier ranger station built in the 1900s.  The style is Park Rustic, popular for parks and forest service facilities at the time, built with whole logs and a large veranda porch. The Idaho State Historical Society describes the structure as follows: "The Stanley Ranger Station includes a one-and-one-half story log ranger station and a one-story log outbuilding. Both sit on concrete foundations, and their round-log walls employ saddle notching with logs extending well beyond the joint. The 1933 station itself is...

The amphitheater in the Papago Buttes at the north end of the Papago city park in Phoenix AZ was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933-34. "Civilian Conservation Corps camp SP5A constructed an amphitheater built into Papago Buttes southeast of the Arsenal between December 1933 and April 1934. The open-air amphitheater accommodates 3,500 people; it has been used for many functions, but most memorable were the Easter Sunrise Services." (content.library.arizona.edu) Maintenance of the amphitheater appears to be somewhat neglected today (2019).

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was extremely active in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942.  There were six CCC camps on the North Rim, South Rim and in the canyon itself and seven companies active over the decade: #818, 819, 847, 2543, 2833, 3318 and 4814.   Grand Canyon National Park received more development funds and labor from the Civilian Conservation Corps than any other location in Arizona. CCC enrollees built many of the recreation facilities still in use today, such as paths, trails, roads, shelters, and campgrounds, along with basic infrastructure, such as telephone lines, electric lines, water pipes and sewer...

The historic New London post office houses magnificent examples of New Deal artwork. Tom La Farge painted a six-panel mural for the lobby of the New London post office. Sources suggest that the work was initially commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and later installed under the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP). NHRP nomination: Murals painted in 1933 and installed in 1938 depict scenes typical of early whaling, and are integrated well into the lobby design. The murals were commissioned as part of the Public Works of Art Program and painted by Thomas Sergeant Lafarge of New York, an...