• Mathews-Palmer Playground - New York NY
    NYC Parks states that this small park was acquired by the City in 1936-1938. It opened to the public on April 16, 1937. The press release announcing the opening explained: "the new playground has see-saws, swings, jungle gym, garden swings, slides, sand tables, play houses and game tables for chess, checkers and backgammon, and also benches and shade trees." The site was eventually renamed Mathews-Palmer Playground "after park and community advocates May Mathews and Alexandra Palmer." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks...
  • Crocheron Park - Bayside NY
    NYC Parks explains that, "By 1936, the City had turned the area into a park with picnic grounds, winding walks, an enlarged lake for wintertime skating, and thousands of trees." What is now known as the Buz O'Rourke Playground in Crocheron Park was completed in June 1936, and a field house at 33rd Rd. and 215th Pl. was completed on April 3, 1937. A couple of weeks later, Parks announced that: "Crocheron Park has been completely redesigned and reconstructed. The entire 44 acres have been regraded and landscaped. New walks, benches, drainage and irrigation systems have been installed." Although these sources...
  • Frederick B. Judge Playground - South Ozone Park NY
    NYC Parks describes the origins of this playground: "South Ozone Park grew into a bustling community, and the neighborhood’s many residents needed recreation space. Parks acquired the playground land in a purchase from William Zagarino in 1936, and soon after developed the area into a play space." Indeed, on April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of this new playground: "It has been equipped with swings, see-saws, slides, sand tables, play-houses and a wading pool for small children. Handball, shuffleboard and table tennis courts, a large play area with a soft ball diamond and an oval roller skating...
  • Newtown Playground - Elmhurst NY
    NYC Parks describes the origins of this playground in Queens: "This public space was acquired by the City of New York by consolidation on January 1, 1898, and transferred to the Department of Parks in 1917. It was not developed as a playground until 1934-35. The playground opened on August 9, 1935 with slides, swings, sandbox, seesaws, benches, comfort station, tool house, and cherry and hawthorn trees." On April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the further completion at this site of "a new recreation building of brick construction," containing "a boys and girls' comfort station, a mother's room and...
  • Crocheron Park: Field House - Bayside NY
    NYC Parks explains that, "By 1936, the City had turned the area into a park with picnic grounds, winding walks, an enlarged lake for wintertime skating, and thousands of trees." On April 3, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of a new building in Crocheron Park containing a "a comfort station, a large lounge, locker rooms and shower baths." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out with New Deal funds and/or labor,...
  • Veteran's Hospital Road Improvements - Boise ID
    The WPA conducted road improvements at the Veteran's Adminstration hospital in Boise.
  • Fish Hatchery - Hagerman ID
    The WPA conducted work at Hagerman Fish Hatchery. The extent of the WPA's involvement in the site is not clear.
  • Recreation Center and Auditorium - Coeur D'Alene ID
    The WPA built this recreation center and auditorium in a city park on the shore of Lake Coeur D'Alene. The building is still in use today.
  • Ridenbaugh Canal Improvements - Boise ID
    WPA crews did improvement work on this canal in Boise during 1936. (The canal was originally constructed in the late nineteenth century.) The path alongside is widely used today by cyclists and joggers.
  • Somerset Residential Care Center - Madison ME
    During the Great Depression the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) funded the labor for the construction of what is now known as the Somerset Residential Care Center, in Madison, Maine. When constructed, the facility went by a different name: the "town farm." Town farms were once the means by which rural towns in New England cared for or warehoused (depending on the local conditions) the elderly, the mentally handicapped, disabled, transients, etc. The community notes from April 11, 1935 notes that "Work started Friday forenoon on the two weeks' ERA project, painting and repairing the buildings at the Madison town farm. There...