Seattle Sites

Alki Playfield underwent a regrade, thanks to New Deal funds, in 1934.

In 1937 the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance authorizing work to begin on reconstructing the bridge. The job took a year and a half and replaced the timber approaches with approaches of concrete and steel that featured ornamental lighting. The cost was $800,000, funded 45 percent by the federal Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the remainder by Seattle's share of the state gasoline tax. The work closed the roadway for the year and a half of construction. For the duration, people crossing the ship canal were obliged to drive over the Fremont Bridge or the Aurora Bridge.

Ballard High School in Seattle opened in 1901, underwent renovations through New Deal funds in 1934. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) completed renovations between 1933 and 1934. Special Report of accomplishment by CWA workers from November 24th, 1933 to February 15th, 1934. Project KCWB 547-CWA 17-244. See 1934 progress report. *Building has been remodeled in 1998 and the work done by the CWA cannot be viewed.

Between 1938 and 1941, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Seattle Park Department completed several improvement projects at Beacon Hill Playground. In the first of these projects, WPA workers re-painted the playground shelter house in 1938. This was part of a city-wide project to paint and repair park buildings that, due to budget cuts, had received little to no maintenance since the early years of the Great Depression. The following year saw the installation of new lighting fixtures to provide nighttime illumination of the playfield. Then, in 1941, WPA workers regraded part of the playfield, installed...

Camp Long is a 68-acre park in West Seattle. The park was constructed with WPA help starting n 1937. It was dedicated in 1941. WPA work in the park includes extensive rock work, the construction of a golf course, cabins and lodges and the first climbing wall in the world (see separate page on Schurman Rock).

During the 1930s, with the help of Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Cascade Playground. Among these improvements was the construction of a small brick comfort station in the northeast corner of the playground. The comfort station consisted of two structures, one on either side of the diagonal path leading into the playground, and included rooms for the playground caretaker, a playground instructor, and storage, as well as men's and women's restrooms. Work on the two structures began in 1937 and was completed in 1938. A plaque on the north side of...

The push for construction of a playground in Seattle's Cascade neighborhood began during the 1920s. In 1926, using funds from a 1924 bond issue, the Seattle Park Department acquired the proposed Cascade Playground site, which covered nearly the entire block between Harrison and Thomas Streets, and Minor and Pontius Avenues. The property remained largely unimproved for the next nine years. Beginning in 1935, however, a series of Works Progress Administration projects upgraded the site into a fully developed urban playground. As part of the first project, begun in 1935, WPA workers built concrete retaining walls around the perimeter of the site,...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out maintenance work on the Old Central Public Library in 1935, as well as helping with clerical tasks. That library building had been funded by Andrew Carnegie in 1906.  It was replaced in 1960 and then replaced again in 2004 by the current asymetrical, cantilevered structure with its striking diagonal metal and glass grid, designed by Rem Koolhaas.

Now a part of McCaw Hall, Seattle's old Municipal Auditorium was drastically improved by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). "McCaw Hall is the latest incarnation of what was once Seattle's Civic Auditorium (1928), which was then gutted and rebuilt as the Seattle Center Opera House for the World's Fair in 1962." (historylink.org) A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: "Modernizing of the Seattle Civic Auditorium and Ice Arena by WPA workers will begin January 21 with the aid of $21,539 in Federal funds, it was announced today by Don G. Abel, state Works Progress Administrator. One of the important features of...

In 1931, the Seattle Park Department acquired the property for the Cleveland Playfield at 13th Avenue South and Lucile Street, immediately west of Grover Cleveland High School. As a new park facility, the playground had seen few if any improvements prior to 1933, when a Civil Works Administration project granted $2,000 for the construction of concrete retaining walls along Lucile Street and the hillside leading up to the high school. CWA workers completed the wall the following year. Beginning in 1935, WPA laborers leveled and graded the property. A second WPA project, begun in 1938, resulted in the construction of...

The Seattle Park Department acquired the land for Colman Playground in 1910, shortly after the opening of nearby Colman School. A regrading project in the early 1910s made the site suitable for picnics and baseball, but otherwise the Park Department made few improvements to the site prior to the 1930s. When WPA funding became available, several neighborhood organizations joined together and convinced the Park Board to upgrade the playground. Major work on improving Colman Playground started in 1937, when WPA workers began constructing the two-story, reinforced concrete shelter house that stands near southwest corner of the playground. As construction of the...

During the late 1930s, with funds from the WPA, the Seattle Park Department upgraded Colman Playground. The largest component of the improvement project was the construction of a new shelter house near the southwest corner of the playground. WPA workers began constructing the shelter house in 1937. Designed by Seattle architect Arthur Wheatley, the two-story, reinforced concrete structure housed a playroom, caretaker's room, and storage room on its lower level, and a social room, office area, and restrooms on its upper level. A plaque on the north side of the building reads: "Built by Works Progress Administration, 1936-1937." Despite the...

"The Cowen Park Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans a ravine in Seattle's Cowen Park. The structure is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and it is a designated city landmark. The bridge has been praised for the 12-foot (3.7 m) Art Deco light standards along its sides. It was built in 1936 under the authority of the Works Progress Administration. The bridge engineer was Clark Eldridge."

The Seattle Park Department utilized funds and labor from the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, as well as the state-based Washington Emergency Relief Administration, to complete a series of maintenance and improvement projects at David Rodgers Park. The 8.5-acre park occupies a steep and heavily wooded hillside in Seattle's North Queen Anne neighborhood. The city was gifted the northern half of the park in 1883 and purchased the southern half of the park in 1909. In 1910, the city constructed a couple of paths through the park, followed by the installation of a small wood-frame comfort station...

A Public Works Administration grant of $22,500 covered one-third of the cost of a 1936 project to refurbish Seattle's Fremont Bridge. The bridge, completed in 1917, is a double-leaf bascule drawbridge that carries Fremont Avenue across the Lake Washington Ship Canal between Seattle's Queen Anne and Fremont neighborhoods. As part of the refurbishment project workers installed a new steel bridge deck, new machinery for lifting the span, and new concrete paving along the approaches to the bridge. The other two-thirds of the project's overall $66,000 cost was covered by Washington State gasoline tax revenues.

The Garfield Playground was one of a limited number of Seattle park facilities to receive upgrades through the New Deal's Civil Works Administration (CWA) program. The main CWA project at the playground involved the construction of a retaining wall along the western edge of the property. CWA laborers began work on the $12,000 project in 1933 and completed it the following year. Several years later, funding from the Works Project Administration (WPA) allowed the Park Department to proceed with additional improvements to the playground. In 1938, WPA workers painted the baseball field's backstop and bleachers. One year later, they built three...

With the help of Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor, the Seattle Park Department made improvements to the Georgetown Playground at South Homer Street and Corson Avenue. In 1936, WPA workers built a reinforced concrete wading pool along the eastern edge of the playground. According to Park Department records, “This pool was made so that the water can be maintained at two different depths; one at 18 inches for wading and the other at 30 inches so the children can learn to swim.” The Park Department provided $1,384 worth of materials for the pool and the WPA provided the paid labor....

The Seattle Park Department utilized funds and labor from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to complete a series of improvement projects at Golden Gardens Park. Much of the work aimed at stabilizing the steep hillsides in the eastern section of the park. Between 1935 and 1936, WPA workers excavated more than 7500 cubic yards of earth from a landslide-prone area along Golden Gardens Drive and used it to fill in a low area north of the park bathhouse, adding two acres of usable beachfront to the park. During this period, workers also cleared timber and removed tree stumps throughout the eastern...

In 1925, the Seattle Park Department purchased the site for Highland Park Playground at Thistle Street and 10th Avenue SW. The playground site saw few improvements during the late 1920s and early 1930s. A series of WPA projects between 1935 and 1940, however, transformed the site for use as a neighborhood playground. The first project, begun in 1935, involved the extension of water mains into the site. That same year, WPA workers began regrading the site and completed some initial planting and landscaping tasks. Additional grading work on the playing field was completed in 1936, along with the installation of several...

During the 1930s, with the help of Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Highland Park Playground. The largest of these improvement projects was the construction of a one-story brick shelter house in 1938. Located in the southeast section of the playground, the structure was a duplicate of the one built the same year at Seattle's Van Asselt Playground. The northern half of the building housed a large recreation room and the southern half contained restrooms. A plaque on the east side of the shelter house reads: "Built by Works Progress Administration 1938-1939."

"This structure, housing the swimming pool, was erected as an addition to the physical-education building. The swimming pool is 42 by 75 feet and galleries for spectators are provided to seat 1,000. The construction is reinforced concrete with exterior walls faced with brick and trimmed with cast stone. The steel roof trusses support a wood roof. The project was completed in September 1938 at a construction cost of $193,818 and a project cost of $205,887." (Short and Brown)

The University of Washington's Husky Stadium was expanded during the 1930s as a result of WPA funding assistance and efforts. A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 announced $23,345 in funds for the site and described some of the work: "A three-story headhouse will be built over the main entrance. The first floor of the structure will be occupied by ticket offices, storage rooms and public lavatories while the second floor will be given over to caretakers' apartments. Equipment for a public address system, and an observation room will find a place on the third floor. Surmounting the structure will be a cupola...

Seattle's old Ice Arena, built in 1915, gained a number of improvements from the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. A WPA press release from January 1938 detailed the nature of the works to be carried out: "Modernizing of the Seattle Civic Auditorium and Ice Arena by WPA workers will begin January 21 with the aid of $21,539 in Federal funds, it was announced today by Don G. Abel, state Works Progress Administrator. ...In the Ice Arena new bleacher seats are planned. New lockers and benches will be made for the dressing rooms, and the broadcasting house is slated for complete...

Workers for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) laid track for a railroad on Jackson St., in Seattle's Central District neighborhood, in 1934.

"This clubhouse was built by the city of Seattle in connection with one of its public golf courses that are included in the city park and recreation areas. The building has a small basement, a first floor, and a partial second floor. The heating plant occupies the basement; the first floor contains a spacious living room, locker rooms for men and women, a dining room, lunchroom, and kitchen facilities; and the second floor has quarters for the custodian. The basement and first floors are concrete, but otherwise this building is frame with exterior brick veneer walls....

This project was one of a number of WPA and PWA projects in Washington state: "The project piped water into southern King County. The area previously used well water. The six miles of pipe cost of $27,570."

"Constructed in just 18 months, the first bridge across Lake Washington opened on July 2, 1940. Funded partly by the Public Works Administration, the pontoon bridge was an engineering marvel, the longest floating span in the world at that time. The toll bridge made possible the expansion of suburban communities on the eastside. Fifty years after it opened, on November 25, 1990, the bridge failed. Several pontoon sunk and the roadway ripped apart in the face of severe winds and waves. The destroyed span was soon replaced."

During the late 1930s, with funds from various New Deal programs, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Laurelhurst Playfield. The largest of these improvement projects was the construction of a field house near the southern end of the playfield. Workers with the CWA began constructing the field house in January 1934. Work had not yet been completed when the federal government shut down the CWA program at the end of March 1934. The remaining work on the structure was completed in 1935 with assistance from the Washington (State) Emergency Relief Administration. Designed by Seattle architect Lloyd J. Lovegren,...

The Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Laurelhurst Playfield along NE 41st Street between 45th Avenue NE and 48th Avenue NE in 1927. Although a few improvements to the site were completed between 1929 and 1932, a series of New Deal projects between 1933 and 1941 allowed the Park Department to move forward with additional upgrades despite the hardships of the Great Depression. Laurelhurst Playfield was one of a limited number of Seattle park facilities to receive funding under the New Deal's Civil Works Administration program. During the winter of 1933-1934, CWA laborers began construction on a brick field house...

In 1933-34, New Deal relief workers built trails in Lincoln Park. We do not know exactly which ones, but the work almost certainly included the stone-lined steps down to the beach – which are classic New Deal stonework -- and the picnic shelter looks typical of that era, as well (but may well have been rebuilt over time). A photo from the University of Washington digital collections shows workmen constructing a trail along a steep hillside (see below). The caption on the photo says, "State of Wash., E.R.A. K.C.D., Proj. 509, Dec. 26, 1933, Neg. No. 19; Lincoln Park."   ERA refers...

Lowman Beach Park, a small park property that provides access to Puget Sound in a primarily residential area of southwest Seattle, was the site of two Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first project involved the construction of a cement mortar seawall along the entire shore line of the park property. This project was started in 1935 and completed the following year. Additionally, WPA workers built a concrete tennis court on the north side of the park in 1936.

The Seattle Park Department acquired the property for Loyal Heights Playground in 1941 and, that same year, employed WPA workers to clear and regrade the site, which naturally sloped downward from north to south. More than 7,300 cubic yards of dirt fill were added as part of the regrading project. Work on the playfield continued until December 1941, when all WPA workers at the site were transferred to defense work in preparation for World War II.

Madison Park, located at the eastern end of Madison Streeet, next to Lake Washington, was the site of several small Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first of these projects involved the replacement of the park's clay tennis courts near the intersection of East Blaine Street and 42nd Avenue East. Installed in 1936, the new tennis courts were built with reinforced concrete, which the Park Department preferred due to lower maintenance costs and their potential use for other recreational activities, such as roller skating. Then, in the spring of 1937, WPA workers began remodeling the park's bathhouse, a wood-frame structure originally...

In 1927, the Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Madrona Playground at East Spring Street and 34th Avenue. The playground site received a few improvements during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including the grading of the playfield and the construction of a pair of concrete tennis courts, but otherwise remained mostly undeveloped until the late 1930s, when increased Works Progress Administration funding allowed the completion of several improvement projects. These improvement projects included the construction of a new brick shelter house near the north end of the playground. Begun in 1938 and completed in 1939, the shelter house...

During the late 1930s, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration, the Seattle Park Department upgraded Madrona Playground. The largest component of the improvement project was the construction of a new shelter house near the north end of the playground, immediately east of an already existing pair of tennis courts. WPA workers began constructing the shelter house in 1938. Completed the following year, the one-story, brick structure housed a recreational playroom, instructor's room, caretaker's room, and men's and women's restrooms. Interior features included hardwood floors and a fireplace at the north end of the recreation room. Significant renovation work...

A WPA-sponsored project improved sewers in the Magnolia Bluff neighborhood of Seattle. The project, which received $2,135 in WPA funds, provided work for 16 men for two months.

A grant from the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of an addition to Seattle's former Maple Leaf Grade School during the late 1930s. The school, which was part of the Maple Leaf School District at the time, was located on the northeast corner of Northeast 100th Street and 32nd Avenue NE. The original school building, situated at the northern end of the site, was completed in 1926. Four years later, an addition to the school was built to accommodate the increasing number of children who attended the school. As the surrounding neighborhood continued to grow during the 1920s and 1930s,...

Grants from the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration helped fund the construction of a new bridge to carry McGraw Street across the Wolf Creek ravine in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill district. The new bridge opened in 1936. It replaced a wood trestle structure that dated back to the early years of the century and had fallen into severe disrepair. In 1934, engineers with the Seattle Parks Department, which had responsibility for maintaining the old bridge, declared it to be unsafe and in need of immediate replacement due to a large number of rotten timbers and escalating maintenance...

The former Mercer Playground at 2nd Avenue North and Harrison Street in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood was the site of several small WPA maintenance and improvement projects. In 1938, WPA workers painted the playground shelter house, as part of a city-wide initiative to repaint various park structures that had not received any paint maintenance since the start of the Depression due to budget cuts. The following year, workers regraded the playground's ballfield, installed a water and drainage system, and built a new handball court. A lighting system was also installed. Twenty years later, Mercer Playground, along with much of the surrounding...

A Public Works Administration grant helped to fund construction of the Montlake Boulevard Pedestrian Overcrossing on the campus of the University of Washington. The bridge provided a safer pedestrian connection between the main part of the campus west of Montlake Boulevard and the university's main athletic facilities east of Montlake Boulevard, including Husky Stadium and the University of Washington Pavilion, later renamed to Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Construction of the bridge began in late 1938 and was substantially completed by February of 1939. The total cost of the project was $22,349, of which 45% was paid by the PWA. The remainder...