New Deal Survey

(click to enlarge)

Willow Creek Park including the Caretaker's Residence and Pike's Tower

Location:    Lamar
County:    Prowers County
Date Constructed:    1933-38
Built by:    CWA, FERA, WPA and NYA

Architectural Description:
The twenty-eight acre park is rectangular in shape and is divided by the Willow Creek. The park is made up of several New Deal-era structures including entry pillars, walls, edging for the park drive, a semi-circular seating area, a shelter-house, a caretaker’s house, Pike’s Tower, an outdoor fireplace and seating area, and a small bridge. Hundreds of trees and bushes were also planted as part of the project. The different structures were constructed out of quarry-faced ashlar or slab-rock masonry, and either coursed or random-ranged. Newer additions to the park consist of restrooms, volleyball courts, a playground and a picnic shelter.

Historical Background:
The park was built as several projects by different federal agencies including CWA, FERA, WPA and NYA. The CWA started the park as a $55,000 flood-control project and employed over two-hundred men. In fact, this was CWA’s first project. The men were responsible for building the entry gates, the walls, the park drive, the stone bridge, the shelter-house and the semi-circular seating area. The park then evolved under FERA and WPA with the addition of recreational and landscaping features. The caretaker’s house and Pike’s Tower were built as WPA projects. Pike’s Tower was part of a $20,765 federal grant. The caretaker’s house was part of a $21,500 federal grant with a local contribution of $8,500. The house was built as a home for “a caretaker, versed in horticulture, to superintend the care of the beautiful Fairmont cemetery, the Riverside cemetery, the library park, the city playground and Willow Creek park.” Today, the caretaker’s house is used for meetings of the Boy Scouts. NYA youth also worked on the park’s landscaping. Several park features were destroyed by various floods including a lily pond with an island.