Above: New Deal relief workers in the CWA, FERA, and WPA, as well as private sector workers funded through PWA, carried out an extraordinary amount of work in the nation's zoos. Much of this work has been forgotten or under-appreciated - even by some of the zoos that were vastly improved or saved from closure. Above, we see WPA workers at the Toledo Zoo, Ohio, 1936 (see the Toledo Zoo's "Historical Moments" section, on their 125th anniversary web page, where several New Deal constructions are highlighted). Photo from the National Archives.
Above: A WPA poster promoting the Brookfield Zoo, Illinois. CWA and FERA workers built the zoo "according to the new zoo ideas of Ursus Eggenschwiler, who in Zurich was displeased with 'the paradox of portraying wild life in cages and behind bars,' and who invented the 'concealed or partially concealed moat which presents an impassable barrier to the would-be escaping beasts, and no barrier to the eye of the observers'... the Brookfield Zoo, designed on this plan, is three times as large as any zoo of the same kind in Europe" (FERA Work Division's final report, p. 95). Image from the Library of Congress.
Above: In this photo, ca. 1938, we see an example of the barless exhibits of the type Eggenschwiler helped pioneer and that the New Deal helped construct across the nation: "Barless cage for tigers. Excavations in the side of rock cliffs have been made to provide barless dwellings, simulating the native habitat of such animals as wolves, coyotes, lions, tigers, and bear. These enclosures are protected by moats and steel fences. Brackenridge Park Zoological Gardens [today's San Antonio Zoo]. WPA has authorized expenditures of $152,209 and the city has agreed to spend $54,548 on improvements [about $3.6 million and $1.3 million in 2025 dollars]." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: "The problem involved in the new construction of the bear pits at the Cincinnati Zoo was to create a natural environment for the animals and at the same time to eliminate the usual barriers between them and the spectators." As we see, the problem was solved with New Deal / PWA funding. Quote and photo from: C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown, Public Buildings: A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939.
Above: New Deal workers improving the zoo in Pittsburgh, 1940. Many zoos were in bad condition when the New Deal arrived on the scene in 1933, from the effects of the Great Depression and/or years of steadily-growing neglect. The Highland Park Zoo (today's "Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium") was one such case. The zoo was described as a "disgrace to the city," "the poorest excuse for a municipal zoo in America," "woefully rundown," "crowded, stuffy, insanitary," "wretched, rundown," "dirty, smelly, generally run-down and generally unattractive... resulting from year after year of official indifference and public apathy" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, editions 7-2-1934, 10-9-1934, 1-22-1940). Things were so bad that neglected and sick animals had to be put down, and William Wentzel, executive secretary of the Humane Society "asked 'in the name of humanity' that 'equipment be provided and conditions made reasonable for the health and happiness of the animals, or that the animals be disposed of and the zoo closed... This zoo is a crime. It is a cross between a hospital and a morgue'" ("Must Fix Upon Close Zoo in Pittsburgh," Somerset Daily Herald (Somerset, Pennsylvania), August 8, 1934, p. 6). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photo, image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: A camel is curious about what a New Deal worker is doing to his home at the Highland Park Zoo. In 1940, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described some of the New Deal's efforts to improve the zoo: "First the Works Progress Administration came to the city's aid, then the Public Works Administration. Even the National Youth Administration had a finger in the pie... The WPA started its part of the zoo improvement program in 1935, and by now it has completed half a dozen moated stone bear dens, several paddocks [enclosures for hooved animals], a raccoon den, a snake pit, a prairie dog den and a group of waterfowl pools. Work is now under way... on a large outdoor flying cage for miscellaneous birds, a cage for birds of prey, a boar pen... new north and east entrance gates, and several sets of steps and walks" (January 22, 1940, p. 4). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photo, image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: Giraffes at the Detroit Zoo, 2017. The 1930s was an incredible time period for the Detroit Zoo's growth and improvement, courtesy of New Deal relief workers, for example: "A record of the WPA projects at the Zoo revealed that approximately 16 acres of ground were landscaped; 1,200 evergeeens were planted; nine log houses built; a steel car house, moats and pools constructed; 700 shrubs and trees pruned, sprayed and fertilized; 500 trees planted; approximately 7,000 square yards of pedestrian walks paved; approximately 177,000 square yards of ground excavated and graded; 15,000 feet of tunnel constructed; 7,000 feet of water pipe laid, and four gates and 1,000 feet of fence built" ("WPA Improvements at Zoo to be Seen at Opening Today," The Detroit Free Press, May 24, 1940, p. 10). Photo by "Detroitzoo," courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, and used here under the CCA-SA 4.0 international license.
Above: The description for this photograph, ca. 1938, reads: "Handsome new administration building built for the Detroit Zoological Park by the WPA. Federal funds have made this one of the finest zoos in the country." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Before WPA, 1,200 New Deal workers in the CWA were improving the Detroit Zoo. This article is from The Bay City Daily Times, January 19, 1934, p. 19. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: A CWA project at a zoo in Colorado. Photo from: Henry G. Alsberg, America Fights the Depression: A Photographic Record of the Civil Works Administration, New York: Coward-McCann Publishers, 1934, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: "At the Bronx Zoo," a lithograph by Mildred Emerson Williams (1892-1967) created while she was in the WPA, between 1935 and 1939. Image from the General Services Administration and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Above: The description for this photograph, ca. 1936, reads: "An air view of the Audubon Park Zoo. An entire animal village was built in the park by WPA as part of the development project which cost approximately $152,800 [about $3.6 million in 2025 dollars]. Buildings under construction in the foreground have recently been completed. The sponsor, city of New Orleans, contributed $60,357 [about $1.4 million in 2025 dollars]." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Visitors walk past a WPA sign at the Fair Park Zoo, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1938. The zoo is now called the "Little Rock Zoo." The WPA built several buildings at the zoo. Photo from the National Archives.
Above: One of the several "Monkey Islands" that the WPA built at various zoos. This one is at the Overton Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee, 1936 (today called the "Memphis Zoo"). Photo from the National Archives.
Above: CWA workers improving the infrastructure at the National Zoo. Image from the Smithsonian Institution.
Above: The New Deal also made art for zoos, such as this anteater sculpture at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. It was created by Erwin Springweiler while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, 1938. The National Zoo received major assistance from the New Deal, especially from PWA. Photo by Brent McKee, 2019.
Above: How many zoo animals enjoy nice quarters today, thanks to the past work and innovation assistance of the New Deal? Photo of prairie dog at the National Zoo, by Brent McKee, 2019.
New Deal Zoo Work
In the final report of the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), covering the years 1934 and 1935, we learn that "Work on the construction and improvement of 68 zoos was done in 18 states" (p. 95). Zoo statistics from the other New Deal agencies are not very clear, accessible, or even in existence. For the purpose of this blog post though (trying to figure out how many zoos were built or improved by the New Deal) that's not necessarily a bad thing because--perhaps as much as any other type of New Deal project--zoo work often went on for years and spanned across many agencies, for example, CWA, FERA, WPA, and PWA all taking part. That makes double-counting (always a concern when tallying up New Deal totals) especially problematic. For example, if the WPA reported 75 zoos constructed or improved, it would be difficult to tell which of those zoos was not also worked on by FERA. So, "68," or better still, "68+," is a nice conservative estimate of the total number of zoos receiving New Deal labor and funds. To put it another way, we know that 68 is the floor.
In the earliest years of the New Deal, there were about 130 zoos in the U.S., so that gives us some context for the 68+ zoos that the New Deal built or improved (the 130 figure is from: Earl Chapin, "New Deal for Animals in Zoo," New York Times Sunday Magazine, reprinted in The Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), February 13, 1935, p. 10).
Scouring photo archives, government reports, newspaper archives, and Internet sources, for the clearest and most readily verifiable information, I compiled the following list of 40 zoos constructed or improved by the New Deal (alphabetized by zoo name, and including at least one participating agency):
Antelope Park Zoo, Lincoln, Nebraska, WPA, NYA
Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, Louisiana, WPA
Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, CWA, FERA
Brooklyn Zoo, New York City, PWA
Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo, New York, WPA
Central Park Zoo, New York City, WPA, CWA
Cincinnati Zoo, Ohio, PWA
Cleveland Zoo, Ohio, FERA
Como Park Zoo, St. Paul, Minnesota, WPA
Denver City Park Zoo, Colorado, CWA
Detroit Zoo, Michigan, WPA, CWA
Duluth Zoo, Minnesota, FERA
Fair Park Zoo, Little Rock, Arkansas, WPA
Forest Park Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri, PWA
Fort Worth Zoo, Texas, WPA
Grant Park Zoo (today’s “Zoo Atlanta”), Georgia, FERA
Griffith Park Zoo, Los Angeles, California, WPA
Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison, Wisconsin, WPA
Highland Park Zoo (now “Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium”), Pennsylvania, PWA, WPA, NYA
Houston Zoo, Texas, CWA
Memphis Zoo, Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee, WPA
Mesker Zoo, Evansville, Indiana, WPA, CCC, National Park Service
Myrick Park Zoo, La Crosse, Wisconsin, WPA
National Zoo, Washington, DC, CWA, PWA, WPA, Treasury Art Programs
Oklahoma City Municipal Zoo, Oklahoma, WPA
Orlando Zoo, Florida, FERA
Philadelphia Zoo, Pennsylvania, CWA
Potter Park Zoo, Lansing, Michigan, WPA
Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn, New York City, WPA, PWA
Pueblo Zoo, Colorado, PWA, CWA, WPA
San Antonio Zoo (formerly “Brackenridge Park Zoological Gardens”), Texas, WPA
San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, California, WPA
San Francisco Zoo, California, WPA
Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri, CWA
Staten Island Zoo, New York City, FERA
Sunset Zoo, Manhattan, Kansas, CWA
Swope Park Zoo (today’s Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium), Missouri, WPA
Toledo Zoological Park, Ohio, WPA
Washington Park Zoo, Michigan, Indiana, WPA
Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, Washington, WPA
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