June 20, 2004

Looking back Civilian Works Administration crew in 1934

The Spokesman-Review
 
The Spokesman-Review photo


(Full-size photo)

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Liberty Park dig

In 1934, the Civilian Works Administration attempted to dig through the lava covered granite cliff at Liberty Park near Arthur and Third Avenue. The parks department originally planned in 1908 to “blast a hole” through the rock ridge and create a walkway from the pond to the rest of the park divided by the rock. According to a 1967 statement by Hal Abbott, park superintendent for 17 years, the rock was hard and flinty, so not too large a hole was chopped through in the 1930s. The work stopped when the Works Progress Administration, the agency that eventually took over the CWA, ran out of funding. For many years the rock formation was believed to have been a natural stone bridge. The rock formation is barely visible since Interstate 90 was built through the park in the late 1960s.

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