New Deal happenings in Napa County

Above: The Napa County Fairgrounds. In 1940, it was reported that "The Napa County NYA, under the direction of Frank Kadish, has played a large part in putting the [fair]grounds in excellent shape..." ("Finishing Touches at Fairgrounds," Napa Journal, August 13, 1940, p. 6). The "NYA" refers to the New Deal's National Youth Administration, an agency that employed millions of young men and women in need of jobs, training, and financial assistance, 1935-1943. Image from Google Earth, used here for educational, non-commercials purposes.

Above: At this intersection in Napa, California (Yount and Main streets), there used to be a community center. The WPA sponsored many events here, including table tennis tournaments, entertainment programs, sketching classes, and kite & model airplane building. The WPA may also have funded the construction of the community center itself. In 1941, The Napa Journal newspaper reported: "The Napa WPA recreation project was started by the city commission in June, 1940... The recreation project aided in the formation of the City Basketball league and opened a Community Center at Main and Yount streets for both adults and children" ("New Director for Recreation Work Comes Here Monday," January 25, 1941, pp. 1-2). Very little information seems to exist about this community center, suggesting that perhaps the building, or its function as a community center, was short-lived. Image from Google Earth, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: Part of the Veterans Home of California, in the town of Yountville, Napa County, California. Notice the "Franklin D. Roosevelt Annex." The New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA) contributed at least $350,000 to improvements to the Veterans Home ("Official Lists PWA Improvement in Napa County," Napa Journal, June 7, 1939, p. 5). Image from Google Earth, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: Part of a longer article in the Napa Journal, July 21, 1938, p. 1. Later articles confirm that this PWA-funded work in the city of Napa was carried out. The article above reports, "The necessity of the main was brought about by an extension of the residential areas into suburbs, and the growing demand for higher water pressure throughout the city." Image from Newspapers.com, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

Above: Mt. St. Helena and Robert Louis Stevenson State Park (see "The CCC in Napa County," below, for more details). This general area includes parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, California. Image from Google Earth, used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

The CCC in Napa County

In 1933, it was reported that 105 men in the Civilian Conservation Corps were encamped at Los Posadas [Napa County] on Howell Mountain: "The company had no sooner established itself than part of the men were called out to fight a fire in the hills east of Napa. Besides fire fighting, when necessary, the men will be employed building fire trails, building roads and other improvements... The men are given every opportunity to improve their minds during their stay at camp. Evening classes in languages, mathematics and other subjects for which there is a call are to be given in the recreation room... At present the meals are served at the 4-H camp, pending the completion of the mess hall" ("Camp Site at Los Posados," The St. Helena Star (St. Helena, California), October 27, 1933, p. 1).

Today, that 4-H camp remembers the CCC: "A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established at Las Posadas in 1934 [actually, 1933], and following the close of the CCC program in 1941, the old camp was used as a forestry camp, and rebuilt as a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) fire station in the early 1950's" ("Napa County 4-H Camp," accessed April 29, 2020).

(Note: Shortly after the CCC left, unemployed men were hired by the WPA to reopen the camp facilities and continue some of the CCC's forestry work. See, for example, "Establishment of State Work Camp Is Seen," The Napa Valley Register, December 4, 1935, p. 1, and "Las Posadas Camp Reopened by S.R.A." The Napa Journal, December 23, 1936, p. 2.)

According to a 1959 recollection of the CCC's work in the Napa County area, "One of the most important achievements of the total conservation crew is the road which they built to the top of Mt. St. Helena, and the lookout they established there which has become the area's most important check-spot for fires" ("Forestry Here: Its Story..." The St. Helena Star, April 2, 1959, p. 10).

The website "Napa Valley Hiking" (accessed April 29, 2020) states, "Mount Saint Helena is the highest point in the San Francisco Bay Area watershed," and one way to reach the summit is on a "Fire Road." This is likely the same fire road that the CCC men carved out 85 years ago.

Like the rest of the nation, Napa County benefited from the various New Deal programs that improved infrastructure, promoted recreation, fought forest fires, employed the jobless, etc. The projects detailed above are just a sampling.