Riverside Park in Laurel, Listed!

Sitting along the Yellowstone River near Laurel lays a not-so-hidden, yet little recognized gem of an history property that holds layers of history of which few people know.  Riverside Park continues to reflect its long-standing use for enjoyment by the local community starting in the 1920s, its use and development during the Great Depression of the 1930s through the involvement of Federal agency, and its use during World War II as a prisoner of war camp in 1944-1945. The Park’s contributing buildings all date to Works Progress Administration construction and embody the style that emphasizes a WPA Rustic aesthetic with Craftsman touches, a style proffered by New Deal programs at the time. The nomination was prepared principally by John Boughton, Kate Hampton, and Kevin Kooistra. 

YELLOWSTONE COUNTY, Riverside Park, Laurel, 1425 U.S. Highway 212 South, 59044, Laurel, SG100010974, LISTED, 11/4/2024

Riverside Park

Laurel’s Riverside Park, set along the Yellowstone’s south bank is a designed landscape and collection of buildings with historic ties to the disparate themes of community recreation and World War II prisoners of war internment.
The park we see today resembles a five-year improvement effort completed in 1939 under federal New Deal programs that resulted in park building projects done in a rustic Craftsman style using primarily local river stone and logs. 
Although the park’s purpose has always been for recreation, the U.S. Military housed prisoners of war here between 1944 and ‘45.
Following that, civic organizations including the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, and the American Legion have leased the buildings and used the park. 

Kevin Kooistra wrote this nomination.