Seal House

Seal House. Roger Williams Park. , Starting in 1872, there was a small collection of animals and birds in the Park. By the 1900s, the collection grew to 47 species! Some species were housed in the Menagerie building, which is located in today's zoo. Others, like bison, bear, and deer, were scattered throughout the Park., Although it was home to sea lions, this building is known as the Seal House. It was constructed in 1938 along with a monkey house and an elephant house as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. The stone structure echoes WPA designs built throughout the country during the Great Depression. The pool area was designed so a large crowd could gather around the sea lions at any given time. In June 1938 six sea lions occupied the pool., Did you know? , In 1965, all of the animals were moved into a fenced area in the current location of the Zoo. This was to provide better security and husbandry for the animals., Information and photos courtesy of the RWP Museum of Natural History archives, the RWP Zoo, the National Register of Historic Places, and "The Jewel of Providence" by David Marshall., [Captions:] , Pictured above, sketches from 1937 show a 36'×16' pool and a small heater to prevent the water inside from freezing. Below, a postcard from the 1940s shows sea lions at rest on a platform.