Work on the Hiawtaha Golf Course began in 1931 after the dredging of the Lake Hiawatha swamp was completed. The final touch to the new golf course was a clubhouse constructed in 1932. The new course was the only profitable course operated by the park board. While waiting to build the Hiawatha course, the park board had also created two more golf courses, Armour (Gross) and Meadowbrook in the mid-1920s. Both courses enjoyed initial popularity, but with the coming of the Great Depression golf play everywhere dropped off dramatically and throughout the 1930s, Hiawatha was the only profitable golf course in the city.
