The Washington Park Zoo began in 1928, due in large part to cast-off or injured exotic animals and pets once cared for by the fire department. During the Great Depression, New Deal programs under the Works Progress Administration assisted the greater development of the park, including animal houses such as Monkey Island and other zoo buildings. The most prominent feature of the zoo is the 80-foot observation tower dedicated in 1937, a four-story Art Deco-style structure built atop a dune to provide full views of the park and Lake Michigan beyond. The tower is a steel railroad tower faced with stone and topped with a spherical ornament purported to be a compression chamber from the city's first fire engine. The Washington Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.