During the Great Depression, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation granted South Dakota a $410,000 relief loan in 1932, and Garretson was one of five towns in the county allotted funds. Its City Council proposed giving work to 47 unemployed men by building a dam across Split Rock River, with RFC funds used for wages and South Dakota Fish & Game providing materials. The men were paid not in cash but in orders for food and clothing from local merchants. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration replaced the RFC and approved plans to build a stone bath house, raise the dam by four feet, prepare a beach, and build a bridge across Gulch stream. Garretson celebrated completion of these civic projects with a three-day Festival of Progress beginning July 16, 1936. On the opening day, almost 7000 people attended and five high school bands gave concerts. The newly dedicated improvements were Split Rock Park, including the dam and bath house, the stone fishing bridge, and a municipal airport. The woman who submitted the selected name for the new park received $5.