• Arizona Snowbowl Road - Flagstaff AZ
    The New Deal helped construct the 9-mile road from Fort Valley Road (Highway 180) to the Arizona Snow Bowl ski area on Mt. Agassiz in the San Francisco Peaks, northwest of Flagstaff AZ. In the winter of 1938, the 20-30 Club, a Flagstaff service group, held a "snow carnival" on the southwest slope of Mt. Agassiz. It was so successful that the group ran a contest to choose a name for the area, and "Arizona Snow Bowl" was selected. The Coconino National Forest managers saw the opportunity to help advance the ski resort and offered to build a better access road up...
  • Excavation and Restoration - Wupatki National Monument AZ
    Archaeological excavation and restoration of the prehistoric settlement at Wupatki began in 1933 under the guidance of Harold Colton, founder and director of the Museum of Northern Arizona.  In the winter of 1933-34 Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided the relief labor to continue excavation and restoration.  Next came a Navajo Indian CCC mobile unit formed under a joint program between the Park Service and the Indian Service (later the Bureau of Indian Affairs) to do stabilization work on indigenous ruins in Chaco Canyon, Navajo, Tonto, Aztec Ruins, Montezuma Castle, and Gran Quivira national monuments, as well as Wupatki (Paige 1985, Ch...
  • Federal Building (former Post Office) - Flagstaff AZ
    The Federal Building in downtown Flagstaff was constructed as the city's main post office in 1935-1937. Plans had originally called for a combination Post Office and Federal Building, but they were dropped in 1931 by the Hoover Administration for lack of funds (Cline, p 311). When the New Deal came in, funding was restored in 1934. The Federal Building is a gem of Moderne/Deco style architecture of the period. The basic form is a simple, two-story, rectangular box, but the facade is exceptional, consisting of three tall vertical openings (entrance and flanking windows) featuring gleaming copper panels and vertical bands. The...
  • Fort Valley Road Improvement and Completion (Highway 180) - Flagstaff AZ
    In 1934, Coconino county used federal funds to help widen, surface and oil three miles of dirt road from the north end of Beaver Street in Flagstaff to the city's reservoirs.  This was the first county road to be paved.  It fostered bigger ideas from Flagstaff's city fathers, who had long wanted a more direct route to the Grand Canyon around the west side of the San Francisco Peaks. In 1936, county engineer Clyde Etter proposed improving the old forest road through Fort Valley and extending it 50 miles to the Williams-Grand Canyon road (today's Highway 64).  The Works Progress Administration (WPA) agreed to...
  • Kittredge Bas-Relief (County Courthouse) - Flagstaff AZ
    In 1939, Robert Kittredge was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts to create artwork for the newly-completed Flagstaff post office (later known as the Federal Building). He created a wooden bas-relief, "Arizona Logging," which was installed in 1940. The sculpture speaks to the logging industry, which was a critical part of Flagstaff's economy for decades. Three loggers are depicted putting logs onto a wagon using a "cant dog" poll. When the old post office/federal building was sold in 1983, the bas-relief was moved to the stairwell of the new wing of the Coconino County Courthouse, one-half block north.  
  • Mount Elden CCC Camp - Flagstaff AZ
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp NP-12 was established at the base of Mt Elden, near Flagstaff AZ, in 1935.  The camp continued through 1942.  Company 3345 was billeted there (and possibly others, but we have no evidence of that, as yet). The CCC enrollees at Mt Elden worked for the National Park Service (NPS) on many projects around the region, including at Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, and Sunset Crater National Monument.  They also helped build the road into the Arizona Snow Bowl in the San Francisco Peaks and Cottage City on the campus of the Teachers College in...
  • North Beaver Street Extension - Flagstaff AZ
    In 1935, the New Deal helped to extend North Beaver street two blocks to connect with the entrance of the new Flagstaff Hospital in the northern part of the city, which opened in January 1936.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) at nearby Mt. Elden camp sent a crew to help city workers with the street job. The hospital has grown from a single story stone building to the large complex now known as the Flagstaff Medical Center, but the street entrance is still in the same place – though obviously repaved and probably widened over the years.
  • Northern Arizona University Improvements - Flagstaff AZ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave the Arizona State Teachers College a grant of $105,000 and a loan of $313,000 to build housing on the campus – today's Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City (see links to these projects at right).  The grant and loan also provided for the  installation of a new heating system for the campus and fire escapes for all buildings.   In addition, a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project in 1933-34 allowed the campus to fence the athletic field and build bleachers, add roads and curbs, and remove an old...
  • Northern Arizona University: Cottage City (demolished) - Flagstaff AZ
    The New Deal provided the funds to build a large group of cottages for student housing – known as "Cottage City" – at what was then Arizona Teachers' College.   The Public Works Administration (PWA) made a grant of $57,900 and the state of Arizona added $20,000 to build 50 2-room cottages.  Construction was done in 1939 by 60 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees (no doubt from the Mt. Elden camp).  The units were small at 25x14 feet, built with rock walls and cement floors, plus running water.  There were three additional buildings for laundry and showers. More cottages were added...
  • Northern Arizona University: North Hall - Flagstaff AZ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave the Arizona State Teachers College a grant of $105,000 and a loan of $313,000 to build housing on the campus – today's Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City. North Hall was constructed in 1935 as a women's dormitory at what was then the Arizona State Teachers' College.  It completed the "Women's Quadragle" at the north end of the college, at a time when most students at the college were women seeking careers as school teachers. The architecture of North Hall is brick Neoclassical, or Georgian, which...
  • Northern Arizona University: South Beaver School (former) - Flagstaff AZ
    In 1934 the Flagstaff school board received a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a new elementary school on the south side of town. Additional funds came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The South Beaver School was meant to serve the largely Mexican, Native and Black children of the neighborhood.  The school board had declared its intentions to build the school since 1918 but never came up with the funds until the New Deal stepped in. The PWA under Harold Ickes was n0ted for funding minority schools across the country. The school building was constructed with volcanic malpais,...
  • Northern Arizona University: Taylor Hall Expansion and Renovation - Flagstaff AZ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave the Arizona State Teachers College a grant of $105,000 and a loan of $313,000 to build housing on the campus – today's Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City. Taylor Hall had been built in 1905 as a girls' dormitory and switched to men in 1908.  An earlier expansion had added a north wing to the original building (the date of the photograph in NAU library is given as 1937, but that's not possible given the car and clothing in the scene). The New Deal expansion...
  • Ranger Residence - Wupatki National Monument AZ
    Wupatki National Monument was established in 1924, following decades of plunder of artifacts by American settlers.  Archaeological excavation and restoration of the main pueblo began in 1933.  In 1939-42, a contingent of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees (from Mt Elden camp at Flagstaff) began development of the monument for public use, building trails, a ranger residence, a utility building, and water supply system. (NNDPA 2012) The ranger residence is located on hill above the current visitor center (it replaced a prior residence inside the main pueblo ruins).  It is an elegant stone building in mid-20th century modern style. The CCC utility...
  • Route 66 Railway Underpass - Flagstaff AZ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) and the federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) funded a large amount of road building around Arizona during the New Deal. One of the highway projects was an underpass for Route 66 beneath the busy Santa Fe railroad line that passes through the center of Flagstaff, which greatly helped relieved traffic jams of cars and trucks waiting for trains to pass. The underpass cost $125,000, of which the city contributed only $5,000.  The PWA grant was awarded in June 1934 and the underpass was finished by Christmas (Cline, p. 308). The underpass carries two lanes of traffic...
  • Street Paving, Curbs and Gutters - Flagstaff AZ
    A substantial street improvement and paving project was undertaken in Flagstaff, Arizona during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Work Administration (PWA) funds.  It covered 86 blocks in the central area, now the historic district of the city, and included curbs and gutters.  The start date for the project is uncertain but the major work was done in 1938-39. "A major improvement that would have been long delayed without federal assistance was installing curbs and gutters and paving streets. The project began with a $30,600 PWA grant matching a city 10-year, 3 percent bond issue of $22,000 for curbs and...
  • Trails - Wupatki National Monument AZ
    Wupatki National Monument was established in 1924, following decades of plunder of artifacts by American settlers.  Archaeological excavation and restoration of the main pueblo began in 1933.  In 1939-42, a contingent of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees (from Mt Elden camp at Flagstaff) began development of the monument for public use, building trails, a ranger residence, a utility building, and water supply system. (NNDPA 2012) The trails wind go from the visitor center across to the main pueblo, along both sides of the ruins and down to the two ball courts below.  They include extensive stairways, supporting rock walls and metal...
  • Visitor Center - Walnut Canyon National Monument AZ
    Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942. They made several improvements to the monument for public recreational use. One was to build the original visitor center at Observation Point from sandstone blocks cut from a nearby quarry.  The visitor center was completely altered during the 1960s by adding a new floor on top of the original building; the new second floor is where visitors' enter today to find information, displays and the tourist shop.  The lower floor is used for offices and...