• Capital City County Club Golf Course Expansion - Tallahassee FL
    The Capital City County Club Golf Course was originally a 9-hole golf course developed by George Perkins. In 1924, the newly-incorporated Tallahassee Country Club purchased the golf course from Perkins. In 1935, the Tallahassee Country Club donated the land to the City of Tallahassee. That same year the city received a $35,000 Works Progress Administration grant to expand the golf course to 18 holes. The city engaged noted golf course architect Albert W. Tillinghast to inspect and comment on the plans, which also included renovating the existing 9 holes. Construction began in 1936 and was completed in 1938. In 1956,...
  • Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University: McGuinn Hall - Tallahassee FL
    McGuinn Hall was a Colonial Revival style men’s dormitory constructed in 1938 on the campus of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), a historically black college founded in Tallahassee, Florida in 1887. A dedication plaque on the wall of McGuinn Hall indicates that it was constructed as a Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works project, number FLA 1092-6-DS. The architect was Rudolph Weaver, F.A.I.A., who served as dean of the University of Florida’s College of Architecture from 1925 until 1944. He designed a number of dormitories for the University of Florida as well as Florida State University. The latter included...
  • FSU William Johnston Building - Tallahassee FL
    Variously known as the 1939 Dining Hall, the Seminole Dining Hall and now the William Johnston Building, this Collegiate Gothic style building was constructed by the PWA in 1939. A report from a former Florida State University art student describes the building as follows: “In the fall of 1938, construction of this new Dining Hall began, though it would not be but another two years before it would formally open its doors… The New Dining Hall appeared as a place of reverence that granted a sense of security and comfort at days end. One would proceed up the monumental staircase of the front...
  • Leon County Armory (former) - Tallahassee FL
    Now a senior center, Tallahassee's historic Leon County Armory was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $19,859 grant to the project, whose total cost was $74,365. Construction occurred between November 1934 and June 1935. The building now serves as a senior center. PWA Docket No. FL 9236
  • Leon County Health Unit - Tallahassee FL
    The Leon County Health Unit was completed in 1940 as a $40,000 project jointly funded by Leon County, the City of Tallahassee, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It was the first permanent home for the Leon County Health Unit, which was the oldest in the state and the first specially designed health unit built as a county WPA project in the state of Florida. The facility was a direct result of the Florida Health Unit Law of 1931, which authorized counties in Florida “to cooperate with the State Board of Health in the establishment and maintenance of full-time local health units...
  • Leon County Jail - Tallahassee FL
    The Leon County Jail was constructed in 1937 at a cost of $100,000, replacing an older jail located immediately adjacent. The new facility was segregated by gender, proving spaces for 72 men and 26 women. The jail featured common areas on the lower level, and included its own laundry, hospital ward, and living quarters for the jailer. The jail was designed by the prominent Tampa architect, Malachi Leo Elliot, working with contractor T. A. Monk. This same team concurrently designed and built the PWA-funded Leon High School, which was completed in early 1937. Today Leon High School, as well as several other...
  • Leon High School - Tallahassee FL
    Sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA, Leon High School was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "The builder was Thomas Monk, who built dozens of high schools and commercial buildings around Florida, including the Monk Building in downtown Bradenton ..." PWA Docket No. W1024
  • Leon High School Stadium and Playground - Tallahassee FL
    "A new concrete stadium and playground at Leon High School in Tallahassee was completed through the combined efforts of the WPA, the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, and the local Junior Chamber of Commerce."
  • Old Capitol Addition (demolished) - Tallahassee FL
    Florida's former State Capitol (commonly known as the Old Capitol) received an addition as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The enlargement was a wing at the north end of the Capitol. Florida Memory: "The Florida State Capitol enlargement in 1936-1937 was a joint project between the Florida Construction Program and the Public Works Administration. M. Leo Elliott, Architect, of Tampa, Florida, was responsible for the architectural drawings and plans for the Capitol project." The PWA supplied an $112,347 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $261,382. Construction began Sept. 29, 1936 and was completed Oct. 26,...
  • St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - Tallahassee FL
    Between 1934 and 1940, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (then called the St. Marks Migratory Bird Refuge) located about twenty-five miles away from Tallahassee FL. Overseen by the U.S. Biological Survey, the work was done by enrollees at Camp BF-1 – one of the first African American CCC camps in Florida. CCC teams constructed roads, cut fire lines, built structures, and facilitated the establishment of the refuge as it stands today. According to the Friends of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge, “lmost everything was fabricated by the CCC men. Poles that carried the power...
  • U.S. 90 Improvements - Tallahassee to Monticello FL
    The WPA conducted beautification and improvement work on the "Tallahassee-to-Monticello highway," likely meaning U.S. 90. The project employed "45 common laborers at 30 cents per hour for an average of $39 per month."
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse - Tallahassee FL
    Constructed in 1935-6, this historic Beaux Arts federal building "originally housed the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, and served it as Tallahassee's main post office until the early 1970s. In 1979, the courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Park Avenue Historic District. The courthouse is now occupied by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Florida." The lobby continues to house a set of New Deal murals created for the building.
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse Murals - Tallahassee FL
    The historic federal building (now U.S. Bankruptcy Courthouse) in Tallahassee, Florida houses an example of New Deal artwork: an eight-panel mural titled "History of Florida." Wikipedia: "The murals were funded by the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture, a Depression-era program ... Hungarian-born American Edward “Buk” Ulreich (1889-1966) won a competition to paint the murals, which he completed in 1939." GSA description of the eight panels: 1) Five Standards on Parade shows the flags that have flown over Florida: Spanish, French, English, Confederate, and American. 2) Aborigine depicts the customs and life of Florida's native inhabitants at the time of early exploration. 3) Spain's influence...
  • WPA District Offices (demolished) - Tallahassee FL
    The building was originally constructed as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) District Offices In Tallahassee, the WPA or PWA funded numerous civic projects, including the Leon County Jail, Leon High School, the Leon County Health Unit, the Leon County Armory, an addition to the old Florida Capitol, and the Dining Hall at Florida State University. Numerous other projects in the North Florida region were also completed, including the Apalachicola River bridge between Blountstown and Bristol, the original John Gorrie Memorial Bridge between Eastpoint and Apalachicola, improvements to the Jefferson County Jail in Monticello; a new main post office in Perry;...