Kentucky Sites

Ann Rice O’Hanlon’s was commissioned in 1934 through the Treasury Relief Art Project to create a fresco featured in Memorial Hall on the University of Kentucky’s Lexington campus. "The large fresco in the lobby of Memorial Hall depicts scenes from early Lexington and central Kentucky and images of cultural development. It was completed in 1934 by Ann Rice O'Hanlon, a University of Kentucky graduate..."

"The WPA armory in Springfield sits atop a hill off Main Street in downtown Springfield. This building still retains a high degree of integrity and is now owned by the city. It serves as a community recreation center and the home of the city fire, rescue and ambulance services. A DES office is also located on the second floor of the building. "The first armory in Springfield was completed in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration... and dedicated in 1942. The armory is located at the top of a hill on Armory Hill Road which leads out of downtown Springfield....

Berea, Kentucky's Police and Municipal Center was originally built as the community's post office. The New Deal building was constructed ca. 1938. It also houses an example of New Deal artwork.

Frank W. Long completed this tempera-on-plaster mural, entitled "Berea Commencement in the Old Days," in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the lobby of the Berea Police and Municipal Center (itself a New Deal building), which was originally constructed as Berea's post office.

The Civil Works Administration built the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington KY. According to the town budget report for 1933, the city share for the airport under CWA was $1,362 as part of a total budget of $22,427 spent in the City by the CWA. In 1946 the first commercial aircraft serve the region via a Delta Air Lines flight on a 21-passenger Douglas DC-3. "Blue Grass Airport is a public airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 6 miles west of downtown Lexington. Located among world-renowned horse farms and situated directly across from Keeneland Race Course, Blue Grass Airport is the primary...

The WPA completed this law school building in 1938-39 when it was known simply as the University of Louisville Law School. The project submitter reports that the building's WPA heritage is locally known, and is also referenced in a letter dated May 13, 1938 from Adele Brandeis, Director of the FAP for Kentucky to Thomas Parker.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge on "Kehoe Road" in rural Greenup County, Kentucky, at the intersection of Highway 2/7 and Highway 784.

Wikipedia: "Paintsville City Hall was completed in January 1940 by the WPA, in order to house the city government, fire department, and police department of Paintsville, Kentucky. The structure is located at 101 Euclid Avenue in downtown Paintsville. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 26, 1989. In 2007, most of the city's government offices were moved to the old Citizens National Bank Building, which is located at 75 Main Street."

The federal Works Progresss Administration (WPA) constructed Pineville's historic city hall and jail; the building is still in service.

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a new city hall building for the town of Wallins , Kentucky. The exact location and present status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.

"The primary attraction in the park continues to be Polk's giant chain, which is estimated to have been over a mile long before flooding and erosion destroyed part of it. With an anchor weighing between four and six tons and each chain link being eleven inches (279 mm) long, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a stone monument to hold the chain in 1934."

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook street grading work along the roads surrounding the McCreary County Courthouse in Whitley City, Kentucky.

Trail 4 at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is an interpretive trail, built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1933.  It is maintained by the park as a memorial to the CCC and is commemorated by a signboard at the trailhead.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built a small shelter above the Eagle Falls Trail (Trail #9) overlooking Cumberland Falls and the gorge downstream.

The CCC-built Pinnacle Knob Fire Tower was originally a lookout tower for forest fires. Decommissioned in 1976, the tower was restored in 2008 and listed on the National Historic Lookout Register.

"Like many of the newer forests purchased under the Weeks Act of 1911, the Daniel Boone (originally the Cumberland National Forest) was acquired by President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration for restoration by the newly created Civilian Conservation Corps" (nationalforests.org).

Devou Park Band Shell was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), as part of a $97,251 grant to the city for park improvements. The band shell was completed in the summer of 1939. "The Devou Park band shell was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression and opened in 1939 to enthusiastic crowds. It continues to host great events and is home to the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra's Summer Concert Series."

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) worked to develop Devou Park, supplying a $97,251 grant to the city for park improvements. In addition to a band shell and shelter house, the W.P.A. constructed swimming pools at the park.

Also known as Stone Shelter, the Devou Park shelter house was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), as part of a $97,251 grant to the city for park improvements. The shelter house, constructed of native fieldstone and containing a large fireplace, was ready for use by spring 1939."

"The school was built by the Works Progress Administration. It opened for classes in 1936 and was dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt. The main building is nearly identical in construction and materials to Simon Kenton High School, located in Independence, Kentucky. Before the renovations to both Dixie Heights High School and Simon Kenton High School, they were known as the sister schools. The school was originally to be named for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The school is on U.S. Route 25 (Dixie Highway)/U.S. Route 42."

Dupont Lodge is a 96 room hotel including lodge rooms and cottages in Cumberland Falls State Park. Amenities: full service restaurant, 3 meeting spaces, outdoor pool, horseback riding (Memorial Day- Labor Day), camping (April-October), hiking trails, gift shop, planned recreation and home of the Moonbow. The hotel is designed in a rustic style similar to Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood in Oregon. Inns and Hotels have been at the location since the 1880's, In 1890, Indianapolis resident Henry C. Brunson bought the Cumberland Falls Hotel. For the next 30 years he and his family operated the resort, which was known as The...

The National Youth Administration completed improvements at the Ezel High School. A team of 18 NYA boys remodeled an old residence that was converted in the science building. The crew consolidated the foundation, added a sewer line to the street, and completed extensive interior and exterior renovations.

From contributor Charles Swaney: "This single story elementary school with 2-story gymnasium was constructed with local bluestone as were 2 other schools constructed at the same time.  The date of construction is well seen above the entry.  Currently, the school houses an antique mall."

An addition with full gymnasium at the community school in Forkland, Boyle County, KY. Stone came from a newly-opened quarry in Mitchellsburg, a few miles away. Final cost, $44,000. When the school was closed about 1971, residents in the Forkland area purchased it, and made a community center there. It is now the home of the Forkland Lincoln Museum, and hosts several events every year.

"These barracks are one of several buildings erected at Fort Knox by the Quartermaster Corps of the Army and consist of 4 units of fireproof construction with concrete frames and brick curtain walls trimmed with stone. Another building, a 2-company barracks, is similar in design and construction, and both structures provide permanent quarters for 456 and 228 men, respectively. They are occupied by the First Cavalry, Mechanized. The project was completed in December 1935 and the P.W.A. allotment for the barracks and other buildings was $579,000."

The Works Progress Administration built the Frances School Gymnasium in 1938. The gym is a 102' x 60' balloon frame building sitting on a poured concrete foundation. It has steel beams supporting the roof and the exterior is clad in wood weatherboard. The building is still used by the school system and community and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 1, 1993.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built a camp, dam, stone overlook, and other structures in General Butler State Park (Butler Memorial Park) in Carrollton KY.

Glover Cary Bridge spans the Ohio River, connecting Owensboro, Kentucky to Indiana. The bridge was constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project in 1940.

"The county commissioners of Grant County secured a grant from the PWA which enabled them to construct this new courthouse to replace an old and outgrown structure. The new building is 2 stories, a partial third story, and a basement in height and 98 by 60 feet in plan. Offices for the county engineer, county agent, and social security are in the basement. The various county departments are on the first floor. The second floor is occupied by a courtroom together with jury and witness rooms. The partial third story is entirely given over to the jail which...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Greenup County Courthouse in Greenup, Kentucky. The building, which was completed in 1938, is still in service.

“Haldeman-Hayes Crossing Community Center inhabits the old Haldeman school gymnasium. The community of Haldeman is named for L.P. Haldeman, owner of the Kentucky Firebrick Company. Haldeman’s company took advantage of the local geology to mine clay to create firebrick that was exported across the nation. Haldeman valued education and built schools in the community for the children of his employees, expanding those schools as the community developed. In 1937 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed construction on a new stone school building, and completed the current gymnasium in 1938. The building served the community of Haldeman until December of 1993,...

Located approximately seven miles south of Harlan, Kentucky by U.S. 421 and Highway 3001, Harlan Country Club was constructed by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) and completed in 1941. The course, designed by Sye Simonton, is still in service.

KY.gov: "The first armory in Harlan was constructed ... by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). ... The building is located in Sunshine, across a bridge and next to the railroad tracks outside downtown Harlan. The building is a two-story poured concrete building with attached drill hall. The front of the armory has been painted green, and a handicapped-accessible ramp was added to the front of the building in 1996. The walls are 12 inch thick and steel-reinforced, and the facade has elements of the Art Deco style around the entrance, with its linear lines and vertical, stepped ornamentation. The building still...

Hopkins County Hospital was built in 1937-38 with Work Progress Administration Funds and private citizen contributions. Originally, it was built to house 54 beds as a private, non-profit medical facility.

New Deal funds built the John G. Carlisle School in 1937. In 1992, it was demolished and a new school was built in its place.

“In 1930, the Henderson Audubon Society requested $100,000 from the Federal government to help construct an Audubon Museum. The Society had a large and growing collection of Audubon artifacts that needed proper housing. National interest in the works of Audubon had increased through the years and now seemed the right time to involve the government in helping preserve and promote the Audubon collection. A bill introduced in Congress to appropriate money for the Audubon project failed to pass. Undeterred, local citizens continued to raise funds for the proposed museum. By 1934, 275 acres had been acquired through donations and purchase....

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook improvement work at the former Johnson County Courthouse in Paintsville, Kentucky: "Interior Remodeled, Including Electric, Water, and Heating Systems." The exact location and status of the former courthouse is unknown to Living New Deal.

"Kentucky Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River on the county line between Livingston and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The dam is the lowermost of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s to improve navigation on the lower part of the river and reduce flooding on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was a major project initiated during the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, to invest in infrastructure to benefit the country."   (wikipedia)

La Salle Place is a 210 unit low income housing project that was one of 50 slum clearance and low income housing projects nationwide. It covers over 14 acres, cost $1,200,000 and was built on empty land. It was built for unskilled workers of nearby tobacco and motor factories of Louisville. The buildings were designed to be oriented away from the industries to the north toward the prevailing winds from the southwest. The facility is heated by a central unit. Each came with electric light, refrigeration, gas for cooking, and a rear-yard garden. E. T. Hutchings was the chief architect, The...

Set back from Main Street (US 25) this building is a former school with a historical marker in front indicating it was the site of the 1826 Laurel Seminary which opened in 1858. Became a Common School 1870-1884, private to 1893, common public school before the original building was replaced with the existing building. (Historic name undetermined)