Framingham Sites

In 1935-6 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed clay tennis courts at Framingham's Anna Murphy Playground; removed the remnants of a stone wall; and installed a wire mesh fence.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at a historic armory building in Framingham, Mass. (location and status presently unknown to Living New Deal) WPA project details: "Inspect, repair, and store tents and cots" Official Project Number: 165-14-5147 Total project cost: $7,107.00 Sponsor: Commissioner of Massachusetts, State Arsenal "Clear and grub wooded area" Official Project Number: 165‐14‐6154 Total project cost: $1,001.00 Sponsor: Commissioner of Massachusetts, State Arsenal "Inspect, repair, and paint warehouse and ordnance materials" Official Project Number: 165‐14‐XXXX Total project cost: $20,194.00 Sponsor: State Adjutant General's Department "Repair and widen roads" Official Project Number: 165‐14‐14XX Total project cost: $1,000.00 Sponsor: Commissioner of Massachusetts, State Arsenal "Repair and improve buildings" Official Project Number: 165‐14‐2825 Total...

Courtesy the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), Athenaeum Hall in Framingham was "repaired and painted, both inside and out. New plastering was installed where necessary..." The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) installed a new heating system, water pipes, and electrical wiring in 1937, re-shingling the roof as well.

In 1935 the F.E.R.A. and W.P.A. conducted erosion and hazard-removal work along Beaver Dam Brook in Framingham, Mass. "The brook was cleaned out, shaped and the bushes cut on the banks from the Ashland line to the B. &. A. Railroad near Waverly Street, a distance of about 3.1 miles."

Sometimes referred to as the Union Avenue Athletic Field, "Bowditch Field is the town's main athletic facility. It is located on Union Avenue midway between Downtown and Framingham Center and was the main athletic facility for the town. It houses a large multi-purpose football stadium that included permanent bleachers on both sides of the field. There is still a baseball field, tennis courts, a track and field practice area, and the headquarters of the town Parks Department. Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects. It underwent a...

"Butterworth Park is located at the corner of Grant St and Arthur St. The park occupies a square block near downtown. The park has includes a baseball stadium that includes permanent bleachers on one side of the field, a basketball court and a tennis court." "Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects." (Wikipedia)

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) undertook reconstruction of the damaged Central Street Bridge at the Sudbury River in Framingham, Mass. in 1938. Town Report, 1938: "The retaining wall on the northerly side of Central Street on the west approach to the bridge over the Sudbury River at that point, which collapsed during the fall of 1937, was rebuilt by the W.P.A. Also various repairs were made to the concrete structure of the bridge itself and two other retaining walls on the east approach to the bridge were rebuilt and repaired." The bridge's superstructure has since been replaced.

Dwight Hall, located in the southeast portion of the Framingham State University campus, was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA contributed $96,750 of the project's $238,556 final cost. Construction began at the end of Dec. 1935 and was completed in 1937. PWA Docket No. MA 1138.

In 1935 F.E.R.A./W.P.A. labor painted Framingham's Edgell Library, and conducted plaster repair and woodwork varnishing. "On the outside the doors, sash, and some of the stone masonry were painted, and the rain water conductors were replaced or repaired." The W.P.A. continued work in 1936; "the building has been entirely rewired, modern control replacing obsolete methods, and many lights installed where there had not been any."

In 1941 W.P.A. labor undertook the following work in Framingham, according to the town's Annual Report: Improvements to Fire Alarm System and Cable Underground conduits and cable for the fire alarm system were laid from the Central Fire Station to Waverley Street to connect with the underground system already installed at that point, thus doing away with the necessity for poles to carry the fire alarm system overhead any longer. The Fire Alarm Whistle, formerly located at the old water pumping station at Linden Street, was moved to the Central Fire Station and installed in the tower of the same. A...

In 1934 F.E.R.A. labor undertook "painting and repairing flagpoles and benches on the Framingham and Framingham Centre Commons."

In 1934 F.E.R.A. labor undertook "painting and repairing flagpoles and benches on the Framingham and Framingham Centre Commons."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) extended Franklin Street and constructed a 60-foot-long, 60-foot-wide concrete bridge to carry the road across the Sudbury River in Framingham, Massachusetts. The bridge was rebuilt in 2009.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was most likely the agency involved with work at the Hasting School. The former Hasting Elementary School is still extant, facing Beacon St. (formerly Beaver St.) as part of a broadly expanded facility serving the Framingham Housing Authority.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted bridge work at Herbert St. and Beaver Dam Brook in Framingham, Mass. in 1939-40. According to the 1940 Town Report: The old wooden bridge over the Beaver Dam Brook at Herbert Street, which had become unsafe, was replaced with a reinforced concrete structure, including new concrete abutments, wing walls and slab. Concrete curbing and sidewalks and bituminout concrete pavement were constructed on the approached to the new bridge.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former High School (now Danforth Art Museum) the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted maintenance work in 1933. Heating facilities in the school's gymnasium were improved the following year, and further maintenance continued with New Deal labor. Most significantly, under a project begun by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a six-room addition to the school. Further improvements included the installation of a Public Address system. "Through a W.P.A. project, the necessary wires were installed from...

Courtesy the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), Village Hall in Framingham was "repaired and painted, both inside and out. New plastering was installed where necessary..." In 1937 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) replaced the electrical wiring, installed a cement concrete floor, and re-shingled the roof. In 1940: "The floor system of the upper Village Hall was reconstructed and strengthened by putting in new steel beams and columns, and a new oak floor was laid over the whole upper hall and entrances. The interior of the building was also painted," by the W.P.A.

During 1934 the F.E.R.A "thoroughly renovated and repaired" Framingham's Hollis Street fire station, in addition to constructing "a new brick fireproof fire alarm signal building" in the rear of the station. Later the W.P.A. sponsored a six-room addition to the building: A brick addition, one story in height for a two-car garage, was constructed on the rear end of the Hollis St. Fire Station. Work was begun in December   on an addition to this building to provide an office for the chief and also three additional rooms for the firemen who are on duty at this station. Work on the additions...

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former Jonathon Maynard School the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) graded the land behind the school and built a new playground (1933-4). The W.P.A. conducted work at the site as well, including the installation of new bathroom facilities in 1937.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The former Lawrence Street School building presently houses the Eugene Thayer Campus of Framingham High School. In 1940 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) installed a new steam heating plant at the school and "transformed the basement room into an assembly hall large enough to seat the whole school." A temporary 'portable' school facility adjacent to this building was repaired and "connected with the heating system of the Lawrence Street School" in 1941.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former Lincoln School the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) painted classrooms and repaired ceilings in 1933. Heating facilities and floors were improved in 1934. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) funds also allowed for a new playground for the school that year. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.)  conducted numerous repairs, including varnishing interior woodwork; painting, both inside and out; patching ceilings; and re-pointing bricks. New concrete walkways were installed by the W.P.A. in 1937. A school addition project was completed by the...

Multiple New Deal agencies: the C.W.A., F.E.R.A, and W.P.A. funded labor for the improvement of Framingham's Memorial Building. The C.W.A. painted the offices and corridors of the Memorial Building in 1933. "The improvement in the looks of the building is marked," town officials wrote that year. Painting and varnishing continued in 1934. The W.P.A. relaid the floors at the banquet hall in Nevens Hall in 1938, while constructing new exits to conform with safety standards. (Additional painting took place this year as well.) The W.P.A. even constructed a wartime airplane-spotting Observation Post atop the building in 1942!

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. In 1935 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted brickwork, installed new copper flashing, finished ceilings, and painted many parts of the school. Work continued under the W.P.A. in 1936, and two years later new boilers, and toilets, and sidewalks were installed at the school by agency laborers. New fences were constructed in 1940.

The Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) reconstructed Framingham's Nipmuc Road in 1940. Town Report, 1940: Portions of Nipmuc Road between Wood Avenue and Row Street had settled materially because of the poor foundation conditions existing there and the sewer, drain and water pipes in the same went down with the street surface. These pipes were all relaid on wood pile and concrete slab foundations, and the street was rebuilt and restored to its original grade.

In 1938 the W.P.A. improved the grounds of Framingham's Old South Cemetery, located on Winthrop Street. Town Report, 1938: Old South Burial Grounds This cemetery was regraded and walks and drives constructed throughout it. The old broken down wooden fence was replaced with a chain link fence and the stone wall along the front end and rear was rebuilt and repainted.

In 1934 F.E.R.A. labor undertook and completed the construction of two sets of concrete steps at the Concord Street Overpass over Worcester Road." Living New Deal believes this project to be no longer extant.

In 1935 F.E.R.A. and W.P.A. labor conducted the following improvement work at what was then known as the Reformatory (now Massachusetts Correctional Institution), in Framingham, Mass.: Roads and walks were constructed and grading done at the Reformatory Mother's Cottage and Junior Inmates' Home. Also, a clothes drying yard was graded and built. Maple floors were relaid in the corridors of the main buildings. The W.P.A. constructed facilities and conducted beautification work on the grounds as well.

"A W.P.A. project for cleaning out and improving a portion of Reservoir No. 1 near Salem End Road was carrier on... A large portion of the men employed thereon were Framingham W.P.A. workers averaging about 30 a day. The only expense to the Town on this project was for transportation of the workers and furnishing a loading machine for loading gravel trucks." (Town Report, 1941) A later MDC report stated: "Works Progress Administration Project No. 22857 for improvements to Neyhart Pond, a part of Framingham Reservoir No. 1 was completed."

Between 1933 and 1943 multiple New Deal agencies: the C.W.A., F.E.R.A., and W.P.A., provided the labor for dozens of street paving and improvement projects throughout Framingham, Mass. Work included "15 miles of secondary gravel streets, 2 miles of primary paved streets." Some important W.P.A. work involved country road improvements, "consisting of widening, straightening, removing outcropping ledges and trees, grading, graveling, building new stone walls and removing and rebuilding existing stone walls, and applying bituminous surface treatment... These streets as completed have a minimum width of traveled way of 18 ft. to 20 ft. and all dangerous curves and other obstructions have...

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The former Roosevelt School, demolished in the 1950s, was located at the southeast corner of Fay Rd. and Seminole Ave., now the site of Roosevelt Park (UT map). In 1935 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) painted many facets of the school building. New fences were constructed in 1939. The heating system was improved, the school painted, and the roof shingled by W.P.A. labor in 1942.

Framingham's 1936 Town Report details work accomplished by the W.P.A. with respect to the Saxonville Fire Station (now also known as Framingham Fire Station 2): The work, started in 1936, of replacing existing wooden floor of the apparatus room with a reinforced concrete floor and installation of a new steam heating plant was completed. The entire interior of the station was painted and much of the electrical wiring was renewed. Also other work, such as repairs to roof, repointing outside brickwork, and reconditioning of the old police cell room, was carried out.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The structures of the then-Saxonville Primary/Junior High School appear to have been replaced with modern facilities; Mary E. Stapleton Elementary School operates at the same location. In 1936-7 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a concrete retaining wall and chain link fence at the school; the W.P.A. conducted other repairs at the building in 1937, including the installation of new floors. The W.P.A. also conducted electrical work in 1941 and worked on a new heating system for the building in 1941-2.

Between 1933 and 1943 multiple New Deal agencies: the C.W.A., F.E.R.A., and W.P.A., funded labor for the drastic expansion of sewers and other drainage pipes in Framingham, Mass. In all 17 miles of sewers and eight miles of drains were constructed as a result of these projects along dozens of roads across the town.

Between 1933 and 1943 multiple New Deal agencies: the C.W.A., F.E.R.A., and W.P.A., combined to construct 18 miles of 'permanent concrete sidewalks' throughout Framingham, Mass., as well as 12 miles of curbing. In addition to improvements to the existing sidewalk network and outright extensions in Framingham, the W.P.A. rebuilt 900 square yards of sidewalk during the final three months of 1938 in response to the monster hurricane that caused damage across the Northeast.

Framingham's former Sturtevant Library was improved by federally funded labor during the Great Depression. According to local sources the library was located at the site of the former Framingham Memorial School. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) painted the library, cleaned the floors and furniture in 1936.

Town Report, 1938: National Youth Administration An average of 35 young people from needy families have been given part time employment by this branch of the W.P.A., on various worthy and useful projects. The boys have improved the land at Waushakum Pond purchased by the town for a bathing beach; have graded and improved town playgrounds, and since Sept. 21, 1938, have been continuously employed in clearing up the effects of the hurricane damage in the parks and playgrounds. The girls have acted as helpers in the Nursery schools.

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was most likely the agency involved with work at the Wilson School. The structures of the then-Woodrow Wilson School appear to have been replaced with modern facilities; a school of the same name continues to operate at the same location.

"Winch Park is the sister park to Butterworth and is located in Saxonville adjacent to the Framingham High School. It includes a baseball stadium that includes permanent bleachers on one side of the field, a basketball court, tennis courts and two large practice fields used for football, soccer and lacrosse. There are two additional multi-use fields located on the other side of the high school's gymnasium building." "Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects." (Wikipedia)

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) undertook improvement work along Winter Steet in Framingham, Mass., including culvert construction and the building of a bridge over the Sudbury River in 1939. Living New Deal believes the bridge to be largely intact and still in service.