Portland Sites

Aimee Gorham created a large wooden marquetry at the rear of Ainsworth auditorium. The piece is usually hidden behind band equipment and room dividers. In danger of damage unless acknowledged as US property, not Portland Public School property. According to Barry N. Ball (2004) "During the WPA period, Gorham did a large number of documented marquetry projects, actually starting in 1933 under the short-lived Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) when she demonstrated her sculptural skills with a bas relief of Abigail Scott Duniway, shown at the Portland Art Museum in 1934. She also did watercolors of fairy tales and prints of civilian...

The Burnside Tunnel, historically referred to as the Barnes Road vehicle tunnel, improved traffic movement through Portland’s West Hills by straightening the roadway and removing steep grades.  Completed in 1940, it was one of three tunnels constructed in the West Hills with the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), along with the NW Cornell Tunnels. The 230 foot long concrete-lined tunnel is wide enough for vehicles lanes in each direction as well as sidewalks on either side of the roadway. The Burnside Tunnel features beautiful stone masonry portals made of rubble and squared local basalt. Further design details include decorative...

In 1936, young people employed by the National Youth Administration provided the labor for construction of an amphitheater on the Reed College campus in southeast Portland. The private college supplied the materials and land with the understanding that the theater would be used by civic organizations as well as for college functions. Created in 1935, the National Youth Administration (NYA) provided part-time employment for young people (16-25) who either needed financial assistance in order to stay in school or were out-of-school, unemployed and in need. During its first four years, the NYA was managed as a program within the Works Progress...

From late December 1934 through early spring 1935, the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) funded improvements to the Columbia Slough that involved raising and leveling a dike on the slough's channel approximately 1.5 miles east of Faloma station. While improving the Columbia Slough dike, it provided work to approximately 190 men for 70 days as part of a work relief program. The City's project description notes the following need: "Dredging operations on this locality had deposited many thousands of yards of excavated material on the banks of the slough. This material was continually sluffing back into the channel. The project consisted...

At over 1,000 feet, Council Crest Park occupies the highest point in the City of Portland. From 1907 to 1929, an amusement park occupied that vantage point. Despite its superior position and streetcar access, it took eight years before the City of Portland could acquire it and another year before it could begin to be improved with WPA labor. The Oregonian, one of the city’s newspapers, announced in March 1938 that a crew of twenty-six WPA workers had started “clearing brush, grubbing undergrowth and opening trails through Council Crest Park” so that it might be available for use by summer. The...

Although Duniway Park was founded in 1918 to serve residents in south Portland, improvements had been limited and those who used it complained of the odors associated with the landfill that originally established the playground area. In 1934, the Oregon's State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) authorized funds to improve the park. SERA was funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) during 1934-1935. FERA operated from May 12, 1933 through 1935 when it was replaced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as the New Deal's primary work relief program. One of the city's major newspapers, The Oregonian, reported that the SERA funded...

The post office originally held an earlier version of this mural entitled "Post Ride," funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and painted in 1936 by Paul Grellert. During renovation of the post office in the 60's the mural was destroyed. Mr Grellert fortunately was able to paint a recreation of the original mural. The only difference is that in the original, the horse was white.

The historic East Portland Station post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The post office houses New Deal artwork.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers provided landscaping improvements to the Eastmoreland Golf Course, the City of Portland’s oldest municipal course, during 1937. The $26,348 project budget was made up almost entirely of labor costs. As a Parks Bureau report notes, Parks Superintendent Charles P. Keyser took care in the use of relief funds to expand the City’s budget since “they could be expended only for parks improvements or expansions, not maintenance of existing facilities” (p. 31). The exact nature and location of the improvements are unknown to us.

In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an athletic field at Portland's Franklin High School as part of a larger commitment ($468,459) to the improvement of Portland public school properties.

From 1939 to 1942, Portland’s Franklin High School benefited from two different Works Progress Administration (WPA) initiatives. One of the projects allowed artists from the Federal Art Project, one of the five independent branches of the Works Progress Administration, to respond to a commission funded by Franklin High School students and alumni ($15,000). Stonecutter George Berry and his assistants sculpted a fifteen feet tall (with pedestal), forty-ton sandstone statue of the school’s namesake. In spring 1942, the “Statesman Scientist” was installed at the north entrance of the school overlooking the athletic field.  The pedestal includes several built-in benches as well...

Once the site of Multnomah County's Poor Farm, the city began developing this land in the West Hills of Portland as an arboretum in 1930. In its first six years, much of the labor for tree planting and park development was provided through the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the National Youth Administration (NYA). The local newspaper, The Oregonian, gave particular attention to the NYA workers' contribution, noting that nearly 100 young people between the age of 16 and 25 were employed for three months. They began the transformation of what was then a 200-acre, rough, wooded landscape...

Collaborating with the Portland Public Schools, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a 1000 seat stadium for Jefferson High School in the summer of 1941.  The $14,000 project (1941 dollars) consists of an uncovered structure with restroom and concession facilities built in the rear.  The Oregonian, Portland’s morning newspaper, noted when the stadium structure was dedicated in October 1941 that the adjacent athletic field was also a WPA project, completed over the previous two years. Jefferson High School is notable as the high school of the historic African American community of north Portland.  Also worth noting is the 'mascot' of the...

Although the majority of the New Deal era work completed on Johnson Creek addressed the stream’s annual flooding problems, the project brought some recreational benefits as well. WPA (Works Progress Administration) workers built a fish ladder in the channel and provided access to the stream for fishing. An overlook was built with local rock, which was quarried as part of the project.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) became the New Deal's primary work relief program for the general population in 1935. WPA funds supported a number of projects in City of Portland parks. In the case of Laurelhurst Park, WPA funds provided wages for unemployed men to work on park maintenance.

Macleay Park, a 130-acre portion of the City of Portland's enormous Forest Park, was the site of Works Progress Administration (WPA) works projects during the mid-1930s. WPA workers built several miles of trails,  access roads, and comfort stations, improving a park that provided access to nature within a short distance of the city center. The Stone House, shown in the photo, is a stone restroom facility that serves as a popular stop along the lower Macleay Park trail. Given its similarity to other comfort stations constructed with New Deal aid, the structure is often wrongly attributed to the WPA. In fact, it...

Red oaks line a section of McLoughlin Boulevard on its southern entry into the City of Portland. The nearly ninety-year-old trees are the legacy of a highway beautification project funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934. The Oregon State Highway Commission selected this section on McLoughlin Boulevard (99E), along with two sections of Barbur Boulevard (99W), for the state's first comprehensive highway beautification program. Members of the Portland Garden Club joined in designing the landscape plans that focused on native plants. Funding for the six-mile section on McLoughlin Boulevard amounted to approximately $15,000, which covered landscape materials and a...

Founded in 1937, the Museum of Contemporary Craft was originally located in 3934 SW Corbett Avenue. At the time, it was known as the Oregon Ceramic Studio and became the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in 1965. The studio was built with WPA labor and donated materials and was dedicated to investigating and advancing the "role of craft and design in contemporary culture while at the same time honoring the history of the studio craft movement." (Museum of Contemporary Craft) In 2007 the museum moved to a new building on Davis St. Status of the original building unknown.

In 1940 and 1941 respectively, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers constructed two tunnels approximately a quarter mile apart from one another to improve vehicular movement through Portland’s Forest Park in the city’s west hills. As with the Rocky Butte tunnel, local basalt was used to face the arched tunnels and adjacent retaining walls. The tunnels themselves are concrete and allow a travel lane in each direction and sidewalks for pedestrians on either side. The dates of completion are inscribed above the entrances. At the beginning of the 1930s, approximately eighty percent of Portland's residential growth had taken place on the city's...

The second of two tunnels on NW Cornell Road constructed by WPA workers, the 250 long Tunnel 2 was completed in 1941. It was prioritized among infrastructure improvements as a means of opening up residential development in Portland's West Hills. As an element of the City's infrastructure, its design was intended to fit into the beautiful and rough landscape of the West Hills by using local basalt on its portals that were finished in the National Park Rustic style. The crew of masons on the project were employed by the Oregon WPA and supervised by Raffale (Ralph) Curcio, who had two decades...

Acquired by the City of Portland in 1930, the ten-acre Overlook Park required improvements during the Depression years if it were to serve adequately the north Portland Overlook neighborhood, which had reached full development during the 1920s real estate boom. The site sits in a ravine and on  a former garbage dump; additional fill was added over several years to level the area. By 1937, the process of settling was complete and the park was prepared for more extensive development. In 1938, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers undertook the largest and most significant part of the park plan – the Shelter...

Overlook Park sits on a bluff above the east bank of the Willamette River in the north Portland Overlook neighborhood. Recognizing the demand for recreational opportunities in a neighborhood built-out during the 1920s, the City of Portland acquired land for the park in 1930. Developing the park during the Depression Era, however, placed two pressures on this as well as other neighborhood parks – increased demand for affordable activities and a decrease in city funds for the development. Progress in attaining the improvements identified in the Overlook Park general plan depended on relief funding. In addition to landscaping, playground equipment, a...

"The base is the home of the 142d Fighter Wing, Oregon Air National Guard. The 142d FW participates around the globe supporting drug interdiction, USAFE air defense, as well as contingency operations such as Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. To complete these missions, four groups are assigned to the 142nd Fighter Wing: 142nd Maintenance Group, 142nd Operations Group, 142nd Mission Support Group and the 142nd Medical Group... The base's history begins in 1936 when Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding allowed the City of Portland to purchase 700 acres of land along the Columbia River and bordering the Columbia...

The two panels of the New Deal mural "Development of St. Johns" were commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts for the St. John's Station post office. The building served as the St. John's Station Post Office and is currently the Portland Baha'i Center. These wall murals, located in the entryway, "depict the history and industrial development of the St. Johns area." (portlandbahai.org)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the original Portland Airport (now Portland International, PDX) in the late 1930s. "The present PDX site was purchased by the Portland City Council in 1936. At the time it was 700 acres (280 ha) bordered by the Columbia River in the north and the Columbia Slough in the south. The city council issued $300,000 and asked the Port of Portland to sponsor a $1.3 million Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to develop the site into a 'super airport'. The project provided badly needed Great Depression-era jobs and was completed in 1940." (Wikipedia) Given subsequent enlargements and improvements...

As part of war efforts, "on 26 February 1941, the FCC received funding to launch the 'Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service,' the first name for FBIA. The service began its monitoring duties at 316 F Street, NE. On 1 October, FBIS opened its first bureau outside Washington---in a farmhouse at 13005 NE Street in Portland, Oregon---to monitor Japanese broadcasts." (Inside CIA) The federal facility was constructed with Treasury Department funds. "On 17 September 1941 Graves announced that 20 persons were being transferred to Portland to set up a new monitoring station. Included in the 2 were the three Japanese and one...

"Portland ultimately received matching federal dollars for street widening, highway construction, and a new city airport on 700 acres of reclaimed land along the Columbia River east of the city. Completed in 1940, the new airport required four years and $3 million to build. Using voter-approved bonds as the local match for federal funds, the city undertook highway construction in the late 1930s, including McLoughlin Boulevard, development of S. E. 82nd, and Barbur Boulevard (which was built on a former interurban railroad right-of-way). Other road work involved widening Front Avenue in 1940 and building an expressway called Harbor Drive along...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Road work was one such project category. These men are shown graveling SE Holgate near SE 32nd Avenue on February 1, 1934. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934. When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small projects involving a large amount of hand labor. The projects were submitted for approval to the CWA and the jobless...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Road work was one such project category. These men are shown graveling SE Holgate near SE 28th Avenue in late December 1933. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934. When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small projects involving a large amount of hand labor. The projects were submitted for approval to the CWA and the jobless...

The Rocky Butte aircraft beacon was erected in 1933 by the U.S. Bureau of Lighthouses for aircraft navigation. A revolving beacon atop a metal tower at the summit contains a medium intensity white light that flashes intermittently. The tower also bore a red beacon that was discontinued in the late 1970s.  Rocky Butte is a 607 foot extinct volcanic cone (one of several in the city of Portland) and the second highest point in the city. The viewing area in Joseph Wood Hill Park atop the butte offers panoramic vistas of the Columbia River valley and Portland.      

Rocky Butte Scenic Historic District consists of two approach roads up the butte and a viewing area on the top of the hill, which were constructed between 1934 and 1939 by the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) and federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) from local ranks of the unemployed in the Great Depression.  The top of the butte is today known as Joseph Wood Hill park. The approximately $500,000 cost of the whole project was funded jointly by the WPA and Oregon SERA – itself funded in part by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). When The Oregonian announced completion of the project...

Rose City Golf Course, constructed adjacent to a middle-class residential development in 1923, was the second public golf course in Portland and the state of Oregon. In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) redesigned the first nine-holes, rebuilding the greens and lengthening the course by 450 yards, and added rock walls and stone curbs along 72nd Drive.  Local basalt rock served as the landscaping material, as was the case in many WPA projects. City of Portland records indicate that approximately $38,000 was spent by the WPA on the Rose City Golf Course landscaping and redesign. WPA funding for these improvements was...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Sewer repair work was one such project category. These men are shown doing sewer repair in the Lair Hill neighborhood at SW First and SW Sheridan on January 30, 1934. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934.  When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small projects involving a large amount of hand labor. The projects were submitted...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Sewer repair work was one such project category. These men are shown doing sewer repair in the Laurelhurst neighborhood at the corner of SE Floral and SE Ankeny Streets on January 26, 1934. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934.  When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small projects involving a large amount of hand labor. The...

During the hard winter months of 1933-1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a work relief program that employed Portlanders on a variety of needed projects. Street repair work was one such project category. These men are shown on January 26, 1934 repairing a street damaged by the collapse of a retaining wall at the intersection of NW Maywood Drive and NW Melinda Avenue in Portland's West Hills. The CWA served as a federal relief program from November 8, 1933 through March 31, 1934.  When the CWA began, Oregon anticipated being able to put 21,000 men back to work on small...

"The Sunset Highway No. 47 (see Oregon highways and routes), in the state of Oregon, is an official designation for the portion of U.S. Route 26 between its western terminus, south of Seaside, and the interchange with Interstate 405 in downtown Portland...The road was originally named the Wolf Creek Highway and was under construction by January 1933. Both the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps participated in the construction during the Great Depression. Portions of highway officially opened to the public on September 19, 1941. In 1949, the highway was completed." (Wikipedia) "The Wolf Creek and Wilson River highways were...

Adjacent to Portland’s International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park, the amphitheater served originally as a venue for “all ceremonies incident to the christening of roses or functions held in honor of roses in Portland”(1921). Designed to accommodate 5000 people viewing a 300-square foot stage, the Washington Park Amphitheater has become a popular public venue for concerts, theater performances and other events since it conception as the “Portland Rose Theater” or “Rose Bowl Theater” (1921; 1924; 1937). In 1941, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers helped document the Washington Park Amphitheater architectural plans and complete access to the natural amphitheater by constructing...

Portland’s morning newspaper, The Oregonian, announced in late January 1936 that the city’s Seawall Railing was nearing completion, bringing with it a harbor line that was “beautified and protect(ed).” The ornamental, reinforced concrete railings added 3 ½ feet to the harbor wall along a stretch of the Willamette River from Jefferson Street to the Steel Bridge.  Approximately every 100 feet, heavy bases had been added to allow for ornamental light standards along the wall. Federal relief funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $60,000 for the completion, employing approximately 100 Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. Planning for the harbor...

In 1935, the City of Portland Bureau of Planning approved the development of a city park to serve the Westmoreland neighborhood, which had rapidly developed during the previous twenty years without the benefit of any park or playground facilities. The City acquired forty-two acres for the park’s development from the Oregon Iron & Steel Co. (a business owned by Ladd Estate Company, the developer of Westmoreland) in January 1936. Since Crystal Springs Creek ran through the flat rather marshy site, water features were incorporated into the park’s design by Francis B. Jacobberger, a principal in the architectural firm Jacobberger &...