• Angell St. Sidewalk - Providence RI
    The sidewalk along Angell Street connecting Wayland Square to the Brown University campus through the Historic Wayland Square neighborhood is WPA-built.   Angell runs adjacent to the Brown athletic facilities and the Wheeler School, and is heavily trafficked by joggers and runners from the local community, university, and area schools. This plaque is located on the north side of Angell St. halfway between Governor St. and Ives St.
  • Blackstone Boulevard Sidewalk - Providence RI
    The WPA installed improvements off the Blackstone Boulevard as well, displayed by a plaque found in a manhole cover at the intersection of Mount Avenue and Slater Avenue, Providence. "One of my favorite places in Providence is Blackstone Boulevard, the tree-lined, two-mile stretch of road on the East Side that is a popular destination for joggers, walkers, readers and painters. At both ends of the boulevard, there are tiny plaques in the sidewalk that credit its construction to employees of the Works Progress Administration, the New Deal jobs program that funded everything from highways to playwrights."  
  • Blackstone Park - Providence RI
    The waterfront area of Blackstone Park in Providence was a WPA project. However, the photograph below comes from an archive of FERA projects, indicating that agency's potential involvement as well.
  • Cranston Street Armory (former) Improvements - Providence RI
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at the former Cranston Street Armory in Providence, Rhode Island. Projects included: "paint and varnish armory," "install wall board, finish interior, and paint mess hall," "construct garage and repair shop," "improve armory," "construct parking ground and motor park," "various repairs to armor," and "repair sidewalks and roof, and paint."
  • Elmwood Avenue Widening - Providence RI
    "Elmwood Avenue, which connects the Boston Post Road to I-95 and is Route 1 in Providence, was widened by WPA workers."
  • Fields Point Development - Providence RI
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted an extensive improvement and development project at what was then an army-managed facility at Fields Point in Providence, Rhode Island. Description: "Rehabilitate building for additional offices, improve storage area, grade and place slabs, surface, realign and replace railroad tracks, provide ramps and drains at the U.S. Army Air Corps Storage Department at Fields Point." WPA Project No. 265‐2‐16‐23; $523,720. Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fields Point, U.S. Army
  • Fort Independence Restoration - Providence RI
    The WPA restored this fort at some point prior to 1938. From Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State: "he Works Progress Administration has restored the old fort, graded the land, and converted it into a park." The site is now the Columbia Park Playground.
  • Hope High School - Providence RI
    Construction of Hope High School, undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funding, comprised one of the largest New Deal undertakings in Rhode Island. "The Hope Street High School is one of the largest high schools in America, accommodating 2,200 pupils. It is in the vicinity of Brown University. It has 60 classrooms, an auditorium seating 1,285, a large stage and sound-moving-picture equipment, a library, study hall, cafeteria which accommodates 700 at one sitting, modern kitchen facilities, boys' gymnasium, and a girls' gymnasium with 105 individual shower stalls. There are special rooms for wood-working, art metal, machine-shop work, music rooms, and...
  • John O. Pastore Post Office and Federal Building - Providence RI
    This New Deal Art Deco building was originally constructed as the "post office annex" to the 1908 Federal Building and Courthouse next door. The building still functions as both a post office and a general federal building housing various federal offices. Note: Though the GSA document cited below says the building was WPA, such buildings were almost always PWA. The two agencies have often been confused. From the U.S. General Services Administration: "By the late 1920s, the need for additional space again became urgent. The city selected a site adjacent to the 1908 Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. A local architectural firm,...
  • John O. Pastore Post Office and Federal Building Sculptures - Providence RI
    This WPA building is ornamented with "Cast concrete sculptures on the facade created by artist Raymond Barger, a Maryland native who studied at the Carnegie Institute and Yale. Completed in 1940, the carved sculptures were executed under the WPA's federal art program. The sculptures above the two main entrances depict stylized eagles. On the projecting pavilions, the sculptures consist of the head and torso of human figures, a sun or moon and stars, and illustrations of different means of delivering mail." (gsa.gov)
  • Lippitt Memorial Park - Providence RI
    This large park and fountain, two miles north of the Brown campus, were erected by the WPA in 1935-37 and 1940 respectively.
  • Lloyd Avenue Sidewalk - Providence RI
    A W.P.A. shield-style plaque embedded in the sidewalk, on South side of Lloyd Ave., east of Hope St., identifies the sidewalk as a W.P.A. construction. The plaque is located adjacent to Erickson Gym, directly across the street from the direct entrance to the Moses Brown School.
  • Mount Pleasant High School - Providence RI
    The PWA built this school in Mount Pleasant. From the city archives: "In the fall of 1931, at the recommendation of Dunne and Reidy, the city borrowed $300,000 in anticipation of taxes for a system of work relief. This procedure was followed by Providence for the duration of the Depression, supplemented first by loans from the state and then by federal New Deal programs. Five new junior high schools, Mount Pleasant High School ... were among the many public works projects undertaken in Providence during the era in an attempt to combat unemployment."
  • North Burial Ground Improvements - Providence RI
    "Attention to the NBG continued during the Great Depression when the New Deal's Works Progress Administration funded additional workers to help care for the grounds and make improvements."
  • Prospect Terrace Sidewalks - Providence RI
    A series of concrete WPA sidewalks running around the edge of Prospect Terrace, a hillside park overlooking the city.
  • Providence Public Library Murals - Providence RI
    "Pawtucket native Edward Dubuque produced the set of five murals under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Relief Association (FERA) as an art project, and they were formally dedicated on April 23, 1935. Dubuque went on to produce backdrop sets for MGM. The five murals extending around three walls of the main room represent characters and incidents from well-known literature for boys and girls."   (www.provlib.org) The murals are as follows: Panel 1, South Wall Scene: Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Humpty-Dumpty Measures 90 x 140 inches Panel 2, South Wall (with intake grate in middle) Scene: Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn; Robinson Crusoe Measures 90 x 133 inches (grate...
  • Rhode Island School for the Deaf, Gymnasium - Providence RI
    A long, two-story building, Colonial Revival in style. Built by the PWA in 1934-36 to house a training school as well as a gymnasium. The architects were William R. Walker & Son, of Providence. The School for the Deaf has since moved to a new campus.
  • Rhode Island State House Addition - Providence RI
    The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) provided funding assistance toward in the construction of an 'addition' to the Rhode Island State House, located across the street from the State House. The building now houses the state's Department of Transportation.
  • Roger Williams Park - Providence RI
    "The park was designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878, and was constructed in the 1880s. Many of the roads, bridges and sidewalks were built by the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1940."
  • Sewage Treatment Facility - Providence RI
    Providence's sewage treatment facility was a PWA project. Facilities have expanded beyond the original PWA-constructed plant, but it appears to remain at the site.
  • State Armory of Mounted Commands Garage - Providence RI
    The Works Progress Administration built a garage for the State Armory of Mounted Commands in Providence. The location and status of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.