• Banita Creek Bridge - Nacogdoches TX
    Constructed in 1941, with WPA labor, the Banita Creek Bridge crosses the waterway of the same name with three spans of reinforced concrete girder. The 100’-long bridge has a 24’-wide roadway with cantilevered sidewalks on both sides. The hand railing is composed of open concrete balustrade divided into sections by stepped Art Deco-like posts. The approach railing at the end of bridge angles out, following the skew of the wingwalls below. The WPA erected the bridge as part of a larger project that widened and improved the channels of Bonita and Lanana creeks. As part of the project, work-relief crews built sidewalks...
  • Gibbs Hall, Stephen F. Austin State University - Nacogdoches TX
    Serious discussion about building a new women's dormitory at Stephen F. Austin began immediately after the programs of the New Deal made the project feasible. The Board of Regents authorized the dorm's construction in July 1936. It took another two years before the appropriations for the women’s dormitory came through. The building was constructed with Public Works Administration funds. Construction started on September 6, 1938 under the supervision of architects Shirley Simon of Henderson and Hal Tucker of Nacogdoches. The building is named for Miss Eleanor H. Gibbs, one of SFA’s favorite members of the original faculty and Head of the...
  • Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School - Nacogdoches TX
    This Art Deco School Building at 411 N Mound St, Nacogdoches, TX 75961 is a two-story facility with basement. A plaque identifies the building as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.
  • Wisely Hall, Stephen F. Austin State University - Nacogdoches TX
    Plans for a new men's dormitory at Stephen F. Austin were approved in 1933. By the end of that year, President Dr. Alton Birdwell and Business Manager J. H. Wisely went to San Antonio to appear before the Public Works Administration (PWA) Project Committee to secure funds for the dormitory. In 1934, the Board of Regents issued bonds for $93,000.00, with the PWA lending funds using the bonds as collateral. Construction began in 1935 and the dorm was occupied in 1936. The troublesome construction of the men’s dorm nearly worked Wisely to death. Because of his work on the project and...