Date added: August 29, 2014; Modified: August 10, 2023
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed downtown Lahaina’s Banyan Tree Park. The park surrounds an immense banyan tree (a variety of tropic ficus) that covers three-quarters of an acre. It is the largest and best known tree in Hawai’i. There is a… read more
Date added: August 29, 2014; Modified: August 10, 2023
Hale Pa‘ahao (stuck-in-irons house) was Lahaina’s “new” prison, built in the 1850s during the whaling era. The prison has been restored three times, in the 1930s, 1950s and 1970s. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation reports that: “During the 1930s, County of… read more
Date added: August 9, 2023; Modified: August 9, 2023
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a seawall east of Hilo in 1939. The 2.5-foot-thick structure was credited with saving the Pu‘umaile Home / hospital; the seawall “withstood the severe pounding of the angry waves … lessened the force of… read more
Date added: June 25, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
The National Industrial Recovery Administration awarded the “United States Public Works project no. NRH-12-B, Kauai Belt Road […] for the sum of $354,355.63.” The two-lane highway continues to serve as the primary thoroughfare between most inhabited communities on the island.
Date added: June 22, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
The Army Corps of Engineers, the Public Works Administration, and the National Industrial Recovery Administration funded and conducted improvement operations in the Port Allen Harbor between 1934 and 1935. The work consisted of creating a 1,200 foot “rubble-mound breakwater,” and dredging the “harbor… read more
Date added: August 29, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
Mother Waldron Playground is an urban playground that is bounded by Halekauwila, Cooke, Pohukaina, and Coral streets. It was constructed in 1937 on a 1.76-acre (77,000-square feet) site in the Kakaako district of Honolulu, Hawaii. Built elements within the park… read more
Date added: June 24, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
“[…] United States Public Works project no. NRH-16-A, known as the ‘Kunia Road’, for the sum of $388,585.26. The Kunia Road runs from Schofield Barracks to the Ewa-Waianae Road, a distance of 7.81 miles, and is a road long wanted… read more
Date added: July 5, 2023; Modified: July 5, 2023
The historic Schofield Barracks branch post office contains a 1943 Section of Fine Arts wood carving by Roy King entitled “Primitive Communication.” The work can be found in the upper corner of the right side of the retail lobby.
Date added: June 25, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
The National Industrial Recovery Administration awarded the “Federal-aid project no. F. A. P. 11-B and United States Public Works project no. NRH-ll-C, Kawaihae Road, for the sum of $251,579” for the construction and improvement of the Kawaihae Road on the island… read more
Date added: July 5, 2023
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Kilauea Visitor Center at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A plaque outside the building credits the CCC with its construction.
Date added: July 31, 2012; Modified: July 5, 2023
According to the National Park Service: “Within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, as well as many other parks and forests, much of the work that the CCC did is still evident and still in use. From the research offices to the… read more
Date added: August 29, 2016; Modified: July 5, 2023
Schofield Barracks is a U.S. Army installation. According to a National Park Service report, circa 1940-1941, “Using WPA funds, military engineers and architects continued expanding Schofield Barracks and created a new Hickam Field on the edge of Pearl Harbor.”
Date added: January 28, 2015; Modified: July 5, 2023
The historic post office at Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks. The distinctive building, which was completed in 1940, houses an example of New Deal artwork and is still in use today.
Date added: April 26, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
In 1932, the city government began grading work and site preparations on the grounds of the Ala Moana park with the help of territorial relief funds. But it was the advent of federal assistance in 1933 that expanded the scope of… read more
Date added: April 18, 2017; Modified: July 5, 2023
Lockwood Hall, a.k.a. Building 662, originally constructed as the Bachelor Officer Quarters, was constructed in 1934 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. “Legend holds that during World War II, the concrete lanai was painted with a map of the Pacific… read more