• Clinton Federal Building: Reliefs and Sculptures - Washington DC
    The William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, originally the US Post Office Department, was begun under the Hoover Administration and completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It is richly decorated with New Deal artworks paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. There are 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements: 12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, and 8 carved wood medallions. The building serves today as the headquarters for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  It includes a local branch post office, called Benjamin Franklin Station, on Pennsylvania Avenue, that is open to the public; but entry to the rest of the building...
  • Government Publishing Office Warehouse: Cast Stone Reliefs - Washington DC
    U.S. Government Publishing Office Warehouse (also known as Building No. 4) is graced on the exterior by four bas-relief sculptures commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  The original name of this office complex was the US Government Printing Office, but it was changed in 2014. Two printing press worker sculptures were created in 1937 by Elliot Means (1904-1962).  After the 1930s, Means went on to become a successful artist, “known as a maker of bas-reliefs and painter of southwestern scenes” (Albuquerque Journal, 1962). The two eagle sculptures were done by Armin Scheler (1901-1987) in 1937.  After his New Deal artwork,...
  • University of Colorado: Women's Club/McKenna Languages Building - Boulder CO
    A Women's Club building was added to the campus of the University of Colorado in 1937, paid for by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). "Before the construction of the new women's club, the University of Colorado had no suitable facilities for the holding of social functions by women. The building is two stories in height and contains on the first floor a living room, approximately 40 by 25 feet, a dining room, reception room, manager's office, kitchen, and pantry. The second floor is devoted to bedrooms. Construction is fireproof with a reinforced-concrete frame and floor slabs, exterior walls of native stone, and...
  • Boulder High School - Boulder CO
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a beautiful new high school for the city of Boulder in 1936-37, replacing an obsolete structure built in 1895. The project cost $550,500.  The school's design is Streamline Moderne (Art Deco) and one of the architects was Glen Huntington, the builder of the noted Art Deco Boulder County Courthouse (which is not a New Deal structure). The exterior facade is done in the same local "Colorado Red" stone as buildings on the University of Colorado campus. The original interior of the auditorium is intact and probably the cafeteria, as well, along with many of the details,...
  • City Hall and Auditorium - Montgomery AL
    In a survey of federal projects constructed with PWA funding in 1939: "The population of Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama, was 66,079 in 1930. Its city hall was destroyed by fire in 1932 and shortly thereafter a grant from the P.W.A. made possible the construction of a new building, which was placed on a site adjoining the State capitol. It is two stories in height and accommodates the water department, police department, tax collector, health department, engineering department, and the mayor and his staff. In addition, it provides an auditorium with a seating capacity of 2,300, a stage, and miscellaneous offices. The...
  • George Washington High School - San Francisco CA
    George Washington High School in San Francisco was built with the help of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding. It was completed in 1937.   "This building was constructed to reduce overcrowded conditions in other senior high schools. It has 39 classrooms, boys' and girls' gymnasiums, a large auditorium with stage, a small music hall with platform and sloping floor, numerous special service rooms for sewing, cooking, bookkeeping, and other subjects." (Short and Stanley-Brown, p 240) The high school was part of a larger funding 'docket' from the PWA covering 12 elementary and high-school buildings in San Francisco.  The construction cost of Washington...
  • McClatchy High School - Sacramento CA
    CK McClatchy Senior High School in Sacramento CA was built in 1937 with aid from the Public Works Administration (PWA) of the New Deal.  The school was designed by the local architectural firm of Starks and Flanders, which designed other landmark buildings in downtown Sacramento, including the Elks Temple, the U.S. Post Office, and the Courthouse. Ground was broken on May 20 and the school dedicated on September 19, 1937.  The school bears the name of C.K. McClatchy, the late editor and owner of The Sacramento Bee and a powerful figure in Sacramento and Central Valley politics during his life. The school included...
  • Newport Beach Sewage Disposal Plant - Newport Beach CA
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a major improvement of the sewer system of Newport Beach, California, including a sewage treatment plant and several miles of sewer lines. It was completed in 1937. "This treatment plant is one unit of a project which also included three pumping stations and several miles of sewers. The plant comprises the two concrete Imhoff tanks, the gas tank, and one pumping station..."
  • Woodrow Wilson High School Rehabilitation - Long Beach CA
    Woodrow Wilson High School, originally built in 1924, was rehabilitated by W. Horace Austin following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake with $27,000 in Public Works Administration (PWA) funding. In 1937, the Works Project Administration (WPA) reconstructed the gym building. The 1933 earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building...
  • Water Lines and Hydrants - Porterville CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided almost $20,000 in funding and labor to install some 4500 feet of water mains and 72 fire hydrants in Porterville CA.   How much of this work remains in place is unknown.