Completion Year: 1937

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Kiowa County Jail in Hobart, OK. Contributor note: "he Kiowa County Jail is still in operation as a jail, and also houses the Kiowa County Sheriff's Office. It was built in 1905 and is a two story brick building, with an exposed basement. The windows are multi-paned casement units, with the windows at the rear having arches. The building is a Contributing Building to the Hobart Historic Business District (Property No. 13). In 1936, a $15,506 appropriation was made for refurbishing of the jail. The building was renovated and enlarged. Originally the building was styled as...

Williston Apartments, consisting of two buildings with about 30 units, was an early project of the Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA). It was completed in 1937, and 265 families applied for apartments, highlighting the need for affordable housing in the nation’s capital. Williston Apartments underwent renovations in 2008-2009, but the exterior appears much as it did in 1937 (see two images below). The number of rentable units remains about the same, “28 units of affordable housing, including 3 units constructed for wheelchair accessibility” (DC Housing Authority). The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans....

The UMN Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC) is the primary research and demonstration forest for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, currently a research and outreach center (ROC) for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. The Cloquet Forestry Center was called the Cloquet Forest Experiment Station when the CCC was active in providing skilled labor to the University. Projects completed at the CFC by some of the men stationed at Big Lake Camp S79 from July 1933 to June 1937 include: - the construction of five and a half miles of fire break and truck trails. - brushing and improvement of 15...

Preliminary work on one of the largest earth dams to be constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees in the south began with the clearing of the site for a 540-acre lake along the Tangipahoa river. Excavation began July 1, with work on the dam construction planned for mid July. Plans called for a barrier of 100,000 cubic yards of earth, spillway 300 feet wide and 800 feet long. The work was on Highway 48, five miles southwest of McComb. Engineer was George Long supervising the local crew of the Civilian Conservation Corp enrollees. Lake Tangipahoa was adjacent to the...

A chain of lakes for the hill counties of Mississippi was proposed in 1936 by Si Corley, director of conservation of the State Game and Fish commission. Funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in concert with the sponsorship of the Game and Fish commission began the construction of a series of lakes adjacent to cities including Dockery Lake near Byram. Dockery Lake completed an earthen dam by April 1937 and began sodding it. Corley pointed out that in addition to providing sites for outdoor sports, when fully stocked, the lakes could produce 2,000 pounds of fish per acre each...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Davie Tennis Stadium in 1936-37 with an allocation of $65,000.  WPA relief workers built five tennis courts, with lights for night play and bleachers for viewing,  plus a community center in rustic style  that has a WPA plaque in front.  Low stone walls circle the courts and run around the short entrance road; stone pillars flank the park gate.  The park opened to the public on September 1, 1937. The park lies within the city limits of Piedmont CA, itself entirely within the city limits of Oakland!  Piedmont residents opposed the park but Oakland built...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the mile-long Berkeley Aquatic Park on the bay front south of University Avenue in 1935-37.  It was created as a water park for water skiing, canoeing, sculling and model yacht racing, and is still used for practice by collegiate rowers and for water sports. The park lies between the freeway (Interstate 80) and the former Southern Pacific Railroad tracks (now Union Pacific).  Tidal gates under the freeway keep the water level constant and refresh the basin with water from San Francisco Bay.  The aquatic park project grew out of the Eastshore Highway, a feeder road for the...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made the first improvements to the newly-acquired Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  Company 1903 worked out of a CCC camp established at the north end of the 'prairie' at the present park entrance.  The first order of business was to develop Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park itself, after which teams from Company 1903 worked at other state parks along the north coast of California. The most notable legacy of the CCC's presence in the park is the Visitor's Center, which originally served as the Warden's (or Custodian's) Residence. It is a single-story rustic building, somewhat modified...

A water system was approved for Blue Mountain 07/21/1936 as PWA project W1005. A loan of $20,000 and grant of $16,363 was approved and bids advertised in September 1936. Contract was awarded 11/03/1936 to the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company and A. H. Beard of St. Louis was the engineer in charge. Using natural springs east of Blue Mountain to supply the water, it marked the first time in the community that standard fireplugs were installed. Construction began November 20th and was completed March 20, 1937 for a total of $36,743.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Porter Street NW from Klingle Road to Connecticut Avenue. This was a “roadside beautification” project that likely involved the planting of shrubs for erosion control, and was described as follows: “This roadway carries a heavy rate of grade and after hard rains it was found that considerable dirt and debris were carried onto the surface of Klingle Road. Temporary sidewalk has been constructed for school children. This project was approximately 2,500 feet long.”