Completion Year: 1938

This 5' x 10' oil on canvas mural "Rural Landscape" painted by Tom Lewis for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1938, still decorates the Hayward post office.

The former main entrance on the east side of the Alameda County Courthouse leads to an elegant lobby flanked by stairways and two large murals made of inlaid marble backed with gold and silver leaf.   The murals, which measure 10 x 30 feet, were designed by Marian Simpson and sculpted by Gaetano Duccini.  They were paid for by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). One is called "Exploration" and depicts the Native American and Hispanic history of Alameda County.  The other is called "Settling of California" and portrays the arrival of Anglo frontier settlers.  That entrance and lobby is...

This school was built as an elementary school with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938.  It later became a junior high school and was named for William Pitt Bartlett, a Porterville benefactor. The building is single-story and the design by W.D. Coates is Moderne (Art Deco). The main building front still looked unchanged as of 2009, except for probable window replacement. There are new aluminum windows on the small building on the south, and new aluminum doors on the back side. There have been at least 2 additions for new classrooms since it was built.

The Downtown Post Office in Burbank, CA, was constructed by the Treasury Department between 1937 and 1938. The Mission Revival style Post Office was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. "Its Spanish roof and five arches grace the facade that welcomes patrons inside. The suspended lanterns in the porch are reminiscent of a Spanish hacienda that provides beauty as well as shelter. The main entrance’s double doors are handcrafted and trimmed with blue and red. The architectural theme of the building is further carried out in the interior. Masonry floors and tiled walls decorate the public areas and elicit a...

The Bidwell Bowl amphitheater sits along Big Chico Creek on the California State University, Chico campus.  It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, no doubt in conjunction with improvements the WPA was making in Bidwell Park at the time (just upstream). The campus website provides the following information: "Built as a WPA project in 1938, the amphitheater known as the Bidwell Bowl was one of many ventures in Chico that created work for people during the depression. Located on the bank of the creek, next to the Physical Science building, the Bidwell Bowl had been used for various...

Murals by Dorothy Pucinelli and Helen Forbes adorn the interior of the Mothers Building at the SF Zoo which was originally built in 1925 as a refuge for mothers and their children. Pucinelli and Forbes used egg tempera to paint a four panel mural illustrating "Noah and his Ark-the Waters Subsiding and Renewal." The murals were painted in 1938 with Federal Art Project funds. From 1978 to 2002, the building served as the Zoo's gift shop, however the murals are currently deteriorating and, pending more funds for restoration, the building is only used for occasional events.

Originally called Kern County High School, East Bakersfield High School was constructed by the PWA in 1938.

The Cotton auditorium stands adjacent to the Fort Bragg Middle School (formerly Fort Bragg High School).  It was completed in 1938 with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding and named after Principal Joel Cotton in 1939. It was restored in 2006. The style of Cotton Auditorium, which is rather unusual for New Deal era civic structures, is typical of lumber towns like Fort Bragg in the redwood country of California's North Coast.  

The enormous Cow Palace—or, more formally, the Livestock Exhibition Building—was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.  It was completed in early 1938 at a cost of $701,648. It lies just south of the San Francisco city/county line in what was long rural land, before the suburb of Daly City exploded in size in the 1940s and 1950s. The Cow Palace is approximately 250 by 130 feet is size and the steel truss roof soars 110 feet above the ground.   The arena accommodates 12,000 spectators.   The building is constructed of reinforced concrete. The roof is held up by cantilever...