Completion Year: 1938

McGuinn Hall was a Colonial Revival style men’s dormitory constructed in 1938 on the campus of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), a historically black college founded in Tallahassee, Florida in 1887. A dedication plaque on the wall of McGuinn Hall indicates that it was constructed as a Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works project, number FLA 1092-6-DS. The architect was Rudolph Weaver, F.A.I.A., who served as dean of the University of Florida’s College of Architecture from 1925 until 1944. He designed a number of dormitories for the University of Florida as well as Florida State University. The latter included...

The Capital City County Club Golf Course was originally a 9-hole golf course developed by George Perkins. In 1924, the newly-incorporated Tallahassee Country Club purchased the golf course from Perkins. In 1935, the Tallahassee Country Club donated the land to the City of Tallahassee. That same year the city received a $35,000 Works Progress Administration grant to expand the golf course to 18 holes. The city engaged noted golf course architect Albert W. Tillinghast to inspect and comment on the plans, which also included renovating the existing 9 holes. Construction began in 1936 and was completed in 1938. In 1956,...

The Works Progress Administration built a culvert at the intersection of 8th Street and Maud Linnie Avenue in Gotebo, OK. Contributor note: "This culvert is located in a residential area and crosses 8th Street east to west. The culvert is concrete and the opening is about 2 ft. high and 4 ft. wide. On each curb there is a WPA shield pressed into the concrete reading WPA 1938. The culvert is partially blocked by concrete blocks at each end, and does not look like it would function properly."

The Cedar Avenue Complex was constructed in 1938 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It began life as a county civic center in Lancaster CA, forty years before that city was incorporated (1977).   It included a library, memorial hall, courthouse and sheriff's office, as well as an older jail from the 1920s.  The simple Art Moderne (Art Deco) design was by Los Angeles County architect Edward C. M. Brett.   The Cedar Avenue Complex was successfully nominated for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1990s. The entire complex was renovated by the city in 2014 and...

In 1937-38, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved and paved the old dirt Redwood Canyon Road as part of the New Deal's contribution to the newly-created East Bay Regional Parks (EBRPD).  Today, it is known simply as Redwood Road. The road descends from Skyline Boulevard (also built by the WPA) to the entrance of Redwood Regional Park in the canyon below. Skyline, in turn, runs north to link up with Sibley, Temescal and Tilden Parks, the rest of the original four parks in the EBRPD system. Redwood Road crosses the South Fork of Redwood Creek several times and several of the old...

The Works Progress Administration built a highway culvert in Gotebo, OK. Contributor note: "This culvert crosses Highway 9 in front of the Gotebo Post Office.  This is a concrete culvert which runs north-south across Highway 9, just west of Highway 54. The opening is about 4 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep, and the date 1938 is shown on the WPA stamp on the curbing."

The Works Progress Administration built culverts on 10th Street in Gotebo, OK in 1938. The culverts are marked with the WPA stamp and are located north and south of Maud Linnie Avenue. Contributor note: In front of a former school, these two culverts cross 10th Street, north and south of Maud Linnie Avenue. They handle drainage flowing east-west. The culverts are concrete and have openings approximately 2 ft. high and 4 ft. wide. The curbing is imprinted with the WPA stamp showing the year 1938. Grass and weeds are grown up at the entrances which may impede the water flow. The nearby auditorium/gymnasium was also...

The Works Progress Administration built a school addition and gymnasium in Carnegie, OK. Contributor note: "Facing State Highway 58 (S. Carnegie Street) is a pre-WPA school building now called The Memorial Building, which serves as a community center. On the south side of this school, a classroom extension has been added. A change in the color of the brick differentiates where this addition was added. Windows on the south side of this addition are set in triples. A WPA shield on the southeast corner by the entrance reads 1937-1938. Perpendicular to the original school building on the east side (rear) is a...

The Alice Keith Park Swimming Pool in Beaumont, TX was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. A ten-acre municipal tract, Alice Keith Park was constructed in 1932 to help alleviate unemployment and provide a recreational space in the southeastern section of the city. The Superintendent of Parks and Recreation remarked after the pool’s completion: “As a WPA project, which included sewer lines, sidewalks, and other park improvements, the pool was constructed and landscaped in about six months and was opened May 28 , designated as city-wide ‘Splash Day.’ The pool is the last word in modern appearance,...

Both the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out projects at the Mount Diablo State Park from 1933 to 1942.  The CCC work is well-known, and it is acknowledged by the State Parks on their website and in signage at the Summit Building. Less recognized is the WPA work in the park, which was mostly on roads.  There is also extensive drainage work alongside and under the roads that features lovely rustic stonework.  The State Parks website attributes drainage works to the CCC but they may well have been done by WPA workers, too. WPA job cards in...