Completion Year: 1940

Under the New Deal, the defunct Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal was acquired by the federal government and restored from Georgetown in the District of Columbia (where it enters the Potomac River) to Seneca MD, a distance of 22 miles.  This lay the basis for the future C&O Canal National Historical Park.   The C&O canal, built between 1824 and 1850, is historically significant as one of the best preserved remnants of the great canal boom of the first half of the 19th century. Today, it functions as one of the major recreational assets of the greater Washington DC area. The canal...

The Works Progress Administration built Karnack High School between 1938 and 1940. In 2016, due to low enrollment, high school students began going to nearby Jefferson Independent School District, and the school board moved Kindergarten through 8th grade and the central administration offices to the high school building. The building was renamed George Washington Carver Elementary School.

Historically identified as the Oregon State Forester’s Office Complex, the Oregon Department of Forestry Complex was developed by workers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The Historic American Buildings Survey described this complex as a significant example of New Deal-era planning and development. It includes 4.5 acres originally utilized as the state headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps and 7.25 acres purchased for the Oregon State Forester’s Office and forest service supplies. Although new construction exists, the lay-out, buildings and landscaping are a legacy of WPA and CCC work and the collaborative contributions of the...

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (USGPO) is a four building complex, which was called the Government Printing Office until the name was changed to the Government Publishing Office in 2014.  Building No. 3 was constructed in 1939-40 by the Treasury Department and the Federal Works Agency.  The funding for Building No. 3 was approved by Congress, c. 1935, along with two other federal building projects in the District (an annex for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and remodeling of a building for the General Accounting Office).  In 1938 a group of buildings at H and North Capitol streets NW was torn down to...

The City of Columbus was awarded $8,821 for WPA project 41048 for improvements to Camp Pratt recreation center. The summer camp facility constructed a swimming pool, keeper's house, and remodeled camp houses, using 27 workers for 6 months. The city of Columbus supplied the materials. The 70-acre site was sold in 2018 with the agreement the city could continue to use it for summer camp.

The Fulton Grammar School was completed in 1940 with a WPA grant, following the loss of the old grammar school by fire in April. The one story brick school was designed by architect J. B. Lawson. Containing 19 rooms, the school housed a library, music room, kindergarten, office, and a 550-seat auditorium. WPA provided funds between $48,008-$74,590. The school closed in 1999, was named a Mississippi Landmark in 2001 and received grant money in the amount of $168,000 from the Mississippi Arts Commission and $75,000 from the Community Heritage Preservation foundation for renovations. It is currently in used by the...

Bedford Dwellings was the first of Pittsburgh Housing Authority’s construction of low-cost housing. Dr. B. J. Hovde, the administrator, announced the contract would be awarded to Ring Construction Company with the low bid for the 420 units at $1,173,000. The completed project was proposed to cost $2,560,000 and cover a 20-acre site on Bedford Avenue. Low bidders on plumbing work was Moss and Blakely, heating was George H. Soffel and Company, and electrical was Sargent Engineering Company. Lumber and millwork was awarded to Atlas Lumber and Supply Company. Bedford Dwellings were ready for occupancy March 1, 1940 and able to...

Architects Raymond Marlier, Edward B. Lee, William Boyd, and Bernard Prack designed the 3 public housing units constructed 1938-1940 in the Hill District. The USHA loaned 90% of the cost of the 3 projects. Terrace Village No. 1 was the second project for Pittsburgh, housing 805 families with an estimated cost of $4,950,000. The proposed project required the removal of 800,000 cubic yards of dirt from a hill overlooking a gully. No. 1 was constructed on Ruch Hill, covering 40 acres. No. 2 was built of Goat and Gazzam Hills, covered 89 acres, housed 1,818 families and cost approximately $10,800,000....

St. Bernard Projects were constructed 1940 as one of New Orleans' "Big Four" high-density urban public housing projects. Initially comprised of 744 units in 74 buildings constructed on 30.9 acres, the project was bordered by St. Bernard Avenue to Gibson Street and Senate Street to St. Denis Streets. Architects Herbert A. Benson, George Christy, and William Spink designed the buildings "to echo the brick townhouses of the Vieux Carre" (Historic American Buildings Survey, 1933). Similar to other public housing units in New Orleans, they reflected elements of the period including porches and balconies with metalwork and canopies. Unlike other units,...

The Gerald R. Ford House Office Building was constructed during the New Deal as the Federal General Office Building No. 1 (GOB #1).  It was built just behind the new Social Security and Railroad Retirement Board buildings, which were underway at the time. Its original purpose was to house 7000 employees of the U.S. Census Bureau for the census of 1940. Congress appropriated $3.5 million for the building in 1938 and it was constructed in record time in 1939-40 (FWA 1940). It provided one-half million square feet of office space. President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal drove an unprecedented increase in federal employees...