Butcher & Sweeney Sites

This was a combination City/State/Federal (Civil Works Administration) project. Clearing the right-of-way for the viaduct began in Nov. 1933. In Feb. 1934, the federal government allotted $186,000. The cost of the project was $243,000. The width of paving was reduced to 20 ft from 40 ft to cut cost. The viaduct is over the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad, St. Louis-Southwestern railroad, and Waco creek on Hwy 2 and 44. The 18th Street approach to the bridge had a storm sewer built using CWA labor. The city bought the right-of-way, the cost of viaduct was paid by state and federal funds. Pouring of the concrete deck was...

The PWA constructed one building of the former James E. Guinn School in 1936-37. That building is now occupied by the Business Assistance Center. "The James E. Guinn School had its origins as the Southside Colored School, organized in 1894. Construction of a 3-story brick building began in 1917. The prominent architectural firm of Sanguinet and Staats designed this building. It was demolished in 1986. A second permanent building was constructed in 1927 and was designed by Wiley G. Clarkson. By 1930, the Guinn School was the largest black school in the city for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. An...