• Thomas Circle Underpass - Washington DC
    Thomas Circle is a traffic circle at the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Vermont Avenue, 14th Street, and M Street, NW.  The through lanes of Massachusetts Ave. pass under Thomas Circle. That underpass was constructed in 1938-40, apparently with federal support from the Public Works Administration (PWA).
  • Washington Navy Yard Improvements - Washington DC
    Many improvements were made to the U.S Navy Yard and Naval Ammunition Depot (now called the Washington Navy Yard) throughout the New Deal, from 1934 to 1941. In 1933, the Washington Post reported that $325,000 had been allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) to improvements at the Navy Yard; the funds were dispensed in 1934 for the modernization of the heating plant.  A 1937 Navy report provides specifics on that work: “new concrete foundations, structural steel boiler supports, air-cooled boiler settings, stoker-fired furnaces, smoke breeching, coal chutes, forced-draft fans, operating platforms and walkways, boiler plant accessories, piping and electric wiring;...
  • Bryce Canyon National Park Improvements - Bryce Canyon UT
    Bryce Canyon was originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and became a national park through an act of Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres in south-central Utah. The New Deal greatly improved Bryce Canyon National Park.  Along with the National Park Service, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided special funds, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked continuously in the park, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was also active. The National Park Service recognizes the CCC's contribution on its website for Bryce Canyon NP, but not that of the PWA or WPA:  “During the 1930s...
  • Post Office Bas-Reliefs (Exterior) - Inglewood CA
    Four plaster bas-reliefs, depicting a buffalo, bear, ram, and lion, decorate the exterior of the Inglewood CA main post office. They sit between the first and second floor windows of the front of the building. These sculptures were created by Gordon Newell and Sherry Peticolas in 1937 and funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (not the arts programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), as sometimes thought). The artist and provenance of the abstract relief with an eagle over the entrance of the post office is unknown to us. The 1940 granite statue of the dog "Rex" in front of the...
  • Rock Creek Park: Carter Barron Fields - Washington DC
    In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) demolished an abandoned reservoir at 16th St. and Morrow Drive, filled in the hole, leveled the adjacent area, and sodded and seeded the entire area.  The open space was intended to be used for recreational purposes in Rock Creek Park and today appears to be the site of the Carter Barron soccer fields, next to the Brightwood Recreation Center (also built by the WPA).
  • Wisconsin Avenue NW Gauging Station - Washington DC
    In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed an additional intake pipe with headwall and appurtenances at the river gauging station at the foot of Wisconsin Avenue along the Potomac. The US Geological Survey has had a recording station at this spot since 1935. The current gauging station appears to be in the spot described in the WPA records.
  • Newlands Memorial Fountain Installation - Washington DC
    Newland Memorial fountain, located at Chevy Chase Circle on the border of Washington D.C. and Chevy Chase MD, was create to honor Francis Newlands, Congressman, author of the Newlands Reclamation Act, and developer of Chevy Chase. The fountain was designed by Edward Wilton Donn in 1933 and put in place in 1938.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. New Deal workers erected the monument as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program.  The work was probably done by Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief laborers, who were active in parks renovations across the district in the 1930s.
  • Washington Monument Grounds Reconstruction - Washington DC
    The Washington Monument grounds – the core area of the National Mall – was substantially altered and improved, including a major reconfiguration of the streets. The work was paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA) from a fund of over $1 million provided for an overhaul of the entire National Mall.  Labor was mostly provided by Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relief workers. First, the Washington Monument grounds were raised and reconditioned with new topsoil, followed by reseeding of the lawns. Second, the circular roadway on the north side of Monument was eliminated and a highway in the line of...
  • Langdon Park Improvements - Washington DC
     During the 1930s, Langdon Park was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). A Washington Daily News article from 1936 described New Deal work in the park: "Wading pool built; new walks, picnic groves and parking area completed." In this case, the improvements were most likely done by the WPA, which was at work on a million-dollar program of parks renovation in 1935-36.  Langdon Park today contains a swimming pool and pool building, basketball courts, tennis courts and as...
  • Edgewood Recreation Center Improvements - Washington DC
    During the 1930s, Edgewood Playground, as it was then known, was upgraded as part of a larger Capital Parks improvement program undertaken by the Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Work Adminstration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). At Edgewood, the WPA graded and constructed tennis courts and may also have built a baseball diamond and other recreational facilities.  The CCC also did unspecified work there, probably landscaping. Today, Edgewood Recreation Center still has tennis courts, basketball courts, a field house and traces of an old baseball diamond (in satellite view).  It is unknown how much evidence remains of...