Quality of Information: Minimal

In September 1935, the village of Primrose was notified that it had been given a grant of $7,363.00 from the Public Works Administration (PWA) for the purpose of building a municipal auditorium and gymnasium. The total project cost was estimated to be $19,700.00. Begun in March 1936, the building was complete by the end of September.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped fund the construction of a new school in Primrose in Boone County. The new building with a full basement would measure thirty by thirty-two feet. The building had a brick and tile foundation and a cement floor. The WPA’s share of the project was $3,046.57, for a total project cost of $4,394.37.

The Columbia Municipal Airport was located on route 40, now Business Loop 70 West, when Highway 40 was one of the major east-west roads in the country. This hangar is now being used by the city of Columbia as a storage and repair facility for the Parks and Recreation Department. The original signage designating it as the Columbia Municipal Airport remains. The area to the north was the site of the airport and was improved as a PWA project. Currently the airport is part of the city parks department and includes a golf course, trails, picnic grounds and shelters, and...

PWA funds contributed to the construction of this waterworks, designed by engineering firm W.A. Fuller, in 1940. It is a one-story rock building with a native rock façade and a garage opening, and was the city water works from 1940. It is presently privately owned, but they have retained the bronze plaques on the front of the structure.

In 1936, the PWA funded the construction of this small 2- to 3-room school with rock façade that is presently a private residence.  It is just south of the main road through town. The federal contribution to the project was $8,000.

The WPA constructed Benton High School in 1937. It was used as a high school until 1957, and then as an elementary school until 1970, after which it was put to community uses before being closed. It is a long, wide, linear school with hips at both ends and a gabled entrance in the center and at both ends.  The concrete above the central entrance clearly shows the school name. Quoins are present at all exterior corners.  The school is in good condition with windows intact - they may have been restored by the Benton Community Betterment Corp. (see second...

WPA crews built the wood frame Vanduser City Hall in 1936, with a federal contribution of $9,664.

The PWA provided funds for the construction of a 2-story gymnasium/auditorium for the Morehouse School, featuring a brick facade with banks of classrooms flanking the gymnasium.  The total cost for the project was $62,000 (docket #1488). The school closed in 2013, relocating to nearby Sikeston, and the building is now home to a for-profit youth rehabilitation center called Proverb Academy, Inc.

The CCC assisted in the development of this state forest.

The CCC did extensive work to build Erving State Forest. From Wikipedia: “The property is largely wooded and hilly with an extensive network of park roads and hiking trails, the majority of which were created by the Civilian Conservation Corps.”