• School Building - Smithville AR
    The fieldstone school was built in 1936 by the WPA, in part in an effort to help revive the town. The school closed in 1946 during a consolidation, and was later converted to a community center. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From contributor Lindsay Penn: "In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Smithville Public School Building in Smithville, Arkansas. The WPA-funded stone building replaced a ca. 1872, one-room, frame schoolhouse, which had replaced the Solomon Schoolhouse (constructed ca. 1840) on land that is now part of the Smithville Cemetery. Smithville had served as the county...
  • Post Office (former) - Osceola AR
    Constructed in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the former Post Office in Osceola, Arkansas is typical of the type of small post offices that were built during the New Deal for rural towns. The $55,000 project probably begun during the tenure of Postmaster Arch Smith in 1935 but was finished and dedicated during that of Clement Bowen who served as Osceola’s postmaster until 1942. This split-level building has a fully usable basement, which allowed the Postal Service three floors of functioning space. The building originally had four entrances; with the main entrance through two sets of tall double...
  • Vester Wilson Athletic Field - Hamilton MT
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a new baseball field, with grandstand and dugouts, for the people of Hamilton, Montana.  We are not certain of the year, but it was probably in 1935 or 1936. The National Youth Administration (NYA) added a quarter-mile running track and a skating rink to the recreation area, but we did not find those in a visit in 2023. The baseball field is still in active use as "Vester Wilson Athletic Field", home of the Bitterroot Red Sox, often regional and state baseball champions, as painted proudly on the back of the old grandstand.
  • Prescott Park Development - Medford OR
    From 1933 to 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed Prescott Park on Roxy Ann Peak on the east side of Medford, Oregon for public recreation.  The CCC enrollees constructed the access road, 18 miles of trails, several picnic areas and overlooks, and drainage ditches. Much of the CCC work is above the parking area and accessible only on foot. Prescott Park covers 1,740 acres on Roxy Ann Peak, a prominent hill east of the city of Medford (a remnant of volcanism in the old West Cascades). The lower slopes are characterized by oak savanna woodland and the higher elevations by...
  • Butte High School - Butte MT
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $360,000 in 1935 for the construction of Butte high school. The total cost of the high school was $930,000 and the project was completed in late 1937. The should be a PWA plaque inside the school but we were unable to locate it. The current Assistant Principal, whose father was Principal after the World War, confirmed that the school was a New Deal project. The design of the 3-4 story building is brick Moderne with bas-relief columns between the windows. New additions have been made and the current entrance on...
  • Prospector Hall, Montana Tech University - Butte MT
    Th PWA granted $320,000 for the construction of a new dormitory at the Montana School of Mines, now known as the Montana Technical campus of the University of Montana. The residence is now known as Prospector Hall. The school's website explains: "Construction of the Residence Hall began in 1935 with an appropriation grant from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration of Public Works. It was open for use during the 1935-1936 academic year. The main structure has four floors each with a student lounge. In addition, there are two wings, each with one floor. It was originally designed to house 110 students."
  • Possum Kingdom State Park - Caddo TX
    With financing from the Works Progress Administration, the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District (now the Brazos River Authority) completed Morris Sheppard Dam in 1941 creating Possum Kingdom Reservoir. The district transferred 6,969 acres of land to the State of Texas for parks around the lake. The original plans by the state included east and west units of Possum Kingdom State Park on opposite shorelines. Designers abandoned the east unit and focused on the west side. Civilian Conservation Company (CCC) Corps 2888 arrived in May 1941 and began work. The CCC enrollees provided utilities and basic services. They cleared the park...
  • Lake Brownwood State Park Improvements - Brownwood TX
    Pecan Bayou flooded the city of Brownwood in late September of 1900 causing considerable damage to the business district and washing away the train track that served the city. The citizens of Brown County looked for a way to control Pecan Bayou. They voted in 1926 to create the Brown County Water Improvement District. The water district acquired seven tracts of land for the purpose of building a dam on Pecan Bayou. The water district completed the dam in 1932 just before another flood swept down the Bayou quickly filling the reservoir. The Texas State Parks Board acquired 538 acres of...
  • Sharp School (former) - Buckholts TX
    The Federal Administration of Public Works (a.k.a. Public Works Administration) provided funds to build the former Sharp School building about a dozen miles north of Thorndale, Texas, in 1939. As of 2018, the west end of the building appears intact, but the roof has collapsed on north and east ends. After a 1939 fire, the Sharp School building was rebuilt with the help of the Public Works Administration. The Bartlett Tribune reported the incident: "Sharp's new $74,000 school building which was to have been dedicated Sept 3, burned to the ground Sunday afternoon ... The building, which was erected with PWA aid...
  • Bosque County Courthouse Addition - Meridian TX
    In 1935, the Meridian Tribune reported that a "contract for re-modeling the Bosque county courthouse and constructing a one-story addition was awarded ... to O.K. Johnson, Waco contractor, for $44,113.00." In 1934, the clock tower and hipped roofs were replaced with a flat concrete roof as a result of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. That renovation also resulted in a one-story addition to the west side of the courthouse. A restoration project in 2005-2007 removed the addition and restored the clock tower and roof to give the courthouse back its former Gothic style.