Civil Works Administration (CWA) Sites

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Palos Blancos Road in Corozal.

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop and otherwise improve Memorial Park in Grove City, Pennsylvania during the 1930s.

As part of Civil Works Administration (CWA) efforts in Wyoming "Afton’s park was prepared for planting trees."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor to undertake numerous improvements to Grace Sprenger Memorial Park, the park at the spring along Beaver Creek in Amherst, Ohio.

As part of Civil Works Administration (CWA) efforts in Wyoming "Riverton’s park (or parks) received a half-mile of irrigation ditches."

"Forty are building a retaining wall at the foot of Morris avenue here near the Rockaway River. The plot will be filled with refuse and dirt after the wall is built. Eventually it will become a park." The park mentioned is today known as Grace Lord Park.

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funded labor toward the development of Parker Memorial Park in Branford, CT. The town's Report of the Parker Memorial Park Committee, 1934 said: "We have been able to accomplish this work in a much shorter time than expected owing to assistance received from the C. W. A."

1933 Mayor Alvin Lucier in his inaugural address listed 4 major projects done in cooperation with Federal Relief agencies. 3. PARKS AND COMMONS AND RECREATION FACILITIES. This project was designed to further develop the Artillery Pond project and includes some building. This would bring nearer to realization a well thought out plan for the development of an area particularly well suited by nature for a recreational center. It also includes work to be done at the South Common and at the swimming pool at Field's Grove. 1934 Mayor Lucier in his annual report wrote: "No less than seven Federal programs have directly affected our people. During...

Only 1933 and 1934 town reports were available, but even so, quite a lot of useful work was accomplished by CWA and FERA on unemployment relief. 1933: City Planning Board "In December a C W A project was started at the Park, Kirby Lake, and on our city trees. At the Park many changes and improvements have been made under this project. A new pavilion has been built, all bushes removed, drains put in, a new bed for the small stream being dug along the easterly line of the Park and the old bed filled in, making a new and ideal spot...

According to the NYC Parks website: "The site of this ballfield was acquired by the City of New York for the construction of the Independent Subway whose line curves from the Avenue of the Americas to West Houston Street. In May 1934 the Board of Transportation granted the Department of Parks a permit to develop for playground purposes four parcels on West Houston Street. The park at the northeast corner of West Houston Street and the Avenue of the Americas was one of thirty-eight new playgrounds added to the Park system in the first four months of Robert Moses’s twenty-six...

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a gymnasium at the old high school for the Paw Creek school district in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (now within the city limits of Charlotte). The structure, whose exact location is unknown to Living New Deal, no longer exists. "The Long Creek High School Gymnasium was one of eight facilities of its general type constructed in Mecklenburg County under the arrangements outlined above, the others being at the high schools then in the local school districts of Huntersville, Paw Creek, Pineville, Sharon, Oakhurst, Berryhill, and Bain. Only the Long Creek Gymnasium survives from this...

The New York City Parks Department website declares: "Despite the hardships endured by New Yorkers over the course of the World Wars and the Great Depression, the demand for golf courses increased steadily. Under the tenure of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981), New York City’s recreational facilities saw great changes. With federal funding provided by the Works Progress Administration, Moses created a variety of new public facilities and expanded others throughout the city. In 1936, the Pell Golf Course was refurbished, and renamed the Pelham Golf Course. That same year, the adjacent Split Rock Golf Course and clubhouse were built." Nonetheless, a Parks...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) built a hospital in Jasper, ca. 1934. The project was started by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and completed by ERA. The facility, which was located at Birmingham Ave. and 19th St., has since been demolished.

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along Pepperbox Road from the Maryland border, through the locality of Ward, to Pepperbox. An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA’s road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a span carrying a road (possibly Locust Street) over Pester Creek in Americus, Kansas. "Pester creek also is being spanned at the western edge of Americus."

2 baseball fields were constructed at Pettingill Park by either the CWA, FERA, or ERA. 27,500 cubic yards of dirt were moved by hand. One of the parks was finished by January 3, 1935.

Out of $10,548 distributed by the Civil Works Administration to Fresno County approved by Edward Macauley, CWA administrator for California, an undisclosed amount went toward "small" projects such as the widening of the N. Piedra Road.

In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funded the labor for demolition of the aging Pilgrim Father's Hall school, on New Park Avenue, in West Hartford, Connecticut. The exact location of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a gymnasium at the old high school in Pineville, North Carolina. The structure, whose exact location is unknown to Living New Deal, no longer exists. "The Long Creek High School Gymnasium was one of eight facilities of its general type constructed in Mecklenburg County under the arrangements outlined above, the others being at the high schools then in the local school districts of Huntersville, Paw Creek, Pineville, Sharon, Oakhurst, Berryhill, and Bain. Only the Long Creek Gymnasium survives from this initial round of construction." (cmhpf.org)

The building contains three murals by artist Burton Callicott in 1934, commissioned under the CWA's Public Works of Art Project. The murals are titled "Conflict with the Indians" (left panel), "Coming of De Soto" (center panel), and "The Discovery of the Mississippi River" (right panel). "For over fifty years, few visitors to the original building of the Memphis Pink Palace Museum have failed to notice the three large murals over the staircase in the lobby. There, in bold oranges and greens and in a dramatic style, is depicted the coming of Hernando De Soto to West Tennessee. The first mural...is filled...

"The kidney-shaped lake is surrounded by a grassy lawn dotted with mature trees and shrubs. A gravel path encircles the lake. Two modern bridges with metal railings cross the lake near its center... The current bridge is a modern addition to the lake as is the picnic shelter. Research suggests that this was a CWA project completed in 1934."

In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) furnished the labor for redecoration / painting of the auditorium of the now-former Plant Junior High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. In 1934 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) repainted the exterior of the school

In 1933, workers for the Civil Works Administration (CWA) made trails on the cliff face at Lands End and "planted thousands of Monterey Cypress around Lands End to ‘beautify’ the area."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted "bituminous mat paving" on North Plum Street in Hutchinson, Kansas, between 17th and 30th Avenues.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration (with funds from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration) and the Civil Works Administration carried out new road construction from Ponce de Leon to Fernandez Junco Ave in San Juan.

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along Port Mahon Road, notably the infill of marshes, east of Little Creek. An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA’s road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

  General improvements, dredging and wharf and warehouse construction.

Work on Stayman Field began in December 1932 (before the New Deal) with funding from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The initial construction was completed in November 1933. The stadium was named after Joseph W. Stayman, the president of Potomac State College from 1921 to 1936. In December 1933, it was reported that a crew of workers from the New Deal’s Civil Works Administration (CWA) had begun work on the expansion of Stayman Field, from its original “450 feet, by 270, to a long rectangle of 700 feet” (The Pasquino, 12-12-1933). The expansion facilitated better maintenance for the football field, and...

Coudersport, Pennsylvania's historic Potter County Courthouse "was renovated by the Civil Works Administration in the winter of 1933–34."

The Prescott Rodeo grounds at the Yavapai County Fairgrounds were constructed with the help of the New Deal in the mid-1930s. Among the improvements to what was then known as the Northern Arizona State Fairground were a large rodeo grandstand, administration buildings, an infirmary, two barracks, a bakery, a kitchen and mess hall, and two water wells.  Many of the buildings no longer exist, but the grandstand is still in use.  It is uncertain whether the stone Doc Pardee building and Danny Freeman building behind the grandstand are also New Deal in origin.  One source (World's Oldest Rodeo) is definite that they were, but...

"This collection of animals was formalized as the Prospect Park Zoo on Flatbush Avenue that opened to the public on July 3, 1935. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the zoo was part of a massive citywide park improvement program initiated and executed by former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses... As with its WPA cousin in Central Park, the Prospect Park Zoo showcased limestone relief work by F.G.R. Roth, still visible today; the eleven bas-reliefs are based on Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories and depict Mowgli, the boy raised by wolves... As was the case with the Central Park Zoo, time and better...

Improvements were made to the Millbury, Massachusetts's old Providence Street School building and grounds with the assistance of federal New Deal funds. The old school is now privately owned. The Civil Works Administration provided labor for a grounds grading project begun in 1933 as well as a roof shingling project begun and completed that year. At the same time Federal Emergency Relief Act funds enabled other improvements at the school, such as the installation of concrete steps. The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) redecorated the interior of the building in 1936 and constructed a fence and sidewalk "on the Pearl Street side...

Per the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) supplied labor toward "the cutting down of the brush on the public reserves" in Nenana, Alaska in 1934.

The Rutland Public Library was renovated with the help of Public Works Administration funds. (Docket No. Vt. 1059-DS) The work consisted of installing interior partitions and painting and restoring the architectural details of the façade. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted restoration work on the facility as well. "The Rutland Free Library was started in 1886. Originally housed in various storefronts and at the old Memorial Hall on West Street, the library has been located in the old courthouse and jail on Center Street since the 1930s."   (https://rutlandfree.org) In the 1935 town report, the mayor Henry H. Branchaud said: "Taking the PWA projects voted...

Multiple New Deal agencies collaborated in the development of the Pueblo Zoo, a component of the City Park complex. The stunning stone structures at the zoo (and throughout the park) are still in use. "The two-and-one-half acre zoo contains an assortment of buildings and structures constructed between 1933 and 1940, utilizing native calcium sandstone quarried 25 miles west of Pueblo. The zoo exemplifies the trend toward exhibiting animals in more natural settings. The Pueblo Zoo was constructed during the Great Depression through the efforts of three New Deal agencies: the Public Works Administration; Civil Works Administration; and the Works Progress Administration."...

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Puerto Diablo Road in Vieques.

The Civil Works Administration carried out repair and maintenance work on the Punta Tuna Lighthouse Road in Maunabo.

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) and, later, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted substantial construction and improvement work at Queen City Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the 1930s. CWA labor constructed roads and tennis courts, and drained fields for baseball diamonds. WPA labor constructed nature walks featuring stone walkways and bridges. The Queen City Park Pool was a WPA project as well.

The "Flemish Revival" style Astoria branch of the Queens Borough Public Library was constructed in 1904, but heavily renovated by the CWA in the 1930s: "The angled corner was squared off, which created two new windows and made the structure three bays wide, two bays deep, and more rectangular.  The original saffron brick pattern and tripartite window designs were carefully replicated in the new corner walls.  A new stairway and main entrance were constructed, with narrow windows with stone sills and keystones on either side of the door.  A basement entrance for children was created and the basement windows were widened. ...

Quincy National Cemetery was improved as part of Federal Project F-87 by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA). The work done "included the resetting, realigning and cleaning of headstones ... as well as the filling-in of sunken graves."