Federal & Military Operations Sites

The 1,300+ mile Alaska Highway was constructed in 1942 and opened in 1943.  It was built to provide an alternate supply line to Alaska during World War II, an idea the President Roosevelt had proposed to the Canadian government in 1936.  It runs through Canadian Territory but the cost was borne by the United States.   The Alaska Highway was a joint effort of the U.S. Army (Corps of Engineers) and the Public Roads Administration (PRA)—a sub-agency of the New Deal's Federal Works Agency that replaced the earlier Bureau of Public Roads.  The construction was carried out by a host of PRA-contracted...

Federal Works Agency (FWA) built the City of Anamosa, Iowa Post Office. The Cornerstone of the building lists John Carmody, the Administrator of the Federal Works Project.

This standard, Colonial Revival post office was built as a New Deal project. Examples of this building can be seen all over the country. This building serves as the central post office for the city of Warwick, and is notable for its 1942 mural by Paul Sample depicting local shellfishers.

The Arkabutla Dam and reservoir project was the second of three projects for flood control management of the Yazoo-Tallahatchie-Coldwater river systems in Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers directed the $10,000,000 project. In order to construct the dam and reservoir, the town of Coldwater had to be relocated a mile further south. Approximately 700 residents were relocated at a cost of $250,000. The earthen dam is 11, 500 feet long, average of 67 feet high, and 482 feet wide at the base. Contracts were let to H. N. Rodgers & Son, Forcum-James, and Pioneer Contracting. Patton-Tully Transportation was awarded a...

Built 1938-39 under the Flood Control Act of 1936, following catastrophic local floods in 1935, and still in use. Federal cost was $1,910,000. C.C.C. built a camp nearby for the construction workers,

H. Louis Freund painted this 13' x 4'8" oil on canvas mural "Early Days and First Post Office in Pocahontas" in 1939 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts for the post office in Pocahontas. After years of damage, it was restored and transported to ASU. "The mural depicts several early scenes of Pocahontas and the surrounding areas. In the lower right is the community of Davidsonville, where the state's first post office was established in 1817. On the left is the old dam and mill as it existed around 1835 in the community of Birdell on the Eleven Point River....

The former Atlantic Station post office was originally constructed as Virginia Beach’s Main Post Office in 1937. A Section of Fine Arts mural by artist John H.R. Pickett was installed in the post office in 1939. Unfortunately, the building was razed in 2009 after being purchased by Walgreens. The re-development of the property took place despite opposition by local officials, businesses and other citizens. A 2009 local newspaper reported: The 72-year-old Oceanfront post office faces possible demolition next year. ‘Walgreens has purchased that building,’ said Mac Rawls, chairman of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. ‘They are scheduled to tear it down – they’ve already...

The historic Audubon Station post office in New York, New York is located on West 165th Street, between Audubon Ave. and Amsterdam Ave. It was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. The post office was initially known as New York, New York's Station 'M' until its redesignation as Audubon Station on April 1, 1947. The building's cornerstone dates an initial stage of construction to 1935. The building is still in service.

Arnold Friedman painted this oil on canvas mural, entitled "Environs of Warrentown," in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was originally installed in the Warrentown post office but was removed in the early 1980's because of complaints about the mural's subject matter.

The historic Babb-Piegan U.S. Border Inspection Station on Highway 89 north of Babb, Montana was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The rustic cabin-style facility was completed in 1993. Replaced in 2003 with a facility closer to the border, the historic inspection station is part of what is now a larger housing development.

The US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing this important Los Angeles urban waterway.  Much of the creek was "channelized", i.e.,  lined with concrete, as part of a massive flood-control project undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District following the great Los Angeles flood of 1938. Ballona Creek is short river in southwestern Los Angeles County that drains an area exending from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, the Harbor Freeway (I-110) on the east, and the Baldwin Hills on the south. It flows through Culver City and...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...

Marion Sanford completed this plaster bas relief, entitled "Weighing Cotton," in 1939 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in what was originally the Winder post office. It is viewable in the Exhibit Room of the Barrow County Museum.

A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established west of the Baker-Barry tunnel on the Marin Headlands, probably in 1934. Enrollees from this camp built the Baker-Barry Tunnel, a single-lane passage under the Marin Headlands, in 1935. The CCC camp closed in 1936, but the tunnel remains on Bunker Road in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  It was extensively renovated by the National Park Service in 2016-17.    

Originally the United States Marine Hospital, what is now Richmond University Medical Center's Bayley Seton Hospital was a PWA project. It is described by the Federal Writers' Project: "United States Marine Hospital, Bay Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, a Federal hospital operated by the United States Public Health Service, is open to personnel of the Merchant Marine and Coast Guard, and to certain classes of Government employees. Constructed in 1933-6 by the PWA at a cost of two million dollars, the tawny-colored brick buildings with a silver tower cover an area of eighteen acres. Louis A. Simon was the supervising architect. This...

Originally built as the Goose Creek post office, the historic Baytown Historical Museum building was originally constructed in 1936 as the city's post office and Federal Building. Construction was funded by the federal Treasury Department. The building houses an example of New Deal artwork.

In 1935, the U.S. The Treasury Department funded the construction of the Huntington Beach Post Office on Olive Avenue and Main Street. The Treasury bought the land plot on which the post office was to be built and allocated $52,000 for the building.  Today, the Huntington Beach Post Office is known as the Beach Center Post Office. The post office still exists and remains mostly unchanged architecturally. There is an identical building that was built in 1935 in Santa Paula, California. 

The historic Belden Station post office in Norwalk, Connecticut was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1937. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

The Bennington Local Protection Project was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in Bennington, Vermont during the Great Depression. Later reconstruction projects were handled by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. "The Bennington Local Protection Project is located along the left bank of Roaring Branch, a tributary of the Walloomsac River, in Bennington. The project protects Bennington from damage caused by the floodwaters of Roaring Branch. The project, about one mile in length, begins about 1,000 feet upstream of the Brooklyn Bridge and ends on Park Street. It consists of: Three sections of concrete floodwall with stone slope protection...

The historic Benson Station post office in Omaha, Nebraska was completed in 1941 with Treasury Department funds. The building is still in service.

Berea, Kentucky's Police and Municipal Center was originally built as the community's post office. The New Deal building was constructed ca. 1938. It also houses an example of New Deal artwork.

Frank W. Long completed this tempera-on-plaster mural, entitled "Berea Commencement in the Old Days," in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the lobby of the Berea Police and Municipal Center (itself a New Deal building), which was originally constructed as Berea's post office.

Annexes to the original federal building and courthouse dating to 1905 were completed in 1938. The entire structure was renamed for the late politician Birch Bayh in 2003. From the visitor's guide to the complex: "Originally half its current size, the Court House was expanded in 1938, with the east and west wings of the building extended and connected by a new north corridor. After the expansion, the building filled the entire block, rose to five stories on the north side, and incorporated two portals at the northeast and northwest corners to allow access for postal vehicles." Thus, the New Deal construction...

The Bluestone Dam began by an executive order of FDR in 1935 with work beginning in 1941 on the dam itself. The Bluestone Dam is constructed with concrete reinforced by steel rods. A unique feature of the dam was the first use of blowing air bubbles into the concrete to help protect from freeze damage. The same technique was used in later dams throughout the nation. In 1997, the Bluestone Dam was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for federal flood control program of the early to mid-twentieth century, its association to the New Deal programs. It...

Dams on the Columbia River for hydropower, navigation and irrigation had been eyed by Northwestern industrial, shipping and agricultural interests well before the New Deal.  The Army Corps of Engineers published a report in 1929 that recommended ten dams on the river and the Bureau of Reclamation also had plans for irrigation development upstream, called the Columbia Basin Project.  The Roosevelt Administration supported both agencies in their pursuits; with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) the two anchor dams, Bonneville and Grand Coulee, were begun in 1934. Bonneville lock and dam were built by the Army Corps of Engineers and completed...

Constructed with funds and labor from the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Booker T. Washington State Park was established in 1938 as a segregated recreational facility for African Americans, the second such facility in the state of Tennessee (the other being T. O. Fuller State Park near Memphis). The park is situated on Lake Chickamauga, which was created with the construction of the Chickamauga Dam by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The nearby Harrison Bay State Park was built at the same time for white Tennesseans. Tennessee parks were formally desegregated in 1964 with the passage of...

The historic Ambler Borough Hall was originally constructed as the community's post office ca. 1937. An example of New Deal artwork constructed for the building has since been relocated.

What is now North East's New Deal Borough Hall was originally built as the North East post office during the mid-1930s by the US Treasury.

The historic Boulevard Station post office in the Bronx, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building is still in use today.

The Bourne Bridge across the Cape Cod canal was built for the US Army Corps of Engineers, with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It was part of a very large project to improve the canal and add three bridges across it; the PWA allotment was $6,138,000 for the entire project.  (Short & Stanley-Brown 1939) The project began in 1933 and the bridge opened in 1935. The contractor was American Bridge Company of New York, New York and the engineering was done by Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike of Boston, Massachusetts (historicbridges.com) The Bourne Bridge won the American Institute of Steel Construction's Class "A" Award...

The historic Broad Ripple Station post office in Indianapolis was constructed in 1940-41 with Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

The historic Bronx General Post Office was built from 1935 to 1937.   It was designed by consulting architect Thomas Harlan Ellett (1880-1951) for the Treasure Department's Office of the Supervising Architect, Louis Simon. The building is constructed of smooth gray brick, features graceful arched window openings, and is surrounded at the base by a granite terrace. The post office is fronted by two New Deal sculptures by Henry Kreis and Charles Rudy.  Inside there is a large set of murals by Ben Shahn.  The sculptures were landmarked by the city of New York in 1975 and the murals were landmarked in 2013. In 2014 the post office was closed...

A new annex was constructed for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1936-38. The building was authorized by Congress in 1935 for $6.3 million, but the funds flowed through the Public Works Administration (PWA).   The Treasury Department's Procurement Division handled the design through its architecture office, put out the contract and supervised construction, which was carried out by the John McShain Co. (Evening Star, 1936). In its 1936 fiscal year report, the U.S. Treasury noted: “On August 12, 1935, Congress authorized the construction of a new annex to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to be located on a site...

The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1933-35.  It was part of a much larger project that included widening the canal and three bridges across it, for which the PWA made a grant of $6,138,000. (Short & Stanley-Brown 1939) The bridge was designed by Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff, and Douglas, along with Mead and White, for the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates all three bridges and the canal.   The main space is 544 feet long and has 135-foot clearance when raised (Wikipedia) At the time...