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Oronzio Maldarelli was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Airmail Pilot.” It is made out of an aluminum alloy, and Maldarelli was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction of the newly-created Public...

Berta Margoulies was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Colonial Foot Postman, 1691-1775.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Margoulies was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction of...

The Clinton Federal Building (north) was originally the US Post Office Department headquarters, completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It contains a wealth of New Deal artworks commissioned and paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts – 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements (12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, 8 wood medallions) – featuring postal themes. Reginald Marsh painted two large (6'7" x 12'6") murals for the Post Office building:  "Sorting the Mail" and "Unloading the Mail" (1936).   The Marsh murals hang in the 4th floor of the north wing of the Clinton building. The building is presently occupied by the Environmental...

The Clinton Federal Building (north) was originally the US Post Office Department headquarters, completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It contains a wealth of New Deal artworks commissioned and paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts – 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements (12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, 8 wood medallions) – featuring postal themes. In 1937, Frank Mechau painted two large (7 x 13') oil-on-canvas murals for the former Post Office Department Building: "Dangers of the Mail" and "Pony Express."  They are notable both for their stylistic daring and their controversial subject matter, and they have evoked praise...

The Clinton Federal Building (north) was originally the US Post Office Department headquarters, completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It contains a wealth of New Deal artworks commissioned and paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts – 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements (12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, 8 wood medallions) – featuring postal themes. William C. Palmer painted two large (7' x 13.5') murals for the Post Office Building: "Covered Wagon Attacked by Indians" and "Mail Coach Attacked by Bandits" (1937). It must be said that Palmer's idea of the Wild West was standard popular mythology and the...

Attilio Piccirilli was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Contemporary Postman.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Piccirilli was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction of the newly-created...

The William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building, originally the US Post Office Department, was begun under the Hoover Administration and completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It is richly decorated with New Deal artworks paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. There are 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements: 12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, and 8 carved wood medallions. The building serves today as the headquarters for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  It includes a local branch post office, called Benjamin Franklin Station, on Pennsylvania Avenue, that is open to the public; but entry to the rest of the building...

The Clinton Federal Building (north) was originally the US Post Office Department headquarters, completed under the New Deal in 1934.  It contains a wealth of New Deal artworks commissioned and paid for by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts – 25 murals and 22 sculptural elements (12 bas-reliefs, 2 statues, 8 wood medallions) – featuring postal themes. Eugene Francis Savage painted two large (7 x 13.5') murals for the Post Office Department building:  "Carrier of News and Knowledge" and "Messenger of Sympathy and Love".  The works were painted in 1937. Sarah Gordon says of these murals: "As the culmination of the U.S. Post...

Concetta Maria Scaravaglione was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Railway Mail Carrier, 1862.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Scaravaglione was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction...

Carl Ludwig Schmitz was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “City Delivery Carrier, 1863.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Schmitz was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction...

Heinz Warneke was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “Express Mail Carrier.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Warneke was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the jurisdiction of the...

Sidney Biehler Waugh was commissioned by the New Deal’s Treasury Section of Fine Arts to create the sculpture “U.S. Post Stage Driver, 1789-1836.” The sculpture was made out of an aluminum alloy, and Waugh was paid $3,000 for the job. When this artwork was created, the present-day Clinton Federal Building was the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office Department. The Treasury Section of Fine Arts existed from 1934 to 1943. It was initially called the “Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture”; then the “Treasury Section of Fine Arts”; and finally just “Section of Fine Arts” when it was moved under the...

Commissioned August 15, 1940, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. It continues to serve and is presently the busiest such facility in the United States.

A former military facility, the Coast Guard Air Station at Floyd Bennett Field was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. "The City of New York under the direction of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, deeded a portion of New York City's only municipal airport at that time, Floyd Bennett Field, to the Coast Guard air arm on 9 July 1936.  The station was constructed at a cost of $399,800.00. Dedication ceremonies were set for 23 April 1938." CGAS Brooklyn was decommissioned May 1998.  

The Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building was built 1938-40 as the home of the Social Security Administration, one of the major new programs of the New Deal. The building was funded and constructed in conjunction with the Railroad Retirement Board headquarters, now the Mary E. Switzer building.  The two buildings stand across C street from each other.  They were the first federal buildings south of the Mall. As soon as President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law in 1935, planning began for a new headquarters building for the Social Security Administration (SSA).  Then, when Congress funded the...

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. One of the artworks is a sculpture, "American Eagle," by noted African American artist and sculptor, Richmond Barthé (1940). The Social Security Administration never occupied the building, which was turned over to the War Department in 1941.  After the war, the Federal Security Agency (FSA), under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In 1953, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, succeeded...

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Two of the artworks are exterior bas-reliefs over entrances by Emma Lou Davis, "Family Group" and "Unemployment Compensation" (1941). The Social Security Administration never occupied the building, which was turned over to the War Department in 1941.  After the war, the Federal Security Agency (FSA), under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In 1953, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, succeeded the...

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to many social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Two of the artworks are murals by Seymour Fogel, "Wealth of the Nation" and "Security of the People," painted in 1938 and installed in 1942 in the lobby at Independence Avenue entrance. The Social Security Administration never occupied the building, which was turned over to the War Department in 1941.  After the war, the Federal Security Agency (FSA), under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In...

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. One of the artworks is a large fresco stage curtain in the auditorium by Philip Guston, "Reconstruction and Well-Being of the Family" (1942). The Social Security Administration never occupied the building, which was turned over to the War Department in 1941.  After the war, the Federal Security Agency (FSA), under which the Social Security Board had been placed in 1939, moved into the building. In 1953, the Department of Health,...

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. One of the lesser-known artworks is a mural by Jenne and Ethel Magafan, "Mountains in Snow." (c. 1942) Two other murals have been removed and are now stored at the National Museum of American Art: Dorothy and Fred Farr, "Sports Related to Food" (1942). Gertrude Goodrich mural, originally placed around the four walls of the cafeteria, depicting typical activities in four parts of the country (1943).    

The Wilbur J. Cohen building, originally built for the Social Security Administration in 1938-1940, is home to a magnificent collection of social security themed artworks funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.  The most spectacular of the artworks is a massive, multi-paneled, fresco mural by Lithuanian-born artist Ben Shahn, entitled "The Meaning of Social Security." Shahn's mural cycle covers both sides of the central corridor of the  building. On the east wall are three panels depicting the ills Social Security was meant to alleviate:  "Child Labor, Unemployment, and Old Age."  On the west well are scenes of a society cured of...

The historic College Station post office in New York, New York on West 140th St. was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. This project was implemented by the Public Works Administration. The building's cornerstone, and an interior plaque, put the dates of construction at 1935 to 1937. The building is still in service. C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown: "This delightfully designed postal station is on West 140th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues and serves a district bounded by the Harlem River on the east, St. Nicholas Avenue on the west, and a depth...

Commercial Pier No. 5 was part of a large-scale New Deal redevelopment program for the Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront area. Construction of the pier began in 1940, by the Penker Construction Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was completed in 1941. The Army Corps of Engineers supervised the project and the total cost was about $270,000 (about $5 million in 2020 dollars). About 3,000 cypress and pine logs from Virginia were used to create the pier. Commercial Pier No. 5 permitted a greater exchange of goods in the nation’s capital, and was the result of “many years of agitation” from the business...

The Commonwealth Post Office in Fullerton, California was funded by the Department of the Treasury and constructed in 1939 in only 7 months. This New Deal project provided work for 40 men.  At the time, it was the City of Fullerton’s first and only post office until 1962. It was also the first building in the city that was federally owned.  The post office was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architecture. It is a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival building. The Post Office still exists today and still houses a mural called “Orange Pickers” by Paul Julian.  The Commonwealth Post Office is...

"Conchas Dam is the oldest and one of the largest water projects of the US Army Corps of Engineers in New Mexico. Begun under the New Deal's Emergency Relief Act of 1935, the construction of the dam and associated facilities provided employment for nearly 2400 people. The WPA supported school teachers for the children of the work crews and after the dam was completed, the work camp provided housing for CCC crews building onsite recreational facilities. Today the headquarters building is still in use, and five other units provide housing for staff." -Treasures on New Mexico Trails The following quotes are all...

The historic Cooper Station post office in New York, New York (originally known as Station 'D') was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds between 1936 and 1937. The building is still in use today.

The Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay was originally constructed in 1936 as the post office for what was then Marshfield, Oregon. Marshfield changed name to Coos Bay on Feb. 15, 1945. The Coos Art Museum (CAM) acquired the building in the 1970s and after fund-raising and renovation work moved the CAM collections. Public Works Administration (PWA) Federal Project No. 324.

Located on the ceiling of the courtroom in the former US Post Office and Courthouse (now used by Tennessee Appellate court), von Wicht's unblinded "Goddess of Justice" is reclining atop the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

This New Deal facility was erected in 1937 as the Holliday's Cove post office. In 1947, Holliday's Cove, Marland Heights and Weirton Heights incorporated into one city and took the name Weirton. This became the Cove Station.

"Geographically, the Crescenta Valley extends eastward from the Los Angeles City communities of Sunland and Tujunga through a portion of the City of Glendale and the County territories of La Crescenta and Montrose to the incorporated city of La Cañada Flintridge... After the disastrous flood of 1934, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District embarked upon major construction of dams, channels, debris basins and continued efforts to control erosion."   (https://www.villageprofile.com) According to the Feb 1934 California Highway and Public Works magazine, "Several thousand C.W.A. relief workers were rushed to the flooded area to render aid to...

Crooked Creek Lake and Dam were created as part of a multi-site flood control program to protect the city of Pittsburgh and Ohio Valley. Work on the project began in 1937 on Crooked Creek near its confluence with the Allegheny River. The earth dam was designed by Captain B.F. Chadwick of the Army Corps of Engineers and constructed by George M. Brewster and Son, Inc of Bogota, New Jersey. The project cost over $4 million and was completed in 1940. The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that the lake and dam have prevented over $713 million in flood damage since...

Originally constructed in 1809-1910 and privately owned, the U.S. government purchased what is now the Robert C. McEwen U.S. Custom House, completely renovating it for federal purposes, during the New Deal era. GSA: "The George Hall Corporation, a shipping company, owned the Parish Store from 1880 to 1936. Likely due to needs for additional space, in 1928, the U.S. Customs Service moved back in to leased space in the Parish Store. In 1936, the Hall Corporation sold the building to the U.S. government for $65,000. The building was renamed the U.S. Custom House. ... Listed in the National Register in 1974, the building...

The U.S. Customs facility located just north of Kalanianaole Ave on the west side of Kuhio St. was constructed with federal funds administered by the Public Buildings Administration of the Federal Works Agency. The building, then called the "Customs Warehouse," was dedicated on Aug. 30, 1941.

In 1934, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made repairs to the Dalecarlia Reservoir, the primary source of drinking water for Washington, DC. Work consisted of, “Reconstruction of two concrete spillways, replacing earth in embankments and a small dam, and cleaning silt deposits out of a water diversion channel” (Report of the Chief of Engineers, 1935). The Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied the $16,944 in funds for the project. The Corps of Engineers upgraded the Delacarlia Pumping Station, as well: “The construction of booster pumping station was continued, and at the end of the year was practically completed. Pumps, motors,...

Delano Municipal Airport was built during the New Deal with funds budgeted for the Development of Landing Areas for National Defense. It was built by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) with the aid of the Works Progress Administration or WPA. Local sources say the airport opened in April 1940, but the WPA project was approved in early 1941. It could be that the project was accelerated ahead of schedule, as was often  the case with military projects by 1939-40. The airport covers 546 acres and has one paved runway measuring 5,651 by 75 feet.   In late 1943, the airport was turned over...

The historic Delta Music Museum, located at the southeast corner of Louisiana and S. 3rd St. in Ferriday, Louisiana, was originally constructed as the post office. The building was constructed with U.S. Treasury Department funds ca. 1938.

The Downtown Post Office in Burbank, CA, was constructed by the Treasury Department between 1937 and 1938. The Mission Revival style Post Office was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. "Its Spanish roof and five arches grace the facade that welcomes patrons inside. The suspended lanterns in the porch are reminiscent of a Spanish hacienda that provides beauty as well as shelter. The main entrance’s double doors are handcrafted and trimmed with blue and red. The architectural theme of the building is further carried out in the interior. Masonry floors and tiled walls decorate the public areas and elicit a...

The historic Federal Building—originally U.S. Post Office and Court House in downtown Orlando, Florida—was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was dedicated on April 15, 1941, and continues to serve as the downtown post office for Orlando.

The old downtown post office and federal building in Long Beach, CA, was built in large part under the New Deal, contrary to the date and name on the cornerstone. The building was planned and started under the Hoover Administration and the cornerstone laid in late 1932, but before construction was far along, the Long Beach earthquake hit in March 1933. There is some dispute over whether the quake did major damage to the unfinished structure.  Certainly, everything had to be checked out and some damaged material removed before construction could resume.  The building opened in September 1934. The design is Classical...

In 1940, Barse Miller painted a two-panel mural at the Downtown Post Office in Burbank, CA. The project was funded by the Section of Fine Arts (SFA) under the newly-created Public Buildings Administration. "This postal branch is graced by a two-panel mural saluting the city's most famous industries--filmmaking and aeronautics. Titled 'People of Burbank,' the 1940 work by Barse Miller fits in with the building's tile and wrought-iron Spanish mission motif" (Rasmussen, 1993). Barse Miller was a teacher at The ArtCenter School in Los Angeles. His other New Deal–funded works in the region include a set of four frescoes (1936) at George...