Housing Programs Sites

Lafitte project was constructed 1940-1941 and included 896 units. It was the fifth of six local housing units constructed in New Orleans following the Housing Act of 1937. The project was bounded by Lafitte Avenue, Orleans Avenue, North Claiborne and Avenue, and North Dorgenois Street. Architects were Sol Rosenthal, Jack J. H. Kessels, and Ernest W. Jones. R. P. Farnsworth and Company were the contractors for the $4,000,000 project. The units were built in a traditional New Orleans style townhouse with metal balconies and porch columns and railings. The project was originally slated for demolition in 1995 but postponed. It...

Lake Dick was a Resettlement project, part of the efforts to help sharecroppers establish their own farms. The Resettlement Administration purchased 3, 453 acres, built "80 houses, six community buildings, and several farm support structures" for a cooperative farm (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program). Eighty white farm families, who had been either sharecroppers or tenant farmers, from 29 Arkansas counties were selected by the Farm Security Administration to take part in the cooperative. The cooperative was designed for each farmer to have his house, with a small plot of land for vegetables, but the remaining acreage was to be farmed jointly. In...

Lamar Terrace was the second low-cost housing project for white families in Memphis. It contained 478 units, and cost $2,500,000. It was demolished in 2005.

The state historical marker at the site reads: By the 1920s, Dawson County’s rapidly expanding cotton economy was outgrowing its labor supply. Like other areas of the country, Lamesa began to rely on migrant laborers from Mexico to increase the available pool of seasonal workers. One effort to federally regulate migrant labor was the creation of farm labor communities to ensure a dependable source of labor for farmers and to provide safe and sanitary living facilities for migrant workers and their families. The Lamesa Farm Workers Community, present day Los Ybanez, operated from 1942 until 1980. In 1941, the Farm Security Administration...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Langston Terrace Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1935-1940. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Langston Terrace Dwellings Community Building was part of the New Deal’s overall effort to provide more community and recreation...

The Langston Terrace Dwellings, a large-scale public housing project, was built under the New Deal from 1935 to 1938.  It was the first U.S. Government-funded public housing project in Washington DC and only the second in the nation.  Initial funding came from the Public Works Administration (PWA); later the U.S. Housing Authority stepped in to complete the job. The International Style complex was designed by prominent African-American architect Hilyard Robinson, a native Washingtonian. With its handsome art and style, it embodied Robinson's belief in the ability of fine buildings and art to inspire and uplift residents. Construction began in 1935, with African...

Located on 26 acres, containing 60 buildings and 500 apartments, and with a cost of $1,446,043, the facility was constructed for occupancy by African Americans. In 1942, $1,500,000 was expended to add 100 2-story units encompassing an additional 15 acres to house African American war workers.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Lily Ponds Houses in Washington, DC, in 1943. It consisted of 500 living units and was built for national defense workers. In 2006, researcher Joe Lapp described the Lily Ponds Houses in a history brochure about the surrounding Kenilworth neighborhood: “The Alley Dwelling Authority noticed a large plot of unused farmland (once the David Miller farm) in the Kenilworth area, right next to the new national park, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. In 1943 they built the Lily Ponds Houses, a complex of one-story red tile and cement...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of an administration and community building for the Lily Ponds Houses and surrounding community, ca. 1943-1944. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Lily Ponds Houses Administration and...

Lincoln Gardens was the second Federal Housing Project created under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Designed to replace eleven acres of housing in poor repair, the Lincoln Gardens' sixteen new apartment buildings opened on July 1 1938 to provide housing for African-Americans with moderate incomes. While most of the apartment buildings were eventually razed, the last building now houses the Evansville African American Museum.

San Antonio's Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. On September 1, 1937, President Roosevelt signed the United States Housing Act of 1937. This created the United States Housing Authority (USHA) and provided $500 million for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) like SAHA to improve living conditions for low-income families. SAHA made applications to the USHA for funds and the USHA agreed to provide financing for five projects; Alazan Courts, Apache Courts, Lincoln Heights Courts, Wheatley Courts and Victoria Courts. San Antonio enforced segregation in...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Lincoln Height Dwellings in Washington, DC, 1943-1946. Today, the DC Housing Authority manages “Lincoln Heights,” which is probably located on the same area as the original Lincoln Heights Dwellings. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the original structures still exist. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally...

Littlepage was the first low income development built in West Virginia. Littlepage Terrace was the second WPA public housing project for low income residents authorized in West Virginia and was designated Project No. WVA 1-2; however, delays acquiring the land for Washington Manor (WVA 1-1) resulted it the completion of Littlepage Terrace first. Littlepage Manor and property were bought in 1938. Construction began in 1940, with the housing project opening later that year. The eight building complex for white housing. The project was demolished in the first decade of the 2000s and replaced with modern low income housing after the completion of...

Magnolia Homesteads was one of five Division of Subsistence Homesteads begun in Mississippi in 1934. It was an industrial community of 25 units located in Meridian, intended to combine part-time wage work with part-time farming or gardening. By the time the Division of Subsistence Homesteads was abolished in 1935, none of the projects had been completed, and were absorbed into the Resettlement Administration (Roth). The cost was $2,942 per unit (National New Deal Preservation Association). Farm Security Administration photographs taken in 1935 and 1936 show completed units for the Meridian homestead community.

The Magnolia Housing Project was one of the first two planned for New Orleans. The original 740 units in one, two, and three story buildings included one, two, and three bedroom apartments. The chief architect was Moise H. Goldstein, with supportive architects Thomas Harlee, Frederick Parham, N. Courtlandt Curtis, Richard Koch, and Charles Armstrong. Construction was completed by R. P. Farnsworth Company. Jens-Braae-Jensen, structural engineer, Frank Chisholm, mechanical engineer, Orloff Henry, electrical engineer, William Wiedorn, landscape architect, and Frank Hugh Waddill, civil engineer were also part of the construction and design crew. Magnolia was completed in 1941 for $2,478,980. The...

What is now the Palmer Alaska Historic District was founded in 1935 as the Matanuska Colony Project. It was one of 100 New Deal resettlement programs and involved major efforts by FERA and the Resettlement Administration. The town site of Palmer expanded rapidly with the relocation of 203 colonists from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1935 under the Relocation project.  Prior to that the area was composed of homesteads primarily. The Palmer Historical Society has a Colony House Museum that is a 'house' as it would have been in 1935-1945.  It is an original colony house moved into the historic...

McComb Homesteads is a small community just three miles southeast of McComb, Mississippi.  It is located just off U.S. Route 98 east, with a highway sign—“HOMESTEADS”—indicating the entrance on the north side of the highway, onto Harrison Drive.  Harrison Drive then intersects Eleanor Drive (which goes west to Van Norman Curve Road and east to Gibson Road south) and continues north northeast, winding around the community, and ending on Gibson Road north. This describes the general boundary/area of McComb Homesteads. Construction of McComb Homesteads began in April of 1934. The community was the first New Deal homestead community in Mississippi and...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Meade and Grant Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 107 living units was built for African American national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA’s 10-year report (see source list below) indicates that the Meade and Grant Street Houses...

The 96-unit public housing was constructed for African-Americans during the Great Depression. It was demolished following damage from a tornado in 2003.

"In the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, more than 300,000 migrants from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas flocked to California, driven by poverty and the hope for new opportunities. This flood of migrants, collectively known as the Okies, included a wide cross-section of people—young and old, men and women, rural and urban... In 1935, the Resettlement Administration (RA), and later the FSA, began to establish migratory labor camps to house the destitute migrants. Many migrants living in cars, tents, and shacks along “ditchbank” settlements (Figure 1) were attracted to the sanitary, newly constructed camps located along a 600-mile-long...

The New Deal's Resettlement Administration (RA) built permanent housing units for migrant farm workers in Farmersville CA in 1938.  The exact location is unknown.  It is unlikely that these buildings survive.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Monroe Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 90 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced...

Mountain View Village was begun as a white housing complex, one of four low rent housing projects. Contracts were awarded in January 1940.

This Tennessee state park was developed by several New Deal  "on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion." (wikipedia.org) "Three New Deal agencies, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Resettlement Administration, assumed responsibility for the park's initial planning and development. Like other early state parks, the Resettlement Administration relocated property owners from unproductive and overused farm land; the CCC and WPA began land replenishment and park construction. The CCC concentrated its efforts on reforestation work and instigated land stabilization programs that included the introduction of the Japanese vine...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Nichols Avenue Houses in Washington, DC, in 1943. These houses were called “Standard Temporary Dwellings Units,” or “TDU’s.” They were built for African American national defense workers, and were intended to be taken down after the war. It is unlikely that any part of the Nichols Avenue Houses still remains. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Nichols Avenue Houses and surrounding area, ca. 1943. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Nichols Avenue Houses Community Building was part...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of the O’Brien Court Parking Lot in Washington, DC, ca. 1935-1938. The lot was located in the block bounded by E, F, 20th and 21st streets NW, on the E Street frontage. Then, in 1943, the ADA and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) created the O’Brien Court Houses on the same site. These houses were called “Standard Temporary Dwellings Units,” or “TDU’s.” They were built for African American national defense workers, and were intended to be taken down after the war. It does not appear that any remnant of the homes or parking lot...

The Farm Security Administration build this camp in 1939 to house black farm workers from the Caribbean. While there is still housing here, this is no longer a camp.

The heart of today's Greenbelt, Maryland – popularly known as "Old Greenbelt" – is a large, planned community laid out and constructed during the New Deal. It features community facilities such as a school, theater and community center, a large number and variety of housing, basic infrastructure of roads, water and sewers, and extensive landscaping and an attached forest.  Almost all of the original facilities are still intact. Greenbelt was one of four greenbelt towns initiated by Rex Tugwell, head of the Resettlement Administration (RA). Greendale, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, and Greenhills, Ohio, near Cincinnati, are other surviving greenbelt towns; a fourth,...

The Resettlement Administration constructed the Osage Farms cooperative project across 13 miles in the northern part of Pettis County, Missouri from 1937-1943. Many of the original buildings, including a government farmhouse, still remain and are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are now part of the Bois d'Arc Cooperative farm. The NRHP document about the properties contains the following excerpts: "The Osage Farms project area is within the easternmost four (Houstonia, Hughesville, Heaths Creek and Longwood) of a band of five townships across the northern third of Pettis County... The period of significance is 1937-1943, a timeframe during which...

The Farm Security Administration build this camp for white farm workers about 1939. While there is still housing there, the camp no longer exist.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Parkside Dwellings in Washington, DC, between 1941 and 1943. This housing project was described being at Kenilworth Avenue and Barnes Lane, N.E., and “near the old Benning race track” (Evening Star, 1942). Today, that location is in the vicinity of Parkside Playground, Thomas Elementary School, Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, and Mayfair Mansions Apartments (the latter sits on the site of the old Benning race track). Barnes Lane is now called Barnes “Street.” It is unknown to the Living New Deal if Parkside Dwellings still...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Parkside Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1941-1943. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Parkside Dwellings Community Building was part of the...

"Penderlea Homestead Farms, located in northwest Pender County, North Carolina, was the first of 152 homestead projects developed in 1934 under President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. The purpose of the homestead projects was to provide penniless tenant farmers, bankrupt farm owners, and unemployed ex-farmers during the Great Depression with a means of making a living. Providing for self-sufficient rural communities also eased the burden of over-crowded cities. n 1934, Hugh MacRae, prominent Wilmington developer and agriculturist, proposed to the Division of Subsistence Homesteads, U.S. Department of the Interior, that a homestead project be established in Pender County... In May of1935, the Resettlement...

"In 1934 the Division of Subsistence Homesteads purchased a tract of land on what was then the outskirts of Phoenix in order to build a public housing community for low-income residents. Construction of the first half of the Phoenix Homesteads began in 1934 and was completed in 1935. These Pueblo Revival style adobe homes were built on 0.75-acre parcels to accommodate subsistence gardens and small farm animals. Fruit, nut, and olive trees added to the self-sufficiency of the community. Trees and shrubs were planted for shade and privacy. A second small-scale farming cooperative was planned in 1935 by the Resettlement...

Plum Bayou was the first settlement in Arkansas and in the United States (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program). Resettlement Administrator Rexford G. Tugwell, was present at the opening dedication ceremony November 20, 1936. "Tugwell saw the Plum Bayou Project as representative of a new chapter in American agricultural history" (AHPP). Plum Bayou was available to 183 selected families, 30-40 acres per family. In addition to house, barn, and well, the homes were furnished with a refrigerator and had electricity (Hunter). The community added a community center, a school, gym, library, and vocational center. A few of the original settlers were able to...

The farmland around the town of Fruita in western Colorado was the site of a Resettlement Administration (RA) project that relocated poor farmers driven out by the Dust Bowl. Some 34 families had been relocated to Fruita by 1937. The official name was the Grand Valley Resettlement Project (also known as the Western Farms Association). (Fruita Community History page) It appears that another 32 families were relocated to neighboring Loma CO, probably as part of the same Resettlement Project (Wikipedia).  A Community Hall was built in Loma for the new settlers in the area by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in...

"In December 1935, the Resettlement Administration hired Alfred Kastner, a German-born architect and city planner who was known for his designs for low-cost housing, as Principal Architect. Kastner, in turn, hired Louis I. Kahn, then a young architect, as his assistant. In designing the community, Kastner was influenced by both the English Garden City Idea and by the German Bauhaus style. Jersey Homesteads' buildings are characterized by their spare geometric forms and use of modern building materials (including cinder blocks). The houses are integrated with communal areas and surrounded by a green belt. (3) Although it appears rather stark today,...

The first rehabilitation farm project to be established in Nebraska, and among the first in the country, was established at Kearney. Fifty-seven acres of land were purchased by the Rural Rehabilitation program. The land lay just north of the north line of East Lawn and east of the branch line tracks. Eight homesteads of about seven acres each were established on this track, and work subdividing the land, erecting fencing, homes and other improvements began in the summer of 1934. Under provisions of the act regulating the rehabilitation farmsteads, tenant families assigned to the homesteads would rent the property for...

The brick "restrained Colonial Revival style" (Van West, 2001, p. 148) two-story apartment complex contained 48 units for African-Americans. Constructed at the same time as the Robert E. Lee Homes for whites, both complexes were funded for a total of $607,000. The facility was demolished in 2008 in order to construct new housing.