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  • 21st Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the 21st Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 36 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 was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...
  • 25th Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the 25th Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1944. This development of 40 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...
  • 35th Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the 35th Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 75 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...
  • Achieve Academy - Oakland CA
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of the Hawthorne Elementary School in the Fruitvale area of Oakland, California, in 1940.  The PWA had been incorporated into the Federal Works Agency (FWA) circa 1940 (the plaque does not give a date). The single-story building's design is (PWA) Moderne with bas-relief columns between the windows on the south wing and a decorative scrim above. The north wing is plain. The main entrance has a simple grooved edging.   Because the school lies within the main Latino/x district of Oakland, it has been painted in bright colors, as the community prefers. The effect...
  • Airline Drive Overpass - Houston TX
    The Texas Highway Department and the Federal Works Agency Public Roads Administration built an overpass in 1941 to separate the grade of Airline Drive and the Houston Belt and Terminal Railway tracks. The overpass is currently open to traffic.
  • Alaska Highway - Delta Junction AK
    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...
  • Anacostia Drive SE Improvements - Washington DC
    Anacostia Drive, which runs through Anacostia Park and alongside the Anacostia River, was almost certainly worked on during the New Deal – more than once – though the evidence is not conclusive.  According to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project card on file in the National Archives, the WPA office approved a project to grade Anacostia Road (now Drive) in 1935. This work has not been confirmed, but since the WPA did almost $1 million worth of road work in the district in 1935-36, including roads like Good Hope SE, and also did extensive work on Anacostia Park during that time, it...
  • Anacostia Park: Pool and Recreation Center Building - Washington DC
    The present day Anacostia Pool & Recreation Center was constructed at the very end of the New Deal, as it overlapped with the country's entry into World War II.   On May 15, 1942, the Evening Star newspaper reported that “A $69,000 recreation center for servicemen to be erected in Anacostia and operated by the United Service Organization has been approved by President Roosevelt… the new center will include a large social hall, refreshment stand, reading, writing, and game rooms and other facilities. The hall will be used for dances, movies and sports.” The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was to plan...
  • Anacostia SE Water Main - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of funds for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to construct a major water main from 18th Street and Minnesota Avenue to Firth Sterling Avenue and Stevens Road, to serve the Fairlawn, Anacostia and Barry Farm neighborhoods of the district's southeast quadrant. This project was part of a much larger program of water, sewer and road projects in the District in the early 1940s.
  • Anamosa Post Office - Anamosa IA
    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.
  • Angela Boulevard Bridge - South Bend IN
    In 1938, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners applied to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for funding to expand the Angela Boulevard Bridge, a critical link for motorists traveling to the Notre Dame stadium for football games. After receiving $45,000 and starting construction, however, faulty work in the original bridge necessitated a new structure, contractor, and additional funding. In 1939, the commissioners appealed again to the PWA and were awarded $76,500, with the county paying the rest of the $152,000 total cost. Remnants of the first bridge were destroyed with explosives that shook the entire neighborhood, but that was...
  • Anthony Bowen Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Anthony Bowen Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 86 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 was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...
  • Arch Street Overpass (former) - Little Rock AR
    The 1,121-foot Arch Street Overpass was constructed in 1940. Careful analysis of the bridge plate (plaque) as per historic Google Street View imagery suggests that this project was funded by the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency; the superstructure appears to have been replaced as of 2018.
  • Barry Farm Playground - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $18,204 by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and improvements to the Barry Farm Playground. As part of the PlayDC initiative, the recreation center on the site was demolished in 2014 to make way for a new facility. It is unclear if traces of the New Deal work at the playground were lost in the process.
  • Batesville Creek Bridge - Damascus AR
    The 141-foot Batesville Creek Bridge, which carries N. Broadview Street across Batesville Creek, south of Damascus, Arkansas, was constructed in 1940. The bridge plate (plaque) states that this project was funded by the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency.
  • Beach Elementary School - Piedmont CA
    The original Beach School was built in 1913 but declared an earthquake hazard and torn down in 1934.  It was replaced in two phases: the main wing in 1936 and the rear classroom wing and auditorium in 1940 (PHS 2007). The new school included 8 classrooms, a kindergarten, offices, a health room and an auditorium. There had been three previous efforts to replace schools and temporary buildings at schools in Piedmont in the 1920s, but the bond issues lost.   After the school board sought and gained funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), a new bond issue passed in December...
  • Beaverhead County High School - Dillon MT
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for a new high school for Beaverhead County schools in Dillon, Montana, constructed in 1939. The PWA had become a part of the new Federal Works Agency that year.. The design of the two-story school is a very striking Moderne, painted in a desert beige with white bas-relief columns. The entrance portions for the classrooms and the auditorium project outward slightly, while the doorways are recessed. There are glass-block windows over the auditorium entrance. The school is still in use.
  • Benning Road Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Benning Road Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 138 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...
  • Bernal Heights Library - San Francisco CA
    The beautiful Bernal Heights Library on Cortland Avenue in San Francisco was built in 1940 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA), after it had become part of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in 1939. The library is built of reinforced concrete and finished in Mission Revival style with stucco exterior and tile roof.  The interior features lofty ceilings, large windows, and lovely hanging light fixtures. The floors, entrance and bathrooms are all tiled and the ceiling beams are hand-painted in abstract designs.   The shelving and furniture appear to be the original, made of solid oak, and the layout looks to be...
  • Borough Hall Murals - Staten Island NY
    The grand lobby of Borough Hall contains a series of Depression Era bas-reliefs and 13 large murals painted by Frederick Charles Stahr in 1940 under the auspices of the WPA Arts Project. The murals illustrate important events in Staten Island history. With only slight exaggeration, a local source claims that "the murals are the largest and most accessible WPA collection in New York City" (Staten Island USA)  They are, in any case, hugely impressive. There are thirteen 6.5 x 13-foot oil-on-canvas murals.  The individual titles are: Giovanni da Verrazzano Discovers Staten Island, 1524 Henry Hudson Anchors off Staaten Eylandt in 1609 Cornelius Melyn Trades...
  • Brady Creek Bridge - Brady TX
    The Brady Creek Bridge is a 270 foot long, 50 foot wide steel stringer bridge that carries US Highway 377 (also called N Bridge St) across Brady Creek in Brady, Texas. Jensen Construction Co. Inc. built the bridge in 1939 under the supervision of the Texas Highway Department and the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency.
  • Broadview Park Housing Project - South Portland ME
    In response to the foot dragging by Portland city officials on the urgent need of affordable housing due to the influx of military related industry and basing personnel, the Federal Housing Authority of the Federal Works Agency ordered the construction of 550 units, of which 100 were built in Highland Park in South Portland. Designed by John Howard Stevens and John Calvin Stevens II, they featured Colonial Revival style, with a community center, school and playground.
  • Brookland Education Campus at Bunker Hill - Washington DC
    The Brookland Education Campus at Bunker Hill, NE, encompasses the former Bunker Hill Elementary School, which was built during the New Deal era.  The new facility includes middle school. Initial plans were made in 1938 for a full, two-story building for the Bunker Hill Elementary School to replace an earlier school building, but it ended up being built in stages. A grant of $111,200 from the Public Works Administration (PWA) allowed the construction of the basement and six rooms on a single floor, which became the west wing of the school. All but some finish work was completed in 1939 and the...
  • Bryant Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Bryant Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 32 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 was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...
  • Bundy Recreation Center Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $32,800 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for work on the Bundy Recreation Center in the district's northwest quadrant. It is unclear whether funds were designated for new construction or improvements. Today, the site is known as Bundy Park, with a baseball field, soccer pitch and dog run. It appears to have been renovated in 2012.  It is likely that the baseball field has its origins in the New Deal work of the early 1940s.
  • Canal Street Houses - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Canal Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 20 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...
  • Charles C. Glover Memorial (Massachusetts Ave) Bridge - Washington DC
    The Massachusetts Avenue bridge was built in 1940-1941 by the Army Corps of Engineers with federal funds provided by Congress to the District of Columbia Commissioners.  It was a final step in the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway in the New Deal era.  The new bridge replace a low earth-fill causeway over the creek, built in 1901, and a tunnel under the causeway that impeded traffic on the new Rock Creek parkway.  Congress appropriated $360,000 for the bridge under the District of Columbia act of 1939.  Additional funding was added in 1941 to dynamite the old bridge and...
  • City Hall - Bellingham WA
    From the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies: "Bellingham's second City Hall designed by Leonard William Somerville Bindon built under Public Works Administration and Federal Works Agency programs of the New Deal in the Art Deco style. Begun in 1938, it was dedicated on January 4, 1940. two stories with ten two story windows across the front... has three entrance doors in the center front."
  • City Hall (former) - Rawlins WY
    The Rawlins city hall was constructed by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) in 1940. The building is currently home to police department.
  • Cohen Federal Building (former Social Security) - Washington DC
    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...
  • College of Charleston Student Activities Building/Gymnasium - Charleston SC
    On 27 October 1937, the Radcliffe-King House was pulled down for the new College of Charleston Student Activities Building/Gymnasium building. The new building was funded by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, and was designed by Simons & Lapham, a well known Charleston, South Carolina architectural firm, which participated in may New Deal projects. The building included some rooms for dorms for out of county basketball players who attended the    College of Charleston. See Blevins (2001): https://livingnewdeal.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/5-1524db4e8f93549db7fec5d73ae429b8/2018/01/CofC-Gym-pages-98-101.pdf In 1994-1995 the building was renovated. The gymnasium’s rubber basketball floor was removed for a modern floor, an indoor walking track was suspended from the ceiling,...
  • Colorado River Bridge - Colorado City TX
    The Colorado River Bridge was built by the Federal Works Agency in 1941. The bridge is approximately 490 feet long. It spans the Colorado River south of Colorado City on HWY-163. Marker Text: COLORADO RIVER BRIDGE BUILT IN 1941 BY THE TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ---------------------- FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY PUBLIC ROAD ADMINISTRATION --------------------- STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION BRADY GENTRY CHAIRMAN HARRY HINES MEMBER ROBERT LEE BOBBITT MEMBER D.C. GREER HIGHWAY ENGINEER R.C. McKINNEY CONTRACTOR
  • Congress Heights Recreation Area Improvements - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $7,953 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and/or improvements to the Congress Heights Recreation Center (now Recreation Area).  As part of the District's new PlayDC initiative, the playground was renovated in 2013-14.  It is unclear what FWA work may still be visible at the site.
  • Congress Heights Water Mains - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of funds for the Federal Works Administration (FWA) to construct more than two miles of water mains in the Congress Heights neighborhood in SE Washington DC.  While there is currently no evidence that funds were cancelled, we have not been able to verify the completion of the work.
  • Coolidge Senior High School Recreation Center - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $27,600 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and/or improvements to the Coolidge Recreation Center adjacent to the new Coolidge Senior High School in the city's northwest quadrant. It is probable that the baseball field traces its origins back to the New Deal era and there are traces of former tennis courts, another common recreational elements of New Deal work. Coolidge Senior High, built 1938-40, was also New Deal project.
  • Cravens Hall (I.U.) - Bloomington IN
    Cravens, originally the north wing of an all-men's dorm, is now part of Collins Living-Learning Center, an undergraduate community at Indian University. It was constructed by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) in 1940.
  • Customs Building - Hilo HI
    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.
  • D.C. Armory and East Capitol Street Recreation Area - Washington DC
    The DC Armory was paid for by a congressional appropriation (part of the District’s general funding bill for fiscal year 1940), and probably also through local revenue sources such as real estate taxes and parking fees. The DC Municipal Architect’s Office was responsible for planning and supervising the construction. The Armory was completed in 1941 at a total cost of about $1.5 to $2.5 million. One year after the Armory opened, the New Deal’s Federal Works Agency (FWA) approved funding for a recreation area in the “stadium-armory area at the end of East Capitol Street” (Evening Star, 1942). It was reported...
  • Dalecarlia Pumping Station Addition - Washington DC
    In 1942, the Federal Works Agency (FWA) paid for the installation of a ten-million-gallon-daily pump to improve the performance of the Dalecarlia Pumping Station.  The pump project cost about $16,200 .  The work was most likely done by the Army Corps of Engineers, which had previously upgraded the Dalecarlia reservoir and pumping station. Later that year, the Washington Post reported approval of funding for "... more than 2 ½ miles of 54 inch water main for filtered water from the Dalecarlia Pumping Station to a connection with the gravity system near the south end of the Georgetown Reservoir and approximately ¼ mile of...
  • Daly Building (former DC Municipal Center) - Washington DC
    The Henry J. Daly Building is the former District of Columbia Municipal Center, built in 1939-41 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) (which was incorporated into the Federal Works Administration in 1939 in a major government reorganization).  The Municipal Building was meant to replace the old City Hall and consolidate the District's local government functions, but has mostly been used as the DC police headquarters. The PWA made an initial allocation of $5.7 million in 1938 (Evening Star 1938) , but the final allocation was evidently $7.75 million (National Archives).  Sources differ over whether this was a grant or...
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