Federal Works Agency (FWA) Sites

The Works Projects Administration (WPA) did extensive sidewalk construction along Oakland's Lakeshore Ave. There are still many stamps in the pavement reading "WPA 1940" and "WPA 1941" for a long two blocks stretch from Walavista to Rosal to Prince Streets.  The pavement stamps are mostly in driveways, but other can be seen on the sidewalks and gutters along both sides of Lakeshore. By 1940, the WPA had come under the direction of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in a government reorganization of 1939 and its name was slightly altered from "Progress" to "Projects".

The auditorium for Sonora Union High School in Sonora, CA, was completed by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1939.

In 1941, the Washington Post reported that funds for paving projects in Congress Heights, Barry Farm, Bellevue, and Washington Highlands had been approved as part of a large roads program. The Public Roads Administration, a subdivision of the Federal Works Administration (FWA), was approved to pave the following stretches on and around South Capitol Street SE, across the Anacostia River:  Firth Sterling Avenue and South Capitol Street between Howard Road and Nichols Avenue SE; Overlook Avenue, from South Capitol Street to Fourth and Chesapeake Streets SW; South Capitol Street, from Atlantic Street to the District line. Work was to start...

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the approval of $11,600 in funding for the Federal Works Agency (FWA) to make improvements and/or additions to Stoddert Playground – today's Stoddert Recreation Center. It is not certain what work was done, but the baseball field at the present Recreation Center has all the marks of a New Deal ball field and the Recreation Center building is possibly from the 1940s.

The Suitland Parkway is a 9-mile long, landscaped roadway running from Anacostia Park in Washington D.C. east through Prince George's County, MD.   It was conceived in 1937 and finally constructed in 1943-44 by the Public Roads Administration, a branch of the Federal Works Agency (FWA).  It can fairly be classified as a project from the tail end of the New Deal. A description from the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties explains that the Public Roads Administration, "Created the highway from scratch, via federal funding and private contractors, similar to PWA-type arrangements." The Parkway is still in use and maintained by the National...

The Physical Science Building (now Swain Hall West) houses Indiana University's Physics and Astronomy departments. Estimates for building construction began in 1938, and the building was completed in 1940 by the Federal Works Agency (FWA).

The Mary E. Switzer Building was originally built for the Railroad Retirement Board in 1940. The building was constructed in conjunction with the original Social Security headquarters, now the Wilbur J. Cohen building.  The two stand across C street from each other.  They were the first federal buildings constructed south of the Mall.   The Railroad Retirement Board (RBB), formed in 1934, was a precursor to the Social Security Act in 1935.  Its responsibilities and funds grew with additional legislation in 1935 and 1937, providing taxes to support railway worker pensions. As plans were underway for the headquarters of Social Security, the...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Syphax Houses in Washington, DC in 1942. The Syphax Houses were located at 1st and R streets SW, and it does not appear that any of the original homes still exist. Today, the DC Housing Authority operates “Syphax Gardens” at P and Half streets SW, one block northeast from where the original Syphax homes were located. (“Syphax” is the surname of a prominent African American family from Virginia, with family ties to Martha Washington.) The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better...

The Pentagon is America’s Department of Defense headquarters and the largest office building in the world.  It was constructed from August 1941 to January 1943 in order to centralize the administration of the U.S. armed services during World War II.   The site of the Pentagon had previously been a barren area, so the Public Roads Administration, a division of the New Deal’s Federal Works Agency (FWA), supervised a “$7 million network of highways to serve the and adjacent areas” (Sunday Star, 1942). While it may not appear to be a typical New Deal public works project, the Pentagon was built...

New Deal agencies realigned and reconstructed 47 miles of the Tioga road from Crane Flat to Tioga Pass over the years 1933 to 1943.  They were not able, however, to complete the road down from Tioga Pass to Lee Vining (Mono Lake), which remained in deplorable condition until it was remade in 1961.  Funding for the Tioga Road project came from the Public Works Administration (PWA); the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) managed construction, using private companies; and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did auxiliary work landscaping roadsides. The National Park Service (NPS) oversaw all work in the park.  The short-lived...

The State Highway 19 Bridge at the Trinity River on the Walker/Trinity county line, consists of two 250-foot Parker through truss spans, one 150-foot Parker through truss span, and 51 steel I-beam approach spans with a special metal picket-type rail. The project was a joint effort of the Federal Works Agency, Public Road Administration, the Texas Highway Department, and Walker and Trinity Counties. Work on the bridge project began in late 1939. It was completed in January of 1941 and opened in March of that year. The bridge was bypassed in 2003 by a new four-lane bridge to the south,...

The present Harry S. Truman Federal Building consists of two monumental halves. The first was built under the New Deal for the War Department in 1940-41 (and is still commonly referred to as the War Department building).  When the War Department (now Department of Defense) moved across the Potomac to the Pentagon in 1943, the State Department moved in and has remained ever since. The State Department building was renamed the Harry S. Truman Building in 2000. Consolidating the War Department had become a priority in the lead-up to the Second World War.  A second building was envisioned, but not built until...

The State Department was originally built for the War Department in 1940-41 and has been known since 2000 as the Harry S. Truman Federal Building.  It is home to three sculptures commissioned for the original War Department building. •An eagle over the building entrance by Harry Kreis (1942) •A lime casein on plaster work entitled "Defense of the Four Freedoms" by Kindred McLeary (1941) •"War and Peace" by Earl N. Thorp (1941) Another work by Harry Kreis (1942), entitled "Soldier Groups," was originally in the lobby of the War Department but has apparently disappeared (see comment below) A fifth commissioned work, a bas-relief called "Peaceful Pursuits...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Tunlaw Road Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 92 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). According to the web page “Gover Park History,” “The Tunlaw Road Houses were razed in 1954 to make way for construction of 4000 Tunlaw in 1960. “ 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...

In 1941, the Washington Post reported the start of a $1,158,000 road paving program carried out by the Public Roads Administration division of the Federal Works Administration (FWA). One of the streets slated to be paved was 21st Street between Virginia Avenue and C Street, NW. Although the street has been repaved since 1941, the New Deal played a role in its continued maintenance.

This large office building in the Suitland Federal Center –also known as Federal Office Buildings #3 – was constructed by the Public Building Administration (a branch of the Federal Works Agency) in 1941-1942 to be the headquarters of the U.S. Census Bureau, which remained in the building until 2007. Unfortunately, due to deterioration, the building was demolished a few years after that. 

The United States Post Office in Sheridan, Indiana was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds.

The US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River conveys U.S. Highway 190 over the Colorado River at the Lampasas and San Saba county line west of Lometa, linking the cities of Lampasas and San Saba, the county seats. The Texas Highway Department (THD) designed the bridge. The bridge was constructed by Cage Brothers & L.A. Turner between 1939 and 1940. The Colorado River bridge was constructed to replace the former bridge, known as the Red Bluff Bridge, damaged in a severe flood in July 1938. The THD district engineer believed that the damaged bridge would be too costly to rebuild. THD...

A 1941 article in the Washington Post reported the imminent start of paving on Utah Avenue NW between Nebraska Avenue and Pinehurst Circle at the Maryland border, to be conducted by the Bureau of Public Roads, a division of the Federal Works Administration (FWA).

In 1943, the Washington Post reported that the Federal Works Agency (FWA) had constructed the former Patterson Elementary School near Bolling Field in the district's southeast quadrant: "Completed and in use during the past term is the Patterson School, an eight-room elementary, Second and Chesapeake Streets Southeast, to serve the children of workers at the Bellevue Naval establishment in Anacostia." The Patterson School was a temporary building in use from 1943 to 1946 at Chesapeake and Nichols Avenue SW. A  larger replacement building was constructed at South Capitol and Elmira Streets SW and opened in 1946. Thereafter, the original Patterson school...

The Art Moderne building was Public Works Administration (PWA) Project Miss. 1279. Along with principal architect E. L. Malvaney, there were 8 architects, the builder/contractor, foundation contractor, and a sculptor who worked on the building.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) of the Federal Works Agency funded the construction of the stately Warren County Courthouse in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Clearfield hosted the Clearfield Naval Supply Depot during WWII. Thus, their schools were full to bursting, and not only was Wasatch Elementary built for the Davis County School District, but several other "Emergency Schools" were built in local war housing projects. Wasatch Elementary cost about $120,000 (FWA Project Utah 42-189N). Only 10 years later - as the result of the Hill Air Force Base constuction - Wasatch was again over capacity (500 students in a building built for 300). Additions were needed, and finally in 2012, the building was demolished and replaced with a new Wasatch Elementary at the same location.

In 1942, the Washington Post reported the allocation of $11,382 to the Federal Works Agency (FWA) for new construction and/or improvements to the Buchanan Recreation Center, adjacent to the Buchanan School in the city's southeast quadrant. The Buchanan school is Watkins Elementary School and extensive play fields, a playground, skating rink and old tennis courts adjoin the school. It is uncertain what remains of the New Deal work today.  

From the General Services Administration Web site: The West Heating Plant is a six-story, near monolithic structure realized in a vestigial Art Deco style. The solidity of the brick exterior is relieved by rhythmic, linear fenestration - the whole depending upon the play of voids against solids for architectural effect. The coal house and ash house, sited in close proximity to the main heating plant building, echoes the plant's architectural composition - both in terms of massing and material. The West Plant was to supply heat to existing and future government buildings in downtown, thereby providing relief to the overburdened Central Heating...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of a public school in Gary in 1939. The structure was altered with an addition in the 1960s.

The Treasury Department funded the construction of the Seattle federal courthouse, which was the first single-purpose federal courthouse on the west coast.  The project was originated in 1936 by the department's Procurement Division and completed in 1940, by which time responsibility for federal facilities had been transferred to the Federal Works Administration, where the old Procurement Division had morphed into the Public Buildings Administration. The design of the courthouse is Moderne, a stripped-down and flattened version of Neoclassical, that was common for public buildings at the time.  The Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department was Louis Simon and Consulting Architect was...

Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade is an astonishing feature of Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland hills and one of the largest New Deal projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Woodminster lies just off Joaquin Miller Road above Highway 13.  The large complex was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1940. Initial work began in late 1935 after $128,000 in federal funding was approved for Woodminster stairway and amphiteather, as part of a million dollars WPA effort across the city of Oakland (Chronicle 1935).  Further funds and more work came with a larger disbursement of almost $700,000 for "a master...

Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade is an astonishing feature of Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland hills and one of the largest New Deal projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. Woodminster lies just off Joaquin Miller Road above Highway 13.  The large complex was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1940. Initial work began in late 1935 after $128,000 in federal funding was approved for Woodminster stairway and amphiteather, as part of a million dollars WPA effort across the city of Oakland (Chronicle 1935).  Further funds and more work came with a larger disbursement of almost $700,000 for "a master...