Public Works Funding Sites

The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) helped finance the modernization of 4 1/2 miles of what is today State Route 1 and Interstate 101 through an unincorporated area 30 miles west of Santa Barbara from a twisty and dangerous 2 lane road into a 4 lane highway. The cost of construction was $65,000 per mile.

The El Dorado Springs "old" Gymnasium and a series of classrooms were completed in 1939 as a project of the Federal Works Agency of the Public Works Administration in 1939. The gym and attached classroom building is a red brick structure designed to harmonize with the old high school (destroyed by fire). The gym features a full stage complete with a second story property room and "crow's nest", as well as downstairs locker rooms. The lower walls of the gym and hallways are covered with pumpkin-colored oblong tiles, with plaster to the ceiling. Following several decades of few to no substantive...

A former set of "Spanish-style cottages," known as El Pueblo, was created for married students at what was then West Texas Teachers College. The project, built in 1936, was enabled by Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds: a $27,400 loan and $11,105 grant. A 1936 article in the Canyon News newspaper says the cottages were "located on the northeast corner of campus and are situated in a semi-circle." Satellite imagery shows that the houses were located between Russell Long Blvd. and 2nd Ave.; and east of 26th St. Local sources (see Facebook link under Sources) state that each of the structures was...

Okolona obtained electric power in 1935 through the Tennessee Valley Authority power plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Funding to extend the municipal power system into the surrounding rural area was approved by PWA 9/25/1935. Project 1139 for a loan of $21,000 and grant of $17,042 was begun 3/9/1936 and completed 2/25/1937 for a total of $38,860.

Public Works Administration (PWA) 1203 approved a loan of $66,000 and grant of $54,000 for a new electric power plant. The project was approved 11/14/1935. Construction began 10/10/1938 and was completed 10/4/1939. The delay between approval and construction was due to the Mississippi Power Company attempting to prevent Aberdeen from securing the money from PWA to construct the plant and connect with Tennessee Valley Authority's power lines. It was dismissed in lower court and then upheld in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in April 1938. By July 1938, Aberdeen City Council offered Mississippi Power $60,000 to purchase their existing...

Pennsylvania State University's Electrical Engineering West was one of a dozen buildings constructed on the campus during the Great Depression as part of a massive construction project enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The building is still in use today.

An electrical grid / distribution construction project was undertaken in Cushing, Oklahoma during the Great Depression with the assistance of a federal Public Work Administration (PWA) grant. Construction occurred between 1938 and 1939. PWA Docket No. OK 1345.

The Crosbyton Review reported in Dec. 1939 that, finished three years prior, Crosbyton's then-new grade school was "one of the most modern in this territory," and its construction was aided by PWA funding assistance. "The building contains class rooms, auditorium, study hall and offices," and still serves as Crosbyton's elementary school today.

Dryden Elementary School was originally constructed as the Dryden Central Grade & High School during the 1930s. The building was financed in part with federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. NY 1257 ). The building has since been expanded.

Freeville Elementary School in Freeville, New York, was the Central Grade School. Construction of the school was enabled by federal Public Works Administration funding (PWA Docket No. NY 1257), which gave a grant of $137,025 to the school district for the project. The project's total cost was $344,769. Construction began February 1936 and was completed June 1937.

The one-story Colonial Revival brick building was constructed by a $14,318 grant from Public Works Administration approved 9/26/1938. Construction began 12/19/1938 and was completed 7/29/1939 for a total cost of $31,585. Edgar Lucian Malvaney designed the building and it was constructed by Flint-Jordan Construction Company. It remains in use as a school. Replacement doors and windows have been installed, but the interior retains its floor plan.

Prospect Community Elementary School in Prospect, Connecticut was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The building is "a red brick Colonial Revival design" and has since been added to structurally. The PWA gave the community a grant of $19,675; the school project cost a total of $43,951. PWA completion documents declare that construction on the building began December 1935; the building was completed the following year. PWA Docket No. CT 1032.

Public Works Administration (PWA) project 1280 provided a grant of $16,411 for construction of a grammar school. Architect E. L. Malvaney designed the 1-story brick school. The Daily Clarion-Ledger reported both the high school and the elementary school were constructed with this grant. The project was approved 8/10/1938, construction started 11/21/1938, and the project was completed 10/28/1939 for a total of $35,074. WPA provided an additional $3,640 for the grammar school to add landscaping, playground equipment, and sidewalks in February 1940.

Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds enabled the construction of the elementary school in Sinclair, Wyoming during the 1930s. The school continues to function in that role today. PWA photos at the National Archives actually deem this project the Parco school, Parco being the old name for Sinclair. The original owner of this project was listed as being Sweetwater County School District #3, though Sinclair is actually in Carbon County. C.W. Short and R. Stanley-Brown write about the PWA school: "The new building replaced a leased 4-room dilapidated wooden structure and two apartments rented for classrooms in an apartment building. It provides...

The PWA funded the construction of Morgan Elementary School in 1936. It was demolished in 1994 and a new elementary school was built.

The 1936 elementary school was Pubic Works Administration project 1002. Total cost of the school with the auditorium and gymnasium was $61,631. Architects Overstreet and Town designed the facility in an Art Deco style and Joe Barras provided a bas relief sculpture for the building. M. T. Reed Construction Company won the general construction bid, and plumbing was done by Davis Plumbing with Joe Williams Electric providing the electrical wiring. The elementary school was destroyed by fire in 1954. The one-story concrete building containing six classrooms, auditorium, and gymnasium were all destroyed.

Public Works Administration project 4726 for an elementary school building was approved 3/21/1934 for a $20,000 loan and $8,232 grant. Construction began 6/18/1934 and was completed 5/29/1935. The Colonial Revival style building was designed by Edgar Lucian Malvaney and constructed by Currie and Corley. The former school was listed as a Mississippi Landmark and the Lawrence County Historical Society began work toward restoration and renewed use of the building.

Text from the state historical marker reads: This location has been home to a school building for the students of the Terrell area since 1901. The site was selected to serve the children living north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks nearby. A two-story building named the North Primary School was completed here in September 1901 at a cost of $9,000, and contained six classrooms with facilities for 300 pupils. Over the years increased enrollment placed greater demand on the primary school and other schools. In 1931 the Terrell School Board decided to erect new school buildings with financial assistance...

The West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind is located in Romney, West Virginia.  It has been providing an education for children since 1870. The vision/mission of the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind is stated as follows: “The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind will be the center of excellence in the education of deaf, hard of hearing, blind and low vision students so they will achieve success as productive independent members of society…To that end…we provide students a specialized education environment where their unique skills are recognized and valued, they are given opportunities...

Burlington's former Elihu B. Taft School was built as a New Deal project in 1938-9; its construction was enabled by Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a grant of $111,272 for the project, whose total cost was $245,198. Construction occurred between Aug. 1938 and Nov. 1939. PWA Docket No. VT 1079

Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School in Guilford, Connecticut was originally constructed as the community's high school. Its construction was enabled by the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The original structure has since been significantly added to. The PWA gave the community a grant of $89,189 toward the school's construction; the school project cost a total of $198,913. PWA completion documents declare that construction on the building began Jan. 1936; the building was completed by the end of the year. PWA Docket No. CT 1118.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton School in Seneca Falls, New York was constructed in 1935 as a New Deal project with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), the P.W.A. provided a $24,355 grant for the project, whose total cost was $93,193. P.W.A. Docket No. NY 5651

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a massive grant for a giant grade separation project involving 13 roads, and two railway branches, in the Elizabethport section of Elizabeth, New Jersey. The PWA provided a grant of $2,110,950 for the project, whose total cost was $4,281,464. The railway right of way is located just south of where the New Jersey Turnpike has since been built. Railway overpasses at the following roads (and geographic coordinates) bear date stamps consistent with this New Deal project: 1st Ave. (40.651156, -74.196509) Elizabeth Ave. (40.651590, -74.195717) Marshall St. (40.652011, -74.194944) Franklin St. (40.652427, -74.194179) Fulton St. (40.652848, -74.193420) E. Jersey...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Elk River Bridge, which carries Lee Street across the Elk River, in Charleston, Kanawha County. The structure is 500-feet long and is one of four bridges located at the point where Elk River meets Kanawha River. It was built between 1938 and 1939. Plaques installed on the pillars on each side of the northern end of the span read: “Lee Street - Fayette Street Connection and Elk River Bridge, Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Project No. W. VA. 1218 F”

PWA funds contributed to the construction of this waterworks, designed by engineering firm W.A. Fuller, in 1940. It is a one-story rock building with a native rock façade and a garage opening, and was the city water works from 1940. It is presently privately owned, but they have retained the bronze plaques on the front of the structure.

The PWA and FERA built a portion of the Elliott Highway, from Olnes to Livengood: 61-mile sled road converted into a hard surfaced road to allow for automobile traffic.

Constructed by the PWA in 1938-40. The need for a hospital dedicated to diagnosing and treating cancer was envisioned in the early ‘30s and with the political support of Lloyd Stark and the work of Dr. Ellis Fischel of St. Louis, the plan was made to locate the state cancer in the center of the state on the main thoroughfare through the state at the time, US highway 40. Unfortunately, after all of the planning and before construction started, Dr. Fischel died in a car accident on business for the new hospital. The building is in the process of being repurposed...

"This building was designed and carried out by the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division for the Immigration Service of the Department of Labor and constitutes one unit of a large project to improve ferry facilities at Ellis Island. The building has two one-story wings and consists of a high central pavilion surmounted by a copper covered cupola. The central pavilion houses a waiting room for the immigrants, the left wing is devoted to the Customs Service, and the right wing has a lunch room with kitchen facilities. The construction is fireproof throughout, with a steel frame and reinforced-concrete...

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) describes the New Deal's extensive work on Ellis Island, which included building this new immigration building: "The New Immigration Building is one of three major New Deal-era buildings at Ellis Island created to meet the changing scope of immigration services at the facility. Constructed on fill joining Island 1 and Island 2, the New Immigration Building was intended as the new processing center for the diminishing numbers of arriving immigrants, while the existing Baggage and Dormitory Building and the Main Immigration building on Island 1 handled the increasing number of deportees. The clean lines and...

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) describes the New Deal's extensive work on Ellis Island, which included building this recreation building: "The Recreation Building at the Ellis Island U.S. Immigration Station was designed and built between 1933 and 1937 as part of a series of projects made possible through New Deal public works funding. In 1933 the federally-appointed Ellis Island Committee completed a report that recommended widespread improvements to the immigration facilities, among which was the development of adequate accommodations for recreation. The Recreation Building was designed for Ellis Island by consulting architect Chester Aldrich and the Public Buildings Service, along...

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) describes the New Deal's extensive work on Ellis Island, which included building this recreation shelter: "The Recreation Shelter on Islands 2 and 3 was part of the last active phase of construction at the Ellis Island U.S. Immigration Station during the 1930s. The Recreation Building and two Recreation Shelters were designed for Ellis Island alongside the New Immigration Building (1934-1936) and Ferry Building (1934), all of which were financed through New Deal funding. The construction of these new facilities contributed to a reconfiguration of the island into clearly demarcated spaces for patients, immigrants and deportees,...

The Ellis library was built in 1915. The PWA added this addition in 1935. The addition to the existing Ellis Library “provide urgently needed, usable, fire-proof, stack space for books, reading, seminar rooms, and other library facilities.” It is still heavily used including a large auditorium on the first floor.

Big Timber Pioneer reported in May 1935 that a "$3,700 grant from the PWA has been approved to help build a new high school in Elliston, Powell County ..." The structure is still in use today.

Ellsworth County Bridge, which carries 8th Road across Smoky Hill River, was constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project in 1939.

Formerly known as Ellsworth Memorial High School, this Colonial Revival building incorporates elements of what was a seminary built in 1834. The project was undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) sponsorship. The P.W.A. supplied a $56,250 grant for the project, whose total cost was $125,759. Construction occurred between Jan. and Oct. 1936. P.W.A. Docket No. CT 1036

This is one of three subway stations along the Broad Street subway line, south of City Hall, whose construction was enabled by federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. As a result of this project the subway was extended from Lombard South Station to Snyder Ave. Service here was inaugurated on Sept. 18, 1938.

A new Elm Park railway station was constructed during the mid-1930s as one link in a massive grade separation project along what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway). Developed as a two-track, two-side platform facility, located just east off Morningstar Road, the structure has long since been abandoned. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and even in Manhattan. PWA Docket No. NY 4926.

What today is the Elm Street Junior High was the Nashua senior high school until 1975. In the Town Report for 1936, Mayor Alvin A. Lucier wrote in his summary for the year: "In the latter part of 1935, the City Government accepted the offer of the Federal Government of a grant of two hundred and seventy thousand dollars toward the construction of a new senior high school. That this structure was vitally needed admits of no question. Work has proceeded speedily and efficiently, and we have every reason to believe that the building will be totally completed within the next...

The historic Elmira Academy (most recently the Ernie Davis Middle School) was the recipient of a large annex constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "n 1938 an annex was built on the north side of the Academy to make room for the industrial and vocational arts departments. The commercial department was expanded and more rooms were added to the east side of the building. The teachers found themselves competing with bulldozers, hammers and saws, concrete mixers, and derricks, far more attractive to the pupils than their daily school lessons. By the Fall of 1939 the...

Elmwood was a tuberculosis sanatorium located at 2805 Kimbo, Fort Worth. The building has been demolished. The sanatorium was a joint project of the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County with partial funding coming through the PWA. It was designed by Preston Geren and constructed by Quisle and Andrews at a total cost of $101,733 without equipment. It opened in 1937.