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  • Auditorium - Emporia VA
    Emporia, Virginia's historic Greensville County Auditorium was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building, located on Battery Avenue and facing Main Street, still stands today. According to a National Register of Historic Places registration form: "The two-story Greensville County Auditorium, located adjacent to the school complex, is constructed of brick laid in an unusual three-course Flemish bond pattern. The Neoclassical-style building has a large central recessed entrance flanked by two smaller entrances. Each entrance has a double door topped with a webbed fanlight. The imposing building has two Doric columns which support a wide entablature and...
  • Auditorium / Gym - Farwell TX
    An auditorium/gym construction project in Farwell, Texas was undertaken in 1935 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $15,000 loan and $7,800 grant for the project, whose total cost was $27,737. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 9428
  • Auditorium / Gym - Ulysses KS
    An auditorium/gym construction project in Ulysses, Kansas was undertaken with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $22,725 grant for the project, whose total cost was $52,847. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. Kansas 1023
  • Auditorium / Gymnasium - Ozawkie KS
    A auditorium / gymnasium construction project in Ozawkie, Kansas was undertaken during the Great Depression as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project, likely as part of an extension to a school building. The PWA provided an $8,182 grant for the project, whose total cost was $18,311. Construction started in Jan. 1937 and was completed in Jul. 1937. The status and location of the project are presently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. Kan. 1113.
  • Auditorium/Elementary Building - Pachuta MS
    Penn Jeffries Krouse was the architect for the 1936 one-story school building constructed as Public Works Administration project 1153. A loan of $17,000 and grant of $13,909 was approved 9/25/1935 to construct and equip the school building. Construction began 4/6/1936, and was completed 10/24/1936 for a total of $30,926.
  • Audrain Medical Center Nurses Home - Mexico MO
    This nurses home was built in 1936 by the PWA on the Audrain Medical Campus to house nurses who worked in the hospital, and probably also nursing students. It is on the south side of the Medical Center.
  • Aurora County Courthouse - Plankinton SD
    "The Aurora County Courthouse is a flat roofed rectangular three story poured-in-place concrete building constructed in the Art Deco and Art Moderne styles. The facade and sides are symmetrical with seven bays on the front and five bays on each of the sides. The concrete foundation extends up to the sills of the first floor windows. Above that, the first floor concrete has a rusticated appearance of incised mortar joints, creating the appearance of a podium or pedestal upon which the upper stories rest. The second and third floors are smooth concrete. Between the first and...
  • Austin Hall (former; TWU) - Denton TX
    Texas Woman University's original Austin Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. "Named after Texas hero Stephen F. Austin, the hall was constructed in 1936-37 on the site of the original "dorm row."" The building is since demolished; a building in the newer Lowry Woods Apartments complex on campus has also been given the name Austin Hall.
  • Austin High School - Houston TX
    The Stephen F. Austin Senior High School in southeast Houston, Texas was constructed as a New Deal project with the aid f Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The three-story building, featuring "44 classrooms, a large auditorium, a cafeteria, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a library, sewing, cooking and home economics rooms and administrative offices," opened in 1937.
  • Austin High School (former) Annex - Austin TX
    The main building of the old Austin High School was erected in 1916 and was originally the John Allan Junior High School. The existing Austin High School campus, built in 1900, became overcrowded, and in 1924, the decision was made to swap the students in Austin High with Allan Junior High. This happened after the Thanksgiving holiday in 1925. In 1939, the school district added an annex of twenty-four classrooms to the Austin High School building using partial funding from the Public Works Administration. The two-story addition was separated from the main building by a courtyard and connected with a covered...
  • Austin-Travis County Tuberculosis Sanatorium (former) - Austin TX
    From the PWA docket no.TEX-2070-F: On October 6, 1938, the Austin City Council adopted a resolution accepting financing from the Public Works Administration for a tuberculosis sanatorium including necessary equipment. The grant would pay for 45% of the cost of the project, not to exceed $24,750. The city located the project on sixteen acres of land in far East Austin. On December 1, 1938, the city council accepted a bid of $44,600 from contractor Will O'Connell of San Angelo for construction on the sanatorium building. On February 2, 1940, the city council declared the contracts with O'Connell and most of the...
  • Automotive High School - Brooklyn NY
    Automotive High School in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, facing McCarren Park, was built during the 1930s with funds from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).  The school was created to train students to be skilled auto repair technicians, to which have been added offerings in Software Engineering and Art and Media. The building has a striking inscription over the main entrance: "Manhood Service Labor Citizenship". Not surprisingly, it has few female students.  The exterior and interior appear to be little changed over the years.    
  • Avalon School Rehabilitation - Avalon, CA
    The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. Originally built in 1924, Avalon School on Catalina Island—a part of the Long Beach Unified School District—was rehabilitated by Harold C. Wildman in 1935/36 with New Deal funding. Classes were held in tents while construction was underway. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building...
  • Avenel Street Underpass - Woodbridge Township NJ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant for the construction of an underpass to carry Avenel Street under the train tracks in Avenel, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey (at the train station). The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. The PWA provided a grant of $98,100 for the project, whose total cost was $243,367. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "Work on the project was started by railroad forces September 24th, 1936, construction under contract began November 4, 1936, and the project was completed on November 30, 1937. After construction was under way the...
  • Avoca Central School - Avoca NY
    The Public Works Administration provided a $99,000 grant to construct a new K-12 public school in 1937-1939. Much expanded and renovated, the school remains in use today.
  • Aztec Ruins National Monument - Aztec NM
    The complex in Aztec Ruins National Monument consists of a "three-story structure as many as 500 rooms, includ a great kiva that is more than forty feet across." The name "Aztec" is a misnomer as the original excavators believed that the structures were from that tribe. In fact, "The pueblo dates from approximately A.D. 1100." In the winter of 1933-34, workers for the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built "an entrance road, a parking area, and general clean-up." Also in 1934, Public Works Administration (PWA) workers rebuilt some of the original structure as workers "dismantled the walls and relaid the masonry"...
  • B. N. Duke Auditorium (NCCU) - Durham NC
    B. N. Duke Auditorium at North Carolina Central University, a historically black college, was constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. The building is located on the east side of Fayetteville Road just south of E. Lawson St. The building has since been expanded. It retrains its perfectly preserved art deco interior. A National Register of Historic Places nomination form states: "Completed 1937 as part of the Public Works Administration building campaign. The focal point of the flat-roofed building with English bond brick elevations is the two-story frame portico supported by stream-lined Corinthian columns that shelters...
  • B. S. Pollak Hospital (former) - Jersey City NJ
    The old B.S. Pollak Hospital, part of the old Jersey City Medical Center, was constructed with federal funds during the Great Depression. The building is now privately owned. "The Pollak Hospital facility was formerly the site of a three-story building constructed in 1918 for the Jersey City School for Crippled Children. It was taken over as the Infectious Disease Hospital and in 1934 received a loan of $2,996,000 by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for a new county tuberculosis hospital. The 250-bed facility was eventually named for Dr. B.S. Pollak and became noted for the treatment of chest diseases. When completed in...
  • Babcock Boulevard Reconstruction - McCandless / Pine Township PA
    "Harrison Construction Company was awarded a PWA contract in December 1935 to relocate a 2.3 mile section of Babcock Boulevard in McCandless and Pine Townships to eliminate dangerous curves."
  • Bachelor Creek Bridge - Terrell TX
    Concrete Cast-in-Place bridge on Griffith Avenue in Terrell, TX. It has a metal plaque at both ends of the bridge which is approx. 108 feet long. Joint project of Texas Highway Department and US Bureau of Public Roads.
  • Bachmann Railway Station Demolition - Staten Island NY
    The Bachmann railway station was demolished during the mid-1930s as part of a massive grade separation project along what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway. The Bachmann Station "was located east of Tompkins Avenue, between Lynhurst and Chestnut Avenues." 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.
  • Bailey Junior High School Additions - Nashville TN
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded additions to three existing schools in Nashville 1938-1940. Supervising architects for the projects were Hart, Freeland, and Roberts of Nashville, although the design architects for projects varied. The Nashville firm of Dougherty, Clemmons and Seale designed the elementary wing and gymnasium addition to Bailey. Original cost was planned at $72,000, but at completion was $82,000. A two-story elementary wing accommodating 300 children, and a basement were added to the southeast corner of the building. A gymnasium at the rear of the original building (partially destroyed by the 1933 tornado) was also constructed next to...
  • Bailey Magnet High School - Jackson MS
    Originally Bailey Junior High School, this historic building is "two stories and a basement in height and, due to sloping site, part of the basement is entirely above grade. The basement contains locker and shower rooms, a cafeteria, kitchen, club rooms, assembly room, industrial-arts rooms, shops, workrooms, and laboratories. On the first floor are the gymnasium, band room; domestic-science department including an apartment, a sewing room, and a cooking room; also 12 classrooms, rooms for the fine arts and natural sciences, the auditorium with its stage, a clinic, and administrative offices. The second floor contains the bleachers for the gymnasium, 10 classrooms,...
  • Bain School Addition - Cranston RI
    The PWA funded this addition to the Bain School in Cranston.
  • Bair Reservoir - Martinsdale MT
    The PWA allocated $778,000 toward the construction of two reservoirs in Meagher County: the Bair Reservoir on the North Fork of the Musselshell River and the Martinsdale Reservoir on the river's South Fork. 45% of the money for the project was a PWA grant. The reservoirs were built to store 23,000 acre-feet of water toward the irrigation of at least 20,000 acres.
  • Bakersfield Central Fire Station #1 - Bakersfield CA
    This fire station was constructed by the PWA in 1939 and remains in use today.
  • Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Locomotive No. 50 - St. Louis MO
    In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) loaned the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad $900,000 for 16 streamlined cars, one diesel-electric locomotive , and enough "... to rebuild a steam engine to develop exceptionally high speed” (The Bangor Daily News, 1934). The Lady Baltimore and a similar locomotive, the Lord Baltimore, were favorites of the train-watchers; then, "... there came a day in August 1935, when the watchers between New York and Washington saw a new and strange sight as the Royal Blue sped past their bewildered eyes. Instead of the sharp staccato blasts of the Lord Baltimore’s exhaust, they heard...
  • Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: Lady Baltimore Locomotive Improvements – Baltimore MD
    In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) lent $900,000 to the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad, which used it to buy 16 streamlined, lightweight train cars and a new diesel locomotive (see our project page, “Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Locomotive No. 50 – St. Louis MO”), with, “The remainder... set aside to rebuild a steam engine to develop an exceptionally high speed… covered with a streamlined jacket to cut down wind resistance” (The Bangor Daily News, 1934). The rebuilt locomotive was the Lady Baltimore, which played a prominent role in the B&O’s experiments during the 1930s to determine whether the company’s...
  • Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: Royal Blue Train – Baltimore MD
    In 1934, Daniel Willard, president of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) railroad, “negotiated a $900,000 Public Works Administration loan which would be used to make B & O’s New York-Washington line an industry-wide proving ground for various types of lightweight train construction and high-speed steam and diesel power” (Harwood, 1990). Among the equipment constructed with this loan was the Royal Blue, a streamline train set consisting of eight cars made out of aluminum and lightweight steel. The Royal Blue was a reincarnation of a popular B&O train service from the turn of the century plus “a quarter of a century of...
  • Bama Theatre - Tuscaloosa AL
    Construction of the historic Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Alabama was enabled by the provision of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The building was constructed as a combination "theatre/municipal auditorium" and "city hall, all under one roof." Municipal functions have since relocated. Further details about the architecture and details of the building can be found at the Bama Theatre's official website, linked below.
  • Bandelier Elementary School - Albuquerque NM
    This large elementary school is in the Nob Hill section of Albuquerque, NM, just south of the University of New Mexico and has one of the highest ratings in the city. It was built by the PWA in 1939. The interior includes the typical glazed brick wainscoting in hallways. The exterior style includes modern deco elements mixed with a short visible clay tile roof and dentilwork below the fascia. Brick is the predominant exterior building material. The building is still in use.
  • Bandini Street Elementary School Renovation - San Pedro CA
    Bandini Street Elementary School, which opened in 1923, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Bankhead Lock and Dam (Lock 17) - Black Warrior River AL
    The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Bankhead Lock and Dam (Lock 17) on the Black Warrior River in the vicinity of Birmingham. “Dam no. 17 on the Warrior River has improved the navigability of the river. This dam is being constructed by PWA.”
  • Bankhead Tunnel - Mobile AL
    Mobile, Alabama's Bankhead Tunnel carries Government Street under the Mobile River. "Named for John Hollis Bankhead, construction of the Bankhead Tunnel began in 1938. Financed by the Public Works Administration, the tubes for the tunnel were made by workers at the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company with construction overseen by the firm of Wilberding and Palmer. The tunnel travels more than 3,000 feet under the Mobile River and is still heavily used."
  • Barclay Brook Elementary School - Monroe Township NJ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided an $82,500 loan and $67,500 grant for construction of a school in Monroe Township, New Jersey. Total cost of the project was $152,000. Completed in 1936, Living New Deal believes this is the Barclay Brook Elementary School. PWA Docket No. NJ 6920
  • Barclay School - Oregon City OR
    A Public Works Administration (PWA) $27,000 grant contributed to the funding of the $60,000 Barclay Grade School in Oregon City. The PWA also provided a $33,000 loan that was repaid with approval of a local bond initiative. This simple Colonial Revival style, wooden structure was designed by noted Portland architect Carl Wallwork.  The Salem firm Odum Construction built the structure during 1936 and it opened for fall classes that year. Noted for his work in wood, Wallwork's design included a hexagonal belfry with iron weathervane, a pedimented porch entry with square columns and pilasters, arched lights in the transome over the...
  • Bardo Gymnasium - Williamsport PA
    Bardo Gymnasium, now a part of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, was originally built as part of Williamsport High School. Sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA, the gym was constructed in 1936-7 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No.  PA 1080.
  • Barnes Hall (Central Michigan University) - Mt. Pleasant MI
    Barnes Hall on the campus of Central Michigan University was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $119,250 grant. Construction occurred between October 1938 and 1939. "Barnes Hall started life as the dormitory wing of the new Student Union, known then as Keeler Union, which is now Powers Hall. Grounbreaking for the new student union occurred on October 31, 1938 when President Warriner turned the first shovel of earth. The building was funded through a Public Works Administration Grant, one of the programs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. The...
  • 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.
  • Bartlett Middle School - Porterville CA
    This school was built as an elementary school with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938.  It later became a junior high school and was named for William Pitt Bartlett, a Porterville benefactor. The building is single-story and the design by W.D. Coates is Moderne (Art Deco). The main building front still looked unchanged as of 2009, except for probable window replacement. There are new aluminum windows on the small building on the south, and new aluminum doors on the back side. There have been at least 2 additions for new classrooms since it was built.
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