Public Works Funding Sites

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...

Bryce Canyon was originally designated as a national monument by President Warren G. Harding in 1923 and became a national park through an act of Congress in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres in south-central Utah. The New Deal greatly improved Bryce Canyon National Park.  Along with the National Park Service, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided special funds, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked continuously in the park, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was also active. The National Park Service recognizes the CCC's contribution on its website for Bryce Canyon NP, but not that of the PWA or WPA:  “During the 1930s...

Several cabins for Bryce Canyon National Park employees were built by New Deal agencies over the course of the 1930s.  They appear  in the residential area of the Park near the lodge. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a 3-room employee cabin in 1937; the Public Works Administration (PWA) built two employee cabins in 1934; and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) build a rangers' dormitory in 1939 and remodeled a mess hall as a residence in 1938. It is not certain which of the present cabins are from the New Deal and which were built later; some park rangers believe that all of the cabins...

"The Buchanan Dam is a large flood-control, water-conservation, and power project. It was originally a power project of a utility company but was taken over by the Lower Colorado River Authority in 1936 after the utility company had abandoned it. The total length of the dam is 8,400 feet and its height is 143 feet from bed to parapet. It develops a reservoir of 23,500 acres. The power plant has a capacity of 22,000 kilowatts. The project was completed in November 1938 at an estimated construction cost of $7,093,098 and project cost of $8,298,957. Included in this cost...

Buchanan Street Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt 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...

Researcher Frank da Cruz has found that construction of the Buckroe Elevated Water Tank in the 1930s was made possible by a 45% Federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. The water tank is located in the Fox Hill section of Hampton, Virginia, near Old Buckroe Road and Manilla Lane. As of 2017, the water tank is still in use, though it is evidently slated for demolition.

Budlong Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1916, was rebuilt 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...

Buffalo, New York's Minucipal Auditorium was a $2.7 million New Deal-funded project. Ground was broken on November 30, 1939 and the auditorium opened October 14, 1940. Sources differ with regard to the source of the New Deal funding -- an AP article claims it was the PWA while others claim the WPA constructed the building. The Municipal Auditorium was demolished in early 2009.

One of the 26 bridges that were destroyed or damaged by the 1936 flood. A Maine Highway report notes that the reconstruction of these bridges was a U.S. Works Program Flood Relief project and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936. Labor was provided on some by the Works Progress Administration. Before the flood, the Bullseye bridge was a wooden covered bridge that was noted for its circular windows which is where it got its name. The 1936 town report notes in the forward that...

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.

"The new courthouse is 114 by 109 feet in plan. It encloses and makes use of the walls of the old courthouse which was 56 by 92 feet and provided space for the courtroom ad accessory quarters. The new building provides space for the county clerk, county treasurer, county court, circuit court clerk, State attorney, board of supervisors, county superintendent of schools, highway commissioners, tuberculosis clinic, old-age pension board, police, work-relief agencies, and rooms for the grand jury and petit jury. The structure is fireproof throughout, including the old building where the wood floors were replaced...

A new annex was constructed for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1936-38. The building was authorized by Congress in 1935 for $6.3 million, but the funds flowed through the Public Works Administration (PWA).   The Treasury Department's Procurement Division handled the design through its architecture office, put out the contract and supervised construction, which was carried out by the John McShain Co. (Evening Star, 1936). In its 1936 fiscal year report, the U.S. Treasury noted: “On August 12, 1935, Congress authorized the construction of a new annex to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to be located on a site...

Newspaper articles from the 1930s report that a mixture of New Deal funds and private spending in the amount of $975,000 were used to construct the Bureau of Public Roads Research Center.  According to the Bureau of Public Roads annual reports, 1937-1939, the new research facilities were constructed on the "Abingdon Plantation," also known as "the old Custis Estate near Gravelly Point."  This area today is roughly where the Washington National Airport parking garages are situated.  A small green area between the two garages is a remnant of the plantation  (the CCC did historic preservation work here). A 1939 Evening Star article says...

"The construction of the Burgwin School, in a residential district adjacent to a mill and commercial district, made possible the elimination of the old Hazelwood School built in 1875, and of the Glenwood School built in 1882, both of which were obsolete. The building is 3 stories in height and H-shaped in plan with over-all dimensions 96 by 279 feet. It accommodates 920 pupils in 22 classrooms and a kindergarten. In addition, it has 2 nature-study rooms, rooms for the study of art and music, a library, 2 playrooms separated by folding doors which can be folded back...

In August 1935, the Burleson Independent School District (BISD) applied for a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) for the construction of a one-story, semi-fireproof combination auditorium, gymnasium and classroom school building. In October of the same year, the PWA offered a grant of $8,181 and loan of $10,000 for Project Docket Texas 1481-H, which the BISD accepted. Construction on the building began on April 1, 1936. BISD held a dedication ceremony on October 9, 1936. The auditorium is 122 x 68 feet with a 37 x 16 feet stage on one end. On each side of the stage are...

This PWA project was originally listed as "Burlingame sewage disposal plant."

In 1935 the Burnet County Commissioners’ Court requested a grant from the Public Works Administration for the construction of a new courthouse. On November 18th of that year, the PWA made available a loan of $74,000 and a grant of $61,000 for the project. An election for bonds to cover the loan was called and passed. The Commissioners then accepted the grant. Construction began February 10, 1936, and finished on August 1, 1937. The courthouse was built of the same type of granite that was used in the construction of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.

"Trailside Nature Museum: This fieldstone building was completed in 1939, a combined project between the PWA and the CCC and designed by Freund. It reflects the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright with its horizontal design and rustic stone work. All external corners are rounded, as is the central chimney." It is one of the approximately 67 structures (about half of the existing 135 in the Cincinnati Parks system) made by New Deal workers.

The Burr's Ferry Bridge is built over the Sabine River where Texas State Highway 63 and Louisiana State Highway 8 meet. The bridge consists of three Parker though truss spans and 34 concrete girder spans. At the time the bridge project was under consideration, the road was an "improved dirt road," reportedly impassable much of the year with a toll ferry across the Sabine River. Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act on April 8, 1935. This act gave Texas and Louisiana grant money for road and bridge construction. Projects funded under this act were subject to special labor provisions. Among...

Pennsylvania State University's Burrowes Building 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, which has since been added to, is still in use today.

In February 1937, officers and directors of the Burt County Rural Public Power Company met in the Burt County Courthouse to sign a loan contract with the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) for $275,000.00 to build 263 miles of transmission lines. Bids for the construction of the lines would be advertised within weeks, and it was expected that nine months of construction would be required to finish the project. Still, as soon as sections of the electric line were built and farm homes were wired, the current would be turned on for their use. Power was obtained from the Elkhorn Valley...

Bushnell Way Elementary School (formerly Hermon Elementary School), which opened in 1912, was rebuilt 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 Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built an underpass in 1939 to separate the grade of U.S. Route 79 and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (currently Business U.S. Highway 79 and Union Pacific Railroad) in Taylor, Texas. The Texas Highway Department designed the bridge and L. H. Lacy Company constructed it.

“BUTLER – An endeavor to employ local county men on PWA work now in progress around Butler finally met with success….Thus the aim of the Borough to engage its own citizenry for its own projects, reducing town unemployment slack to non-existance , is achieved. Men eligible for PWA in this section have been transferred from district No. 6, comprising Morris and Union Counties, to District No. 1, comprising Passaic County, to make possible their employment on the new reservoir now under way in Kinnelon. This project, to be called the Butler Kikeout Reservoir, will take nine months to complete and...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $360,000 in 1935 for the construction of Butte high school. The total cost of the high school was $930,000 and the project was completed in late 1937. The should be a PWA plaque inside the school but we were unable to locate it. The current Assistant Principal, whose father was Principal after the World War, confirmed that the school was a New Deal project. The design of the 3-4 story building is brick Moderne with bas-relief columns between the windows. New additions have been made and the current entrance on...

Buttermilk Hollow Road was built as part of a New Deal project: the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $299,852 grant for the project, whose total cost was $475,186. PWA Docket No. PA 2109.

The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1933-35.  It was part of a much larger project that included widening the canal and three bridges across it, for which the PWA made a grant of $6,138,000. (Short & Stanley-Brown 1939) The bridge was designed by Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff, and Douglas, along with Mead and White, for the Army Corps of Engineers, which operates all three bridges and the canal.   The main space is 544 feet long and has 135-foot clearance when raised (Wikipedia) At the time...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) improved a segment of C Street NW, from Second Street to John Marshall Place. This section of road was part of a PWA-funded project to widen, realign, repave, and install sidewalks along streets, to accommodate the new Municipal Center building (also a PWA-funded project).

South Boston, Virginia received a new school in 1939 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a grant of $43,200 toward the project, whose total cost was $109,128. Construction occurred between June 1938 and March 1939. After the South Boston high school on Peach Avenue was destroyed by fire on December 1936 the community immediately thought to seek the assistance of the Public Works Administration to replace the school. Charles Henderson (C.H.) Friend High School was constructed at 601 Marshall Avenue. It operated as a High School from the late 1930s until the 1952-1953 school...

The facility served as Jasper (Indiana) High School Gym, 1939-1977 and Jasper Middle School gymnasium until 2009. It was named for the coach of the 1949 Jasper High School State Championship basketball team in 1984. It is still owned by the school corporation after the middle school moved, the building is now used for community activities. The facility hosted the high school teams in 2010 and 2011 after the roof of the 1977 gym collapsed.

The Public Works Administration and the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works funded the construction of the school building and athletic facilities for the Village School in Cabot, Cabot School District. "The school is in the residential section of the town and replaces an inadequate two-story condemned wooden building. There are five classrooms, a library, domestic science room, principal's office, and teachers' rooms. The walls are insulated. It was completed in October 1938. The construction cost was $36,434 and the total project cost was $39,903." The school was designed by Freeman, French and Freeman of Burlington. Docket No. Vt. 1059-DS. The building currently houses...

Cabrillo Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1927, was rebuilt 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...

This project involved two separate roads, 48 feet wide (four lanes each way) with Pacific Electric Tracks in the center. It included the Pilgrimage Bridge (Vine St) and adjacent frontage roads, Barham Blvd overcrossing and Barham offramps.

The original Caldecott Tunnel was built with the aid of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Out of a total cost of $4 million, the PWA provided $1.1 million, the state $700,000 and the highway district sold $2.3 million in bonds, which were repaid from gas tax revenues (Oakland Tribune 1937).  Plans for the tunnel had long been in the works, as automobiles began to replace trolleys after World War I. A Joint Highway District was created in 1929 to undertake the project and money was sought from the federal government from the outset of the New Deal (Tribune 1933).  Once PWA...

The original two-bore Caldecott Tunnel was built with the aid of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Out of a total cost of $4 million, the PWA provided $1.1 million, the state $700,000 and the highway district $2.3 million in bonds, which were repaid from gas tax revenues (Oakland Tribune 1937).  Plans for the tunnel had long been in the works as automobiles began to replace trolleys after World War I.  A Joint Highway District was created in 1929 to undertake the project and money was sought from the federal government from the outset of the New Deal.  Once PWA funding was...

This parish courthouse was undertaken during the Great Depression with the assistance of funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The two story jail courthouse, "...modern structure to be constructed of concrete, brick, and hollow tile, with stone trimmings" (1937, p. 10) was completed in 1937.

The Calhoun school was constructed 1939 as project x1289. A PWA grant of $13,622 was approved 9/13/1938. Construction began 12/16/1938 and was completed 7/13/1939 at a cost of $28,909. Architects were Landry & Matthes. The school was demolished in 2007.

The former Camarillo State Hospital for the Insane was closed in 1997 and became the CSU-Channel Islands campus. The old hospital was begun in the early 1930s, but when the Roosevelt Administration came into office, the Public Works Administration (PWA) took over funding the project in 1934. With the aid from the PWA, the hospital was completed in 1936.  At the time, it was the largest and most advanced mental institution west of the Mississippi.  

Located in the small town of California, Pennsylvania, “Cal U” is a public university that was founded in 1852. The main campus consists of 38 buildings situated on 92 acres of land. Then known as the State Teachers College, California University of Pennsylvania benefited during the Great Depression from a large construction project enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $188,000 grant for the project, whose final cost was $540,686. Construction occurred between February and December 1938. (PWA Docket No. 1844.) A physical education and industrial arts building were constructed on the campus. The present status of...

The courthouse has an art deco design and includes light fixtures and the external façade.  The use of a stylized “u” that looks like a “v” was widely panned at the time.  In addition to the plaques for the present courthouse, the plaque for the previous courthouse is included.  It was the site of the controversial trial of Celia, a slave who killed a sexually abusive master in the 1850’s.