Public Works Funding Sites

A sizable waterworks-improvement construction project was undertaken in Steubenville, Ohio with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $79,535 loan and $22,093 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $105,436. Work occurred between July 1934 and June 1935. (PWA Docket No. OH 936)

A waterworks-improvement construction project in Tucson, Arizona was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $226,636 grant; the total cost of the project was $493,325. Work occurred between August 1938 and November 1939. (PWA Docket No. AZ W1032)

A power system-improvement construction project in Tyndall, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Work occurred between November 1938 and April 1939. (PWA Docket No. SD 1222-2)

A waterworks development project in Washburn, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Work occurred between December 1938 and May 1939. (PWA Docket No. ND X1238)

A waterworks-improvement construction project in Westerly, Rhode Island was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $50,850 grant; the total cost of the project was $104,979. Work occurred between April and December 1937. (PWA Docket No. RI 1125)

A waterworks-improvement construction project in Wickenburg, Arizona was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $13,900 loan and $5,200 grant; the total cost of the project was $20,800. Work occurred between April and June 1935. (PWA Docket No. AZ 4930)

A large waterworks-improvement construction project in Yonkers, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $255,000 loan and  grant toward the $325,178 total cost of the project. Work occurred between September 1935 and October 1936. (PWA Docket No. NY 6505)

A water tank construction project in Gary, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Work occurred between August and October 1934. The exact location and status of the structure are unknown to Living New Deal. (PWA Docket Nos. SD 4154)

A water tank in Horton, Kansas was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA supplied a $8,820 grant for the project, whose total cost was $19,504. Construction occurred between Oct. 1938 and Jan. 1939. The location and status of this project is currently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. 1452

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo of the water tank pictured here refers to it as  "a modern water tank in the Harrison and Rye water system at Rye, New York." It lists this as a Public Works Administration (PWA) construction project. The Living New Deal does not know the exact location or current status of this water tank.  

"The town of Green Forest took advantage of the offerings of the Public Works Administration and applied to have a $45,561 waterworks installed. On July 26, 1935, the PWA awarded a $21,500 loan and a $19,590 grant for the project. A contract for $41,362 was awarded on November 14, 1935. The Green Forest Tribune reported on March 12, 1936, that “Mayor Claude Buell has received the first check to finance the waterworks project in Green Forest. . . . In a telephone conversation with Dickison and White, the engineers for the project, Mr. Buell was informed that work orders would...

"In 1935 the Arkansas State Planning Board met with the Public Works Administration to begin planning for the conservation of the Arkansas natural resources. The PWA accepted the task to improve all of the water sources in the State. In that same year, the construction on the Waldo Water Tower began. The PWA gave a $43,500 loan and a $15,987 grant for the project. The Waldo Water Tower was completed May, 1936. Today the old Waldo Water Tower continues to operate as one of the primary water sources for the town of Waldo. It serves as a reminder of the PWA...

Perry, New York's old water tower, located near Silver Lake, was built during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied an $18,293 grant; the total cost of the project was $41,336. Work occurred between January and June 1936. Perry has a new water tower; Living New Deal believes the PWA structure has since been demolished. (PWA Docket No. NY 1095)

A water tank construction project in Exeter, Rhode Island was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $8,054 grant; the total cost of the project was $28,565. Work occurred between August 1935 and May 1936. The exact location and status of the old water tank is unknown to Living New Deal. It is probable that the water tower is no longer extant. (PWA Docket No. RI 5894)

"The city’s first modern water works system included a redevelopment of the Town Well and a 60,000 gallon, 130 foot tall water storage tank. This project was completed in 1935 by the Public Works Administration. Both the well and the storage tank still exist but are no longer operational." (https://www.roundrocktexas.gov)

According to an index of WPA projects in the National Archives, the WPA constructed a sewage disposal plant, sedimentation tanks, a sludge digestion tank, and dripping beds in Lorton in 1936. In 1938, the Washington Post reported that funds were allocated for the PWA to conduct further improvements. Exact location and status of project unknown, but the facility could now be the site of the Norman M. Cole, Jr. Pollution Control Plant, Virginia's largest such facility.

"This project consisted of the construction of an impounding reservoir on the Saline River, 40 miles from Little Rock, a 40-mile transmission line, and the filter plant illustrated on this page. The plant, constructed at an approximate cost of $225,000, has a capacity of 15,000,000 gallons per day. The filter building is a fireproof structure faced with brick laid in a diamond pattern and trimmed with stone. The entire project was completed in February 1938 at a construction cost of $3,120,760 and a project cost of $3,477,788."

During the Great Depression, the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a grant enabling development of the old sewage disposal plant in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The exact location and status of the building are presently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. CO 3995

According to a budget report, New York City's massive Water Tunnel No. 2 was completed in 1936, in part with funds granted by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

In the development of the Denver water supply system, the WPA and PWA helped with construction of tunnels. "1935 — Construction began on Moffat Water Tunnel Diversion Project, which was part of the New Deal’s Public Works Administration program; the Moffat Tunnel was enlarged and partially lined. 1936 — The first delivery of water through the Moffat Water Tunnel took place. This, during the height of the Dust Bowl drought and continuing population explosion." The January 1937 Western Construction News has a article on a PWA built tunnel "Contract awarded to Broderick & Gordon, 1900 31st St. Denver CO, $553,622, by the Manager...

A water well construction project in Amenia, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Work occurred between December 1938 and March 1939. (PWA Docket No. ND X1277)

A water well construction project in Edgemont, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $29,000 loan and $12,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was $42,693. Work occurred between April and October 1934. The exact location and status of the structure are unknown to Living New Deal. (PWA Docket Nos. SD 6229)

A water well construction project in McIntosh, South Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $2,959 grant for the project, whose total cost was $6,565. Work occurred between December 1938 and March 1939. The exact location and status of the structure are unknown to Living New Deal. (PWA Docket Nos. SD 1195)

A water well construction project in Fessenden, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $29,700 grant for the project, whose total cost was $64,998. Work occurred between October 1938 and August 1939. (PWA Docket No. ND W1185)

A water well construction project in Hamburg, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $40,000 loan and $16,000 grant toward the $57,310 total cost of the project. Work occurred between March and October 1935. (PWA Docket No. NY 4324)

Public Works Administration project 5487 was approved 4/4/1934 for water works project in Magnolia. The city received a loan of $10,500 and grant for $3,874 to improve the water works system constructed in 1905. Construction began 7/9/1934 and was completed12/22/1934 for a total of $14,381.

A water system was approved for Blue Mountain 07/21/1936 as PWA project W1005. A loan of $20,000 and grant of $16,363 was approved and bids advertised in September 1936. Contract was awarded 11/03/1936 to the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company and A. H. Beard of St. Louis was the engineer in charge. Using natural springs east of Blue Mountain to supply the water, it marked the first time in the community that standard fireplugs were installed. Construction began November 20th and was completed March 20, 1937 for a total of $36,743.

Public Works Administration project 4251 was approved 12/28/1933 for a water works system in Sardis. A loan $14,257 and grant of $5,342 was announced in December 1933. Construction began 6/12/1934 and was completed 8/28/1934 for a total of $19,599.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) undertook a public utilities project in Rayne, Louisiana during the Great Depression. The cost of the project was $86,169.

Mississippi Project 1102 "undertook a considerable program of improving its waterfront facilities and harbor for small craft, including slips and pier with recreational features, a clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis courts" (Short & Stanley-Brown, 1939, p. 424). Miss Proj. 1419 provided improvements for "ocean-going vessels consist of a wharf 45 by 1, 790 feet with three lines of railroad tracks, and the warehouse 122 by 1,760 composed of eight compartments" (p. 425).

Portland’s morning newspaper, The Oregonian, announced in late January 1936 that the city’s Seawall Railing was nearing completion, bringing with it a harbor line that was “beautified and protect(ed).” The ornamental, reinforced concrete railings added 3 ½ feet to the harbor wall along a stretch of the Willamette River from Jefferson Street to the Steel Bridge.  Approximately every 100 feet, heavy bases had been added to allow for ornamental light standards along the wall. Federal relief funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $60,000 for the completion, employing approximately 100 Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. Planning for the harbor...

"This bridge is part of a street construction program undertaken to allow traffic passing through the city to bypass the congested business area. The project consisted of the construction of approximately 11,300 feet of highway connecting Roosevelt Avenue at one end with Houghton Avenue at the other, the construction of a rigid frame bridge at State Street with ramps up to State Street, and the construction of the Watershops Pond Bridge illustrated on this page. This bridge has steel girders and concrete spans with hung arches and stone facing on concrete piers and abutments resting on pile foundations. The total length...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Watertown Auditorium. The facility has two basketball and volleyball courts. It also has a stage with theater seating. For years it was used for rec league basketball and volleyball leagues and youth basketball camps and tournaments.

A waterworks construction project in Albion, Nebraska was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. 2771

A waterworks construction project in Ansted, West Virginia was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $22,000 loan and $17,895 grant toward the $39,889 eventual total cost of the project. Work occurred between Apr. and Aug. 1936. PWA Docket No. W Va. 1050-R

A waterworks construction project in Barstow, Texas was undertaken in 1938-9 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $31,000 loan and $25,363 grant for the project, whose total cost was $55,967. It is likely that Barstow's current water tower, located on San Marcos Street between Mackey and Briggs, was constructed at this time. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 1641

A waterworks construction project in Beaver City, Nebraska was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. 4972

A waterworks construction project in Belington, West Virginia was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $34,500 loan and $11,103 grant toward the $43,229 eventual total cost of the project. Work occurred between Feb. and Sept. 1935. PWA Docket No. 989

The PWA constructed this waterworks facility in Braymer with funds appropriated in 1938. The PWA also did extensive sewer construction in Braymer. From the Daily Capital News, Juney 23, 1938: The Public Works Administration began its 1938 spending-lending program today with allotments of $41,632,717 in grants and $9,021,000 of loans for 291 projects. Howard A. Gray, assistant administrator, said the 291 projects would involve $92,520,374 of construction... The allotments included: Braymer, Mo., waterworks, $31,090; Braymer, Mo., sewer system, $22,091; Kansas City, Mo., municipal bldg:, $443,623; King City, Mo., sewer, $29,250; Kirksville, Mo., paving, $204,545; Leadwood, Mo., gymnasium, $30,240; Milan, Mo., courthouse, $56,454...

A waterworks construction project in Bridgeport, West Virginia was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $10,000 loan and $3,493 grant toward the $13,649 eventual total cost of the project. Work occurred between Aug. 1934 and Jan. 1935. PWA Docket No. 2761