Public Works Administration (PWA) Sites

"'...a two-unit reinforced concrete high school builidng at Tulare... School bonds and a PWA grant will finance the project.'"

The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come to...

The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come to...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Tuolumne Meadows campground in 1933-34, according to a plan laid out by the National Park Service (NPS) and with financing from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  It is the largest campground in Yosemite National Park.  The campground regularized camping at Tuolumne, which had previously been a free-for-all with cars driving across the meadows and people camping wherever they liked. The damage to the meadows had been extensive before the National Park Service brought a halt to the anarchy. First, the NPS restricted camping to designated campgrounds and then implemented a new plan for individual campsites,...

In the late 1930s, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a new sewage collection and treatment system for Tuolumne Meadows.  It replaced the original septic tanks for the campground comfort stations and was extended to take in a broader area around the campground. More information is needed on the amount and timing of the PWA funding. The old spray field system for distributing treated sewage has been recently replaced with settling ponds. It is unknown how much of the original piping survives.

New Deal agencies realigned and reconstructed the Old Tioga road from 1933 to 1943, from Crane Flat to Tuolumne Meadows.  An important element of the road project was the bridge over the Tuolumne River, just east of the Tuolumne Meadows campground. The bridge was constructed in 1933-34. Funding came from the Public Works Administration (PWA); the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) managed construction, using private companies; and the National Park Service (NPS) oversaw all work in the park. The Tuolumne River bridge is a modern design of steel beams and concrete, but is dressed up with stone siding to accord with the...

James V. Turner Reservoir in East Providence, Rhode Island (with spillover into Seekonk, Massachusetts) was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Turner Reservoir was created in 1935 with the building of the Turner Dam, which the City of East Providence used for their drinking supply until the 1960s. Turner Reservoir is now open to the public for recreation." (ExploreRI.org) The PWA supplied a $178,000 loan and $66,781 grant; the total cost of the project was $245,608. Work occurred between May 1934 and June 1935. (PWA Docket No. RI 2003)

This art deco style building was constructed by the PWA in 1938-1940. It was originally occupied by Stowe Teachers College, a college for black educators. It was named after Charles Turner, an educator and scientist.

"The circulation of library books in New Philadelphia doubled in a period of 6 years, reaching 133,000 in the first 6 months of 1935. The public library is also the library for the county schools. The new building, which was badly needed, is 2 stories in height and 104 by 53 feet in over-all dimensions. It houses on the ground floor an auditorium seating 200 with a well-equipped stage and a research reading room, and on the first floor, adult and children's reading rooms, a control room between the two, and the stack room. The structure...

Tweedy Elementary School, which opened in 1931, 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...

Twentieth Street Elementary School, which opened in 1902, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. It does not appear that any PWA buildings survived another round of reconstruction in the 1980s. 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...

Twenty-Fourth Street Elementary School, which opened in 1904, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. The school appears to have been rebuilt yet again in the 1950s or 60s, although the PWA auditorium may remain—confirmation is needed. 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...

"This bridge is in the north section of Baltimore. It connects the vehicular traffic on the eastern and western sides of the Jones Fall valley and crosses the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is approximately 1,375 feet long. The roadway is 40 feet wide with two 7-foot-10-inch sidewalks. There are two main arch spans, each 230 feet long, and three 30-foot arches near each end. It is faced with granite, constructed in the same manner as the Hilton Parkway bridges... The project was completed in January 1938 at a construction cost of $601,414 and a project cost of $603,322."

The Public Works Administration funded construction of the public Library in Twin Falls, Idaho, in 1939.   The library still stands and is in use.  An addition has been made to the west wing of the building and a new entrance built on the east end.  

According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce: “Construction of Tygart Dam started in 1935 and was completed in 1938. It was one of the first Public Works Administration (PWA) projects initiated to reduce unemployment through the construction of massive, labor intensive projects. Veterans, as well as men from Taylor, Barbour, Preston and other surrounding counties, were given employment preference. At its peak in May of 1936, 1,701 men were employed. The pay was set at 45 cents per hour for non-skilled labor and $1.10 for skilled at a maximum of 30 hours a week. Tygart Dam is currently operated by...

"The Tyronza Water Tower is a historic elevated steel water tower located in Tyronza, Arkansas. It was built in 1935 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in conjunction with the Public Works Administration as part of a project to improve the local water supply. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, as part of a multiple-property listing that included numerous other New Deal-era projects throughout Arkansas. The Tyronza Water Tower is considered an excellent representation of 1930s-era waterworks construction. In 2003, a new, 200,000-gallon steel water tower was built next to the 1935 tower, in...

The former Tyson School in Versailles, Indiana was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The facility has since been converted to apartments. Partially funded by and named in honor of a community benefactor who grew up in the town of Versailles (and by the way, the one in Indiana, is "Vur-saylz"). James Tyson was one of the founders of the Walgreen drugstore chain and also supported a library and an absolute jewel of an Art Deco inspired church. The Tyson Temple United Methodist Church is a memorial to Mr. Tyson's mother.

"The N.P. Severin Company of Chicago erected the building in 1931 under the direction of James A. Wetmore, architectural supervisor for the Treasury Department. The walls of the Italian Renaissance Revival style building are of smooth-rubbed, course cut Colorado Yule marble. The Public Works Administration financed a large 1937 addition designed by Denver architects Temple H. Buell and G. Meredith Musick. Various government agencies housed in the building, but its primary tenant the U.S. Custom Service."   (www.historycolorado.org)

The former toll bridge connecting Alburg, Vermont and Rouses Point, New York, which carried U.S. 2 across Lake Champlain, was constructed between 1936 and 1937 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The bridge was replaced with a no-toll bridge 50 years later. The PWA provided a $343,131 grant toward the $768,555 total cost of the project. 1011.]

Like other public buildings from the 1930s, the design and construction of the Austin U.S. Courthouse were part of the federal construction programs enacted to reduce unemployment during the Great Depression. Most notable among the programs was the Public Works Administration that provided thousands of jobs and funding for public service projects; one of the recipients was the Austin U.S. Courthouse. In June 1934, U.S. Congressman J. P. Buchanan requested an appropriation of $415,000 for the construction of a U.S. courthouse in Austin. Groundbreaking took place on September 16, 1935. The building was formally dedicated and opened to the public on...

Now known as the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, the historic United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House in Louisville, Kentucky was constructed in 1931-2, before the advent of the New Deal. However, in "1936, with a growing need for more offices and courtrooms, the PWA also funded the addition of the sixth floor."

"The Custom House at Naco was constructed in 1936 with funds from the Public Works Administration. Louis Simon, architect for the Public Buildings Branch of the Treasury Department, designed the Custom House in the Pueblo Revival style. The two-story building is an outstanding example of this style and includes southwestern features of battered (sloped) and rounded walls, parapets, rough-hewn rafters and vigas, waterspouts, window lintels, and a decorative ladder. In addition to its fine artistry and historic integrity, the building is the only Custom House on the Arizona border designed in the Pueblo Revival style."

"Funded by the Public Works Administration in 1934 and constructed in 1935 in the Spanish Eclectic style, the imposing U.S. Custom House is a reminder of the importance of Nogales as a primary port of entry from Mexico along the Arizona border. Louis A. Simon, a prominent federal architect, was its designer." P.W.A. Federal Project No. 46

Dayton's U.S. Grant School was constructed as a New Deal project, with the aid of Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $29,925 grant for the project, whose total cost was $71,603. PWA Docket No. OH 1355-R

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in 1937: "Emery C. Jones, foreman, Arne Hoem, timekeeper, left Monday morning with an additional camp outfit for Wheeler creek, where a crew of 14 PWA men will do improvement work on the highway leading to Melville. A camp has been established at the old Finstead ranch, this side of the Wheeler creek bridge beyond Ten Mile creek." Tenmile Creek and Wheeler Creek cross U.S. 191 11 and 14 miles north of Big Timber, respectively.

Two major improvements were made to the U.S. Treasury Department building in 1933-34, using funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and under the supervision of the newly created Procurement Division of the Treasury Department.  The first major improvement was the remodeling of the fourth floor, originally attic space, “into good office space, and air conditioned so as to be a liveable place to work in hot weather of the Summer” (Evening Star, 1933).  The exact cost of this project is unknown, but it was between $140,000 and $200,000 of the PWA funds. The second major improvement to the Treasury building...

The Department of the Interior was the first federal building in Washington, D.C. fully authorized, designed, and built under the Franklin Roosevelt Administration. It was the brainchild of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, probably the most powerful member of FDR's cabinet, and later renamed for former Secretary of Interior, Stewart Lee Udall, in 2010. The Department had outgrown the old Interior Building (now the General Services Administration Building) and its agencies were scattered at 15 different sites in the District of Columbia. Funds were allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934, construction began in April 1935 and was...

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) assisted in the financing of two bridges over Monument Creek in Colorado Springs's Monument Valley Park. "The two other major construction projects in the park during the 1930s were the replacement of the Uintah Street and Mesa Road bridges which had been washed out by the Memorial Day flood. The city received a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant totaling $99,133 to cover the cost of the bridges. Each Art Deco style bridge was a 242-foot, three span, concrete and steel structure with concrete abutments and two concrete piers in the streambed.  Given the widening...

With Public Works Administration (PWA) funding, the Oregon Highway Department constructed Umatilla Bridge #2117, also known as the Ballpark Bridge, in 1935. Part of Highway #30 in Pendleton when constructed, Oregon's state bridge designer Conde B. McCullough drew art deco and classical design features together for the small structure. More recently, the bridge has been bypassed by the highway system. Now it provides pedestrian access to park and athletic facilities. As described by Sarah Munro, members of the public continue to view the "art deco inspired-pylons, ornate bridge railings, cantilevered sidewalks, and architectural treatment of the substructure."

The bridge at the mouth of the Umpqua River at Reedsport OR was constructed with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1934-36.  It was one of five PWA-funded bridges across major rivers that completed the Oregon Coast Highway, four of which still stand. The coast highway had been developed since 1914 by the state and coastal counties, but money ran out in the Great Depression, until the PWA offered $1.4 million and a loan of $4.2 million (replaced by a state bond issue). (HAER 1992, p 2-4). The Umpqua River bridge is over 2,200 feet long and includes a...

The Unalakleet School was built in 1933 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs with the help of a PWA grant. "The BIA constructed the building in 1933 for a day school in the community. A staff architect most likely designed the building. A similar design was used at several other BIA schools built at the time around Alaska. The Unalakleet school has Georgian Revival elements including classical balanced designs for the interior and exterior, pediments above the entrances, a cupola, and palladian windows. The BIA added shed dormers in 1937, and an addition to the west end of the building in 1954. The building...

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Alumni House was constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the 1930s. "The Alumni House was built and furnished for about $155,000, which included a Public Works Administration grant of $31,400. Every dollar received was used to its fullest. The design. The materials. Even the core skeleton of the building." (UNCG.edu)

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Spencer Hall was extensively renovated as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the 1930s. "In 1938 came a thorough-going modernization and improvement ... It was ... the ready availability of the New Deal's Public Works Administration funds that provided the critical stimulus. The changes were, in fact, considerable, at least as to interior details, amenities, and appointments. Not the least of them was the end of the old oaken washstands, with the bowl and pitcher for the morning ablutions with water fetched hither from elsewhere. And scarcely less momentous was...

The overpass carrying Union Avenue over what was then a freight and passenger railway (the North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway) was constructed during the mid-1930s, in conjunction with the lowering of the railroad right-of-way, as one link in a massive grade crossing removal project. 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.

Sayville's Suffolk County News reported in September 1934: "The extension of Union street from Fifth avenue, Bay Shore, to John street, Babylon, will be opened to traffic by October 1st... The extension is 3.14 miles in length and it is expected that it will divert considerable traffic from the Merrick road. The project, which is being carried out with PWA aid, will cost $120,300."

The Union City Armory was undertaken in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The rare PWA funded Armory was constructed in "restrained Art Deco" (Van West, p. 87) style for a total cost of $30,000. The armory fulfilled both military and local community functions, serving as the base of Company K, 117th Infantry Regiment of the National Guard during World War II as well as hosting community events. The armory became private property in 1980.

The Union City High School was erected in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA Moderne, one-story brick school included an auditorium and football field and replaced a three story brick school demolished as part of the construction of the Central Elementary School project. The school grounds were quickly used as the grounds for a federal Office of Education pilot program, "Home and Family Life," which expanded upon an earlier Works Progress Administration (WPA) adult education program. The PWA high school is currently used as Union City Middle School.

"The third and present Union County courthouse was constructed in 1872. The design for the courthouse came from J.K. Frick of Indiana. The contract for construction was awarded to A.B. Weaver, G.E. Bell, G.W. Fallon and William Brown. A grant provided by the Public Works Administration allowed the courthouse to be doubled in size with the building of an addition."

Montpelier's Union Elementary School was constructed as a New Deal project, with primary construction in 1938-9. The city's 1940 annual report: "The past year has marked the completion of the Recreation Field and the new Elementary School Building. Both projects were made possible by a PWA Grant of 45% of the total cost." The city's 1939 annual report described the building, in progress: In the basement are located the boiler room, costume room, vault and janitor's room, fuel storage and general storage. Although the basement of the northwest wing is excavated, it will not be finished but may be, if use...

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for some construction at what was then Oceanside High School in 1935-6 (PWA Docket No. NY 3302). The structure has seen numerous large additions since the original 1934 construction. The New Deal project was likely an addition. "When this building on Castleton Ct. first opened in 1936, it became the home of Oceanside High School until September 1955, when it became Oceanside Jr. High School." (1960sailors.net)