Public Works Administration (PWA) Sites

A substantial building, built to house the library and administration offices of what was then Rhode Island State College. It was that school's first full-scale library. The architects were Jackson, Robertson & Adams of Providence, then the state's most prominent architects. This building is a conservative, well-proportioned Colonial Revival structure. Like most of the school's buildings, it was built of Westerly Granite. This is one of three buildings on campus built under the auspices of the PWA. It is the school's most well-known building, and is on the URI Logo.

A large, Colonial Revival building, built to house the Home Economics department of what was then known as Rhode Island State College. It is built of Westerly Granite, then the dominant building material on campus. The building, designed by Monahan & Meikle of Pawtucket, was built between 1936 and 1937. It is one of three buildings built by the PWA on campus.

The University of South Carolina was the beneficiary of a large influx of New Deal funds from various agencies throughout the Great Depression. In "The Prosperity of the Depression," the university's website writes the following with regard to this era of the campus's history: "It is interesting to note that almost as many buildings were built during the Depression as during the period 1908-1930. A world economic crisis occurred in 1929, the harbinger of the Great Depression. Even before that, in 1927, state appropriations for permanent improvements had ended. On the one hand, the Great Depression meant severe financial constraints for the...

The student body of the University of Texas increased from 6,000 in 1920 to 10,000 in 1930, necessitating an extensive building program for the university. The university added Andrews Dormitory for women and Roberts Dormitory for men in 1936. The Public Works Administration provided a grant of $114,000 and a loan of $354,000 for these two buildings of which $239,000 went to build Andrews. The university named Andrews Dormitory for Jessie Andrews, the first woman to graduate from UT (1886). Andrews was the third dormitory built for women on-campus. It opened in September 1936 to house approximately 118 students. The building...

"The student body of the University of Texas increased from 6,000 in 1920 to 10,000 in 1930, necessitating an extensive building program for the university. Carothers Dormitory for girls was one of the first buildings constructed. It is three stories and a basement in height and provides 61 double bedrooms, living room, dining room, matron's suite, staff bedrooms, and the necessary kitchens and service rooms. The building is semi-fireproof, the exterior walls being brick trimmed with stone and stucco. It was completed in March 1937 at a construction cost of $250,572 and a project cost of $264,923."

Beginning in 1939, the university housed its athletes in Hill Hall. The five story building (including basement) is of Spanish Renaissance style with red roof and tan bricks. The Public Works Administration provided a grant of $46,636 and a loan of $57,000 to cover the cost of construction. When originally opened the building housed 84 men. Hill Hall is named for Dr. Homer Barksdale Hill of Austin who volunteered to treat UT athletes from 1893 until his death on July 18, 1923. As its athletic programs grew, the university added Moore Hall in 1955, just south of Hill Hall and connected to...

The University of Texas opened on September 15, 1883 with the completion of its Victorian style main building. The university was funded by a combination of state appropriations and annual distributions from the Permanent University Fund (PUF), an endowment of 2.1 million acres of land in West Texas. Initially, the PUF provided minimal income from leasing the land for grazing cattle, but when the first oil was discovered on the land on May 28, 1923, the university was set to receive a windfall. However, it was not until 1930, that all the details were worked out on how the money...

Due in part to the growing number of men returning to college after World War I, the student body of the University of Texas at Austin increased from 6,000 in 1920 to 10,000 in 1930, necessitating an extensive building program for the university. Plans for Prather Dormitory for men were approved by the Board of Regents in September 1935. The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the building with a grant of $110,454 and loan of $135,000. The cornerstone of the building marks the building as "Project No. 9229-Y of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works." Now called Prather Residence...

The student body of the University of Texas increased from 6,000 in 1920 to 10,000 in 1930, necessitating an extensive building program for the university. The university added Andrews Dormitory for women and Roberts Dormitory for men in 1936. The Public Works Administration provided a grant of $114,000 and a loan of $354,000 for these two buildings of which $220,000 went to build Roberts. The university named Roberts Dormitory in honor of Oran Milo Roberts who served as Governor of Texas from 1878 to 1883. The building is of Spanish Renaissance style architecture with cream bricks and a red tile roof...

As part of the planning for the 1936 Texas Centennial, academics, citizens and other politicians desired to create a state museum for Texas. They wanted the museum to contribute to the conservation of the historic treasures of Texas and also to the educational system of the state. The American Legion Texas Centennial Committee, The University of Texas at Austin and Texas Congressman James "Buck" Buchanan worked together to secure $300,000 from the Public Works Administration for the Texas Memorial Museum. In addition, the Legislature of the State of Texas appropriated $225,000 for furnishing and equipping the museum and for gathering and...

The PWA built two dormitories in 1936 for what was then called the Texas College of Mines and Metallurgy. The two dorms are Benedict and Worrell Halls, both of which are still standing. The school's newspaper, The Prospector, reported in April 1936 that "Construction started April 15, 1936 on the two PWA allocated dormitories for 102 men and women students," and that school officials believed the new dormitories would help attract more and stronger students to the school.

Originally called Davis Hall, this building was a PWA project for a dormitory at North Texas Agricultural College in Arlington, TX. The building is now known as Brazos House and the college is now known as the University of Texas at Arlington. It was dedicated in 1936. Brazos House has been demolished and turned into a campus park.

Multiple building construction projects were undertaken at the University of Utah during the Great Depression. The old library (now Crocker Science Center) and Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse are both Public Works Administration (PWA) projects that are still in use. Carlson Hall, another PWA construction, has since been demolished. The present status of a fourth building, the Seismograph Building, is presently unknown to Living New Deal. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was involved with the creation of artwork at the old library. From a 2013 retrospective on Carlson Hall, the women's dormitory: "After bequest to the U, the University administration approached the...

The Public Works Administration paid for the construction of the United States Bureau of Mines building on the University of Utah campus in 1939-40.  It was designed by Cannon and Mullen architects.  The building was demolished recently to make way for the new Frederick Albert Sutton building of the College of Mines & Earth Sciences – or, more specifically, the parking garage for the Sutton complex. In 1938, the land had been deeded to the U. S. Government by the University of Utah, so a federal facility could be built on the campus.  In 1981, the Bureau of Mines property was deeded back to the university, along...

The old fieldhouse, built in 1939, was home to the University of Utah basketball team for thirty years. It was built with a combination of bonded debt by the university and Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.   It appears to be used for intermural athletics today.  

The Public Works Administration paid for a seismograph building on the campus of the University of Utah.  It sat next to the old Bureau of Mines building.  Both were demolished to make way for the Frederick Albert Sutton building for the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, opened in 2009.  (They were located behind the present Sutton Building where the parking garage now stands).

The building was designed by the firm of Ashton & Evans and constructed as a PWA project in 1935. In 1969, a new library was built on campus and the Thomas Building was converted into the Utah Museum of Natural History, which recently moved to a new home on the eastern flank of the university. The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The former George Thomas Library is being converted to the Crocker Science Center (with major additions) as of 2016-17. Of the $20,000,000 spent in Utah by the Public Works Administration (PWA) for public works projects, the "most imposing" of...

"The Mabel Louise Southwick Building is the women's recreation building at the university. It is T-shaped in plan and is two stories and a basement in height. The basement contains a combination recreation hall and auditorium with a large stage, locker and utility rooms. Lounges and sitting rooms occupy the first floor. On the second floor are meeting rooms and a recreation hall with a small stage. The structure is fireproof throughout, the exterior walls being red brick trimmed with marble. It has a volume of 458,000 cubic feet and was completed in November 1936 at a construction cost of $263,237...

"The attendance at the University of Virginia had risen to 2,700 students and the accommodations for the library in the rotunda building had become entirely inadequate. The university, accordingly, secured a loan and grant from the P.W.A. and erected the new 'Alderman Library' building. Due to great differences of level on the site, the building is two stories high on the front and five stories in the rear. The basement contains a receiving room and general storage. On the first floor are offices, archives, and stack space. The second floor is occupied by reserve book rooms, rooms for public documents, and...

The Arts and Sciences Auditorium, originally known as the Liberal Arts Building, on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. The P.W.A. provided a $213,700 loan and $100,600 grand toward the project, whose total cost was $366,755. Construction occurred between Feb. 1935 and Jun. 1936. PWA Docket No. WY 5152

The Wyoming Union building on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. The P.W.A. provided a $128,250 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $295,955. Construction occurred between Nov. 1937 and Feb. 1939. PWA Docket No. WY 1059-DS

"The Upper Mississippi navigation project is one element of the system of inland waterway improvements to link the agricultural Middle West with the industrial East, and the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico. Dam No. 5-A is typical of several under construction or completed which will maintain water levels during periods of low-stream flow at a minimum depth of 9 feet throughout the length of the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to the mouth of the Ohio River. The dam is approximately 580 feet in length and each gate is 80 feet long by 20 feet high. The...

In 1933, the Public Works Administration allotted $15,000 for the construction of an Upper Potomac Interceptor extension. The Evening Star described this project in its September 3rd (Sunday Star) edition: “This will complete the last link of a sewer located along the north shore of the Potomac between Rock Creek and the District line to intercept sewage discharging directly into the Upper Potomac. The section to be built is in the line of Newark street between the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and Conduit road .” In 1934, the District awarded a contract for the work to the Peter D’Amato Construction Company,...

The Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts, located on West 129th Street in Manhattan, was originally built as the Manhattanville Junior High School during the 1930s. Construction benefited from federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds as part of PWA Docket No. NY 8000. PWA documents state that the four-story school measures 300 ft. by 200 ft. and is 60 feet tall. Ground was broken May 10, 1935; work was completed September 1, 1937; and the school was occupied that month. The 56-room school featured the following classrooms: art weaving; woodworking; novelty; sheet metal shops; office practice; science; drawing; sewing; cooking; geography;...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded improvements for Highway Road. The road is likely still part of US 60/Midland Trail, though its exact location is unknown and is believed to be running from Clifftop Road northwest for the distance as that is approximately 3 miles. Excerpt from Legal Advertisement, Notice to Contractors, The Charleston (WV) Gazette, March 18, 1939, p. 11: "Public Works Administration Project Docket 1197-F -- PWA 3717 Fayette County. 2.379 miles of the U.S. 60 Route. Clifftop Road for grading, draining, Macadam Base, Surface Treatment and Bridge. Certified Check $2800.00 Jack S. Donnachie, Branch Manager, W. Va. State...

USS Lamson (DD-367), Destroyer, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II, and sank during the atomic tests on Bikini Atoll in 1946. Today, it is popular diving location.

This is an unusual entry. The PWA assisted in the construction of the USS Mohawk, a Coast Guard cutter launched at Wilmington, Delaware. After World War II, the ship was sold to various parties, and served briefly as a museum at Staten Island before being sunk off the coast of Florida in 2012 as an artificial reef. It is now the USS Mohawk CGC Veterans Memorial Reef, a popular diving destination.

The USS Potomac served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945.  FDR was a great yachtsman in his youth and loved being aboard the Potomac, which he used for  political meetings and fishing trips to get away from the White House. The Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Public Works Administration (PWA) assisted with the funding of the construction. It was originally the USCGC Electra, and renamed the USS Potomac in 1936. The Potomac is now preserved in Oakland, California as a National Historic Landmark and is...

U.S.S. Tucker (DD 374), Destroyer, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and was lost in the waters of the Republic of Vanuatu, 1944. The shipwreck is currently turning to reef.

USS Vincennes (CA-44), was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and sunk at the Battle of Savo, 1942.  It was re-discovered by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

The USS Yorktown (CV 5) Aircraft Carrier, commissioned by the U.S. Navy, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and was lost in the Battle of Midway, 1942. Her wreckage was discovered by Robert Ballard in 1998, located in the North Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,300 miles W/NW of Hawaii.

The PWA built the three original buildings of Carbon Junior College, now Utah State University Eastern, from 1937-38. In 2015, the last of these original buildings was demolished. From "A Look Back at the Old SAC": "Carbon College, created as a four-year junior college, would house four grades: junior and senior years of high school and freshman and sophomore years of college. This arrangement constituted a new educational concept drafted for junior colleges in the United States. The 27-room, main classroom building included academic studies, agricultural, business and cosmetology. 'Cosmetology, the latter course to be somewhat of an innovation in the Utah...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Home Economics building at the Utah State University. The structure was built in 1935-36 and designed by Leslie Hodgson & Myrl McClenahan.  It is a two story, yellow brick, Moderne structure with bas-relief columns between every set of windows, white decorative elements capping the columns, and a slightly projecting entrance with somewhat gothic windows over the doors. According to a USU Historical Buildings guide, “On October 18, 1933 the federal Public Works Administrator announced allotments in excess of ten million dollars for non-federal projects. As part of the allotment given to the...

Lund Hall on the Utah State University campus in Logan, Utah, was constructed in 1936-37 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Architect of this Women's Residence Hall was the Salt Lake City-based firm of Young & Hansen and the general contractor was Frank Campion. It was "...one of over 230 public works buildings constructed in Utah under various New Deal programs during the Depression years of the 1930s and '40s. The construction of public works buildings, of which only 130 are extant and well preserved, not only offered temporary work relief, but also provided long-term benefits in the form...

The utility area is the principle maintenance station of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is located near the Beaver Meadows entrance at Estes Park CO. It is a large complex of functional buildings, including offices, shops, garages, and storage, centered around a maintenance yard and machine shop (plus a substantial residential area for park employees).  The National Park Service began construction of the area in the 1920s and completed it in the 1930s with the help of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor.   The CCC was present in the park from 1933 to 1942 and...

A power/waterworks project in Littlefield, Texas was undertaken in 1935 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $36,000 loan and $13,773 grant for the project, whose total cost was $48,676. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 2329

A large Art Deco design constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1936. It was designed by S. Wesley Haynes & Associates of Fitchburg. In 2012 it became McCloskey Middle School when a new high school opened.

The original facilities at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont were constructed ca. 1938 as part of the New Deal, with federal / Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Looking back to 1938, the WRJ VAMC began its service to Veterans in a comparatively small three story T-shaped building."

The Public Works Administration (PWA) and VA built the psychiatric hospital in Murfreesboro between 1936, when President Roosevelt authorized it, and 1940, when it was opened. It is presently known as the Alvin C. York Campus.

The PWA built this school in Orderville in 1935-36. It is not entirely clear from satellite and street views how much of the original structure remains, as the site has been expanded over the years. From the National Register of Historic Places: "This is a one-story, rectangular building with a full basement. It has been built into a hillside above the town and reflects the stylistic thinking of the PWA Moderne movement in Utah. The building has a flat roof and is constructed of yellow brick. A square entrance portico has been placed centrally on the facade. The design is formal...