The PRRA built rural schools across the Island through its Program of School Construction. Between 1937 and 1938, “The Federal government authorized the expenditure of $3,000,000 by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration for school buildings. Of the original grant, $1,000,000… read more
Between 1936-1937, the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) built the Carite hydroelectric plant no. 3, located North of Guayama.
“Located between the low hills and marshy bay shore of Guaynabo,” what was known as the Cataño cement plant by government sources was constructed with federal funds administered through the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA), a New Deal agency. Completed… read more
The Massachusetts Avenue bridge was built in 1940-1941 by the Army Corps of Engineers with federal funds provided by Congress to the District of Columbia Commissioners. It was a final step in the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) work relief division efforts included “an athletic field and recreation park [built] to mark the site where Columbus landed in 1493” in Aguadilla, ca. 1937. Known as Colón Park, the area lies just inside Municipio… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) work relief division efforts included the reconstruction of an 1893 monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing, at the site where he landed in 1493. The PRRA made improvements to what is now… read more
Coolidge Senior High School in northwest Washington DC was built in 1938-40 with federal aid to the District of Columbia Education Department. An appropriation of $350,000 was made by Congress in 1937 to the District Commissioners (the municipal government)…. read more
The DC Armory was paid for by a congressional appropriation (part of the District’s general funding bill for fiscal year 1940), and probably also through local revenue sources such as real estate taxes and parking fees. The DC Municipal Architect’s… read more
The Henry J. Daly Building is the former District of Columbia Municipal Center, built in 1939-41 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) (which was incorporated into the Federal Works Administration in 1939 in a major government reorganization). The… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Decatur Co. CCC camp in Decatur County KS in 1936. According to the Kansas Historical Society, “The former camp ground eventually was consumed by residential and commercial development. Today no remnants of Camp… read more
Dos Bocas Dam, a hydroelectric generation facility, was constructed as part of a large rural electrification plan undertaken by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, a New Deal agency. Construction began in 1937 and was completed in 1942. The plant is located… read more
The Calvert Street bridge was built in 1935 as part of the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway project of the 1930s. It was later named for Duke Ellington. It replaced a streetcar bridge built in the 1890s…. read more
The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) built El Falansterio, a new public housing development located in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, between 1936-1937. PuertaDeTierra.info: In Puerta de Tierra a neighborhood house would be built between Matías Ledesma streets, San Juan… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration work relief division efforts included “the remodeling of the old ‘Manicomio’” in San Juan, in 1937, “to render it available for the motorized transport of the Sixty-Fifth United States Infantry.” The facility now houses Escuela de… read more
In October 1936 — two years after the First Lady visited Puerto Rico to assess social and economic conditions — it was announced that the New Deal’s Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) was taking bids for the construction of the… read more
Garzas Dam, a hydroelectric generation facility, was constructed as part of a large rural electrification plan undertaken by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, a New Deal agency. Construction began in 1935 and it included “the reservoir, hydroelectric plant, and three minor river… read more
Grants from the Federal Government helped build healthcare facilities across the island. “The outstanding achievement in the field of public-health this year was the extension, after twelve years of endeavor, of health services to every municipality in the Island. Twenty-four new… read more
The PRRA carried out slum clearance work and built hurricane-proof housing developments in Arecibo and Ponce. “The PRRA located nine parcels of land available to purchase in Ponce, and two in Ponce Playa, and began construction on 4,290 concrete houses… read more
The PRRA built housing across the Island, as described in the 1938 Annual Report of the Department of the Interior: “The development of that part of the urban housing program of the P. R. R. A. originally aimed for the elimination of unsafe… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration forestry division efforts included reforestation work on Isla de Mona during the 1930s. Dept. of the Interior report: Mona Island—lying in the Mona passage separating Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic—some 25 square miles in extent,… read more
The John Philip Sousa Bridge carries Pennsylvania Avenue across the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1939-40 during the New Deal and named after the famous American marching band composer, who grew up nearby. Agitation for a new… read more
The work relief division of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) conducted “extensive repairs to the patio” of La Fortaleza, the 16th Century governor’s mansion in San Juan, capitol of the territory of Puerto Rico, ca. 1937. In 1940-1 the… read more
Lago Dos Bocas was created upon completion of the Dos Bocas Dam, a Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration project, in 1942. It primarily serves as a reservoir.
In 1933, the Public Works Administration allotted $10,000 (about $203,000 in 2020 dollars) for the construction of three small schools on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation (home of five Shoshone-Bannock Tribes), one of which was the Lincoln Creek Day School…. read more
In 1937, the District of Columbia government contracted with the Fred Drew Co. to reconstruct the Municipal Fish Market Pier (also called Pier No. 1). The cost of the project was $20,000 (about $366,000 in 2020 dollars) and funds were… read more
On August 22, 1933, Public Works Administration (PWA) chief Harold Ickes announced a grant of $1,759,500 for various DC sewer projects. These included an extension of the Northeast Boundary Sewer “intended to eliminate a pollution nuisance in Kingman Lake in… read more
In Spring 1939, the DC government used funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) to award contracts for the Outfall Relief Sewer project, a large sewer line to run from the Poplar Point Pumping Station to a point near the… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration work relief division efforts included the modernization of the municipal power plant on Vieques, ca. 1937.
The old Recorder of Deeds Building is a three-story structure built 1941-1943 by the municipal government of the District of Columbia. Funding was provided in 1940 by the Public Works Administration (PWA), which was by then part of the Federal… read more
The Shoreham Hill bridge was constructed in 1938 as part of the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway project of the 1930s. It lies just south of the large Connecticut and Massachusetts Avenue bridges. It is the third… read more
Part of the Program of School Construction, this one-room school building in Camuy was built by the PRRA. The program focused on increasing enrollment, literacy, and expanding school facilities across the Island. “During the school year 1937-38, 275 buildings were added to the… read more
This school dining room was built by the PRRA in Guayanilla. The Program of School Construction focused on creating school facilities in rural areas. “During the school year 1937-38, 275 buildings were added to the number available last year, an… read more
This school dining room was built by the PRRA in Luquillo. The Program of School Construction focused on creating school facilities in rural areas. “During the school year 1937-38, 275 buildings were added to the number available last year, an… read more
This rural school was built by the PRRA in Fajardo. The Program of School Construction focused on creating school facilities in rural areas. “During the school year 1937-38, 275 buildings were added to the number available last year, an increase… read more
The PRRA established the Program of School Construction to create facilities in rural areas. “During the school year 1937-38, 275 buildings were added to the number available last year, an increase of 479 rooms. The Federal Government authorized the expenditure of $3.000.000… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration work relief division efforts included “reconstruction of the ancient Santo Domingo barracks, one of the island’s historic edifices dating from the early sixteenth century” in San Juan, in 1937. Also known as Convent of the Dominicans,… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) aided in the construction of the 16th Street underpass beneath Scott Circle NW. A 1941 Washington Post article reported that: “First steps to remove one of the District’s worst remaining bottlenecks were underway at Scott… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration work relief division efforts included “a concrete landing pier … at Sein[e] Bay, Culebra, where naval vessels and marines assemble for winter maneuvers.” The exact location and status of the project are unknown to Living New… read more
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration work relief division efforts included construction of “more than a mile of storm sewers” in Mayagüez, ca. 1937.
