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  • Municipal Building - Seminole OK
    The Seminole city council make plans in 1935 for a new Municipal building to hold offices and a "civic center" due to the fact the old "civic center" exploded due to a gas leak on December 29, 1934. After selecting the architectural firm from Oklahoma City. The city council applied for a grant from the Public Works Administration in April 1935. The grant was approved September 26, 1935 with a total amount of the construction cost at $86,818 and the first federal check arrived January 27, 1936 but ground breaking did not occur until March 1936 and a grand opening...
  • Municipal Building - Wauneta NE
    In late 1934, Wauneta had a substantial fund saved from the earnings of its municipal water system. Plans were drawn by a local architect for a building measuring fifty feet by twenty-five feet to provide space for the municipal offices, library, fire department and jail. The building was designed to allow a later addition of a second story for an auditorium. In the middle of January, 1935, a small crew of relief laborers started razing the old fire hall and pump house. The building was carefully dismantled in order to salvage as much material as possible for use in the...
  • Municipal Building Repairs - Skowhegan ME
    An Independent Reporter article from the 1930s reported that an Emergency Relief Administration crew was nearing completion of a job at the local municipal building: "By the close of the present week the Municipal building will lose some of its untidy appearance which has been a natural result of the work undertaken by an ERA crew to paint, varnish and generally renovate the building. Painters stagings and other equipment will be out of most of the offices by then and possibly the corridors for the work has advanced at a good speed and much of the task already completed. Offices which have...
  • Municipal Drains - Millbury MA
    Municipal sewers and drains were installed in Millbury, Massachusetts with Federal Emergency Relief Act funds in 1933. 282 Millbury locals were given employment in 1933 as a result of the federal E.R.A. E.R.A.-sponsored drains were installed on West St., Massasoit Rd., Greenwood and McCracken, and Sycamore St.
  • Municipal Garage - Carbon Hill AL
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration built a municipal garage in Carbon Hill. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.
  • Municipal Garage - Stratford CT
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded the construction of a municipal garage in Stratford, Connecticut, circa 1935. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration  (FERA)completed about 50% of the structure, and the WPA completed the project. This building is currently being used by the Stratford Public Works Department as part of its garage property at 550 Patterson Avenue, at the corner of Frog Pond Lane.
  • Municipal Golf Course - Schenectady NY
    Circa 1933 to 1935, FERA and CWA workers (and possibly WPA workers) constructed this golf course. From the City of Schenectady website: The course opened in 1935. It was designed by A. F. Knight (the inventor of the "Schenectady Putter") and Jim Thompson, and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Civil Works Administration (CWA), both predecessors of the well-known Works Progress Administration (WPA). Schenectady Municipal Golf Course stretches to 6600 yards (6000 m) and features fast, undulating greens and tight fairways blanketed within grasses and native vegetation. Schenectady Municipal Golf Course was ranked by Golf Digest...
  • Municipal Golf Course Improvements - Casper WY
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) conducted improvement / development work at Casper's municipal golf course, also known as the Casper Community Club. The work was described in a newspaper article as "municipal golf club-house and fairways." Casper Star-Tribune, March 3, 1935: "The new Casper Community club golf house was built at a cost of $21,047. In addition, nine supplementary greens were constructed on the course." Based on recent imagery Living New Deal believes the clubhouse is no longer extant.
  • Municipal Improvements - Ashland ME
    The annual municipal report from 1935 reported on extensive E.R.A. activity in Ashland: "Since May 1, 1934 the Town of Ashland has received approximately $10,000.00 in the form of Federal Emergency Relief Funds. This money has enabled the town to work between fifteen and twenty-five men on a part time basis. Efforts have consistently been made to get approval for worth while projects. A few of the things accomplished with these funds are listed below: 1. Construction of approximately one mile of rock drain. 2. Cleaning up town dumps at Ashland and Sheridan. 3. Assisting park commission in cleaning up Community park. 4. Provide labor...
  • Municipal improvements - Auburn ME
    The Lewiston Evening Journal reported that by 1935, a combination of the CWA, FERA, and ERA had completed numerous work projects in Auburn Maine: A two mile hiking trail along the Little Androscoggin River called the Baker Mill Trail was started. An athletic field was built at the Walton Elementary School along with shrubs and landscaping. The interiors of the Webster Grammar school, Webster Jr. High, Lake Street school, & Washburn school were painted. The roof was repainted at the Chamberlain school. At Edward Little High School, the windows were replaced. The roof of the city building was repaired, floors refinished, & both the interior and...
  • Municipal Improvements - Brevig Mission AK
    Per the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) supplied labor toward projects at "Teller Mission"—presumably referring the community of Brevig Mission (in which the facility was located), Alaska in 1934. The "CWA"* work at the Teller Mission is progressing rapidly under the direction of Miss Mildred Keaton, traveling nurse for this part of the country. Besides building a couple of bridges and digging drains they have made other improvements to the village. * The FERA had succeeded the Civil Works Administration (CWA) by this point; presumably the article means FERA.
  • Municipal Improvements - Bristol ME
    New Deal agencies conducted extensive improvements in and around the towns of Bristol and South Bristol, as recorded in the Annual Report of the Municipal Officers of the Town of Bristol Maine. 1933 CWA Road work in Walpole and Round Pond Town share: $4,988.78 CWA: $5,000 “The towns of Bristol and South Bristol were allotted $6000.00 of the total of $29,202.00 to be expended in Lincoln County on roads, by the Federal Government in its first Reconstruction Program. This was one of the six projects approved in the County and was built with Federal money, under the supervision of the State Highway Commission and...
  • Municipal Improvements - Bucksport ME
    Many useful things were done in this coastal community whose population in 1930 was 2,135. The 1934 town report mentions E.R.A. work on the fire station, and the 1936 town report of the Fire Chief requests appropriations in order to finish work started by the E.R.A. The identity of this fire station is unknown to the Living New Deal, but it does not appear to be the station in use now. The 1935 town report mentions an unspecified E.R.A. project for labor and supplies costing $1,030. In the 1936 town report 18 men are mentioned in connection with a W.P.A. road project. No....
  • Municipal Improvements - Claremont NH
    In addition to improvements water system, library and park improvements, town reports from 1933-1942 document the following New Deal support for town activities: 1933 RFC loan for the Welfare dept. $15,000 1934 The town budget notes $10,000 estimated for FERA work in 1935 1935 Blister Rust Control work: A total of 32 men were given employment for a considerable period on funds reported in the attached financial statement. 8 Claremont men were employed in the neighboring town of Plainfield. W. P. A. Federal funds expended $ 996.88 Area covered 1197 acres. Currant and gooseberry bushes destroyed 24,762. 1936 Support of Poor & W.P.A. Projects $30,000.00 WPA Payments totaled $13,284.94 to 29 companies...
  • Municipal Improvements - Freeport ME
    The annual March 1933 to March 1934 town report notes: "REPORT OF CHIEF OF FIRE DEPARTMENT We were fortunate to get $700.00 C. W. A. money to lay a cement floor in the hose house and build seven fire dams." Rec’d from State, C. W. A. Drainage project, $91.44 15 employed REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS "Your school officials have organized and carried out one C. W. A. School Project under which during the last three months 14 class rooms in the different schools have been thoroughly renovated on the inside. Another project has placed several inches of gravel over the greater part of...
  • Municipal Improvements - Hudson NH
    Annual reports show that the town of Hudson was helped extensively by New Deal programs. In addition to work by the RFC and FERA (which included distributing food and medicine to school children), the CWA repaired and improved schools and libraries. From 1935 on, the WPA did extensive work on the town's infrastructure, including digging fire holes, improving town roads, and moth extermination. The WPA and PWA also improved local school grounds. The NYA also employed local school children for "various tasks around the school."
  • Municipal Improvements - Jackman ME
    Municipal reports for fiscal year 1934 document that the town voted & raised $591 for a C.W.A road project. No details are given as to what was worked on. The 1936 report explains that federal money was spent constructed a road to the local airport as well. The airport itself also received federal funding under FERA, acquiring a 1400 x 100 gravel runway and a 600 x 100 additional feet of construction for existing runways.
  • Municipal Improvements - Jaffrey NH
    Throughout the New Deal, various agencies contributed to the improvement of Jaffrey, a small town of 2,800 (1930 Census) according to annual town reports. 1933 "Through an arrangement with the District Nursing Association and the State Supervisor of Health, Miss Margaret Harris began work as School Nurse December 1st. All pupils have been thoroughly examined and follow-up work carried on. Miss Josephine Cassidy, a graduate of Keene Normal School, was assigned to this union as a C. W. A. worker, and assisted Miss Harris from Dec. 1st until Feb. 15th." 1934 Classes in Adult Education, carried on as a Federal Emergency Education Project, were...
  • Municipal Improvements - Kingfield ME
    Useful work was accomplished in the small town of Kingfield (population 1,024 1930) by the New Deal. 1933 REPORT OF THE SELECTMEN OF KINGFIELD "Through the C. W. A., we have brought approximately $2000.00 into the town. This money was expended on the West Kingfield road where it was much needed. The work was not performed under the most favorable conditions, and we do not know just how the spring weather conditions will affect this work. However, we have placed from 6 to 12 inches of gravel, 16 to 18 feet wide, for a distance of approximately 2 miles. The money paid for wages...
  • Municipal Improvements - Machias ME
    Only 1933 and 1934 town reports are available. 1933 Local residents Chas. Vane, Lee Roberts, Daniel Morang, Bertram Bowker, Frank Ames leave for a C.C.C. Camp with the town covering their transportation. C. W. A. SEWER PROJECT $237.70 7 men employed. 1934 Expenditures Burnham Hardware Co., C. W. & E. R. A. $527.01 Chapman Lumber Co., Brick Tile & Lumber C. W. A. $236.12 Orrin Marston, truck on C. W. A. $99.54 Eugene Bowers, Labor at Rawson School yard, C. W. A. $73.52 Bert Stanhope, truck C. W. A. and E. R. A. $72.25 R. N. Hiatt, Labor on Drills for C. W. A. and E. R. A....
  • Municipal Improvements - Milford CT
    "When the Federal Emergency Relief Administration was organized in 1934, the local relief burden was lightened by various projects employing Milford residents, and the distribution of surplus foods and clothing to the needy partially relieved the drain on town funds. In September, 1935, when the Works Progress Administration assumed the duties of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, many of the village streets, drains, sewers, and town buildings were improved by local labor paid from Federal funds."
  • Municipal Improvements - North Yarmouth ME
    The New Deal early on was involved in helping this small rural town (est. 1680) which only had a population of 569 in 1930. 1933 A few individuals are mentioned along with the town share of costs each for a PWA project and a C.W.A. road project involving a culvert. The school superintendent in a lengthy report gives a mention to the New Deal "The Federal Relief Program even recognizes the importance of adult education and guidance so we cannot consider curtailing the advantages for those who are immature in all respects." 1934 4 people and a few companies are mentioned in connection with a...
  • Municipal Improvements - Presque Isle ME
    Throughout the lifespan of the New Deal, the citizens of Presque Isle Maine (population 6,695 in 1930) benefited from numerous projects from road construction, school repair, the airport, work relief, and a slaughter house. 1933 C. W. A. SPECIAL PROJECTS MATERIALS $1,398.90 1934 HIGHWAYS IN CONNECTION WITH ERA PROJECTS Raised at Special Town Meeting $2,004.02 Expenditures Materials, Cleaves Road $740.95 Materials Parkhurst Road $438.51 Materials Phair Junction Road $472.73 Materials Spragueville Road $351.83 MATERIAL FOR RELIEF PROJECTS Emergency Work Relief $915.71 C. W. A. Accounts $1,879.96 F. E. R. A. Accounts $1,106.96 Total $3,902.63 E. R. A. labor was used on Hall, Second, Dyer and Park Streets and on the Sidewalks that constructed in 1934. The...
  • Municipal Improvements - Rangeley ME
    The New Deal agencies C.W.A., E.R.A., C.C.C. and W.P.A. were involved in standard relief and infrastructure work in the small resort town of Rangeley according to town reports from 1933 to 1937 1934 E. R. A. Acct. $685.94 C. W. A. Acct. $1,345.00 R. Davenport, use of auto for C.C.C. crew to clear slash on Bald Mt. road $60 00 Harold M. Ferguson, rent of C. C. C. lot $100 00 C. W. A. ACCOUNT OF ADMINISTRATOR* Received from Town Treasurer $1,561 00 20 people employed and 5 companies involved Feb 1935 to Feb 1936 Sixth Annual Report of the BUDGET COMMITTEE 57. W. P. A. Projects, $1,200 00 Feb 1936 to...
  • Municipal Improvements - Rumford ME
    "According to the Annual Town Reports of 1934-35 and 1936-37, the CWA, FERA and WPA were involved in numerous projects throughout the city. The dollar amounts are the share of the project that the city contributed and don't list the amount provided by Federal Relief agencies. "The town library which was a gift from the Carnegie foundation in 1903, owing to the thorough renovation which the building received in 1934 through a CWA project, no repairs have been necessary this year (1935), beyond the general upkeep. The school district received the benefit of Federal Labor and with a small expenditure of funds...
  • Municipal Improvements - Skowhegan ME
    Newspaper articles describe various projects in carried out in Skowhegan  by the CWA, FERA and the WPA, as well as direct food relief provided by federal agencies. In 1934, the CWA began a sewing project employing local women. In 1938, the WPA also ran a sewing project in town. Work by FERA over the years included building 700 feet of sewer line from Hesselton St across the Cannan Rd and into the Kennebec River; other sewer work on West Front, Hathaway, Leavitt and St. John Streets; installing street signs; constructing sidewalks; cutting roadside bushes; and improving the local airport. FERA also ran...
  • Municipal Improvements - Stow ME
    A small amount of Federal assistance was provided for this very rural community of 161 people (1930 population) 1933 ORDERS DRAWN FOR 1933 C. W. A. WORK Everett Day, materials for CWA work $ 2 58 Hutchins' Cash Store, dynamite, fuse and caps 20 08 Total $22 66 Report of the Superintendent of Schools "It is generally known, I think, that underweight children are receiving free milk at the hands of the Federal Emergency Relief during the winter and spring terms." 1934 ORDERS DRAWN FOR ERA WORK, Improvement of a school lot 6 men employed $158.65 Report of the Superintendent of Schools "There is available no Federal Free Milk this year but...
  • Municipal Improvements - Winter Harbor ME
    CWA, ERA, WPA, and PWA during the entire period of the New Deal were involved in some economic activity, not counting the CCC work on the park and Navy Base in this small coastal community. 1934 Under ROADS AND BRIDGES, the the C.W.A. is listed as hiring 15 people for a road project. 1935 Under CONTINGENT ACCOUNT an E.R.A. project and a W.P.A. project are mentioned without any details about the nature of the project. 1936 An unspecified W.P.A. road project employed 14 men. THIRD CLASS ROADS (Used with PWA Project) 16 men employed and $647.64 contributed by the town. 1937 An unspecified W.P.A. project 14 employed $832.29 contributed...
  • Municipal Pool and Bathhouse - El Reno OK
    The municipal pool and bath house in El Reno was a FERA project completed in 1935. From the 1999 National Register of Historic Places application: The El Reno Municipal Pool Bath House, constructed in 1935 in Legion Park, the city's largest recreation area, represents an historical pattern within the context of Recreation/Entertainment for El Reno, Oklahoma. Legion Park was the second of six city park projects developed in the years 1901-1949. Legion Park, formerly Peach's Park, had initially been privately developed c. 1903 but was allowed to decline even after the city acquired the property in 1920. The area remained relatively...
  • Municipal Road Improvements - Berlin NH
    Extensive work was done in Berlin by a combination of the CWA, FERA, PWA, NYA, CCC and WPA all during the existence of the New Deal when "in 1935, under the leadership of newly-elected Mayor Arthur Bergeron, the Farmer-Labor Party began the process of reorganizing city government and acting as a conduit for federal monies in response to the mass lay-offs in the the Great Northern and Brown paper mills"   (https://www.berlinnh.gov) Road, street, and sidewalk work in Berlin included the following: 1934 CWA work on the Glen Rd. 1935 FERA constructed the Rockingham St wall. 1936 "By far the two largest jobs undertaken by the city were...
  • Municipal Road Improvements - Nashua NH
    A huge amount of road, street, and sidewalk infrastructure work employed hundreds of the unemployed all throughout the life of the New Deal by the CWA, FERA, and WPA. Town reports throughout the 1930s document such work in Nashua, NH. In 1934, 23 projects were "completed in whole or in part by C. W. A. and F. E. R. A. funds, to an amount of many thousands of dollars." This work included projects on North Hollis Road, Bloods Crossing Road, Charlotte Avenue, East Dunstable Road, Ferry Road, East, Conant Road, Hills Ferry Road, Removal of Carbarn on Kinsley Street. In 1935,...
  • Municipal Roads - Oxford MA
    Multiple federal New Deal agencies, particularly the Works Progress Administration (WPA), assisted with the construction of municipal roads in Oxford, Mass. and North Oxford, Mass. during the 1930s. The Report of the Selectman for the town for 1935 states: "... the extension of black surfaced roads, a greater mileage of which has been constructed than in any previous year due to the fact that much road work in the form of stone filled sections and gravelling has been done through the agencies of the C.W.A., E.R.A. and W.P.A. relief programs."
  • Municipal Utility Improvements - Auburn ME
    According to an article in the Lewiston Evening Journal of January 3, 1935 by Gerald Reed, extensive utility work was undertaken in the city by a combination of the CWA, FERA, & ERA agencies. "Under Sup. Cook of the Auburn Water and Sewerage District, a reforestation program was undertaken at Lake Auburn with the planting of 30,000 trees. Several additional services and the replacement of old water mains were installed on Loring, Western, Forest, & Fairmont Avenues, Towle, School, Fifth, Taylor, and Oliver Streets, a right of way at Court St. and Hillcrest Ave. The projects also included the lowering of the...
  • Municipal Utility Improvements - Berlin NH
    Extensive work was done in Berlin by a combination of the CWA, FERA, PWA, NYA, CCC and WPA all during the existence of the New Deal when "in 1935, under the leadership of newly-elected Mayor Arthur Bergeron, the Farmer-Labor Party began the process of reorganizing city government and acting as a conduit for federal monies in response to the mass lay-offs in the the Great Northern and Brown paper mills"   (https://www.berlinnh.gov) Utilities, culverts, water mains, storm drains, & sewer lines were improved by New Deal agencies: 1934 CWA builds the Coos Street Culvert, Boating and Bathing Pool at the Bog. 1935 "FERA builds the Main...
  • Municipal Yacht Basin - Charleston SC
    What was then known as the Municipal Yacht Basin was constructed as a New Deal project, undertaken by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). As part of the broader development: "The City of Charleston continued to explore opportunities for using the as a seaplane terminal. In the spring of that year, flights from Germany to Charleston were proposed. In early 1937, the Works Progress Administration started work to convert the mill building into the James F. Byrnes air terminal. Pan American World Airways hired the New York firm of Delano and Aldrich to plan for a...
  • Museum of Indigenous People - Prescott AZ
    The Museum of Indigenous People was constructed 1933-1935 by relief workers employed by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).  It is built of local fieldstone and flagstone in a sober, if romanticized, indigenous style. It was long known as the Smoki Museum after a local club of White businessmen who called themselves "the Smoki People" and dressed up as Hopi to perform native dances. After protests by Hopi, who disapproved of such imitations, the club stopped its dances and eventually disbanded.  The name of the museum was changed in 2020.   The museum collection evolved from native...
  • Nashua Airport at Boire Field - Nashua NH
    Nashua Airport at Boire Field is a public use airport located northwest of Nashua. Municipal reports from the 1930s detail New Deal assistance building the airport. A 1934 report explained that local authorities had been authorized to buy land, which was "acquired to be developed as a C. W. A. Project, and to be used as an Airport." Work on the project by the CWA and FERA began that year. The 1935 report stated that with FERA support a "modern brick hangar and administration building" were erected. More of the landing field was prepared. In 1936, the WPA began helping with...
  • National Guard Rifle Range (abandoned) - Skowhegan ME
    "Work Of Constructing National Guard Rifle Range Resumed Tuesday Dan Cassidy, clerk at the local ERA office, announces that work was resumed Tuesday on the construction of the National Guard rifle range on the Sylvain farm situated just off the Norridgewock road. The project which is simply a continuation of the one started early this summer will run for four weeks, starting as of August 2nd. The project calls for ten men, a foreman and the use of one truck. Thus far the crew has been engaged in the building of a road from the main highway to the old range. Under...
  • National Mall: Bathhouse Reconstruction (former) - Washington DC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) – an emergency job-creation arm of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) – reconstructed the bathhouse for two  recreational swimming pools near the Washington Monument in the National Mall during the winter of 1933-34. The work consisted of the following (in the terse format of an annual report of the DC government):  “Graded, fenced, wrecked 45 percent of existing locker-house, remodeled remainder with check-rooms, increased toilet facilities.”  The swimming pools and the bathhouse were soon removed, however, during a complete reconstruction of the Washington Monument grounds, and the area was graded and landscaped. (Daily News 1936).  The...
  • National Zoo: Additions and Improvements - Washington DC
    The New Deal years 1933 to 1941 were arguably the best years in the history of the National Zoo, thanks to the many projects undertaken by the Roosevelt Administration.  Labor was provided by work-relief programs — the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) — and construction was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and, later, the Federal Works Agency (FWA). New Deal agencies built or improved virtually every aspect of the zoo.  The PWA paid for a new elephant house and small mammal house and an addition to the bird house.  It funded...
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