Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Sites

Montpelier's 40th Annual Report details many roadwork projects undertaken in 1934 with Vermont Emergency Relief Administration (VERA) funds, including: "Barre Road, widening at Jerue turn". Efforts were continued in subsequent years by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 1939 Montpelier annual report: "State Aid Construction has been carried on somewhat in connection with Federal Participation in the form of W.P.A. labor. Barre Street has been macadamized from Hubbard St., to Pioneer St., a distance of 4,965 ft., and an area of 14,500 sq. yds. ... Pioneer Street has been concreted and graded, a distance of 300 ft., and an area of 854 sq....

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Barrio Flamenco in Culebra.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Barrio Guatemala in San Sebastian.

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work on Barrio Higuillales Road in Naranjito.

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Barrio Nuevo Road in Bayamón.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Barrio Pozos in Ciales.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Barrio Tetuan in Utuado.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction from Barrio to Albonito Road in Hatillo.

The Bartow Civic Recreation Center and pool were built ca. 1933-1935.  Records suggest the project was started by workers in the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and completed by workers in the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Around 1969-1973, the recreation center became the Oaks School.  In 2005, the Oaks School closed, and the current use of the building is unknown.  The pool no longer exists.  (A new civic center was built in 1967, on Floral Avenue.) The construction of the building was described in great detail by Mary E. Adkins, in the January 27, 1934 edition of the...

"The Athletic Field at Vinalhaven may well be classed as a fine type of work project - a project on which the ERA, the town and private citizens cooperated to make possible work, health and pleasure. About thirty-five years ago Vinalhaven granite was being cut and shipped throughout the country, the harbor was crowed with fishing vessels, and baseball "fever" ran high. The use of a piece of swampy pasture land was obtained from the owner. Stumps were grubbed, open ditches dug and the worse parts of the field filled. A diamond and small bleachers followed. From time to time improvements...

Originally the Miami Beach Public Library & Art Center, this building was designed by Russell Pancoast in 1930. FERA later completed the interiors of the rooms on the ground floor.

According to a newspaper account, FERA built a new bathhouse at the 4H pool west of Dunbar.It is unclear if the pool that currently exists at the site is the original, and it is believed that the current bathhouse is a replacement of the New Deal project.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Bayamon River Road in Toa Baja.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work on Bayamon Road in Cidra.

In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) furnished the labor toward the development of Beachland Park in West Hartford—specifically the planting of trees and shrubs on the grounds. Work was continued by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), which took to grading tennis courts on site; improving the baseball field and covering a brook; and remodeling an old creamery on the grounds.

“Bear Mountain State Park is located on the west side of the Hudson River in Orange and Rockland counties of New York… In the 1930s the federal government under Franklin D. Roosevelt was developing plans to preserve the environment as part of the Depression-era public works programs; the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, spent five years on projects at the park. Pump houses, reservoirs, sewer systems, vacation lodges, bathrooms, homes for park staff, storage buildings and an administration building were all created through these programs.”   (wikipedia) In addition, a report of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration from 1933 records...

Beauvoir, the retirement home of Jefferson Davis, was in use as the Old Soldiers Home in 1934-1945 when Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Mississippi legislature funded repairs and renovations to 20 state institutions. Davis' Greek Revival home constructed c. 1850 was home to indigent or impoverished Confederate Veterans. Through combined state legislative funds and the ERA labor and funds, Beauvoir was "renovated and brought up to a reasonable state of repair" (Clarion-Ledger, 1935, p. 3). Interior and exteriors were painted, as were several cottages on the property and the chapel. The house was also "completed redecorated" (Clarion-Ledger, 1935,...

In 1935 the F.E.R.A. and W.P.A. conducted erosion and hazard-removal work along Beaver Dam Brook in Framingham, Mass. "The brook was cleaned out, shaped and the bushes cut on the banks from the Ashland line to the B. &. A. Railroad near Waverly Street, a distance of about 3.1 miles."

In 1929 the Linden Irrigation District was incorporated and established plans to divert  water from the Calaveras River at Bellota, a community about five miles east of Linden,  and create a series of percolation dams to restore the depleted ground water table in the area.  There had been an early dam in the same vicinity, built in 1905, but it washed out within a year.  A Civil Works Administration (CWA) project was authorized late in 1933 to construct the Bellota Dam and clean out the channel of the Calaveras River.  Local opposition to the plan resulted in an injunction against the project, which...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration carried out “repairs and renewals” work at the Benjamin Franklin School (renamed Guy Benjamin School) on St. John.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) made improvements to Benning Road SE in Washington DC, from Central Avenue to Hillside Avenue. This dirt road was given an improved surface: “Old material from replacement jobs is hauled to the , broken by hand, and then rolled. After rolling, the pavement is treated with a bituminous material.” Note: The DC Government annual report credits this work to the Public Works Administration (PWA), but based on previous reports of similar work, and particular wording used, for example, “Public Administration forces,” we believe that this project was more likely carried out by the Work Division of...

A one-runway private airport north of downtown Berlin, New Hampshire. The airport was started as a CWA project. There was a slight delay during the shutdown of the program. The project was picked up and completed under FERA. DoD resources also cite the WPA: Official Project No.: 165‐1‐13‐50 Total project cost: $780,790.00 Sponsor: City of Berlin

The Berry House is a farm house built in 1935 as part of the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation's Matanuska Colony project. Representative of the frame colony farm house typology, the Berry house retains most of its original features and it has been minimally altered since it was built. The structure is located on the original colony tract. A registration form of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) describes the characteristics of the structure: “The house is a one-and-one half story wood frame structure with a rectangular floor plan. It measures 30' 6" x 35' 6" with a 6' x 14'...

Then known as Butte Municipal Airport, the CWA, FERA, and WPA each contributed toward the finishing of the "best equipped landing field in the state." The Big Timber, MT Pioneer reported in Sept. 1937: "Definite plans were completed for the construction of an asphalt surfaced runway 100 feet wide and a mile long, by means of a WPA project, with the city of Butte and the county of Silver Bow co-operating equally in furnishing materials and equipment." 150 WPA workers worked tirelessly to ensure that the runway was constructed before the onset of winter. As Bert Mooney Airport's runway 12/30 is one mile long...

"The park contains remains from a prehistoric communal dwelling constructed by the Salado people. The site was inhabited from 1225 to 1400 A.D. Irene Vickrey conducted the first formal archaeological investigation starting in 1935. Funding for her salary and her laborers came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and later the Works Progress Administration. She and her workmen excavated over 200 rooms and 350 burial sites. Vickrey worked on the excavation until January 1946. Her cause of death was due to heart failure due to a long term health condition. Her death left the excavations incomplete and her results unpublished. The...

Biddeford Municipal Airport is a public use airport in York County, Maine, United States. It is owned by the City of Biddeford and is located two nautical miles (3.70 km) south of the central business district. It has one runway designated 06/24 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,000 by 75 feet (914 x 23 m). The airport was originally developed under a New Deal project by the Maine Emergency Relief Administration, the state division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in a state wide survey of airports by Capt. Harry M. Jones in January 1934. The airport was built with 1...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) supplied labor for the widening of Merrimon Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina. The cost of the project was $32,351.40, which was mostly borne by the federal government. "In Asheville, Biltmore Street, Merrimon Avenue, and Broadway were widened by taking off fronts of all stores, setting them back, and rebuilding, work requiring expert skill."

"By a vote of its 113 citizens, the Town of Biscayne Park was incorporated on December 31, 1931, and on June 16th, 1933, a state charter was granted changing the name to the Village of Biscayne Park.  The Works Progress Administration built a log cabin, a clear and distinct reference to the Depression as well as to the simplicity of the American frontier days.  On February 1, 1933, at the height of the Depression, the Federal Emergency Relief Program provided the labor for the Dade County pine construction.  William Green, a resident of the Park, as well as a Councilperson,...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was associated with the construction of a large stone hangar, since demolished, at Black Hills Airport, also known as Clyde Ice Field.

The waterfront area of Blackstone Park in Providence was a WPA project. However, the photograph below comes from an archive of FERA projects, indicating that agency's potential involvement as well.

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Major repairs were made to Blakemore Street Bridge, in order to increase the load capacity from 8 to 15 tons."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration completed improvements at the Bloomingdale Playground in Washington DC, between 1933 and 1934. The work consisted of the following improvements: “Graded, completed drainage and water service system; fencing and 3-story recreation building 25 percent complete.”

The New Deal was responsible for the original Blue Plains Disposal Plant at the southern end of the District of Columbia, as well as many miles of new sewer lines to collect Washington's growing flow of waste water.  Up to that time, the city discharged millions of gallons of raw sewage directly into the Potomac River, which had become foul. The system and treatment facility have been greatly expanded over time, but the mark of the New Deal is still evident. In 1934, the Washington Post reported that the Public Works Administration (PWA) had allotted $8,000,000 to Washington DC for the...

In 1934 E.R.A. labor drained and cleaned Barre's Bolster Reservoir.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work on Borinquen Road in Caguas.

In a state-wide program to renovate and improve Mississippi institutions, the State Tuberculosis Hospital, using relief labor and ERA funding, carried out extensive painting and repairs and improvements in 1934-1935. $23,844.80 was expended on interior, exterior painting, floor refinishing, plastering, and new construction. Buildings improved included the two infirmary buildings, six smaller buildings including convalescent wards, nurses home, doctors apartments, staff residences, Preventorium, and service building. The carpenter shop, dairy barn, laying houses, and brooder were constructed. The Preventorium and some residences are still extant, but most other buildings have been demolished. The remaining buildings are used as the Boswell...

Sometimes referred to as the Union Avenue Athletic Field, "Bowditch Field is the town's main athletic facility. It is located on Union Avenue midway between Downtown and Framingham Center and was the main athletic facility for the town. It houses a large multi-purpose football stadium that included permanent bleachers on both sides of the field. There is still a baseball field, tennis courts, a track and field practice area, and the headquarters of the town Parks Department. Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects. It underwent a...

"In Brigham City, the PWA sponsored another public building, the Box Elder High School Gymnasium. This was a more ambitious project, one of twenty Utah school gymnasiums built during the 1930s. Of red brick, the building cost $106,000. Its construction provided work not just for Brigham City laborers but for the Joseph Nelson architectural firm, an Idaho general contractor, a city building inspector, a Utah plumbing/heating/ventilating contractor, and a roofing/sheet metal specialist. The design, acceptable for the time, provided for two gyms: a 7,000-square-foot boys' gym with seating for 1,000 and a girls' gym one-fourth that size. There was also a...

In 1934 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration constructed a cabin Wyoming for use by the Boy Scouts. According to the Casper Star-Tribune the cabin "comprises a large assembly room, kitchen and cloak room." Work at the site also included tree planting and landscaping. The project cost $2,955. The exact location and condition of this building are unknown to the Living New Deal. According to the Casper Star-Tribune the building was located in 'south Casper' "in the old city tourist camp." An additional reference to it states that it is located near Durbin and Fifteenth streets, by the site of the old...

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Broadway Bridge was chipped, cleaned and painted." Spanning Fort Point Channel, the bridge has since been demolished as the area has been redeveloped with highways built.