Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Sites

E. R. A. funds were used to assist the Mansfield, Massachusetts Fire Department with upkeep and beautification in 1934. "The Central Station received a coat of paint on all outside wood and metal surfaces during the year, also part of the inside walls and ceilings were painted." Three Fire Department trucks and a pump were also painted with the aid of E. R. A. funds.

According to the 1934 town report, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was involved in "Constructing a dam back of the Grange Hall at Fairfield Center, to make an auxiliary water supply for the fire department." During a site visit, an older gentleman at the grange hall did remember a fire pond in the back, before the current highway 139 was built in the 1960s. Further investigation at the site revealed the concrete pipe that regulated the water in the pond.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) provided the labor for painting the then-fire station in Maynard, Massachusetts in 1934, at what was hailed "quite a savings" to local taxpayers. The old fire station was located at the site of what is now a private business (as of 2017, The Paper Store) on Nason St. Work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), which also installed a new fire alarm system with new fire alarm boxes.

The Skowhegan Fire Station was built in 1904. According to a local news article from 1935, FERA carried out extensive improvements to the station: “A thorough cleaning of the interior of the Skowhegan fire station is being followed by the application of fresh coats of paint and varnish. The work is being done by a FERA crew. Improvements at the station are more extensive than anticipated due to the fact that money has been found available with which to increase the size of the crew. Four additional painters and four additional laborers have been added, thanks to the fact that an...

According to the 1933 and '34 town reports, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) were involved in: "REPAIRS TO HOUSES The CWA laid the last section of flooring in the Central Station and built a new hose drying rack and also painted and papered the interior of Hose No. 4 house. Hose No. 3 house interior was painted last spring by the driver there. Previous to the CWA work only minor repairs were attempted." "The construction of fire prevention pools in the rural section" (1934) REPAIRS TO HOUSES "A concrete wall was put under the west side of Hose 4...

This Art Deco fire training tower was built in 1933-34 by FERA, a precursor to the WPA. The tower was used by the city of Miami to train local fire fighters for many years. The tower is still standing, but is not currently in use.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) painted the former Dover firehouse in 1934. The location and current status of the old building are unknown to Living New Deal.

The WPA Guide to New York City reported that: "On Avenue A and Third Street, three blocks east of the Bowery, rise the FIRST HOUSES, the first project of the NY City Housing Authority, opened in 1935. Of the old slum tenements which formerly occupied this space, some were torn down and others were completely rebuilt by WPA labour, using the old materials. Unfortunately the attempt to utilize old structures has forced the new ones into a dull scheme. Bathrooms, sound-proofed partitions, gardens, and playgrounds promote the health and comfort of the occupants, who pay five to seven dollars a room...

Flamingo Park, also known as Flamingo Field, was a ballpark built in 1925. In 1935, new grandstands were built by FERA. The ballpark served a number of professional baseball teams for many years, but eventually became rundown, and was replaced by a new ballpark on the same site in 1967.

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Florida Road in San Lorenzo.

In 1933-34, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) carried out pavement repair and other unspecified improvements to a long segment of Fordham Road NW, from Rockwood Parkway to Massachusetts Avenue.   The road was paved with “temporary material consisting of broken-concrete base, broken stone, and slag. These large aggregates are choked with smaller material, and an application of asphaltic cement completes the operation. This construction forms a very good temporary roadway.”   The work is likely still extant, but invisible and unmarked.  

The annual report of the Forestry Division of the Park Commission for the year ending December 31, 1934 reads: "This branch of the Park Department was helped greatly by the Federal Relief Projects; the C. W. A. during the first four months of 1934, with six tree workers and number of laborers for woods clearing, and again under the E. R. A. from the middle of September to the end of the year with two tree climbers. On all this work the Park Department maintained its own foreman and furnished the truck and driver, also all tools, equipment and materials were...

The gym was constructed in 1933 by the Emergency Relief Administration. It is no longer extant. An historic photograph is available at the Southern Arkansas University site or the Southwest Archives site. The elementary school was built on the former site of the gym.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) performed structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site. Casper Star-Tribune, 1934: "Dedication of the new traps today at the Izaak Walton league park near the old site of Fort Caspar will afford the Casper public opportunity to view extensive Improvement work carried on there for several months as a CWA project. Progress made in construction of a spacious, rustic lodge of logs, and a fence of the same material, and the planting of hundreds of trees and shrubs will be open to inspection. When...

The main campus of Fort Lewis College was moved to Durango, Colorado in 1956, but before then it was located at this site, 16 miles southwest of Durango on what was originally a military site, then a boarding school for Native Americans, then a high school, then a two-year college. Since the 1950s, this has been the site of the San Juan Basin Research Center and is currently connected to Fort Lewis College once more as an auxiliary campus used for agricultural research among other purposes. During the 1930s, New Deal programs contributed important resources to the campus: "Dean Bader faced...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) carried out pavement repair and other unspecified improvements to a segment of 49th Street NE, from Central Avenue to Deane Avenue, in 1933-34.   The road was paved with “temporary material consisting of broken-concrete base, broken stone, and slag. These large aggregates are choked with smaller material, and an application of asphaltic cement completes the operation. This construction forms a very good temporary roadway.”   The work is likely still extant, but invisible and unmarked.  

In 1934 F.E.R.A. labor undertook "painting and repairing flagpoles and benches on the Framingham and Framingham Centre Commons."

In 1934 F.E.R.A. labor undertook "painting and repairing flagpoles and benches on the Framingham and Framingham Centre Commons."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) extended Franklin Street and constructed a 60-foot-long, 60-foot-wide concrete bridge to carry the road across the Sudbury River in Framingham, Massachusetts. The bridge was rebuilt in 2009.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Fraternidad Road in Fajardo.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration completed improvements at the Gallinger Playground in Washington DC, between 1933 and 1934. The work consisted of the following improvements: “New shelter(s) built."

Montpelier's 40th Annual Report details many roadwork projects undertaken in 1934 with Vermont Emergency Relief Administration (VERA) funds, including: "Gallison Hill Road, grading". Efforts were continued in subsequent years by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

FERA carried out street repairs on Gamble Gade in Charlotte Amalie. The work included the "Erection of street curb forms and concreting same…144 tons of dirt removed…”

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration funded and constructed improvements at the Garfield Playground in Washington DC, between, 1933-1934. “Playing area increased by relocation of hedges, graded, relocation of equipment.”

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

According to the community notes of April 25, 1935 Garrat Schenck School “During the vacation the FERA workers finished several very much needed bits of work for the school. A table for library use has been made for grade eight and a splendid cabinet has been constructed for scientific apparatus. Shelves have been placed in grades 3 and 4. Scrap lumber left by FERA workers will be utilized by the manual training department in their next project.”

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

Elise Seeds painted a mural, "Prehistoric Animals," for a school in Los Angeles, CA, with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and—upon the termination of the PWAP in 1934—the Federal and State Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA/SERA). The mural was subsequently relocated to the George Page Museum. Elise Seeds' other New Deal work in the region is a mural, "Air Mail," at the post office in Oceanside, CA.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration carried out “repairs and renewals” work at the George Washington School (renamed Evelyn Marcelli Elementary School, closed in 2012) on St. Thomas.

The Girl Scout Little House at 1011 Bonnie Brae Street was constructed during the Great Depression with New Deal work relief labor. Approved as a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project, the Little House was constructed in 1934-5 and completed under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).

Glenn Highway, from Anchorage to Matanuska (Palmer): “One of the major road projects in 1935 and 1936 was the completion of the Anchorage to Matanuska Road, or Palmer Highway, which later became part of the Glenn Highway, with funds from the FERA. Begun as a joint project by the ARC and the City of Anchorage in the 1920s, and called the Anchorage Loop or the Anchorage-Eagle River Road the ARC took over its maintenance and began improving and extending it from Anchorage to the communities of Chugiak and Peters Creek in 1933. In 1935, the Matanuska Colony project near...

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Glenwood Avenue Bridge (over Mother Brook) cleaned and painted."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) played a substantial role in the development of Maynard's Glenwood Cemetery. Work commenced in 1934 and was completed in 1936. "During the 1930s construction of the new cemetery was undertaken by several Depression-era relief programs, most notably the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Improvements included building of a new iron fence along the Parker Street in front of the old cemetery; laying out the new cemetery and constructing a rubble entrance wall along Great Road; and dredging the swampy area at the corner of Parker Street and Great Road to transform...

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted repair work at Goodnow Library in 1934. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) continued the work that year: "The walls were painted, ceilings whitened, floors oiled and a fine window seat built in the juvenile room making that room much lighter and more cheerful. The books are now clean and properly classified and the town can be justly proud of the library."

Montpelier's 40th Annual Report details many roadwork projects undertaken in 1934 with Vermont Emergency Relief Administration (VERA) funds, including: "Gould Hill Road entire length, grading and graveling". Efforts were continued in subsequent years by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Governor’s Mansion, constructed 1839-1842 in Greek Revival style, was “redecorated” in 1935. Architect Albert hays Town was involved in the “work with the interior and exterior getting a thorough going-over with repairs and redecorations. Some alterations were made to the interior, the roof repaired, electric wiring renewed and floors refinished” (Improvements completed, 1935, p. 5). The total expenditure was $9,813. The family of the governor was moved from one suite of rooms to another as rooms were renovated one-by-one. Lena Brock supervised the renovation job, and as part of the process, secured a pre-Civil War table c.1840 for use in...

Constructed as a New Deal project (attributed on one page to the Civil Works Administration, but more likely, based on the date, a Federal Emergency Relief Administration construction), Sioux City's historic Grandview Park Bandshell "is 102 feet wide, 51 feet high and cost around $51,000 to build in 1935." The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Multiple New Deal agencies worked to develop Green Brook Park in Plainfield, New Jersey beginning in 1933. The project involved the construction of a 1.55-acre artificial lake (which could be converted into an ice skating rink during the winter); the stocking of said lake with fish; the building of a footbridge across the brook; grass seeding; small dams to create modest waterfalls along the brook; paths around the lake and through the park; construction of a baseball diamond; and the planting of more than 2,000 trees, shrubs, and other plants.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration reinforced the Guajataca Dam in Isabela, between 1933 and 1935.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration (with funds from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration) built sidewalks near the Guillermo Esteves Bridge in San Juan.