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  • Benning Road SE Improvements - Washington DC
    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...
  • Bennington Local Protection Project - Bennington VT
    The Bennington Local Protection Project was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), in Bennington, Vermont during the Great Depression. Later reconstruction projects were handled by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. "The Bennington Local Protection Project is located along the left bank of Roaring Branch, a tributary of the Walloomsac River, in Bennington. The project protects Bennington from damage caused by the floodwaters of Roaring Branch. The project, about one mile in length, begins about 1,000 feet upstream of the Brooklyn Bridge and ends on Park Street. It consists of: Three sections of concrete floodwall with stone slope protection...
  • Bennington St. Reconstructions - Boston MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the following work in East Boston, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Bennington Street, East Boston, main artery between Sumner Tunnel and Revere and Winthrop has been resurfaced with asphalt by WPA. Street car reservations have been eliminated and there now is a clear road surface of 60 feet between curbs.
  • Bennington Town Hall - Bennington NY
    This simple wooden building was constructed by the WPA in 1936-37. As the town's website explained: "Until the 1930's, town meetings were probably held in the schoolhouse at Bennington Center. In 1936, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, the Works Progress Administration, known as W.P.A., provided jobs in building projects for a long-range value. The Town of Bennington had their town hall built. The federal government furnished the cost of labor for the building. The building is still used for the Town meetings. Several other organizations also use it."
  • Benson County Park (former) - Wood Lake ND
    "On the northwestern shore" of Wood Lake, in Wood Lake Township, North Dakota, is the BENSON COUNTY PARK (_picnicking and camping_), a 40-acre tract improved under the Works Progress Administration in 1937." The park, whose current status is unknown to Living New Deal, is about two miles southwest of Tokio, North Dakota as the crow flies.
  • Benson State Recreation Area (New Benson Park) - Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area OR
    In 1933, the City of Portland gave permission to the federal government to establish a Civilian Conservation Camp (CCC) in its Columbia River Gorge Park. What had been Benson Park became CCC Camp Benson. Between 1933 and 1935, CCC enrollees groomed the surrounding parkland, creating the New Benson Park. Today, the lowland, timbered park serves as a day use picnic area with swimming and fishing in the park’s Benson Lake. It also serves as the western anchor to a system of trails connecting Multnomah Falls to the east and Wahkeena Falls to the south. The work of the CCC established these amenities...
  • Bensonhurst Park - Brooklyn NY
    The bulk of present day Bensonhurst Park was first established in 1895. Two further parcels were added later. In 1942, the WPA completed major work on the park: "The Department of Parks announces the completion of work in connection with the reconstruction of Bensonhurst Park and the addition of a new playground, baseball fields and other recreation facilities… The old park area has been increased in size. Fifteen acres were added at the time that the Belt Parkway was constructed. This was done by pumping sand beyond the seawall which was erected at the outshore end of the property… The two previously undeveloped...
  • Benton School Gymnasium (former) - Benton WI
    The historic former Benton School Gymnasium was constructed, in part, as a WPA project. The building now houses a religious organization. WisconsinHistory.org: "A brick gymnasium structure that has a round arched roof. Round recessed arched areas that unite the two level, single windows decorate the arched front facade. White stone bands contrast with the brick to form a decorated pattern on the symmetrically designed frnot facade. The projecting central bay emphasizes the four doored entrance. The auditorium addition was constructed as a WPA project. This building is important as a visual landmark to the community and some architectural importance as a WPA...
  • Bergen Avenue Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a $197,000 street repair and maintenance project, along what were then dirt roads, throughout the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Roads improved included the stretch of Bergen Avenue between Ralph Ave. and what was then known as Island Avenue (location and current name unknown to Living New Deal).
  • Bergen County Court House Murals - Hackensack NJ
    "In the 1930’s as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), murals were painted in courtrooms 253 and 352. In the early 1940’s an additional mural was added in courtroom 357. All three murals were designed by Teaneck resident William Winter. The murals in room 352 (formerly known as the Supreme Court Room) represent the roots of American Law. The murals in room 253 (formerly known as the Freeholder Chambers) represent local historical sights. The murals in room 357 (formerly known as the Circuit Court Chamber) represent Roman Law."
  • Bergen Pines (former) Improvements - Paramus NJ
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor for the improvement of Bergen Pines, the Bergen County Hospital, in Paramus, N.J. The CWA converted swampland into a "fifteen-acre recreation haven" for the grounds.
  • Bergfeld Park Improvements - Tyler TX
    In 1913 the City of Tyler purchased the land for Bergfeld Park. Starting in 1936, the Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park including a stone amphitheater, rock culverts, and a rock lined creek, restrooms, and tennis courts. The city renovated the amphitheater in 2017 with a new stage and seating arrangement.
  • Berkeley County Jail (demolished) - Moncks Corner SC
    The building was the county police headquarters and 40-bed capacity county jail from 1938 until 1993 when it was razed to make way for a 220-bed facility.
  • Berkeley County Library - Moncks Corner SC
    It served as the Berkeley County Library from 1938 to 1970. The building was moved from Library Street around the corner to 221 First Street in 1969 and continued to serve customers until the grand opening of the new library (on the site of the original library) in 1970. From 1970 to 1988, the building was used by the Berkeley County Department of Social Services. It was then sold to Robert D. Calcote, DMD, and served as one of his orthodontist offices from 1988-2020.
  • Berkeley High School: Braghetta Bas Reliefs on Community Theater - Berkeley CA
    The entrance to Berkeley Community Theater on the interior courtyard of Berkeley High School is adorned by two cast stone bas-relief sculptures by Lulu Braghetta. On is female, with "Drama, Dance, Music" inscribed in relief, and the other is male, with "Poetry, Painting" lettered beside the figure.   The panels were paid for by the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940 but not added to the building until its (delayed) completion in 1950.
  • Berkeley High School: Braghetta Bas Reliefs on G Building - Berkeley CA
    The G Building of Berkeley High School sports a large group of cast stone bas-relief sculptures on the exterior.  The artist was Lulu Braghetta, who worked under the auspices of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration.  The reliefs were installed in 1940. Building G was originally part of the Industrial Arts and Sciences buildings and the Braghetta bas-reliefs portray scenes pertaining to science and the industrial arts. Some have figures (including one woman) and others are representations of carpentry, electricity, motors, engineering and machining.  They decorate all sides of the building
  • Berkeley High School: Howard Bas Reliefs on Community Theater - Berkeley CA
    Berkeley High School's Community Theater is adorned with cast stone bas-relief sculptures by Robert Howard, son of architect John Galen Howard.  The sculptures are on the exterior side of the building, along Allston Way and facing the Berkeley Civic Center park. The central panel is around 30 feet high and contains a rich group of figures illustrating people of all races coming together through the arts. On each side is a panel of a herald  blowing a trumpet, one male and one female, and the man is apparently African American. The panels were paid for by the Federal Arts Project of the...
  • Berkeley High School: Schnier Bas-Relief on H Building - Berkeley CA
    Jacques Schnier created the impressive bas-relief sculpture, "St. George and the Dragon", that fills a huge space on the west (exterior) side of Berkeley High School's building H (a former Science and Industrial Arts Building), which faces Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture also contains the inspirational inscription, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." The work was paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration, as were the other sculptures on Berkeley High School.  It was mounted c. 1940.  
  • Berkeley Marina - Berkeley CA
    "The actual Berkeley Marina, used by many people who sail on the Bay, was constructed as the Berkeley Yacht Harbor in the late 1930s by the Works Progress Administration in conjunction with its nearby work developing Aquatic Park." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Marina 'The central feature of this park will be a lagoon, large enough for out-board motor races, and with facilities for electric boats, rowboats and canoes. Around the lagoon land areas are being filled in to create a shoreline of bays and peninsulas. Lawns and areas with tables, fireplaces and ample picnic facilities, sheltered from prevailing breezes by shtrub and tree plantings, will...
  • Berkeley Rose Garden - Berkeley CA
    The Berkeley Rose Garden lies on the west side of Euclid Avenue in the Berkeley Hills. It was constructed in the little valley of Codornices Creek, which emerges in a viewing pool at the bottom of the garden.  The rose garden was likely begun by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933-34, as they built the adjoining ball courts.  But the Rose Garden itself was a project of  the Works Progress Administration (WPA), completed in 1940.    "The Garden is designed like an amphitheater with wide stone terraces facing magnificent views of San Francisco Bay. A semicircular redwood pergola, which extends...
  • Berkeley Springs Sanitarium Rehabilitation - Berkeley Springs WV
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed rehabilitation work at the Berkeley Springs Sanitarium. The work was done following the 1936 spring floods that had damaged the facilities. The high water left behind mold and debris in the Sanitarium building. The work done by WPA crews also included repairing and cleaning the pool, which used water from the therapeutic Berkeley Springs.
  • Berkeley Yacht Club Boat House - Berkeley CA
    The National Youth Administration (NYA) constructed the boat house of the Berkeley Yacht Club in 1939.
  • Berks County Courthouse Improvements - Reading PA
    A WPA project in Reading, Pennsylvania involved "washing all of the exterior of the old 19-story county courthouse" and painting its interior. The project provided work for 19 laborers during the summer of 1939.
  • Berlin Fish Hatchery - Berlin NH
    "Kilkenny Camp 2117, 155th Company CCC, Berlin, New Hampshire, was established May 29, 1933, as one of the camps of the White Mountain National Forest Service." Once the Dolly Copp Camp Ground was established, the camp focussed on the Berlin hatchery. "A power house, canals, control dykes, and breeding ponds built at the York Pond Fish Hatchery making it one of the largest hatcheries of its kind in the country." "Berlin National Fish Hatchery in Coos County, New Hampshire, will be operated and funded by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under a memorandum of agreement signed October 19,...
  • Berlin Regional Airport - Milan NH
    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
  • Berlin Street Improvements - Montpelier VT
    Montpelier's 1937 Annual Report details roadwork projects undertaken in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, including: "Berlin Street from River Street to the City line and a portion of Winooski Avenue received tar treatment for the first time." Sewers were installed by the WPA as well, e.g.: "622 feet of 6-inch tile was laid on Berlin St." Sidewalk work that year included 633 feet of tar walks along the west side of Berlin Street heading south from River Street, an area of 284 square yards.
  • Bernal Heights Boulevard and Park - San Francisco CA
    Cost $255,547, for Alabama to Esmeralda Streets. Work consisted of building 1,890 lineal feet of sewer with catch basins and manholes, 12,890, lineal feet of redwood curb, 19,050 square feet of 6 inch concrete pavement. Placed 714 tons of 2 inch wearing surface, resloped all cuts and redressed all sidewalks. It formed a circular road around the Heights district making accessible a large number of interesting streets, difficult of approach before, and providing a fine Marine view--Healy, p. 47.
  • Bernal Heights Library - San Francisco CA
    The beautiful Bernal Heights Library on Cortland Avenue in San Francisco was built in 1940 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA), after it had become part of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in 1939. The library is built of reinforced concrete and finished in Mission Revival style with stucco exterior and tile roof.  The interior features lofty ceilings, large windows, and lovely hanging light fixtures. The floors, entrance and bathrooms are all tiled and the ceiling beams are hand-painted in abstract designs.   The shelving and furniture appear to be the original, made of solid oak, and the layout looks to be...
  • Bernal Recreation Center - San Francisco CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Bernal Recreation Center in San Francisco in 1939-1940.  It sits just behind and below the Bernal Heights Public Library. Work consisted of excavating and grading 1,492 cubic yards of rock and soil, building 75 feet of rubble wall (18 inches by 4 feet), and paving 16,000 square feet of playgr0und area. Notably, the report on WPA work in San Francisco made a point that the combination of the library and playground on the same property was ."... combining the benefits of physical and mental recreation.(Healy, p. 64). The WPA built rock walls are still visible above...
  • Berrellessa Street Extension - Martinez CA
    In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) extended Berrellessa Street several blocks into the waterfront on the west end of town, which was the long-time neighborhood of Italian/Sicilian fishermen plying their trade on the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay.   The neighborhood had housing, warehouses, a wharf and processing operations. Some of these remain, but not the wharf. There is a memorial to the Italian fisherman of Martinez over by the public marina, but not here (see below for link to local fishermen singing folk songs, 1939). The WPA project included considerable rock and soil fill over former wetlands into the...
  • Berry Creek Development - Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest NV
    “The Forest Service’s CCC program blazed new roads and trails into prospective campgrounds, existing mines, or susceptible fore zones. The Forest Service with its ample staff of engineers and natural resource specialists provided technical expertise for CCC projects. Similarly, the technical staff assisted the Soil Conservation Service by supervising construction activities on southern Nevada flood-control projects in the lower Moapa Valley, Panaca, and Caliente. Similarities in construction and design in different forests are no coincidence. Most early ranger stations, roads, and campgrounds were built according to standard regional plans prepared by architectural engineer George Nichols in Utah. After 1938, a manual...
  • Berry House - Palmer AK
    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'...
  • Berry Playground - Brooklyn NY
    Berry Playground is a pocket park tucked along a side street in Brooklyn, which was constructed in 1937 by the city Parks Department with the help of the New Deal, most likely Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The site had recently been acquired "...for $18,000 from the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital in 1936. It immediately came under the jurisdiction of Parks..." (NYC Parks) A new playground opened on the site on November 13, 1937, as explained in the Parks Department Press Release at the time: "...the new playground is for small children and has swings, see-saws, slides, playhouses, sand tables, a play...
  • Berry, Lee, and Waite Street Road Improvements - Norwich NY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo caption for the work pictured here describes it as "putting in sub-base and curb" for Lee, Barry, and Waite Streets for the City of Norwich in Chenango County, New York. The is the view from Lee street. The photo is dated to 1938.  
  • Berryhill Gymnasium (demolished) - Charlotte NC
    The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a gymnasium at the old high school for the Berryhill school district in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (now within the city limits of Charlotte). The structure, whose exact location is unknown to Living New Deal, no longer exists. "The Long Creek High School Gymnasium was one of eight facilities of its general type constructed in Mecklenburg County under the arrangements outlined above, the others being at the high schools then in the local school districts of Huntersville, Paw Creek, Pineville, Sharon, Oakhurst, Berryhill, and Bain. Only the Long Creek Gymnasium survives from this initial...
  • Berryman Reservoir Improvements - Berkeley CA
    This reservoir was built just south of Cordonices Park in Berkeley by Henry Berryman in 1877. It was still open to the air when the WPA worked on it in the 1930s, but was later enlarged and covered over with cement. It is currently being replaced because of fears that it might rupture in an earthquake.
  • Berryville Gymnasium - Berryville AR
    The single story stone building was designed in a "Plain Traditional" style with "minimal Craftsman influences" and included a stone chimney on the western elevation (Story, 1992). The building was constructed by 50 local laborers employed by the WPA.
  • Bert Berry Road - Embden ME
    An article in the Independent Reporter August 24, 1933 reports of 7 CWA projects for Somerset County, $7000 of which was for a third class road connecting Concord Township and Embden.
  • Bert Mooney Airport Improvements - Butte MT
    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...
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