Work Relief Programs Sites

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Palmer Lodge at Bertha Brock Park.  The park benefited from the work of 94 CCC enrollees working two overlapping 15 hour shifts.

This WPA-constructed school was built in 1937 when the town was called Berwyn. Contributor note: "The Old Berwyn School at 45-47 Prairie Street was built by the WPA in 1937-1938. It is a one-story beige brick building with a flat roof. Two recessed entrances face east, each with double glass doors. The north side of the building is currently the Gene Autry post office; the south end houses the Gene Autry Museum. At the curb, a set of terracotta veneer steps lead to the front walk. (We never have understood why so many old schools had these steps which had three steps...

"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 Her death left the excavations incomplete and her results unpublished.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...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reforested "20,000 acres of drifting sand hills and expanded Bessey Forest Nursery producing 30 million saplings for reforestation." The CCC also "constructed a public campground and picnic area, shelter house, bath houses, and a swimming pool in the park."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a 12-classroom school building: Bethel Elementary School in Sugar Grove, North Carolina. It was one of many educational facilities constructed by the WPA in Watauga County.

Bethpage State Park is a 1,476-acre New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. It is best known for its five golf courses, including the Bethpage Black Course. "The park’s clubhouse and four of its five courses, including the legendary Black course, were either built or improved with federal relief funds and labor."   (https://www.nytimes.com) "In the early 1930s, the Bethpage Park Authority purchased the Lenox Hills Country Club and other adjacent properties to build what we now know as Bethpage State Park. * All of the work on these four courses (Black, Red, Blue and...

Five years after the WPA built a new pool and bathhouse in Betsy Head Park, the Parks Department announced the completion of the rehabilitation of the south section of the rest of the park, bounded by Livonia and Dumont Avenues, Strauss Street and Hopkinson Avenue: "The remainder of the plot, to the west of the pool has been entirely reconstructed to meet the needs of a district well supplied with children and young people and under-privileged in the matter of play areas. The new plan, designed by the Department of Parks, called for the reconstruction of the baseball diamond, football field...

In 1936 the Betsy Head Park in Brooklyn, New York, "was redesigned extensively and the Olympic-sized swimming pool was constructed. Architect John Matthews Hatton’s pool house exemplified the sleek Art Moderne style with liberal use of glass block and a parasol roof. One of eleven pools built by the Works Progress Administration during the summer of 1936, the pool is a relic of the New Deal era. The construction project, organized by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, and funded by the federal government, was part of a citywide effort to erect recreational facilities in under-served neighborhoods. The pools represented the forefront of...

Longport, New Jersey's Betty Bacharach Home for Afflicted Children was constructed in 1924, before the Great Depression. However, the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an addition, featuring a "new physiotherapy pool and treatment unit" at the site starting in 1936. The old Betty Bacharach Home is now the Borough Hall building.

Beulah Reservoir, also known as Agency Valley Reservoir, was created with the completion of the Agency Valley Damn in 1935. Throughout 1939, the Bureau of Reclamation supervised enrollees at a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) spike camp. They built a stone parapet wall on the upstream crest of the new damn. The spike camp was CCC Camp Vale, or Company BR-45 which worked on the Vale Project. The basalt stone wall runs on both sides of the road that crosses the top of the damn. The stone signature plaque left to commemorate their work is located on the eastern end of the...

While the main buildings of Beverly Hills High School date to 1927, the unique "Swim Gym" was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. Designed by Stiles O. Clements, the gym features a basketball court that can be opened to access a 25-yard swimming pool below. It has appeared in films such as It's a Wonderful Life and Clueless.  

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on several streets in Kingwood. Work on Beverly Street was started in 1935.

WPA funded two projects for the Bexar County Boys' School in 1939. Construction of a greenhouse for the facility, which served as a "juvenile delinquent" training school was authorized in December 1939, with WPA funding $2,213 and Bexar County funding $968 and employing 30 workers. A workshop, 30x85 feet, "...for inmates at the Bexar County Training School for Boys" replaced a building previously destroyed by fire (Boys Home Gets $15,000 Shop, 1940). WPA funded $10,738.50 of the cost of the workshop and Bexar County funded $4,397.62. Plans were drawn by Russell White, Bexar County engineer. The workshop was constructed of...

Quoins at corners-smooth limestone also on buttresses. Ticket windows along facade, 1 story 6 windows, flat roof-bonded cement overhang. All windows filled with cement block. Facade: 2 pairs of double doors w/transom. Large open space, wooden stairs to bleachers. Walls Oolitic Limestone-rough cut. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1938 and 1939.

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 Bidwell Bowl amphitheater sits along Big Chico Creek on the California State University, Chico campus.  It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, no doubt in conjunction with improvements the WPA was making in Bidwell Park at the time (just upstream). The campus website provides the following information: "Built as a WPA project in 1938, the amphitheater known as the Bidwell Bowl was one of many ventures in Chico that created work for people during the depression. Located on the bank of the creek, next to the Physical Science building, the Bidwell Bowl had been used for various...

Chico's Bidwell Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. It follows the course of Big Chico Creek for several miles into the foothills.  The park land was originally donated to the city early in the 20th century by the widow of Chico's founder, John Bidwell. New Deal agencies made several improvements to the park in the 1930s. It appears that State Emergency Recovery Agency (SERA) workers did road gravelling in the park, and worked on bathhouses and repair of the superintendent's residence–SERA was funded in part by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FEMA). At the upper end of the park, the Works Progress Administration (WPA)...

With Proclamation 2175, June 15, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Bienville National Forest in Mississippi.  This proclamation was part of FDR’s overall effort to create more national forests in the eastern United States. As with other national forests, the goal of Bienville was “to produce the greatest amount of good for the most people… Fire protection gives the timber a chance to grow so as to produce a merchantable crop; trees are being planted where former logging practise (sic) did not leave the land in a condition to re-seed itself; grazing will be regulated so as to coordinate...

The Works Progress Administration completed landscaping and grading work in Bienville Square in Mobile.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) installed a camp at Big Basin, California's first state park (1901), and built a variety of facilities for public recreation.   Big Basin was saved through the efforts of Sempervirens Club (now Fund), as one of the last and largest groves of giant coast redwoods left in the Santa Cruz Mountains. CCC men built the park headquarters (1936), an amphitheater of redwood logs, campgrounds, other park buildings and miles of trails, and probably roads and water lines, as well. For 75 years, those facilities remained virtually unchanged (one footbridge across...

A recreation area was constructed in the Biloxi Unit of the DeSoto National forest, including a bath house with water from an artesian well, and nine picnic areas with graveled paths. Tables, chairs and cooking pits were planned from brick or stone, and a picnic shed of “native materials” was under construction. The site was dedicated in June 1937. Located ¼ mile east of old Hwy 49 and 23 miles south of Wiggins, the site was constructed by camp 10, a CCC camp comprised of African Americans. The area cost approximately $14,000 and included the bath house with native cypress...

"The Senator was the biggest and oldest pond cypress tree in the world, located in Big Tree Park, Longwood, Florida. At the time of its demise, it was 125 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of 17.5 feet. The tree was destroyed by a fire started by the criminal arson of a meth addict on January 16, 2012... Seminole Indians and other Native American Indians who lived throughout Central Florida used this tree as a landmark. In the late 19th century, the tree attracted visitors even though much of the surrounding land was swamp; reaching the tree was done by...

The National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for the former Big Elk Guard Station (now a camping residence for seasonal rent) tells the history of the garage/storage shed located nearby: "A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)-built Garage/Storage Shed, erected ca. 1938, lies about 50' east of the cabin. This rectangular, single-story building measures approximately 18' x 16' feet in plan and approximately 8' 6" feet from the top of the corner boards at the eaves to the ground. The building has a medium-pitch gable roof with wood shingles and exposed rafter ends. The exterior walls are composed of horizontal "double-run molding"...

The National Youth Administration constructed a school gymnasium in Big Flat, Arkansas in 1938-1941. The structure is a single story stone masonry building "designed in the Plain Traditional style with Craftsman influences." (NRHP) The interior of the gymnasium has been significantly altered.

"Situated in a grassy, tree-covered field in a remote area. the abandoned Big Four School building was constructed in 1915, but remodeled so extensively in the 1930's by the Works Progress Administration bar it is actually more representative of this time period." (National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form) The exact location of the building along Route 383 in Providence, Arkansas and the status of the structure are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

"The Big Horn Academy Historic District includes the Big Horn Academy constructed in 1916 of rusticated sandstone and the Cowley Gymnasium/Community Hall built in 1936 of lodgepole pine logs. In 1936 the Gymnasium and Community Hall was constructed adjacent to the Cowley High School as part of a Works Progress Administration project." The log gym lies behind the old school building, which presently houses school district administrative offices.

Billings architect J. G. Link designed the 1937 Monumental Deco-style courthouse that resides in downtown Hardin, MT. It was built using WPA labor. A nearby historical marker notes: "Constructed at a cost of $150,000, the project put over a hundred men to work. ... Simple cast concrete elements decorate the courthouse's rose-colored ashlar limestone, quarried forty miles south of Hardin. In addition to the courtroom, the two-and-one-half-story building housed a jail, public auditorium, living quarters for the sheriff, and county offices."

From 1933 to 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted 304 acres of “white pine, Norway pine, Scotch pine, and jack pine.”

"Big Meadows Guard Station was constructed between 1933 and 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC) to provide a residence for Forest Service fire patrolmen stationed in that area. In 1964, the Forest Service no longer needed the use of the cabin. The cabin is 900 square feet, single story and consists of 1 bedroom with a closet, 1 bathroom, a living room and a kitchen with a service porch. The original cabinets, living room and bedroom flooring and bath fixtures remain. The interior has been slightly modified. The exterior is constructed of redwood board over 1 X 8 diagonal...

Big Pool opened in Garden City KS in 1922. The Works Progress Administration added a bath house and a children's wading pool.

"Big Ridge State Park was one of five demonstration parks developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as an example of public recreation development along TVA lakeshores. The structures on the park reflect the craftsmanship and stonework of the CCC. Along the trails you may see remnants of the  homes and farms that existed here prior to the birth of the TVA."   (https://tnstateparks.com) This park was actually part of the greater Norris Project. "Civilian Conservation Corps Company 4495, which was originally based in Loyston, began work on Big...

"The Big Shaheen Cabin is the only log cabin built by Civilian Conservation Corps workers as part of the Admiralty Island Canoe Route. Situated on the east shore of Hasselborg Lake, the cabin was intended to serve as a lodge. Originally, it was the only enclosed building along the canoe route. Built for recreation, it is still used for that purpose and has not been substantially altered since its construction in 1935." "The Big Shaheen Cabin is the only cabin that was part of the Admiralty Island Civilian Conservation Corps Canoe Route. It was constructed with horizontal logs about ten inches...

"Dramatic views off of the 200-foot bluff and from the CCC-built loop road are among the featured attractions of this 382-acre park. Early morning or sunset, joggers, walkers and cyclists circle the loop, enjoying these views as they exercise. An elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display is one of the largest in the region. Other activities include picnicking, nature study and sightseeing." CCC construction: Entrance Portals, Park Road 8, Culverts, Bridges, Concession Building (currently park offices), Keeper’s Dwelling, Stone Pavilion, Restrooms, Picnic Tables, Stone Steps, and Retaining Walls. An amphitheater was designed, started, but not completed. A Stone Pump House and...

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was road construction between 'Tub Mill' and Big Stone Beach, northeast of Milford. An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA's road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

The Municipal Building in Biggs CA was constructed under the New Deal with funds and labor from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was very active in Butte County.  The federal government provided about one-third of the cost and local governments paid the rest.

The Department of Parks announced the opening of this new playground on Bedford Ave. on October 14, 1935. As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor. After its inception in 1935, the WPA quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. In a 1939 study, The Works Progress Administration in New York City (pp. 101-102), future Columbia University professor John Millett describes the WPA's deep involvement: “The city Parks Department planned all work-relief activities in city...

Made general repairs, cleaned tile and installed new tile, replaced glass, installed new plumbing and heating fixtures, did painting and concrete work, layed new floor in main auditorium, made accomodation for new health service municipal employees, increased corridor space on 2nd floor by removing hat check rooms.--Healy, p. 69.

Originally constructed as the Lumberton City Armory-Auditorium, what is now the Bill Sapp Recreation Center was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). Postcard: "The Lumberton City Armory-Auditorium is one of the most handsome and best equipped buildings of its kind in North Carolina. It is the home of the famous Lumberton Coast Artillery Company and the war-time organization Home Guards."

In 1934, 21 airports were reported under construction in Mississippi through the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA), including the new airport at the Naval Reserve Park in Biloxi. The "third CWA allotment amounting to $10,371 for the Biloxi landing field bringing the total granted Biloxi for this purpose to nearly $40,000" (More money, 1934, p. 1) resulted in a new field with 3 landing lanes. Nearly 200 men were put to work initially, and more added later. The Coast Guard Air Field, Biloxi Municipal would share space, and later, all become part of Keesler Air Force Base in its current...

The community house was approved as Works Progress Administration (WPA) project 20,814 in 1938. The wood-frame Colonial Style building was constructed to replace the former community house, on the same site. The design featured a banquet hall, recreation room, 850-seat auditorium and 350-seat balcony (Approve Biloxi Community House, 1938). The portico and columns were planned to be used from the existing community house. Biloxi provided $6,287 of the total cost of $17,051. The building was "nearing completion" in January 1939, and scheduled for dedication in late February or early March. It was demolished following Hurricane Camille damage in 1969.