Work Relief Programs Sites

The Works Progress Administration built the Wainwright School and Gymnasium in Wainwright. The structure is built of red native rock cut into irregular shaped rectangles. The gym to the southwest has tall windows, rounded at the top. The Historic Preservation Survey states that it was one of the last educational complexes constructed in Oklahoma.

"In the 1930's the Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a series of improvements including the construction of the loop road around the summit ." A 1937 WPA Bulletin reported: In 1934 Waitt's Mount in Maiden looked like a quarry-workers' nightmare. It was a huge, bald and jagged granite ledge whose slope was covered with twisted, stunted trees and tangled underbrush; probably the most useless piece of land in this section of the state. Today the Mount is a beautifully terraced park which commands a 15-mile panorama of metropolitan Boston. The park, built by the WPA, has landscaped slopes, shade trees, rustic...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Wakefield Public Library in Wakefield, Kansas in 1938. The library is still in use.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Residents of Lynn consume 2,854,464,350 gallons of city water a year and from the same reservoir system the town of Saugus uses 333,542,250 gallons during the same period. Last week a WPA project started which will improve the purity of the water supply by clearing and grubbing 40 acres along the northerly shore of Walden Pond and cleaning out a half dozen tributary brooks which feed into the pond. When the land is cleared 25,000 three-year-old white pine seedlings will be planted. Most of these trees will be taken from the 2,200-acre Lynn Woods Reservation and will...

According to local sources, "Wales Center Burying Ground" was "renovated into modern cemetery" using federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor ca. 1936. The cemetery in question is likely that at 12150 Big Tree Rd.

The Works Progress Administration built a new county jail in Jasper, Walker County, circa 1937. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built the Walker County Library, adjacent to the WPA-built Walker County Courthouse in Jasper.

"Mayor George Walker: In the 1930's, Winter Garden, Florida, was struggling economically along with the rest of the nation. The Great Depression left growers without markets, consumers without spending money, and many without work. It was Winter Garden's fortune to have George Walker as its mayor during this difficult period. Mr. Walker, a native of Savannah, Georgia, came to Winter Garden in 1919, and in the following year opened Walker Electric Company and Appliance Store. An avid sportsman, Walker was the director of the Lake-Orange County semi-pro baseball league and served as the manager of the Winter Garden League in...

"Walker Field Shelterhouse is a historic park shelter located at South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana. It was constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration."

The Works Progress Administration built the Walker School & Gymnasium in Pauls Valley OK. Contributor note: "The Walker School and Gymnasium is located on County Road 1570 (Longmeier Lake Road), east of Pauls Valley. This is an 8-room school which is in ruins and no longer in use. The school is L-shaped, with the gymnasium forming a U-shape. It is 169 feet across the front and 83 ft. down each side. The school was a WPA project in 1939. This school is one-story red brick with a flat roof, except for the higher barrel roof on the gymnasium. The main entrance is recessed...

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) landscaped the grounds of the Utah State Training School in American Fork, just north of Provo UT. The landscaping included a quarter mile-long stone wall along the south property line of the school, along 700 North Street.  The school morphed into the Utah State Development Center and grew much larger; the original building is gone.  Part of the grounds have been carved out as Quail Cove park for the city of American Fork. But the stone wall still stands, marking the southern boundary of Quail Cove, home of a beautiful New Deal amphitheater.    

Today, The Wallace Bowl is now the home of the Park District's summertime Starlight Theatre, which provides a unique outdoor setting for musical and dramatic performances offered to the public free of charge. The WPA began construction in 1936 of an outdoor amphitheater at the Lakefront. This outdoor stage was officially dedicated as the Wilmette Outdoor Amphitheatre in 1946. The same space would later be named the Wallace Bowl in honor of Gordon Wallace, superintendent of parks from 1936-68. This project was made possible through the generosity of Charles H. Feltman, one of the commissioners of the Wilmette park district. It...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Plattsburgh, New York, including Wallace Hill Road, in 1936.

The local high school received a $15,000 CWA football stadium in 1934. The stadium is not located on the school property, but rather a few blocks away in Wallace Park. While the site no longer functions as a football stadium, the stone bleachers are still standing, and now overlook two baseball diamonds.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded new construction or improvement work for the Farrington High School in Honolulu. The PWA grant amounted to $216,000, and the work was carried out in 1938. Listed as Docket No. TH-1083-F, the project was part of the PWA’s non-federal projects expenditure for the Territory of Hawaii for 1938-1939. Designed in 1939 by local architect Charles W. Dickey, the Farrington High School was part of an effort to expand secondary education in Hawaii. The 1939-1940 directory mentions the school had 2054 students and a staff of 66. "Wallace Rider Farrington High School was designed by C.W. Dickey...

A 1939 article cited work the WPA had been accomplishing in Stoughton, Mass. "They ... are now about to start the finishing work on laying out and rebuilding of Walnut Court as a town way. The street has been widened, tons of stone have been dug out and all that remains is the filling of holes and getting the top surface ready for the tar, which when applied and covered will put that piece of highway in fine condition."

The Walnut Creek Bridge in northern Yavapai County AZ was built in 1936 with the help of the New Deal.  It crosses Walnut Creek on FS95 and may have been built to improve access to the Prescott National Forest ranger station further up CR125, Walnut Creek Road. The bridge was built by the Arizona Highways Department using relief workers hired out of transient (homeless) camps along the Verde River, with the aid of Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funds (probably via the Arizona Relief Administration). The design was done by Arizona Highways Bridge Engineer Ralph Hoffman, basically a concrete foundation on which...

The Walnut Creek grammar school operated from 1871 to 1956 to serve a very sparse population of 1,014 (1930 census). The shopping center Plaza Esquela has a plaque noting the former location of the Grammar School. WPA Project No. 165-3-3137, App. Date Apr 22, 1937, $12,270, Total Funds $14,650, Average Employed 63, Federal Man-Hours 20,228, Sponsor: Walnut Creek School District, "Improve playground at the Walnut Creek Grammar School in the city of Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, by grading and surfacing area, constructing retaining walls, erecting fence, constructing baseball backstop, reconstructing handball court, etc. Exclusive of projects specifically approved. Walnut Creek...

In June 1933, using a design by architect Robert H. H. Hugman, workmen from the Civilian Conservation Corps, began building walkways and bridges along Walnut Branch, a small tributary of the Guadalupe River, and lining the slopes of the waterway with curving stone retaining walls. Dams crossed by stepping stones, low falls, and quiet pools were built along the natural course of the waterway that passes along the edge of the city's downtown. The park eventually fell into neglect during a severe drought in the 1950s, though the main spring never dried up. Fear that mosquitoes breeding in the small ponds...

A WPA imprint stamp marks the curb along the Walnut Street side of the Hertzstein Memorial Museum.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) conducted road improvement work in Dover, Mass., including the reconstruction of a 500-foot stretch of Walpole Street. "he raising of the grade of Walpole Street at the brook near the Zinsser Estate has greatly improved conditions there."

The W.P.A. conducted restoration and preservation work at "the clapboard house at Camden, N.J., in which the Good Gray Poet, Walt Whitman, spent the last years of his life."

This WPA stone building served as an annex building to the Hampshire County Courthouse in Romney, West Virginia, for many years. Though it was recommended for demolition in 2003, it survived and is currently being used as a government office building. The building was constructed circa 1935-1943.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and its successor, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), both engaged in improvement projects at the old Walter Reed General Hospital (as it was then known).  The entire army medical complex, covering around 80 acres, was closed down in 2011 and Walter Reed Army Medical Center  (as it came to be known) moved out to Bethesda MD.    The former site has been repurposed as the Children's National Hospital and a huge mixed commercial and residential development, The Parks at Walter Reed. CWA crews painted buildings, planted trees, and helped build an elevator shaft at the center...

"Well-known Los Angeles architect John C. Austin designed the Renaissance-inspired buildings of North Hollywood Junior High School (which was renamed in 1957). In addition to providing the plans for numerous schools throughout the Los Angeles region, Austin, either alone or in association with other architects, is credited for the architecture of the Griffith Park Observatory, Shrine Auditorium, and Los Angeles City Hall." - https://www.laschools.org/employee/design/fs-studies-and-reports/download/LAUSD_Presentation_March_2002.pdf?version_id=1895945 An image of the school was also used, apparently accidentally, as a backdrop to one of John McCain's campaign speeches in 2008! - https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/09/mccain-and-that.html

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center began life as the National Naval Medical Center under the New Deal. Congress appropriated the funds in 1937 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the site in Bethesda, Maryland.   Architect Paul Cret designed a magnificent Moderne building with a tower that still delights (though much obscured by subsequent additions to the complex).  Construction began in 1939.  FDR laid the cornerstone of the famous tower on Armistice Day 1940, and the center opened soon thereafter (probably some time in 1941, not 1940 as most sources say). According to the official Center website, "The President’s vision was to...

The Walter Stokes School in Nashville, Tennessee was undertaken with the assistance of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. The Colonial Revival building was constructed with ten classrooms and a cafeteria. It temporarily housed Julia Green Elementary School and continues to operate as Walter Stokes Middle School following rejected plans to sell the property in 2010. As of 2014: The school has been sold to the nearby Lipscomb University, a private Christian institution. For now, the building stands vacant and the grounds serve as a parking area for the college. It would not be surprising were the college...

Walton Field in Wakefield, Massachusetts "was improved in the 1930s as part of the WPA program."

W.P.A. project description: "The three projects, which were approved and on which work was started late in the year, provide for the reconstruction of: first, Wampatuck Road from Furnace Brook Parkway to Chickatawbut Road, Quincy, a distance of 4,800 feet ... All these roads will have a width of 30 feet and have a 5-inch bituminous concrete surface on a 12-inch gravel base. Also, an 8-ft. wide, 2-inch bituminous surfaced walk will be constructed adjacent to and for the whole length of each road. Work will include excavation of earth, rock and ledge, installation of drainage systems, filling and grading, loaming...

This park and recreational lake was created largely by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and dedicated in 1940. The borough of Eatontown funded $3,500 of the cost of the project and the WPA $35,000. The park is still in use.

“Wapato Park was the site of a major WPA work project. Sherman Ingalls, Metropolitan Park District Supervisor at Wapato directed the project and designed the park improvements. The WPA built bridges, boat and bathhouse, modern kitchen with hot and cold water; installed electrical outlets; graded, leveled and seeded the park; built modern ball fields, a sandy bathing beach, and a stone entrance; cleared roads and pathways, and developed Alpine gardens and a lily pond.” ("History of Wapato Park.")

West New York's War Memorial was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1937. The New York Times wrote: "A triangular monument, with thirteen steps on each side representing the twenty-six residents of this place who lost their lives in the World War, was dedicated this afternoon at exercises attended by 5,000 persons." The $7,000 monument, which the Times reported as being on "Boulevard East near Tenth Street," (these days, J. F. Kennedy Blvd. north of 54th Street) "was built by the township with labor provided by the WPA. According to Township Commissioner Leo Honore ... 90 per cent of...

 The federal Works Progress Administration helped to construct an old convention center at what is now the northwest corner of Stewart Ave. and N. Las Vegas Blvd. in Las Vegas, Nevada. A National Register of Historic Places registration form states: "For several years a convention center had been supported by Las Vegas's forty or more fraternal lodges who had repeatedly suggested that the town build a multi-storied structure with a hall and offices sufficient to host large convention meetings. Financing would come from the lodges renting space. But it would not be enough. A solution was finally reached in the Fall of...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) had a great impact on War Memorial Park, including constructing the "golf clubhouse".

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) had a great impact on War Memorial Park. "During the 1930s the original zoo buildings, the golf clubhouse, the bathhouse and the swimming pool were constructed by WPA workers." The W.P.A. likely undertook other construction projects at the project as well, such as stone walls and the 1940 bridge carrying "Club House Drive" over Coleman Creek.

Wikipedia: "War Memorial Park is a public park in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is located south of the town center, bounded by River Street, Arch Street and the Town River. The park was established in the 1930s and was constructed in part with funding from the Works Progress Administration. ... The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed War Memorial Park in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: The historic home of Capt. John Ames, built in 1774 in West Bridgewater, featuring "Pulpit Rock" where Rev. John Keith in 1663 preached his first sermon to settlers in this country, is being converted by a WPA project into a five-acre park and beauty spot.

A WPA stadium originally completed in 1937, War Memorial Stadium (a.k.a. the Rockpile, or Best Street Stadium) housed the Buffalo Bills before falling into disuse. Though the stadium itself was demolished in 1988, its northeast and southeast entrances have been preserved. A 1940 WPA write-up detailed the project: "Like Bleecker Stadium in Albany, Best Street stadium was an abandoned reservoir, destined to become a city eyesore. Forming a natural amphitheatre the site was converted into a stadium, with concrete stands and walls, seating 38,000 persons. As a result many sports events which the city could not otherwise have accommodated, have been...

"The following work was done by the W. P. A.: At the Ward Street Station, for the transfer of sand, etc., hoppers were reconstructed, and the ramp renovated."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved 34 streets in Hartford, Connecticut, including Ward Street, as part of a $2.5 million, two-year paving project begun in 1937. The federal government contributed $1 million.