Work Relief Programs Sites

The W.P.A. conducted extensive improvement and development projects at the former Watertown Arsenal. Project details: "Rehabilitate and make general improvements to buildings, utilities, facilities, and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐363 Total project cost: $641,063.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Watertown Arsenal, U.S. Army "Make general repairs and improvements to buildings and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐24‐2005 Total project cost: $107,860.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer and Board of Selection "Construct additions to buildings at Watertown Arsenal" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐263 Total project cost: $67,884.00 Sponsor: War Department "Construct additions to existing buildings, rehabilitate and modernize buildings, utilities, and facilities, and improve grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐265 Total project cost: $111,100.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Watertown Arsenal, U.S. Army "Recondition...

A stone airport hangar at Watertown Regional Airport in South Dakota was constructed by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) during the Great Depression. The exact location and status of tis structure is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) conducted substantial improvement and development work at the Watervliet Arsenal. Per a DoD survey, WPA work included: Description: Repair and rehabilitate buildings; Project No. 13-2-21-94; Cost: $7,740.00; Sponsor: War Department Repair and rehabilitate buildings; 13-2-21-95; $42,260.00; War Department Construct, reconstruct, and improve buildings, utilities, facilities, and grounds; 165-3-21-160; $253,314.00; Commanding Officer, Watervliet Arsenal, U.S. Army Renovate and remodel buildings and improve grounds, facilities, and utilities; 65-2-21-430; $221,739.00; Commanding Officer, Watervliet Arsenal, U.S. Army A non-construction project to improve and rehabilitate buildings, public utility systems, water supply and purification, water and sewer lines, install plumbing, heating, and electrical...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a waterworks system in Evarts, Kentucky ca. 1940.

"Nevada is a desert state. This has been the controlling fact of the state’s existence since white men arrived. Many of the New Deal programs tried to stretch the available water. No other field serves better to demonstrate the enduring impact of the Roosevelt programs on Nevada. The state has lived off New Deal water ever since. Besides the Humboldt reclamation program (reclamation is the use of irrigation to convert desert to farmland) already mentioned, there were dozens, then hundreds of drought relief projects—the drilling of wells, the development of springs, the building of dams. By Oct. 22, 1934, the Nevada...

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration reconstructed Monaca's waterworks with locally quarried stone. The project cost $50,000. A marker on the building identifies it as "W.P.A. PROJECT NO. 21284."

The historic Liberty Grove school was constructed 1934 by architect James Manly Spain in a one-story Colonial Revival style. CWA funds provided $22,000 toward the $32,000 school building. The award for the construction contract was to be submitted by the CWA board. In 1939, the Liberty Grove school was part of PWA project W1183 to fund construction and improvements for five Hinds County schools. Liberty Grove school received funding to construct a gymnasium and four additional classrooms. A bond issue for $21,000 was set for October 18, 1938 and approved. PWA funds for all five schools was $151,986 loan toward...

"From 1935 until 1941, young men at the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp SP44 in Watkins Glen State Park built park buildings, trails, stonework, bridges, and many other projects." The buildings of the CCC camp now serve as the Hidden Valley 4-H Camp.

"The Sentry Bridge dates back to the 1930s and was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The bridge is located at Watkins Glen State Park near the main entrance to the Gorge Trail ..."

The Works progress Administration made improvements to Watkins Park in Nashville TN. It is located Across 17th Ave N from the Public Works Administration-funded former Pearl High School.

"The largest of West Virginia’s state parks, at 10,100 acres, Watoga is also among the oldest, dating back to the first land acquisitions by the West Virginia Game and Fish Commission in the 1920s. The park is located in southern Pocahontas County on the Greenbrier River. It was named for Watoga, a nearby town... Two Civilian Conservation Corps camps were established, Camp Watoga in 1933 at the park’s present maintenance area and Camp Seebert at the mouth of Island Lick Run in 1934. Also in 1934 Watoga was changed from a state forest to a state park. A third CCC camp,...

Watonga Middle School was originally the Watonga High School, built by the WPA in 1936-1937. From Marjorie Barton's Leaning on a Legacy (2008): "The building was constructed of light sandstone blocks, which are uniform in size, but not squared on the facing, and is beautifully maintained. The high school in Wewoka is of another type of stone and had a large addition as a WPA project. The addition has a WPA marker, but is such a perfect match, it blends with the older portion of the building." From Wayfinding.com: The High School was built in 1936-1937 as a WPA project. This can...

The 3.3-acre Watson Gleason Playground, located in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, was constructed with WPA labor. New York City's Parks Department writes: "In 1938 the City of New York acquired the entire block bounded by Watson, Noble, Gleason, and Rosedale Avenues. Designed by the Parks Department and built with labor provided by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), the playground opened one-and-one-half years later. Parks Commissioner Robert Moses presided at the dedication ceremony, which featured Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, Borough President James J. Lyons, Acting WPA Administrator Major Edmond H. Leary, and President Roderick Stephens of the Bronx Borough of Trade. The...

In 1933-34, Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers did flood mitigation work on the Watts Branch of the Anacostia River,  “lowering the stream bed in some sections, straightening out bends and clearing away debris to increase the rapidity of the run off of water.” (Work 1936) Several years later, in 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) returned to the site for additional improvements: “The District WPA has resumed work on the storm water flood elimination project at Watts Branch, near Minnesota Avenue and Hunt place northeast…" (Washington Post, May 10, 1940). Not all such channelization of the time was wise.  Work is...

"Many visible reminders of the  work are still in use. They include Fall River's Wattuppa Pond reservoir ..."

The Works Progress Administration built the Wauchula Farmers' State Market in Wauchula FL, Hardee County. WPA Work Project N0. 1090.

WPA workers rebuilt the Waugh School in Petaluma in the 1930s. " was used as a school until 17 years ago, when it was sold to a private individual who is restoring it, said Scott Mahoney, the Waugh district superintendent. 'It's cool to see the plaque on the front...it still says Waugh School as you drive up to it,' Mahoney said."

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted drainage work along Waushakum Ave. in 1935.

Town Report, 1938: National Youth Administration An average of 35 young people from needy families have been given part time employment by this branch of the W.P.A., on various worthy and useful projects. The boys have improved the land at Waushakum Pond purchased by the town for a bathing beach; have graded and improved town playgrounds, and since Sept. 21, 1938, have been continuously employed in clearing up the effects of the hurricane damage in the parks and playgrounds. The girls have acted as helpers in the Nursery schools.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a large storm sewer in Belmont, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Sixty inch pipe is being laid on the Belmont WPA Wellington Brook Sewer Project. This storm sewer will run 510 feet from Waverly Town Yard to Waverly Street.

"The building was constructed in 1940 under the New Deal program known as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and was used for town dances, church socials, wedding receptions and speeches by political figures such as Hubert Humphrey. The original village hall burned down in the summer of 1938. The WPA received plans for a new building that December. Bids were let in May of 1939, and by Labor Day in 1940, Waverly residents celebrated their brand new hall with baseball games, dances, and a carnival."  (https://www.waymarking.com)

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

A 3000' sod airfield that operated from 1925 to 1941 next to the golf course, After 1927 supplies were regularly flown in to supply the large hotel complex. A WPA project Oct. 10, 1935 mentions construction both at Mariposa and Wawona. WPA project 79697. The amount spent was $86,554.

The Wawona Covered Bridge is one of only 12 covered bridges in California and the only one in Yosemite. It was originally built by Galen Clark as a modified queen post truss without a cover in 1868, making it the oldest surviving bridge in the state. After being sold to the Washburn group of investors, it was covered with Douglas fir cladding in 1878, enclosing the Ponderosa pine structure and its iron tie rods. The adz marks on the beams are still visible. Additions were completed in 1900 when extensions at each end brought the bridge to its current length of 138 feet. The...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a school house at Wawona in 1937. The enrollee work teams came from the nearby Wawona CCC Camp YNP #7. The building is a shingled, rustic wood structure set on a stone foundation, with large windows for good interior lighting. Its appearance is unchanged over the years. A new, large school has replaced the New Deal building sometime around 1970, built in a modern style at odds with the old idea of park rusticity.  The old CCC school was used for many years as a community center, until that, too, was replaced by a new, larger,...

The New Deal made possible the construction of a ranger station in the Wawona area, which was added to Yosemite National Park in 1932.  The ranger station complex includes two ranger residences and accompanying garages.  These buildings still exist, but are now used for different purposes. According to the Superintendent's Monthly Report of December 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided the funding to the National Park Service (NPS) for the ranger station complex (Broesamle 2022). This contradicts the 2012 NPS report on design in the park, which attributes the buildings to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (see quote below).  The latter...

New Deal agencies played a major role in the transformation of the narrow and dangerous Wawona wagon trail into a safe and comfortable route into Yosemite Valley. The route from the South Entrance to the Valley floor is 27 miles.  It is one of three access roads to Yosemite Valley, along with the El Portal road and Big Oak Flat Road. The National Park Service and the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) signed a Memorandum of Agreement in July 1925, authorizing the planning and construction of new roads within Yosemite National Park. Surveying was begun in 1928 and initial construction was...

The WPA worked on Wawona St. between 19th Ave. and 28th Ave.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) amphitheater was built ca. 1935-36. A 1985 National Register nomination form for Creek County described the site: "This amphitheater is a two-story, rectangular (35' x 25') structure constructed of cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of buff color. Pilaster strips on the back give the building an art deco flavor. The stage is concrete and has been painted white. The concrete seats have been removed... Construction of this amphitheater reflected the cultural interests of the WPA and gave some economic security to many destitute laborers in the area. The project infused wages of some 120,000 man-hours...

This Works Progress Administration (WPA) amphitheater was built ca. 1935-36. A 1985 National Register nomination form for Creek County described the site: "This amphitheater is a two-story, rectangular (35' x 25') structure constructed of cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of buff color. Pilaster strips on the back give the building an art deco flavor. The stage is concrete and has been painted white. The concrete seats have been removed... Construction of this amphitheater reflected the cultural interests of the WPA and gave some economic security to many destitute laborers in the area. The project infused wages of some 120,000 man-hours...

The county seat of Wayne county moved to this location when the construction of the Lake Wappapello Dam forced the movement of the entire town of Greenville, previously located along the St. Francis River. The building cost about $98,000.  Construction by the Works Progress Administration started in 1941 and was completed in 1943.      

The historic Wayne County Courthouse in Loa, Utah was constructed as a New Deal project with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The building is still in service. Prior to its construction, "county officials originally met in private homes and rented quarters and later converted a store into office space." (UCM)

The historic Webb Peak fire lookout tower in Coronado National Forest was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. NRHP Nomination Form: "Located on the Safford Ranger District, this 'Aermotor MC-40 steel tower is approximately 45 ft high and has a 7 ft by 7 ft steel cab. It was erected in 1933, possibly by a CCC crew. The existing cabin was constructed in the early 1960s and is not eligible for the Register . The original cabin was removed in 1968. Historic photographs indicate that no major structural changes have occurred to the lookout tower since it was...

Construction of the 1,950-foot earthen dam (embankment), gatehouse, spillway and outlet channel commenced in 1933 and was largely completed in 1935; the spillway gates were finished between 1937-1939. The concrete gatehouse was stamped with the year "1934" and "USIS" (Indian Irrigation Service). The purpose of the dam and reservoir is to impound much needed East Walker River water for agricultural use on the Walker River Indian Reservation. The dam project is a good example of the New Deal at work on Indian lands. Approximately $130,000 of the project was financed by the Public Works Administration (PWA). Weber Dam and Reservoir was...

The WPA allocated $409,637 to conduct repairs along Webster Avenue in the Bronx during the 1930s. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-439(?).

This is the third courthouse built in Webster County and is constructed of Carthage Marble with art deco elements on the walls and a top floor jail. "The Works Progressive Administration (WPA) was instrumental in the construction of Webster County’s Courthouse. Between 1939 and 1941, Marshfield saw WPA workers aiding in the construction of the new courthouse, as well as helping work on Marshfield’s sewer system; at one point, more than 124 workers were assigned to the project, which consisted of digging and laying 13 miles of pipe throughout town. The new courthouse was complete by 1942 and is still in use...

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) reinforced Webster Elementary School in Pasadena, CA after the Gothic Revival building suffered damage in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided ~$12,500 in funds. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake necessitated the rehabilitation of 27 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District at a total cost of ~$3.3 million. Grants from the PWA financed 27% (~$900,000) of the rehabilitation; the sale of school bonds covered 40% (~$1.3 million); and Pasadena tax revenues made up the final 33% (~$1 million). The funding was split between elementary and high schools, with elementary...

"This is a one-story tan brick building, constructed by the WPA in 1937. The original building is rectangular, but has additions built later, on the northeast and south. "Above the main entrance which faces west, is a large concrete frieze with the word WEBSTER in tall, Art Deco styled letters. On the north side over the entrance, the date '1937' is also engraved in tall modern numbering. The brick is curved as it goes from the front wall to the recessed entrance door. "The roof is flat, and the windows are grouped in openings with nine panes. The top three in...

Work Projects Administration (WPA) labor participated in construction of what was the city hall in Webster, South Dakota, now Webster Public Library. Per the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader: Webster's new municipal building will be dedicated at ceremonies to be held Tuesday afternoon . The structure, 50x100 feet, two-story and basement, is constructed of concrete at an estimated cost of $70.000, of which approximately $32,000 was provided locally and the balance from WPA funds. The building was started in August, 1941, and except for lay-offs during harvest, WPA labor worked on the project until February, 1943, when WPA was discontinued. Completion of the city...

"The Webster Rock School is an historic rock Works Progress Administration school located on NC 116 in Webster, North Carolina, USA. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It once served as Webster High School and Webster Elementary School. ... The old Webster Rock School is being used as the Southwestern Child Development Center, and by the Family Resources Center for Jackson County. The old Gym/Auditorium is sometimes used for community events."