Work Relief Programs Sites

"Six miles northeast of Bozeman in Bridger canyon another camp has been built under the supervision of the forest service. Youths cleared underbrush from a three and one-half acre plot, thinned trees and placed tables and benches."

About 8.6 acres, renovated by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), completed in 1942 . Bridgeton Historic District is located along Bridgeton's Mains Street and encompasses the town's center of commerce, industry, civic activity. Collom's General Store (56005) and Bridgeton Country Store (56025) are notable examples of mid to late 19th century rural Indiana commercial architecture. Bridgeton Masonic Lodge (56012) is representative of higher style commercial architecture. The first floor of the Italianate building originally houses a drug store. The Bridgeton Mill (56014) is an outstanding example of early industry and is the oldest continually operated grist mill in Indiana. The present...

Bridgton Academy is an all-male college preparatory in Bridgton, Maine. Founded in 1808, the school sits at the northern tip of Long Lake in North Bridgton, Maine. The school has been NEASC accredited since 1934, making it one of the oldest accredited schools in the country. In 1933, the Civil Works Administration was involved in "repairs and redecorating at the Academy buildings." according to the town selectmen in the annual report. In the 1934 report it was noted that "Some of the projects at Bridgton Academy are completed while others are in the air and the probability is that a continuance...

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Bridgton CCC Camp Co. 1124 in Bridgton ME. "History of the 1124th Company. Civilian Conservation Corps. On June 1st, 1935, Lt. J. L. Fearer arrived in Bridgton with a cadre of 23 men from the Rangeley Camp No. 2107, and Bridgton Camp No. 11005 was officially begun. For a time the Cadre was quartered in the "Exposition Building" of the Bridgton Agricultural Association. The members of the cadre worked diligently, and under Lt. Fearer' s direction civilian carpenters rushed the construction of the buildings. Lt. F. R. Blaisdell, Jr. was assigned to the Company on June 23,...

"In Attleboro, crews ... built the Briggs Playground."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted development work at Grand Canyon National Park, 1933-42, including extensive reconstruction work on the Bright Angel Trail, completed in 1939. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour says that: " began a major reconstruction of the trail. With help from the CCC, the NPS completed the work in 1939. The early trail was only two to three feet (less than one meter) wide in spots. With pick, shovel, drill, and dynamite contractors and the CCC boys rerouted and reconstructed the trail to its present four to six foot (1.2 – 2 m) width. During the same...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Brighton Avenue in Neptune and Wall Townships, a $92,756 project. WPA Official Project Number: 265‐1‐22‐129

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funded the labor for some paving work of Brighton Road in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The CCC assisted in the development of this state forest. From Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: "This rustic shelter is the only one of its type still remaining. Dingley Dell Dam was another important CCC project at this forest, where there are many CCC camp buildings still remaining."

Text from the state historical marker reads: "The community's first school was housed in a multi-purpose building erected here in 1870. The Bristol School district was established in 1877. Youth from throughout the area attended Bristol schoolhouse built in 1886 and 1913. A new brick school containing five classrooms and an impressive auditorium and stage was completed here by the U.S. Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940. 130 pupils attended the 9-grade, 6-teacher school in 1940-41. The school served the area until 1955. In 1957 its facilities and grounds were deeded to the Bristol Cemetery Association."

New York City's Parks Department writes: ", formerly named the 43rd St. Playground, is bounded by 42nd and 43rd Streets and 10th & New Utrecht Avenues. It was acquired through condemnation and assigned to Parks for playground purposes in 1938. The playground was designed and constructed the same year by the Works Progress Administration ..." The completion of the playground was officially announced on March 18, 1939.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Broad Branch Road NW, from Twenty-seventh Street to Grant Road. This was a “roadside beautification” project, described as follows: “Inspection of this project from time to time showed that, due to heavy rains, the banks on the branch side of this road were washing and scoring. So that in addition to seeding and shrubbery planting, numerous concrete spillways were constructed on the branch side of the roadway.”  

Five Suffolk County highway beautification projects, directed by the WPA, put approximately 1,000 men to work for seven months beginning April 1936. The projects included "the Broad Hollow road from Huntington to Amityville."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved 34 streets in Hartford, Connecticut, including the 0.6-mile stretch of Broad Street from New Britain Avenue to Maple Avenue, as part of a $2.5 million, two-year paving project begun in 1937. The federal government contributed $1 million.

Broadway Auditorium in Buffalo, New York was improved substantially ca. 1936 by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. 150 men were put to work as part of this effort. The building now serves as a municipal Streets Department warehouse.

The Works Progress Administration completed road improvements on Broadway Avenue. The work included “Stone-basing and surfacing Broadway Avenue.” The exact location of this project is unknown to the Living New Deal. The name of Broadway Avenue has changed.

The Works Progress Administration built storm sewers on Broadway Avenue in Clarksburg. The work consisted of “Construction of 24- and 18-Inch sewers."

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Broadway Bridge was chipped, cleaned and painted." Spanning Fort Point Channel, the bridge has since been demolished as the area has been redeveloped with highways built.

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Broadway in Long Beach, New York during the 1930s. One project called for the "surfacing constructing sidewalks, curbs, and leaching basins."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Broadway in Saranac Lake, New York, including replacing brick paving with concrete and reconstructing its sidewalks.

The federal Works Progress Administration paved Broadway in Camden, New Jersey between Federal Street and the city line at Newton Creek. The project took 242 man-hours of work and required 4,000 tons of material.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers repaved Broadway in Chelsea, Mass.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to reconstruct a broken sewer line along and around Broadway in Passaic, New Jersey ca. 1936. The project would provide 150 men work for six months. Most of the cost of the work was borne by the federal government.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed sidewalks in Lynn, Mass., including along Broadway.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of Broadway St. (then simply Broadway) between Mason St. and Davis St.

This state office building was constructed in the Art Moderne style of Carthage marble in order to complement the state capitol which is north of the Broadway building. It was partly constructed with WPA funds.

The bridge carrying Broadway Street over Coop Creek east of Mansfield, Arkansas, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) in 1940.

The Civil Works Administration conducted improvement work on Broadway in Homewood, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-79. Work began Nov. 20, 1933; 90% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) supplied labor for the widening of Broadway Street in Asheville, North Carolina. The cost of the project was $26,209.30, which was mostly borne by the federal government. Furthermore, the CWA supplied $5,225.31 in labor for the resurfacing of Broadway Street. "In Asheville, Biltmore Street, Merrimon Avenue, and Broadway were widened by taking off fronts of all stores, setting them back, and rebuilding, work requiring expert skill."

In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an extension of the sanitary sewer up Broadway Terrace from Harbord Drive to Sheridan Road (just below the brow of the hills near Lake Temescal).  (Oakland Tribune 1937) The current state of the sewer line is unknown. Broadway Terrace is a major artery with water, gas, telephone and internet lines, and the concrete roadbed has been repeatedly cut through and repaired.   Judging from the placement of manhole covers, there appears to be two sewer lines running parallel along this stretch of road and another, probably older, line in the old Broadway Terrace...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed the former high school building and attendant perimeter wall in 1938-9. A W.P.A. plaque remains on site. It is located in front of the new high school, on the remains of the step entrance to the old building.

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. The work pictured here shows WPA laborers on the Bronx Boulevard construction project.  

"Until 1937, the north portion of Bronx Park was owned by the NY Botanical Garden and the NY Zoological Society and had no public facilities such as paths, lighting, playgrounds, or athletic fields. As part of the Bronx River Parkway extension project, the Parks Department gained jurisdiction and, with Works Progress Administration labor, began to convert the entire area into a park. This was one big New Deal project with many parts, including: Reiss Field on the east side (1939); Waring Playground on the east side (1939); Rosewood Playground on the east side (1940); 227th Street Playground on the east side (1941); French Charley's Playground...

New York City's Parks Department writes: "Ranaqua, the Bronx headquarters of the Department of Parks & Recreation of the City of New York, is located in the southeastern part of Bronx Park, east of the northbound lanes of the Bronx River Parkway. The name is the Reckgawank Algonquin (Delaware) word for "End Place," the peninsula originally sold to Jonas Bronck in 1639. The three-story brick building, with its adjacent garages, yards and shops, was built by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) and opened by Robert Moses in 1937."

Researcher Frank da Cruz has done some serious groundwork to uncover the history of Reiss Field on the east side of Bronx Park, opposite Reiss Place, just north of Pelham Parkway. This ball field stands precisely where the Parks Department press release of October 31, 1939, announces a playground "designed by the Department of Parks and built for the Park Department by the Work Projects Administration": a "1.36 acre playground in Bronx Park adjacent to Bronx Park East opposite Reiss Place, contains one shuffleboard, four horseshoe pitching, five paddle tennis, two volleyball and two basketball courts, completely encircled by a...

Researcher Frank da Cruz has gathered research from a variety of sources here to conclude that the New Deal had some role in the development of the Trojan Courts area of the east side of Bronx Park: This area includes the Trojan baseball fields (named after the Bronx Trojans, a 1930s amateur baseball team), the Trojan Courts (game courts), Brady Playground, and Ben Abrams (formerly Lydig) Playground. Records of specific projects in this area are scant; we have only the May 4, 1936, press release from which it is clear that a baseball field was built on the site in 1936, and...

"Waring Playground in Bronx Park, across Bronx Park East from the block between Waring Avenue and Thwaite Place, June 17, 2015. It opened on September 28, 1939, as part of the larger project of developing the land turned over by the New York Botanical Garden to the Parks Department. Although the Parks Department's September 27, 1939 press release does not explicitly credit the WPA or any other New Deal agency with building or funding this facility, it states that it "is a unit in a chain of children's recreation areas already built or now under construction along the easterly boundaries...

The WPA dredged the Bronx River between East 177th St. and East 180th St. during the 1930s. A 1935 allotment provided $7,426 for the project. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-446(?).

During the last decade of the 1800s, John Grignola carved this granite statue of a Civil War Union soldier for Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After years of neglect, WPA workers located the statue in the Bronx River, refurbished it, and moved it to another Bronx River location. According to New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation, the statue never made it into the Woodlawn Cemetery, either because it was damaged or because it was rejected by the cemetery. John B. Lazzari, owner of "a local tombstone quarry and monuments yard,"  purchased the statue and displayed "..it on his property on the west...

From 1934 to 1935 the Bronx Terminal Market expansion project took place with New Deal support. The Market was one of eight indoor markets that New York Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia built or expanded with federal support. It was part of the Mayor's campaign to clear unregulated pushcart vendors out of the streets and into sheltered, regulated markets. The Market Expansion project improved and provided new facilities for receiving and distributing produce throughout upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The Greenwich Village Historic Preservation Society tells us that the new markets created by LaGuardia "...used federal WPA funds to create...indoor markets that were required...