Work Relief Programs Sites

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as in progress in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was the "construction of a county warehouse at Fabens." The location and status of this project are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

An old unsatisfactory wagon road, connecting the village of Dennisville with Cape May Court House, New Jersey, was converted into a farm-to-market road in Middle Township, New Jersey, with approximately 100 federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. "The entire cost of the work is $33,425.00. Of this amount, the WPA will furnish $29,035, leaving $4,590 to be contributed by Middle Township. The project will continue for seven months." The road in question is most likely what is now known as Court House-South Dennis Road.

"President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs put people to work. Young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built flood control projects at Elephant Butte Dam. Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers built three schools in Las Cruces, including Court Junior High. They also built numerous tourist and recreation facilities in the area. Picacho Avenue earned the nickname 'Little Oklahoma' when it became a thoroughfare for refugees bound for California. Stranded and destitute, travelers sold their belongings for gas money. This roadside trade was the precursor of Picacho Avenue's antique and second-hand stores." -Las Cruces: Crossroads of History

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 construction of balustrades at the Court Street bridge, east of the Capitol building in Dover. The street has since been renamed for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the status of the structures is presently unknown to Living New Deal. 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 federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook street grading work along the roads surrounding the McCreary County Courthouse in Whitley City, Kentucky.

The CWA was involved in repairs to the aging county courthouse which had been built in 1874 to replace an 1836 building. A few years later in 1939, a new county courthouse was built by the PWA in Hope Arkansas when the county seat was moved. Both the original 1836 and 1874 courthouses (which is the visitor center) can be visited at Historic Washington State Park.

Grenada County was approved for WPA project 40079 for rehabilitation of the 1885 courthouse. The project was allotted $11,308 to include improving the boiler room, plastering, painting, and improving floors along with rearranging office space. The Grenada County Board of Supervisors sponsored the WPA project to repair the county court house. The project began January 13 and used an average 34 WPA workers for six months. The state legislature passed legislation for $6,000 county bonds to cover the sponsor portion of the work. The House passed the measure January 18 for funds to be used in match to the federal...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was involved in fixing up the Lake Village County Courthouse, likely repairing the damage from a bad Mississippi River flood in 1927 that had caused massive damage to Arkansas. The original courthouse was constructed in 1857 when the county seat was moved to Lake Village and replaced in 1907 with a neoclassical design building. Foundation problems caused the replacing of the court with the current art deco style of building in 1956.

The CWA did repairs to the Garland County courthouse in Hot Springs. The Garland County Courthouse is located at Ouachita Avenue and Hawthorne Street in Hot Springs (Garland County). The four-story brick building is recognized by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to be both architecturally and historically significant, with one source calling it perhaps the finest example of Renaissance Revival–style architecture in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Garland County Courthouse was constructed as a rectangular building with central bays projecting from its northern and southern sides. It featured a domed...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was involved in minor repairs and upgrading of the White County courthouse in Searcy. The present White County Courthouse, completed in 1871 and remodeled in 1912, is the oldest Arkansas courthouse still being used for its original purpose. The first story is constructed of cut stone, while brick is used on the second floor. The circuit/chancery courtroom has been restored to its original condition. The large clock tower includes an 1855 bell which resembles the Liberty Bell.

This small playground in East Harlem was named after "New York City’s first African American Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Affairs." NYC Parks explains that the City acquired this land in 1936. In June 1937, Parks announced the completion of a new playground on the site: "In Manhattan, at Fifth Avenue between West 130th and West 131st Streets, the new playground is equipped with swings, see-saws, slides, jungle gym, sand tables, playhouses, a rectangular wading pool, handball and shuffleboard courts. There is also a large open play area for group games. Around the perimeter of the playground is a landscape area with...

"In the fall of 1999, the Plano City Council established a tax increment finance district in downtown Plano. Four and a half million dollars of the projected income from the district was earmarked for the creation of the Courtyard Theater. This project is an adaptive re-use of the Cox Annex, a historic structure located in Haggard Park Historic District. The Cox gymnasium/auditorium was built in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project. Interestingly, it was constructed on almost the exact location of the Civic Auditorium (1909) which had been built by subscriptions pledged by Plano citizens. Here the Lyceum was held...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the stately and historic Cove Creek High School building in Sugar Grove, North Carolina. It was one of many educational facilities constructed by the WPA in Watauga County. The building features three WPA plaques (one at each entrance). Wikipedia: "It was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940–1941, and is a two-story, Collegiate Gothic style stone building. It is seven bays wide and features slightly projecting square stair towers and a crenellated roof parapet. It was designed by Clarence R. Coffey, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, and constructed by local artisans and laborers...

Cove Lake State Park, originally planned as Fort Mountain Park, was the third joint effort of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the National Parks Service (NPS). The initial 668-acre park was built along the banks of the lake created by the Caryville Dam (1936). The dam was built to minimize the flooding to Caryville from the Norris Dam (1933-1936) project down stream. Even with the Caryville Dam, some 70 structures including the First Baptist Church and a high school were demolished. In addition, Tennessee Highway 63 and US Highway 25 (Dixie Highway) required relocation....

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a covered reservoir in Beverly, Massachusetts. The status and exact location of the project is unknown to Living New Deal. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Now near completion, the Beverly WPA Concrete-Covered Reservoir Project, connected with the present pipe distribution system, completely surrounded with an earth embankment and featuring a driveway over its top, has a capacity of 2,800,000 gallons.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a one-story frame and stucco music building at Covina High School in Covina, CA. "The school had been badly crowded, therefore, the Orchestra and Glee Club classes were held in the same building with other classes which was very disturbing to the rest of the school. Completion of this Music Hall corrected this condition by giving these music classes a building of their own, thereby improving the education facilities of the entire school" (Connolly & Farman, 1939).

Numerous improvements were conducted along Cow Creek in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1933-4 with Civil Works Administration (CWA) funds and labor: Creek straightened for one mile near the Newlin farm Creek cleaned, Adams to 5th st. Creek covered at city tool yard Rock walls built along creek, from Maple to First st.

"The Cowen Park Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans a ravine in Seattle's Cowen Park. The structure is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and it is a designated city landmark. The bridge has been praised for the 12-foot (3.7 m) Art Deco light standards along its sides. It was built in 1936 under the authority of the Works Progress Administration. The bridge engineer was Clark Eldridge."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Crab Meadow Beach Pavilion. "In 1937, the old pavilion was finally replaced with a Mediterranean style brick and concrete building designed by Huntington architect David Dusenberry that featured men’s and women’s locker rooms, showers and lavatories. The locker rooms would be in the two wings of the building that were joined by an open-air court. On the roof of the center portion was a sun deck. The cost of the building, which was a WPA project, was split between the State and the Town."

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Staten Island street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with bituminous macadam. Roads paved included the 0.6-mile stretch of Craig Avenue between Johnson Avenue and Bethel Avenue.

Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery was established in 1889 to raise and stock juvenile Atlantic salmon for Maine waters. Craig Brook currently supports two Atlantic salmon programs. According to a 1937 CCC Yearbook, the Ellsworth-Bar Harbor Co 193, Camp Governor Brann were involved with construction "at the Federal Fish Hatchery at Orland, ten concrete pools of unique design will enable the hatchery to care for two hundred and fifty thousand more fish;" As part of the restoration program for the Penobscot River, Craig Brook receives sea-run adult Atlantic salmon trapped from the Penobscot River for use as broodstock. These adults are...

The WPA constructed this annex to the 1920s Craig County Courthouse in the early 1940s, but it didn't remain connected to the courthouse for long. After WWII, the building housed a candy factory. The rear of the building was destroyed due to an electrical fire in 2012, but the remainder of the building, now privately owned, is still in use.

The history of Craighead Forest Park portraits a close collaboration between the local community and federal government during the Great Depression “to stave off the ravages of poverty, misery and human degradation.” (1) It dates to 1937 when the Young Men’s Civic Club of Jonesboro (YMCC) started working on the project of a community recreational park for locals to enjoy. Through the help of Mr. H.E Remsburg, the areas supervisor for the WPA program, and US Senator Hattie W. Caraway, a $100,000 park development program was granted through the WPA. (2) The Civilian Conservation Corps also worked with the Forestry...

Originally a gym for Cranberry High School. Now owned by an alumni group and used for various functions. The WPA began building the gymnasium on January 27, 1937. The construction employed sixty workers and cost $12,000. On the cusp of its construction, a Johnson City, Tennessee newspaper described the planned 80’ by 120’ building as having a coach’s office, dressing rooms for girls and boys. Native stone formed the foundation and basement and stained shingles sheathed the exterior. The gymnasium was one of 277 recreational buildings constructed in North Carolina by the WPA by the spring of 1942. One year later,...

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) worked to develop and improve the safety of Cranberry Road in Carver, Massachusetts. Town report: "4000 feet of Cranberry Road was gravelled and given a Mixed in Place Tar top. This portion of Cranberry Road was widened and straightened under the C.W.A. last winter." The work was continued by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.).

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

In 1934 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) completed a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project in Crane Eater, Georgia, about six miles east of Calhoun: a two-room schoolhouse. The location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.

A large, vaguely classical styled structure, built by the WPA as Cranston's main stadium. It was designed by Providence architects and engineers Frank P. Sheldon & Son. It is mainly used for high school athletics, but also occasionally hosts larger events.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at the former Cranston Street Armory in Providence, Rhode Island. Projects included: "paint and varnish armory," "install wall board, finish interior, and paint mess hall," "construct garage and repair shop," "improve armory," "construct parking ground and motor park," "various repairs to armor," and "repair sidewalks and roof, and paint."

"The Crawford County Fairground property currently includes the WPA grandstand and four agricultural buildings plus a series of other animal shelters and associated structures, compactly arranged in neat rows at the center of the property. A dirt road enters the fairgrounds from the north and south... This property was part of Raymond Park, donated to the City of Girard by Mary Winston Raymond. Crawford County constructed a completely new fairgrounds using $32,000 in WPA funds. The facility includes a series of wooden buildings and clerestory barns situated close to a race track. A large grandstand lines the west side of the...

"The 418 acre park has a series of gravel roads circulating around reclaimed strip mine pits. Some of the roads terminate in small earthen boat launches into the pit lakes. In 1926 mining company landholders donated the land to the Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission for a 418 acre park. CWA laid out and surfaced roads in 1933-34. CCC leveled strip mine dumps and planted trees in 1934. Now managed by the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department, the Minded Land Wildlife Area now includes over 13,000 acres in a four county area."

Multiple New Deal-supported construction projects were undertaken on the campus of South Carolina State University during the Great Depression. "his large two-story brick building was designed by Professors Paul V. Jewell and John H. Blanche. Financed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) as a trades building ..." (sc.gov)

The Crawford State Park in Farlington KS has a nine hundred fifty acre lake built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The park now includes a monument to CCC workers.

"Few vestiges of the camp remain. The site has high potential for archaeological resources. The visible remains of the CCC camp include the base of the water tower and some concrete footings. The water tower base is a rectangular, mortared limestone structure approximately 20 feet tall. An open doorway is centered in the south elevation and a window opening is centered in the north elevation. Concrete footings can be found in the open field N of the water tower, immediately E of the park entrance and south of the park road. 788th Company of the CCC arrived on June 6, 1935....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed Crazy Woman Canyon Road in Johnson County, Wyoming, southwest of Buffalo. The 13.2-mile road connects U.S. 16 and Old Highway 87.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) built Cream Hill Road.

Credit Island Park is a 450 acre island in the Mississippi River on the south west side of Davenport Iowa. In addition to a natural historic preserve, the park contains a lodge, boat ramp, golf course and many other amenities. The WPA did extensive work in the park in 1935. WPA workers graded and resurfaces roads, worked on the lake and landscaping, and relayed iron pipes.

The WPA made numerous improvements to the rapidly growing Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital in Jamaica, New York during the 1930s. Projects included: the installation of "underground piping for heating"; "excavation and construction of steam tunnels"; the "planting of trees and shrubs"; grading the hospital's grounds; fencing the grounds; constructing "additions to shop building" as well as to garages and to the "South wing"; and more. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-501.

Creeds School was constructed for the 1939-40 school year with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration. The twelve-room structure served students from first grade through high school in the rural community of Creeds in Princess Anne County, Virginia. In 1954 when a new high school was opened in the county, Creeds School no longer offered upper level classwork. Creeds Elementary School, now located within the city of Virginia Beach, remains a vital and vibrant part of the Creeds community.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the curving bridge over the Creosote Wash on North Main Street in Cottonwood AZ in the winter of 1933-34. The bridge is built of reinforced concrete with river stone cladding. The upstream side features a handsome arch, while the downstream side reveals the underlying concrete substructure. Creosote Wash is an episodic creek that is dry much of the year.  It used to be called Blowout Wash (and is still marked as such on some online maps).