State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) Sites

The New Deal made major improvements to the former Alvarado Park on the east side of Richmond CA, where Wildcat Creek tumbles out of the East Bay hills. Alvarado Park was transferred by the city of Richmond to the East Bay Regional Park District in 1985 and is now the "Alvarado Area" of Wildcat Canyon Park.     The park is known for its New Deal stonework, done chiefly by Italian immigrant masons, including a massive stone arch bridge across Wildcat Creek, stone light standards along roads and paths, and picnic facilities and stone stoves. The stonework is remarkable enough for the park...

The New Deal made major improvements to the former Alvarado Park on the east side of Richmond CA, where Wildcat Creek tumbles out of the East Bay hills. Alvarado Park was transferred by the city of Richmond to the East Bay Regional Park District in 1985 and is now the "Alvarado Area" of Wildcat Canyon Park. The park is known for its New Deal stonework, done chiefly by Italian immigrant masons, including a massive stone arch bridge across Wildcat Creek, stone light standards along roads and paths, and picnic facilities and stone stoves. The stonework is remarkable enough for the park to...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded the reconstruction of the Anaheim High School after the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933. Damage to the school was not extensive but reconstructing the entire school was projected to be less expensive than merely repairing the buildings.  In 1935, State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) workers deconstructed the original buildings. Then construction of the new school began in the same year. The PWA contributed $111,000 while bonds raised an additional $275,000 The new art deco style main building, library and auditorium were dedicated in 1936. Then in 1937, a gym was built and financed partially by the...

SERA crews built this small fire station in Balboa Park in conjunction with the California Pacific International Exhibition – the first structure built. It is unclear if it survives, and if so where it is located.

In 1929 the Linden Irrigation District was incorporated and established plans to divert  water from the Calaveras River at Bellota, a community about five miles east of Linden,  and create a series of percolation dams to restore the depleted ground water table in the area.  There had been an early dam in the same vicinity, built in 1905, but it washed out within a year.  A Civil Works Administration (CWA) project was authorized late in 1933 to construct the Bellota Dam and clean out the channel of the Calaveras River.  Local opposition to the plan resulted in an injunction against the project, which...

Construction on Belmont's central fire station was begun in 1935 by SERA and completed under the direction of the WPA using local labor. The station hired its first two employees in 1938. Presently, the building houses Belmont's Center for Independence of the Disabled (https://www.cidbelmont.org).

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)...

Construction on Camp Lassen's Chico main lodge was begun in September 1935 with funds from the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) and completed the following spring. The Chico Meadows site was cleared from forest lands originally leased from the Diamond Match Association by the Mount Lassen Area Council (now the Golden Empire Council) of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The building contains a complete kitchen and dining hall, a stage for performances, administrative offices, and living quarters for the camp director and camp caretaker. While the space was originally built for the use of BSA troops, the camp was...

The first building on this campus was opened as part of the Chaffey College of Agriculture in 1885. It became the Ontario High School in 1901 and the present Chaffey High School in 1911. In 1916, the Chaffey Junior College of Agriculture was added as a postgraduate department to the high school. The junior college maintained a presence on the campus until 1959 when it moved to its present location in Alta Loma. After the destructive Long Beach earthquake of 1933, first SERA and then the WPA were extensively involved with the construction of a number of buildings on the...

Construction of Cloverdale's joint city hall and fire station began under California's State Emergency Relief Administration; it was completed with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor.

From late December 1934 through early spring 1935, the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) funded improvements to the Columbia Slough that involved raising and leveling a dike on the slough's channel approximately 1.5 miles east of Faloma station. While improving the Columbia Slough dike, it provided work to approximately 190 men for 70 days as part of a work relief program. The City's project description notes the following need: "Dredging operations on this locality had deposited many thousands of yards of excavated material on the banks of the slough. This material was continually sluffing back into the channel. The project consisted...

SERA Project #1E B3 737: "This project opened December 21, 1934 and consisted of the construction of a one-story frame and stucco community building with shingle roof. It also consisted of grading and landscaping the grounds around the building." The project ended on May 13, 1935.

Three different community gardens were built under one State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) project in the cities of Alhambra (at Orange & Fremont streets), Pomona, and Arcadia. The gardens are no longer extant.

Continuation of excavation, filling in low areas, constructing new roads, parking areas, garages and playground; landscaping areas in vicinity of officers' and non-commissioned officers' quarters; landscaping and fire prevention work around flying field; construction of one double tennis court in rear of quarters and one double court off east side of barracks--Mooser, p. 83.

"It started out in 1933 as the Crocker Amazon Reservoir site, 55 acres at Geneva Avenue and Moscow Street belonging to the Public Utilities Commission. In 1934, the Recreation Commission requested and received permission to develop the property for recreational purposes, and truck farmers, who had been working the land, were paid for their leases. The Recreation Commission leased 42 acres for $150 per month. From 1934-1937, workers from the WPA (Works Progress Administration) developed the playground, grading the baseball diamonds and installing a sprinkler system." - https://www.parkscan.org/parks?parkId=205 '(42 Acres) Geneva Avenue and Moscow Street. ... Excavation and placing in embankment 21,000...

"The Deerwood Auditorium is a community center in Deerwood, Minnesota, United States, built as a Works Progress Administration project. The auditorium, built in 1935, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a rare surviving example of federal relief architecture in Minnesota. ...The town first received funding for the auditorium in 1935 through the State Emergency Relief Administration, but the SERA's function was later subsumed by the Works Progress Administration. ...Despite shortages of money during the construction, the building was substantially completed in time for its first event, a lutefisk supper held on October 29, 1936. Final touches were completed in...

Although Duniway Park was founded in 1918 to serve residents in south Portland, improvements had been limited and those who used it complained of the odors associated with the landfill that originally established the playground area. In 1934, the Oregon's State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) authorized funds to improve the park. SERA was funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) during 1934-1935. FERA operated from May 12, 1933 through 1935 when it was replaced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as the New Deal's primary work relief program. One of the city's major newspapers, The Oregonian, reported that the SERA funded...

Hugo Ballin painted a mural, "Rudimentary Education," at El Rodeo Elementary School in Beverly Hills, CA. Completed in 1934, the mural was funded by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and—upon termination of the PWAP—the Federal and State Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA/SERA). The mural is oil on plaster and approximately 1500 square feet. "Ballin traced his design on to the wall for assistants to complete and included several symbolic references. Towards the top was the Egyptian figure of Set, inventor of numbers, and below him, Tubal-Cain, the ancient metal worker. In the center was a scene of a teacher...

Elise Seeds painted a mural, "Prehistoric Animals," for a school in Los Angeles, CA, with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and—upon the termination of the PWAP in 1934—the Federal and State Emergency Relief Administrations (FERA/SERA). The mural was subsequently relocated to the George Page Museum. Elise Seeds' other New Deal work in the region is a mural, "Air Mail," at the post office in Oceanside, CA.

The State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) financed a $25,000 appropriation "which employed 65 research workers out of the Bancroft Library of U.C. Berekey and 56 additional workers put to work in the field to gather the necessary information to provide for the restoration of the old town of Columbia, in Tuolumne County." According to the Mariposa Gazette, efforts were being made in 1934 to have a local Mariposa County ghost town Hornitos being made into a state park in a similar way to what was occurring in Columbia California. Like most Mother Lode towns of the Gold Rush era gold was discovered...

New Deal relief workers were instrumental in developing the old Kern River Park – now called the Hart Memorial Park.  The workers came from the State Emergency Relief Administration  (SERA) before 1935 and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) after that. (SERA was, in turn, funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)) Kern County  bought 338 acres of the old Baker Ranch in 1921 to create Kern River Park. After 1927, John Oliver Hart took charge of improvements to the park.  The most important developments at the park occurred under federal funding in the 1930s.  As Gilbert says: "Park projects that were...

Hart Park in Orange, California, was created in the 1930s by the City of Orange with the help of the State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) and the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Orange City Park was the town’s first park. In 1935, a proposal was submitted for funding to build Orange City Park with $30,963 from the WPA for relief labor and $12,362 in local funds for materials, employing 66 men for 11 months. The proposal was approved in early 1936 and the work probably continued for the next two years, given the extensive improvements made. This was part...

Hart Park in Orange, California, was created in the 1930s by the City of Orange with the help of the State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) and the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). At the time, the park was known as Orange City Park and was changed to Hart Park in 1964. SERA and WPA created several facilities at Hart Park, most likely including this area for playing horseshoes. A date stamp carved into the horseshoe pit cement shows a date of October 2, 1935.  An adjacent mission-style building for meetings was most likely built by the WPA, as well.

Hillcrest Park in Fullerton, California was originally built in 1920 and then from 1931-1940, relief funds from the Civil Works Administration (CWA), State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), and the Work Projects Administration (WPA) helped shape the landscaping of Hillcrest Park. No buildings at Hillcrest Park were created or funded by New Deal Programs.  Hillcrest Park sits on 35.6 acres and is considered the most historically significant park in Fullerton, CA. In 1920, the City of Fullerton purchased the land for $67,300. Johann George Seupelt, a horticulturist and landscape architect, was the park's first superintendent and designed the...

The fine arts building was reconstructed in 1936, including: removing brickwork to make the building more earthquake safe, installing new columns and beams to carry vertical loads, building a new fireproof starway, rearranging windows to bring in more light, updating the heating system. Most of the construction was done by CWA and SERA labor.

Three different federal relief agencies took on the challenge of Johnson Creek’s annual flooding during the New Deal period, beginning with Oregon’s SERA (State Emergency Relief Agency) efforts. Responsibility for the project was transferred to the PWA (Public Works Administration) in 1935 and ultimately to the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1936. The Oregonian, Portland’s primary newspaper, noted in 1935 that the Johnson Creek flood control project would become one of the largest projects in the area as workers attempted “to curb the unruly stream” that caused thousands of dollars of damage every year. Over several miles of the...

Artist Emery Gellert painted a portrait of Principal J. A. Davis for David Starr Jordan High School (formerly David Starr Jordan High School) in Los Angeles, CA. The portrait was funded by California's State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), which covered the cost of artwork executed between the termination of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in 1934 and the establishment of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Arts Project (FAP) the following year. "Under this project sixty people were producing one hundred twenty hours per month mostly to producing easel works in oil, water color, pastel, and drawings. The funds ran...

The former City Park and Athletic Field (now the Ken Lindley Park) originated in 1908, but major improvements were made with relief labor provided by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in the winter of 1933-34.  It is likely that after the CWA was discontinued in early 1934, the stone work was completed under the auspices of the Arizona Emergency Relief Administration and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).   The main work done by the New Deal crews was to build the elegant stone walls that enclose the entire square block, and which serve as retaining walls on...

The Mayo Plunge swimming pool in Compton, CA, was initiated under the California State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) and completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It has since been demolished.

The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), along with local sources (Rotary Club and City of Anaheim), funded a sculpture of actress Helena Modjeska. The sculpture was created by Eugene Maier-Krieg in 1934 and resides in the northeast corner of Pearson Park in Anaheim, California. Modjeska was an actress who first immigrated to Anaheim, CA from Poland. She went on to stardom as a Shakespearean actress, regularly touring the country. But she returned to Orange County often for vacation and eventually purchased property in the area. The front of the statue portrays Modjeska...

The Morcom Amphitheater of Roses – originally known as the Municipal Rose Garden – is one of the grandest city rose gardens in the country.  It began as a project of the Oakland Businessmen's Garden Club in 1930 and the main force behind it (and the later Berkeley Rose Garden) was Dr. Charles Vernon Covell, a dentist and member of the Garden Club. The New Deal played a vital role in building the rose garden, but it was not the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that did the work, as commonly thought. Instead, help came from the State Employment Relief Administration (SERA),...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements Morro Bay State Park, as it did throughout California's new state park system.  These included picnic areas, an entrance road, comfort staton, ranger lodge, and stone walls.  The work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and state relief workers. As Engbeck (2002) explains: "CCC Company 1916-V, made up of World War I veterans, moved into Camp Morro Bay on May 11, 1934.... Check dams were constructed on Chorro Creek above Morro Bay in order to prevent flooding of the 're-claimed lands' that were to be 'utilized as beach areas and scenic...

New Deal agencies did a variety of work on the five hangars at the Oakland Municipal Airport (now the North Field of the Oakland International Airport) and later built a new hangar for the Naval Reserve Air Base at the northern tip of the field. In 1935, State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) workers painted four of the five hangars then existing at the Oakland Municipal Airport   They also installed a gasoline storage tank for United Air Lines.  SERA was funded through the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) in the early years of the New Deal. Minutes of the Oakland Board of Port...

Funds for road improvements at the foot of Seventh Street in the Port of Oakland were secured through the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) in 1935 (Minutes of the Port Commissioners). SERA was funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) of the New Deal. The improvements were to serve an expansion of the Albers Brothers milling plant, which had occupied the site alongside the Southern Pacific mole since 1918. Albers Bros. leased the site from the Port of Oakland. The Albers Bros. mill and grain silos (completed in 1940) were a landmark of the port for many years until torn down...

“A notable artistic feature of the Main Post Chapel is a large fresco painted in 1935 by Victor Arnautoff and his assistants. With St. Francis at its center, the mural depicts a historical pageant related to the founding of the Presidio and the peacetime activities of the Army. Recognized as a leading artist of the period, Arnautoff painted the murals at Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill and in Washington High School, and taught graphic arts at Stanford. "Victor Mikhail Arnautoff was born in the Ukraine in 1896. He served as Cavalry officer in Czar Nicholas II’s army, received the Cross of...

The State Emergency Relief Agency (SERA) funded the construction of the Santa Paula City Fire Staion #1 in Santa Paula CA. Fire Station for Santa Paula will be demolished in 2024 under a CEQA Cat Ex. No historic review was done.  Historic report: Historic resources evaluation was prepared by San Buenaventura Research Associates of Santa Paula, California, October 1995: "Santa Paula City Fire Staion #1 -- This one-story brick and concrete block building is composed of two major connected elements, the engine bay to the north and office to the south. The engine bay is rectangular in plan, roughly twenty feet in height, with...

Various New Deal agencies built the Silver Lake Reservoir in Rochester MN. According to the City of Rochester "Silver Lake is actually a reservoir that was created by first, hand-digging a basin to hold water, and then constructing a dam from 1935-1936 to back-up river water. It was built for half a million dollars during the 1930’s Great Depression as a work relief project, providing work for over 400 unemployed men. Various New Deal programs supported the effort. The project was started by the Civil Works Administration (formed as part of the Federal Emergency Relief Act in 1933), then joined by...

The State Narcotic Hospital Spadra was a once separate program within the grounds of what is known today as the Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, CA. No records exist since the unincorporated area known as Spadra was annexed into the City of Pomona. 3 different New Deal relief agencies were involved in reconstruction efforts at this mental health facility. WPA #1E B20 810, CWA SLF #61, & SERA#S1 B1 174. Records at the Pasadena Museum of History describe New Deal work at the site: "This (WPA) project was opened January 11, 1935 and was suspended May 2, 1935 at the request of...

The State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built many buildings for Valencia High School during the New Deal era.  The school was initially founded in 1933. Then in 1935, SERA built an administration building. This was followed by a gym and pool funded by the WPA in 1937. “Today the school serves a student body of approximately 2,500 students. It is one of four high schools in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District." (Wikipedia)

These improvements include the creation of a recreational beach by dredging sand from the San Joaquin River, the construction of dressing room barges, the provision of lighting for the park, and the construction of 50 benches. Currently the park is used mostly for picnics and barbeques. The bathing beach no longer in use. Te park is operated by the City of Stockton.