Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Works Progress Administration built the Baird High School gym, football field, and wall in Baird TX.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here shows Baird Road when it was completed for the town of Penfield in Monroe County, New York.

New York City's Parks Department website states: "During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) and the Works Progress Administration constructed recreational facilities in the park, including a boat landing, several playgrounds, tennis and handball courts, baseball diamonds, and a football field."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Baker Avenue in Augusta, Georgia ca. 1936.

St. Paul's west side "contains two W.P.A. built recreational structures, the Harriet Island Pavilion and the Baker Playground building at 670 S. Waseca Street."

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) completed a project in 1937 that involved "building of a new wharf bridging and steps at the Baker's Island lighthouse," a project intended to improve safety at the lighthouse for both visitors and the keeper. The W.P.A. replaced 82-year-old rotting timbers at the wharf. Workers were transported via daily water taxi from Salem.

A 1939 report on the WPA's progress in Southern California described the agency's extensive involvement in a major roads project improving Balboa Avenue: "The Balboa Avenue Improvement, Work Project No. 645, was sponsored by the City of Los Angeles to provide a high speed traffic artery between San Fernando Road and Ventura Boulevard through San Fernando Valley. When completed, this street which is primarily a farm-to-market road, will serve, indirectly, a potentially enormous agricultural area by connecting these two major State Highways. The total length of this 54' roadway will be 9.8 miles, which will require 335,000 cubic yards of excavation, nearly...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the grounds at Balboa Elementary School in Glendale, CA.

(100 Acres) Constructed gutters, paths, seepage pits, culverts, storm water inlets, etc. This work completed previously built park roads.--Healy, p. 55. Most of the rock for gutters is to be quarried on the property.--Mooser, p. 82.

The current Balboa Park Club was built in 1915 as the New Mexico building for the Panama-Pacific Exhibition.  It was redesigned by the WPA for the 1935-6 California Pacific International Exposition.

Two oil on canvas murals, entitled "Farm Landscape" and "Point Loma," were painted by Charles Reiffel on a commission from the WPA Federal Art Project in 1937. They were originally installed at Memorial Junior High School and now hang in the San Diego History Center downstairs at the Casa de Balboa. Each mural measures 10' x 10'. Some contemporary critics called Reiffel "America's Van Gogh" (Balboa Park Beat, October 2012).

Built by the WPA.  Originally called the Federal Building and then the Hall of Champions.

Originally built in 1915 as the Foreign Arts Building for the Panama-California Exposition, it was renovated and expanded in 1935, with WPA money for the California-Pacific International Exposition. Rose Hanks created an incised relief doorway depicting Junipero Serra for the fair.

Named for the numerous Pepper Trees that provide shade to the picnic area, the popular Pepper Grove offers picnic grounds with 15 tables and an extensive playground for children.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Mayor George E. McLean of Beverly recently announced the completion of one of the longest paving projects in WPA on Balch street from Cabot to McKay streets, a distance of a bout 3000 feet."

Along with the adjacent gymnasium, this school was constructed in 1938 with Workd Progress Administration (WPA) labor. NCDCR.gov: "Bald Creek Elementary School is a native stone Rustic Revival-style building, and one of five schools built by the WPA in Yancey County."

The Bald Creek Elementary School and accompanying gym were constructed in 1938 with the assistance of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The Bald Eagle Hill Children’s Health Camp was built in 1936-1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for children suffering from tuberculosis. The camp’s address was 4900 Nichols Avenue SE, which is now Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.  The camp was located at the southern end of the avenue, near its intersection with Joliet Street, which is the site of today’s Bald Eagle Recreation Center. This WPA-built camp replaced a smaller tuberculosis facility in Northwest DC and cost between $79,000 and $110,000 to construct. In 1939, the Sunday Star described the camp: “Scattered over nearly five acres of grassy hilltop land overlooking...

With funding from the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and, later, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the City of New Haven CT was able to construct a parkway from West Rock Park to a location six miles away known as Bethany Gap. According to the New Haven Museum, funds appropriated for the construction of the parkway helped “put unemployed persons to work during a period of record unemployment in the nation and state.” Baldwin Drive continues to serve residents today. 

In 1937 the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance authorizing work to begin on reconstructing the bridge. The job took a year and a half and replaced the timber approaches with approaches of concrete and steel that featured ornamental lighting. The cost was $800,000, funded 45 percent by the federal Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the remainder by Seattle's share of the state gasoline tax. The work closed the roadway for the year and a half of construction. For the duration, people crossing the ship canal were obliged to drive over the Fremont Bridge or the Aurora Bridge.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and provided labor for an improvement and beautification program in Norfolk’s Ballentine Park in 1937. The WPA allocated $12, 836 for the project with the city adding an additional $4,884. “The project call for the extension of drains, building of a culvert, excavation for a lake, the grading and building of walkways and the planting of shrubs and trees.” The efforts of WPA work crews resulted in a beautiful park that shared property with the old Ballentine School. In recent years, the vacant school building was demolished and replaced by new townhouses and lofts. Nonetheless, the...

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "The sharp crack of wood meeting horsehide will dedicate the completion of a baseball diamond being built by WPA on land bequeathed the city by Thomas S. Pierce."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) resurfaced Atlantic City's Baltic Avenue in 1936. "One of the tracks will be removed from that thoroughfare, new gutters will be laid and the street resurfaced with asphalt, the same as Atlantic avenue." "Twelve city blocks of this avenue had been resurfaced by 109 unskilled and 10 skilled WPA workmen who also installed a concrete gutter on the street." The WPA paving job quickly proved its worth. According to City Commissioner Major William F. Casey after the 1936 Cape Hatteras hurricane, "Baltic Avenue was a pleasure to see after the storm because of the new paving....

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Baltic School in Baltic SD. The structure served as a public school. Its current use is unknown. A building plaque reads: "WPA project number 3883."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to construct a athletic field at Baltimore City College. Maryland WPA Project #15.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the land that is now Baltimore National Cemetery was once called the Cloud Capped Estate: "Conversion of the Cloud Capped estate to a national shrine was the responsibility of the War Department, with work accomplished under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era make-work program. The WPA undertook work at several national cemeteries during its lifetime in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Baltimore property—envisioned as Maryland's "Little Arlington"—was to accommodate 40,000 to 45,000 interments…Between 1936 and 1938, nearly $400,000 was expended on WPA improvements to Baltimore National Cemetery. Funds were spent on...

Bancroft Park in Colorado Springs is still widely used. The bandstand is still in good condition. There are several Pickle Ball courts that are still in use. Previously, there was a large lake that was (probably) constructed by WPA employees. You can still see the remnants of this lake. "Bancroft Park has been a park since the early 20th century when the old Bancroft School was torn down. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the band shell in 1935 and this historic square has been the site of many a concert, event and open-air market since then."

"The Band Shell built as a WPA project in 1935 sets as a centerpiece on the east side of Swensson Park. Many times during the year, you can experience concerts, special performances, and 50 years of local Broadway RFD outdoor theatre productions." Today the Swensson band shell houses "Broadway RFD," the longest running outdoor theater in Kansas.

Bandon's History Museum occupies a structure built by Work Progress Administration (WPA) workers to house the community's City Hall. After the destruction of the town in the Bandon Fire of September 26, 1936, priority was given to constructing a new base for the city's operation. As local historians note, the City Hall was one of the first buildings to be completed after the fire - second only to a local tavern. Construction began in October 1936 with WPA funds. It was completed in early January 1937 with a brief interruption of building activity to allow WPA workers to construct 36 temporary...

"Residents of Laramie are probably familiar with the large concrete semi-dome that anchors the southwest corner of Washington Park. The Edgar J. Lewis bandshell has become a staple in the community as Laramie's only public outdoor stage. It is a memorial, in a way, to University of Wyoming music professor Edgar J. Lewis for whom the bandshell is named. It was renamed in the 1980s to honor the professor. The concrete structure is also a memorial to events that affected the entire nation for over a decade. The Edgar J. Lewis Bandshell was a Works Progress Administration project that was...

The bandshell in Lingle Town Park, a.k.a. Whipple Park, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) in 1941-2.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a band shell in Melbeta, Nebraska. The location and status of the structure are presently unknown to Living New Deal, though we believe it to be no longer extant.

The Work Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bandshell in Mikkelson Park in New Hampton, Iowa. Completed in 1937, it cost about $5,000 and could accommodate 55 musicians. It features two locker rooms.

The Work Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bandshell at Central Park—also known as Centennial Park—in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. It was dedicated in June 1936. There is no bandshell in the park today.

"The existing bandshell was constructed in 1992 to replace and earlier building constructed in 1934. The City received CWA funds to construct the original bandshell adjacent to the stadium in the fairgrounds park. It burned in 1992 and was replaced by the existing concrete block building in 1998. The contributing landscaping consists of the grassy lawn in front of the stage and dense linear segments of deciduous shrubs that follows the curve of the road between Eisenhower Park Road and Pine Street. It is unclear whether this landscaping was part of the CWA project that funded construction of the bandshell or...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a new bandstand "on the public square" in Lisbon, Ohio.  The structure, which measured 32 by 56 feet, contained six tiers of seats and was constructed of native stone. Capacity was 84. The status and location of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Bangor dam "was built on the site of Treat Falls in 1875. It about 1,006 feet long with 800 feet of timber crib spillway and 200 feet of concrete spillway on the easterly end. The timber spillway being 2 feet lower than the concrete spillway was fitted with flashboards. The first fish way was built around 1923 between the timber and concrete spillways. The second fish way was constructed in 1936 with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) office funds."   (www.maineatlanticsalmonmuseum.org) The dam and the associated water works fell out of use in the 1960s and have since largely deteriorated....

 Created in 1927 as a commercial airport named Godfrey Field. In 1940 the Maine State Defense Commission considered 6 airports priority for use as military bases, Bangor being a key one. A 1940 Maine State Legislature report records that construction of the base was done by the W.P.A. and improved by FERA with  a 1400 x 100 gravel runway and a 1500 x 100 Gravel runway. "he airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II and renamed Godfrey Army Airfield and later Dow Army Airfield. It became Dow Air Force Base in 1947, when the new U.S....