Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

WPA projects in Jefferson County, Florida included "five two-room frame school buildings for Negroes at Turkey Scratch, Bunker Hill, Lightsey, and Lamont." The locations and status of this building are unknown to Living New Deal.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) project cards at the National Archives show that the WPA was charged with another round of improvement of recreational facilities in the city of Washington, DC in the early 1940s.  This followed on a major program of parks improvement by the WPA in 1935-36. The approved works included: building tennis courts at Palisades Playground, Edgewood Playground, and Reservation "C" on the Mall; grading, filling, and constructing tennis courts at Turkey Thicket playground; excavating cinders from west parking area and surfacing east parking lot at Takoma Recreation Center; spreading topsoil on south field at Banneker Recreation Center; and...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers rebuilt Turner Road Bridge (believed to be at the point where it crosses Little River) in Charlton, Mass. after it was seriously damaged by floods in 1936.

The former Turner school in Clinchco, Dickenson County, Virginia, was constructed as a New Deal project. Satellite and Google Street View imagery suggest the building is still extant, if largely abandoned. In 1940, W.E. French, who directed the Federal work programs in Dickenson County, reported that from December 1, 1933 to January 27, 1940, that $129,167.00 were spent on school projects in Dickenson County. Of this amount, the Federal government spent $162,968.00 and the county put up $56,699.00 of 25.8% of the cost. Among the jobs done were: ... new buildings at ... Turner.

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) allocated funds in 1936 to the tune of $372,722 (not adjusted for inflation) for the reconstruction of a span across the Connecticut River between the Town of Montague and Gill, Mass. The Turners Falls-Gill Bridge, which was constructed in 1937-8, has since been rehabilitated and is sometimes referred to as the Gill-Montague Bridge. A plaque on the bridge credits the United States Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 and features a project number; it is sometimes overlooked as the information is written in comparatively small lettering at the top of the plaque.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the following road work in Auburn, Mass. WPA Bulletin: This cut-off in Auburn, on the Worcester Turnpike, was washed out by the Spring flood. A WPA construction project is rebuilding the cut-off and 30 feet of the macadam shoulders of the road. The exact location and identification of the road in question is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a clubhouse and completed improvements at the Warren District Country Club, located between Bisbee and Naco. The CWA began the project and the WPA finished it. The University of Arizona Libraries Digital Collections describe the work done by the WPA: "The first nine holes at the Turquoise Valley Golf Course were constructed with funds from the Works Progress Administration. They remain largely unchanged -- still challenging -- since their completion in 1936. The Turquoise Valley Golf Course is the oldest continuously operated course in Arizona. The Clubhouse, constructed from...

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA)began improvements at Turtle Creek Park in Dallas TX.  The project was one of many undertaken in the area by the WPA and other New Deal agencies. “Widespread park improvements costing $34,000 have been announced at Dallas, Texas,” a writer for Parks & Recreation reported in January of 1939. “Included in the developments will be a new South Dallas community center, a golf course for Negroes and additional work in Robert E. Lee Park and also on the White Rock beautification program.” Dallas’s Robert E. Lee Park was renamed Turtle Creek Park after a vote by...

W.P.A. project descriptions: "Veterans of Foreign Wars, West Roxbury, and Turtle Pond Parkways; the roadsides of these parkways were beautified for their entire lengths by grubbing, grading and seeding. Ten miles, or 176,000 square yards of property was reclaimed." "Dedham Parkway and Turtle Pond Parkway; a project in operation at the end of the year will provide a parking area on each of these two parkways in the Hyde Park district."

Tuzigoot is an ancient hilltop settlement of the Sinagua people, c 1100-1400 A.D.  It is one of the largest of scores of such settlements throughout the Verde River valley of Northern Arizona.  By the 20th century, the buildings on the site, made of stone and adobe, had fallen completely to ruin.  The New Deal aided in the archeological reconstruction of the site in the early 1930s.   Following on the restoration work, the New Deal helped open the site to the public. In 1936, the museum and visitor center were built by local relief workers hired by the Works Progress Administration...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted a massive development / improvement program at what is now known as Tweed New Haven Airport. Official Project Number: 165‐1‐15‐30 Total project cost: $3,031,708.00 Sponsor: City of New Haven

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out pavement repair and other, unspecified improvements to a segment of Twelfth Street NW, from Constitution Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue, in 1935-36.  The street was “widened to conform with the design of the Triangle area, and repaved with sheet asphalt pavement.”   The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936.   The work is likely still extant, but invisible beneath subsequent repavings.        

In 1941, Work Progress Administration (WPA) labor was used to, "Develop and improve a public park area from 12th to 14th streets, and Constitution Avenue to Madison Drive, including constructing sidewalks, curbs and tree wells; landscaping; filling; grading; placing topsoil; fertilizing; seeding; adjusting manholes; demolishing obsolete buildings; and performing appurtenant and incidental work." (National Archives) In 1964, this site was converted into the location of what is now the National Museum of American History.

The Works Progress Administration built sewers from Twenty-Eight and a Half Alley to Bungalow Avenue in Huntington, Cabell County.

The Works Progress Administration built storm sewers from Twenty-Eighth to Twenty-Third Streets in Huntington, Cabell County.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Twenty-fourth Street, from Wagner Place to Good Hope Road. WPA workers graded this road, and also “placed old broken concrete and Macadam, for a depth of approximately seven inches, as a base source. This material was then rolled and covered with a bituminous material by maintenance forces…The completion of formed a necessary adjunct to the large private development in this vicinity”

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out pavement repair and other, unspecified improvements to Twenty-Second Street NW, from Constitution Avenue to E Street, in 1935-36. The work was part of the $949,496 WPA allotment for DC roadwork for fiscal year 1936. This WPA roadwork is undoubtedly no longer visible, in part because the War Department building (now the State Department) was built over 22d Street in the early 1940s.

"The Twin Mountain Hatchery dates back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s. After members of the Whitefield Fish and Game Club read about the creation of a hatchery in Chester County, Pennsylvania, they presented the idea (for a similar project in Twin Mountain) to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. As a result, the Twin Mountain Hatchery was initiated as a Works Progress Administration project in 1934. The facility was built on this site because the springs forming Carroll Stream, which flows through the hatchery grounds, provide a continuous source of oxygen-rich water."   (www.twinmountain.com)

The field house at Twin Oaks Playground was constructed by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief crews in 1933-34. The playground itself dates to 1920.  Originally a "white" playground in Washington’s segregated playground system, Twin Oaks was officially opened to all children in 1953. The 1-½ story field house follows the Colonial Revival design developed by municipal architect Albert L. Harris after the vernacular Hall-and-Parlor houses of the Tidewater region, a regionally appropriate style that was informal and good for recreation areas. In 1936, the Washington Post reported that Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews had also done work on the Twin Oaks Playground,...

The WPA worked on Twin Peaks Blvd. between Clayton St. and Palo Alto Ave.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted heavy renovation and repair work at San Francisco's Twin Peaks Reservoir during the Great Depression. Repaired reservoir leaks and water proofed. Cut new expansion joints, painted and thoroughly renovated old reservoir.--Healy, p. 65.

Between 1936 and 1938, workers with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed this 9 hole golf facility and clubhouse.

The current Tyler County Courthouse was built in 1891. Its original design was an eclectic mix of Victorian architectural styles popular at the time such as Second Empire, Romanesque Revival and Gothic Revival. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration put men to work renovating the structure. An exterior stair was added on the north side, a two-story addition was added on the south side, and various interior rooms were changed. The the clock tower was re-designed and the brick exterior was covered with stucco changing the look of the courthouse to a Moderne style. There is a project currently underway to remove...

The Tyler Little Theater opened on May 16, 1939. It was built with funds from private donations, the City of Tyler and the Works Progress Administration. Designed by in the late Art Deco style by architect Shirley Simmons and constructed by R.L. Clanahan, the brick building featured two auditoriums. When World War II began, there were no longer enough men to continue performances and the theater shut down. The building is currently used as a church.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden in Tyler TX. A historical marker at the site reads: "The property that is now home to the Tyler Rose Garden was first purchased by the City of Tyler in 1912 for the construction of a park and fairgrounds. After many years and at the urging of the former American Rose Society President Dr. Horace McFarland, an application to the Works Project Administration (WPA) was made in 1938 to fund the construction of a municipal rose garden. The $181,255 federal grant was thought to be the largest municipal park and rose garden...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to "Improve US 11 on First Avenue from 85th Street to Cozy Corner" in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed U.S. 20 in LaPorte County near Michigan City, Indiana, a $46,576 project. WPA Project No. 65‐1‐52‐2366

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed U.S. 31 from "Jackson Scott Co line north to Jct US 50 & SR 9" in Indiana, a $57,628 project. The ~14-mile stretch of road encompasses U.S. 31 through Crothersville.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed U.S. 31 from Sellersburg to Henryville, Indiana, a $122,480 project.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to "Grade, drain, and improve US 31 from North Birmingham to Lewisburg, 1936."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop U.S. 4—improving, widening, and straightening the road—in Rutland County, in Mendon and "Sherburne" (Sherburne Pass, Killington), Vermont. WPA Project No. 165-1-12-76

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed U.S. 40 in Wayne County, Indiana from "Richmond to Ohio‐Ind. State line," an $25,837 project.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed U.S. 41 in Lake County, Indiana from "Jct. SR 2 to Cook," an $84,582 project. WPA Project No. 65‐1‐52‐2366

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided the labor for the construction of U.S. 701 north of Georgetown, South Carolina. "Jeff Lewis is a natural-born storyteller who vividly recalls life in rural Georgetown County when wagons were the mode of transportation and cardboard extended the life of your shoes. During the Great Depression, the WPA hired local men and boys to help build Highway 701 and clear the swamps, and Lewis was one of the eager workers." (Georgetown County Digital Library)

The WPA conducted beautification and improvement work on the "Tallahassee-to-Monticello highway," likely meaning U.S. 90. The project employed "45 common laborers at 30 cents per hour for an average of $39 per month."

According to WPA records in the National Archives, in 1941 WPA labor was used to "Improve grounds at the U.S. Coast Guard Monitoring Station, including constructing fences; clearing trees, brush, and undergrowth; appurtenant and incidental work." Exact location and current status of this coast guard station unknown.

According to WPA records in the National Archives, in 1939 WPA labor was used to "Construct and rehabilitate water and sewer facilities, and roads, improve grounds, at the United States Experimental Gardens in Arlington County Va." Exact location and current status of the gardens is unknown.

U.S. Highway 129 was extended to Knoxville during the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal project associated with the construction of McGhee Tyson Airport. The 1935 topographic map, shown here, identifies the road as State Highway 33A. The road was expanded since the time of the original construction. No New Deal-era bridges were located in the partial survey of the road in December 2017.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop and improve U.S. Highway 60 near Globe, Arizona during the 1930s.

Construction of new additions to the 1884 US Marine Hospital in Memphis began in 1933, although the majority of the work was completed by WPA crews after 1935 (Van West, 2001, p. 94). Buildings added by WPA were the 3-story neoclassical hospital building, a nurses dormitory, and junior officers quarters (Metal Museum). The hospital closed in 1965 and currently houses the Metal Museum.