Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

WPA workers rebuilt the Waugh School in Petaluma in the 1930s. " was used as a school until 17 years ago, when it was sold to a private individual who is restoring it, said Scott Mahoney, the Waugh district superintendent. 'It's cool to see the plaque on the front...it still says Waugh School as you drive up to it,' Mahoney said."

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted drainage work along Waushakum Ave. in 1935.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a large storm sewer in Belmont, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Sixty inch pipe is being laid on the Belmont WPA Wellington Brook Sewer Project. This storm sewer will run 510 feet from Waverly Town Yard to Waverly Street.

"The building was constructed in 1940 under the New Deal program known as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and was used for town dances, church socials, wedding receptions and speeches by political figures such as Hubert Humphrey. The original village hall burned down in the summer of 1938. The WPA received plans for a new building that December. Bids were let in May of 1939, and by Labor Day in 1940, Waverly residents celebrated their brand new hall with baseball games, dances, and a carnival."  (https://www.waymarking.com)

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

A 3000' sod airfield that operated from 1925 to 1941 next to the golf course, After 1927 supplies were regularly flown in to supply the large hotel complex. A WPA project Oct. 10, 1935 mentions construction both at Mariposa and Wawona. WPA project 79697. The amount spent was $86,554.

The WPA worked on Wawona St. between 19th Ave. and 28th Ave.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) amphitheater was built ca. 1935-36. A 1985 National Register nomination form for Creek County described the site: "This amphitheater is a two-story, rectangular (35' x 25') structure constructed of cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of buff color. Pilaster strips on the back give the building an art deco flavor. The stage is concrete and has been painted white. The concrete seats have been removed... Construction of this amphitheater reflected the cultural interests of the WPA and gave some economic security to many destitute laborers in the area. The project infused wages of some 120,000 man-hours...

This Works Progress Administration (WPA) amphitheater was built ca. 1935-36. A 1985 National Register nomination form for Creek County described the site: "This amphitheater is a two-story, rectangular (35' x 25') structure constructed of cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of buff color. Pilaster strips on the back give the building an art deco flavor. The stage is concrete and has been painted white. The concrete seats have been removed... Construction of this amphitheater reflected the cultural interests of the WPA and gave some economic security to many destitute laborers in the area. The project infused wages of some 120,000 man-hours...

The county seat of Wayne county moved to this location when the construction of the Lake Wappapello Dam forced the movement of the entire town of Greenville, previously located along the St. Francis River. The building cost about $98,000.  Construction by the Works Progress Administration started in 1941 and was completed in 1943.      

The historic Wayne County Courthouse in Loa, Utah was constructed as a New Deal project with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The building is still in service. Prior to its construction, "county officials originally met in private homes and rented quarters and later converted a store into office space." (UCM)

The WPA allocated $409,637 to conduct repairs along Webster Avenue in the Bronx during the 1930s. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-439(?).

This is the third courthouse built in Webster County and is constructed of Carthage Marble with art deco elements on the walls and a top floor jail. "The Works Progressive Administration (WPA) was instrumental in the construction of Webster County’s Courthouse. Between 1939 and 1941, Marshfield saw WPA workers aiding in the construction of the new courthouse, as well as helping work on Marshfield’s sewer system; at one point, more than 124 workers were assigned to the project, which consisted of digging and laying 13 miles of pipe throughout town. The new courthouse was complete by 1942 and is still in use...

"This is a one-story tan brick building, constructed by the WPA in 1937. The original building is rectangular, but has additions built later, on the northeast and south. "Above the main entrance which faces west, is a large concrete frieze with the word WEBSTER in tall, Art Deco styled letters. On the north side over the entrance, the date '1937' is also engraved in tall modern numbering. The brick is curved as it goes from the front wall to the recessed entrance door. "The roof is flat, and the windows are grouped in openings with nine panes. The top three in...

"The Webster Rock School is an historic rock Works Progress Administration school located on NC 116 in Webster, North Carolina, USA. In 1990, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It once served as Webster High School and Webster Elementary School. ... The old Webster Rock School is being used as the Southwestern Child Development Center, and by the Family Resources Center for Jackson County. The old Gym/Auditorium is sometimes used for community events."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted improvements at the former Webster School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: In Webster Grammar School, Cambridge, WPA workmen have weather-stripped 194 windows. This work will result in a saving of fuel costs, elimination of drafts from loose windows and will help maintain an even temperature throughout the building.

This small Brooklyn playground was opened by the Department of Parks in December 1935. The press release announcing the opening explained that it, and the other 12 playgrounds opened on the same day, collectively contained: "88 small swings; 72 large swings; 36 seesaws; 14 playhouses; 15 large slides; 11 sand tables; 10 garden swings; 7 small slides; 7 small tables; 6 handball courts; 6 jungle gyms; 5 shuffleboard courts; 5 wading pools; 4 parallel bars; 3 horizontal bars; 3 horizontal ladders; 3 horseshoe pitching, etc.; 2 basketball courts, 1 shower." As researcher Frank da Cruz explains here, almost all New York...

Michael Lenson painted "Enlightenment of Man" with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: " moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street ... Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and executing murals for the state W.P.A. program. He went on to become assistant state supervisor in charge of the other muralists in the agency. By the time the federal W.P.A. closed in 1943, Mr. Lenson had created six murals and supervised the execution of 15 more in New Jersey by...

Between 1936 and 1940, the WPA constructed a classroom building, an auditorium and a gymnasium at the Weleetka campus. The buildings are still standing, amidst a number of more recent constructions. The 1985 Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory described the WPA structures: "The first is the classroom building which has eight rooms and is a single-story, T-shaped (87' x 111') building constructed of cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of buff color... The auditorium is a single-story, rectangular (94' x 56') building which is stepped on the south side... The roof is flat with parapets. The entrance has an art deco flavor... The gymnasium is...

The Works Progress Administration spent $1,500,000 for miscellaneous alterations, additions, renovations, grading, and landscaping of grounds at hospital and institutions to New York's Charity Hospital. In addition, a nurse's home and a power plant were constructed at the hospital in the 1930s with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Originally named Penitentiary Hospital and located on what was then known as Blackwell's Island, the first hospital was built in 1832 to serve the prisoners housed at Blackwell's Penitentiary. After the hospital was destroyed by a fire in 1858, architect James Renwick, Jr. designed a new building to be called City Hospital, on...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Festival Hall, an auditorium, at the Wells County Fairgrounds, located at the southeast corner of North Dakota Highway 15 and U.S. Highway 52. "Also constructed during the depression years was Festival Hall (1938). A WPA project, it was purportedly designed by Wells County agent and fair manager, E. W. Vancura. The main floor of the 136' x 44' building is comprised of a wooden-floored auditorium with a large stage at its north end and a very small stage midway along the building's west wall. The basement was designed to house industrial exhibits during the...

This neoclassical building was first constructed in 1903, and was redecorated by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s.

Henry Simon painted a series of murals entitled "The Founding of McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois." The murals were intended for that institution but never installed. "The Circuit Rider," "Bishop McKendree at the Site of the College" and "Peter Aker's Prophecy" were painted in 1941 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project.  

The Works Progress Administration extended and built additional facilities for the Wertz Airport in Charleston. The additions included an administration building. The airport serves today under the name Yeager Airport. In 1930 Wertz field was developed in Institute. Operated by West Virginia Airways, Inc the field was named after Charleston Mayor W.W. Wertz. Commercial flight began with American Airlines in 1933 from the same field. The field was a popular site for air shows. The WPA added improvements to the airport with “grading, ditch-digging and other work” by late 1936. Just after this West Virginia State College began the Civilian Pilot Training Program in...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Wesleyan Drive outside Macon in Bibb County, Georgia ca. 1936.

The WPA provided assistance in repairing and otherwise improving the Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The building is no longer extant. "The (22nd) Twenty-Second Regiment / 14th Street Armory (1863) building was replaced with the (9th) Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory (1894-1896) building, which was later replaced by (42nd) Forty-Second Division / West 14th Street Armory (1971) building, which in turn was replaced by a mix use structure, all on the same site." (Wikipedia)

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx 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 penetrated macadam. Roads improved included street and sidewalk repairs on West 231st Street from Corlear Avenue to Riverdale Avenue.

Fort Lee, New Jersey received a modern sewer system during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. Fort Lee's Palisadian newspaper wrote: For many years has been without the benefit of a sewer system. Often the overflowing of cesspools has created a condition that was not only very unpleasant but to health. The officials have been cognizant of the bad condition for a number of years but because of Fort Lee's sorry financial plight were unable to provide a remedy. A majority of the property owners effected were in no position to shoulder an...

The West End Fire Station, West End Fire Company #3, was built in 1937 with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding. The building is currently used as a fire station museum.

The caption of the National Archives and Records Administration WPA photo shown here states that this West Falls library was constructed to "provide for the recreational and educational needs of the Village of West Falls." The building is still in use as a library today.

Fort Lee, New Jersey's old West Fort Lee schoolhouse during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. Fort Lee's Sentinel newspaper wrote: "Parents and property owners of West Fort Lee were greatly cheered ... by news that the Federal Government has approved a WPA grant for the repair of the West Fort Lee schoolhouse. ... t is hoped will result in the prompt modernization of "a building that is in dire need of such treatment." The exact location of the old school is unknown to Living New Deal.

Built in 1939, this Works Progress Administration project was the Auditorium and Dining Hall for West Georgia College.

The Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) constructed at least four small bridges in 1940 along West Harmony Road, southwest of Hartford, Arkansas, to carry the thoroughfare across several unnamed ditches.

An inventory of WPA project photographs compiled by Becky Jordan at Iowa State University includes reference to numerous public works projects undertaken by the agency in Iowa between 1935 and 1940. The collection of 1,271 photographs documents the variety and extent of New Deal related efforts undertaken in the Hawkeye State. Included among the many WPA projects described in the collection is the West High School stadium (Project 1055) in Waterloo, Blackhawk County.

The rock wall along the south and east sides of the West Lawn Cemetery in Henryetta, Oklahoma were constructed by the WPA in 1939. The wall is approximately 40 inches high with large square rock pillars about every 12 feet. The wall is 3/10 of a mile long. The cemetery is located in the western part of Henryetta.  

The Works Progress Administration built the West Limestone County High School in Athens, circa 1936-1938. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed an eight-inch water main along "upper West Main street" in Middletown, New York.

One of architect Clarence “Cap” Wigington’s distinctive St. Paul structures, the West Minnehaha Recreation Center was built between 1937 and 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Wigington was the first black municipal architect in the country, and many of his designs were brought to completion by New Deal funding and local laborers. See the Harriet Island Pavilion (now Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion) and Hamline Playground Building for other examples of his WPA-era work in St. Paul. The West Minnehaha Recreation Center, known as “West Minne” by locals, was built of Platteville limestone and has received many additions and renovations since...

Scottsbluff's historic former Carnegie Library—now the West Nebraska Arts Center—received an addition constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. "The 62-foot addition, built in 1936 by the W.P.A., was designed by architect O. J. Hehnke of Scottsbluff. The addition maintains the original material, parapet, cornice, basement, and window lines." The addition projected from the east end of the building.

In 1936, 550 Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers helped lay 25,000 feet of water pipe around 34th and Adeline Streets in West Oakland, under the auspices of the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD).  In 1937-38, 400 WPA workers helped the EBMUD lay 15,000 feet of 36" and 30" water main "between 22d and Adeline Streets and Fourth Avenue and East 11th Street", according to a report in the Oakland Tribune.  Since those are both intersections, the implication is that the lines ran from West Oakland across downtown to inner East Oakland; but that needs to be verified. In any case, the newspaper...