Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Works Progress Administration built a bridge and walls in Whatcom Falls Park, in the vicinity of Bellingham. The bridge is in good condition and is located 100 yards from the park entrance.

The federal Works Progress Administration constructed a fieldhouse at what is now Wheeler Athletic Complex, in (West) Duluth, Minnesota.

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve the Wheeler Avenue School in Valley Stream, NY during the 1930s. One modest project in 1938 involved painting the interior and exterior of the building. WPA Official Project No. 685-21-2-21.

The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR) covers 35,000 acres  along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama.  The Wheeler Migratory Bird Refuge was established by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to provide habitat for wintering and migrating birds in the eastern  United States (the name was changed to the present NWR in 1940). The refuge was made possible by the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) construction of Wheeler dam (1933-1936) and the creation of Wheeler Lake.  It became the first National Wildlife Refuge associated with a multi-purpose reservoir, which provides for navigation over the Muscle Shoals area, flood control, electricity production, and...

WPA crews built the Wheeler Street fire hall in Tonawanda in 1938 for Niagara Hose Company #3.

The Works Progress Administration built walls around Wheeling Stadium in Wheeling, Ohio County. The WPA-built structure replaced the old wall damaged by the 1936 spring flood.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created Wheelwright Park trails in Cohasset, Massachusetts. The area was already a public park but the WPA greatly improved the accessibility. The trails that were cleared are about 4,000 feet or .7 miles long and traverse an area of 232 acres of land known as Wheelwright Park. The trails were constructed of gravel but have since become covered in leaves and pine needles. The park has trails that have natural rock formations in the midst of them as well as beside them. At parts there are natural rocks carved to be stairs in...

Four blocks west of the University of Nevada, Reno is Whitaker Park, one of the few parks that had work done to it during the New Deal that still has its tennis courts. The New Deal brick restrooms are gone, but the trees that were planed are still standing.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted sewer and drainage work in Fall River, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Inadequate drainage resulting in flooded conditions about Bedford and Stinzo Streets. Fall River, will be remedied with the replacement of this new WPA White Brook drain from Bedford Street to Quequchan River. This area has been heavily redeveloped since the Depression era.

"In 1934, Wylie Apte accepted their offer and became the manager of the airport operations at the White Mountain Airport. Wylie persuaded the White Mountain Airport Corporation to clear away the trees so that he could taxi near the highway, and in 1935 a WPA project cleared off the stumps and enlarged the runway to 1,500 feet (460 m)." The WPA also constructed a hangar at the airport. No longer in operation, the airport is no longer extant.

The WPA constructed this gymnasium for the White Oak School in 1942. A 1985 Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory described the building in detail: "The White Oak gymnasium is a rectangular (100' x 55') addition to a pre-existing school building constructed of brick which has been painted white. The roof is arched with stepped parapets. The main entryway is recessed and framed by pilasters; the latter decorates the side of the gym as well... The school still serves as an economic resource for the community as teachers salaries and workers wages are infused back into the local business community."

Municipal reports for the town of Concord document extensive New Deal improvements in White Park. In 1935, the entrance to White Park at the corner of Center and High streets was remodeled. In 1936, the PWA completed a cement bathing pool in White Park. In June of 1937, the WPA completed a new administration building for the park, "furnished and equipped so at the end of the year the City of Concord has the foundation for one of the best service bureaus in tree surgery, insect control, tree and flower preservation and propagation in this section of the country. The new...

A June 1936 press release announced the opening of a new playground at Lexington and 106th. It was equipped with "horseshoe pitching courts as well as an open play area for adult children." The NYC Parks site expands on the history of this park: "This small playground has been a part of the Harlem community since the early part of the twentieth century. The Italian Benevolent Institute was the first organization to operate a playground on this site. In 1936, the City of New York acquired a 0.52-acre plot of land from the Institute and transferred jurisdiction over the property to Parks....

Between 1935 and 1937, a six-mile long sewer tunnel was constructed between the Los Angeles County Sanitation District's former Joint Disposal Plant in Carson, CA, and an ocean outfall at White Point on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The project received funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). According to an October 1933 article in the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News: "Definite action toward construction of a main outfall sewer, generally known as the White Point outfall project, to drain the district south of Los Angeles, was taken yesterday when an application for $2,820,000 was filed with the state advisory board of...

The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) supplied labor for Maynard town projects White Pond in 1934. In addition to planting trees, workers cleaned its banks of brush and dead wood, and cut wood for other purposes. White Pond, an important component of Maynard's water supply system, is physically split among Hudson and Stow townships. Work was continued by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).

Construction on White Rock Lake began in 1910 in response to a water shortage in Dallas. The City of Dallas dammed White Rock Creek in 1911 and built a water processing plant. White Rock Lake was the city’s main source of drinking water until a bigger lake was built in Lewisville, Texas in 1929. The City of Dallas transferred ownership of the land surrounding White Rock Lake to the Park and Recreation Department. The Park and Recreation Department started developing the 1,254 acre White Rock Lake Park in 1930. One of the first projects was stone picnic tables. Next to these...

"Built in 1935, this WPA building is still a thriving school in this rural community... White Rock School is located eight miles west of the town of Meeker, and three miles north on White Rock Road. The school is addressed in the town of Mcloud. This is a rectangular building constructed of native sandstone. It was an early WPA project in 1935 with an appropriation of $12,792. The main entrance faces east and has a raised pediment. The double doors are slightly recessed with a pair of windows to either side. The building is constructed of coursed native sandstone. The wood-framed windows...

"The Visitor Center building complex at White Sands National Monument is an excellent example of Spanish pueblo-adobe ('Pueblo-Revival') architecture constructed during the years of the Great Depression. Construction was begun in 1936 and completed in 1938 by various government agencies including the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at a cost of $31,600. Wall construction of the Visitor Center is of adobe mud bricks throughout. Adobe bricks are usually sixteen inches long, ten inches wide and four inches thick. Ordinarily, two men can mix and mold over one hundred bricks in a day, sufficient to build about one foot of wall. There are...

Believed to be presently abandoned, this historic rural school is located at the intersection of County roads 191 and 30, southwest of Kim, Colorado. "Built in 1921 and expanded in 1936 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the school exemplifies oneroom schools constructed in eastern Las Animas County during the homesteading boom of the 1910s and 1920s. The school addition and its adjacent WPA-constructed barn, intended to store coal and shelter student’s horses, reflect Depression era New Deal efforts to improve rural education facilities in eastern Las Animas County. The WPA constructed new schools and barns for several rural school districts...

The Works Progress Administration built the Whitebead Gymnasium in Pauls Valley OK. Contributor note: "The Whitebead School is located about five miles west of Pauls Valley on County Road 3200 (Kimberlin Road) - (two miles west of Interstate 35). The oldest school building on the property is a two-story brick school built in 1919. To the north of this school is the WPA-built gymnasium. The gym is a one-story concrete block building with a gabled roof. It measures 60 x 79 feet, and is painted white. The gym has a small maintenance building added on the north, and is attached on the south...

The course and clubhouse were constructed by the WPA in 1937. The course was originally 9 holes and was designated as both the golf course and airfield.  Planes landed regularly, but became a hazard and in the 40’s the course became the emergency air field for the area.  The clubhouse included the 2 gables, but not the structure to the left in the most recent photo as in the reference. The golf course website describes the course construction as follows: "The property owners, golfers, donated the land to the County on October 29, 1933 which then transferred it to the City...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) expanded the water system in Amesbury in the Whitehall St. area.

The Work Projects Administration worked to "improve and alter" the old U.S. Army Building, located at 39 Whitehall Street, during the early 1940s. The building was demolished in 1983.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Whitehaven Parkway NW, from Thirty-fifth Place to Thirty-seventh Street. The WPA graded this road, and also prepared it for pavement by putting in a foundation of recycled road material (e.g., concrete, rock, macadam).

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Whitestone Playground in New York. The playground was dedicated in April 1940. The construction of Whitestone Playground was one of many recreation projects pursued by the WPA in New York. “Two thirds of this new twenty-one acre playground was formerly property of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and was known as the Whitestone Pumping Station…Here recreation facilities have been provided for all age groups.” Whitestone Playground, “designed by the Park Department and Built by the Works Progress Administration,” contributed to “a total of 323 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the New...

The main classroom building of the Whitfield Line Vocational High School was constructed in 1936 by the WPA. It was demolished in 2005.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers rebuilt the road around Whiting Reservoir in Holyoke, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Whiting Reservoir, Holyoke, a rippling splash set in a beautiful green countryside, is bordered by a narrow, dangerously curved road, lacking gutters, retaining banks and culverts. A Holyoke WPA Project is making this roadway a safe and modern thoroughfare.

The Works Progress Administration built a library in Drumright, OK. Contributor note: "Whitlock Park is located southwest of the downtown area and is bounded on the west by S. Jones Avenue, on the north by W. 2nd Street and on the south by Lou Allard Drive. The entrance on the south has a drive-through, flanked by stone pillars. A portion of the park boundary on this side has small stone pillars and pipe railing. The park has a nice selection of newer playground equipment, a skatepark and a splash pad. The WPA-constructed swimming pool has been replaced by the splash pad. A nice piece...

The park's swimming pool and bathhouse were constructed by the WPA in 1939-1940, and are still in use. According to the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination, "The bathhouse has three rooms and is a single-story, rectangular...structure constructed of uncut native stone of auburn and buff colors with beaded mortar... The swimming pool is constructed of concrete and is rectangular... A stone wall lining was built around this pool. A new fence has been added."   (https://www.okhistory.org)

The WPA and the CCC carried out extensive development projects in Whitnall Park. including the Botanical Garden administration building and the golf course club house, as well as extensive landscaping. "Whitnall Park originally consisted of 606 acres. Purchased at a cost of $376/acre, this expenditure left County coffers with little money for park development. The advent of the Great Depression further stymied the parks completion. Laborers from Depression Era government work relief programs were eventually recruited to do the job. The two primary programs were the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). CCC workers were generally 21 years...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted work at the since-demolished Whitney School, which had been located on School Street in South Ashburnham, in 1937. W.P.A. Bulletin: "In Ashburnham a long needed assembly room will be available for pupils of Emmeline Jewell Whitney School when a current project is completed. In order to create the assembly hall partitions are being removed and "accordion" style folding doors installed. Steal beams will support the weight formerly held up by the partitions."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved 34 streets in Hartford, Connecticut, including the 0.7-mile stretch of Whitney Street from Asylum Avenue to Farmington Avenue, as part of a $2.5 million, two-year paving project begun in 1937. The federal government contributed $1 million. As part of this project the WPA also paved the entirety of South Whitney Street.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on the grounds of the Whittier State School for Boys (renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in 1941). "The March 11, 1889 Act of the California Legislature authorized the establishment of a school for juvenile offenders. Dedication and laying of cornerstone was done by Governor R. W. Waterman on February 12, 1890. Officially opened as 'Whittier State School' for boys and girls on July 1, 1891. Girls were transferred in 1916 and only boys were in residence from then until the school's closure in 2004. Renamed 'Fred C. Nelles School for...

Now officially Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, what was originally Wichita Municipal Airport was improved and developed by the W.P.A. during the 1930s. Improvement work included paving the runways.

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge began in 1901 when part of the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Indian Reservation was set aside as a National Forest. The area was transferred in 1935 to the Bureau of Biological Survey to become a wildlife refuge under the New Deal.   The 59,020 acre refuge hosts a rare piece of the past - a remnant mixed grass prairie, an island where the natural grasslands escaped destruction because the rocks underfoot defeated the plow.  It  provides habitat for large native grazing animals such as American bison and Rocky Mountain elk – both of which had been exterminated in this area...

The park includes a 232-acre tract of land owned by the township. Established in 1927 for use by township residents, it was renovated with funds and labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The clubhouse is one of the area's finest examples of period architecture.

Funds provided by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) enabled construction of a library addition to the old Wilbur Watts High School in Burlington, New Jersey, since demolished.

The WPA was involved in construction work in Wildcat Canyon. "State of California, National Guard - Construct new rifle range on Wildcat Canyon in Contra Costa County, near Berkeley, by excavating; clearing and grading site; surfacing roads; erecting pit timbers, target frames and rifle racks; constructing superintendent's house; reconstructing buildings; fencing; and performing appurtenant and incidental work. Project also includes dismantling existing rifle range at Leona Heights in Alameda County, near Oakland and moving to new location. Project will operate on East Bay Municipal Utility District owned property under lease to the State of California until 1947. In addition to projects...

This Work Projects Administration building was constructed in 1939 as a Wilderness School using local materials. A large rock wall and well also benefited from the skilled masonry of New Deal craftsmen. As of 2014, the building has been repurposed, presently functioning as a Baptist church.

"Several of the campground buildings and cabins hold important historic and educational value. The bunkhouse and dining hall area still reflects the architectural signature of its builders, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Likewise, the three CCC‐built cabins, remotely nestled in the woods, retain the historical aesthetics of the era in which they were constructed. ...in 1933, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp on the hill where the present outdoor center stands. Approximately 16 structures were erected. Additionally, the CCC was responsible for the construction of over eight miles of trails, installation of a public...