Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook several wildfire control projects in the hills behind Oakland, including brush clearing, fire breaks, fire patrols and fire trails.  Given the natural frequency of fires in California's dry summers – such as the massive Oakland Hills fire of 1992 – this kind of work was undoubtedly valuable for fire control. Seven projects were approved in 1935-36, as described in WPA project cards detailed here. Approved projects were not always carried out, however, and in this case one was defunded, another deleted and two were superseded.  It is almost impossible to confirm that the other work...

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted improvement work at Ashland's Wildwood Cemetery, beginning in 1935.

Wildwood Elementary School in Piedmont CA was expanded under the New Deal, with the addition of new classroom buildings and an auditorium. Prior to that, about one-third of Piedmont students were being taught in temporary buildings (derisively called 'shacks' by the locals). There had been three previous efforts in the 1920s to replace temporary school buildings in Piedmont but the bond issues lost (Tribune 1942).   After the school board sought and gained a promise of $83,000 in funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1933, a new bond issue for $233,000 passed in December of that year.  Of the...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at Wildwood Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Among other efforts, such as conservation work, they constructed a bridge along a bridle path over a stream. The location and status of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal. The park is bordered by highways that did not exist during the Great Depression.

Suffolk County News reported that between 1935 and 1936, the WPA "improved recreational facilities in following State Parks : Sunken Meadow, Heckscher, Wildwood, Orient Point and Hither Hills..."

The Works Progress Administration completed improvements on Wiley Street in Morgantown, Monogalia County.

"The Wyoming Valley Airport, located in Forty Fort and Wyoming and built in the 1920s, was expanded and given a paved runway through WPA, enabling it to handle passenger and freight traffic – including early air mail -- and help train World War II pilots." (timesleader.com)

"Will Rogers Courts is located east of S. Pennsylvania, south of Exchange Avenue. It was built by the WPA as a low-income housing project with an appropriation of $2,000,000. In 1939, it was taken over by the U.S. Housing Authority. Today, it remains a low-income housing addition under management by the Oklahoma Housing Authority. Rents range from $100 to $150 a month, with 354 units of efficiency, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments. There are 85 red-brick building, with composition shingle gabled roofs. They are built on concrete slab foundations and have small concrete steps and porches. Most of the buildings...

This is a one-story tan brick building with 6-over-6 double hung windows. The main entrance has four concrete steps leading to double doors, under a flat metal awning. Above the awning is a divided transom. The entrance has a large concrete block surround with a raised pediment. On the surround is engraved "Will Rogers Library". The building is located within Gazebo Park, also constructed by the WPA. A low stone wall surrounds this park and building. On the left front corner of the building are two granite blocks reading: "W.S. Key, Administrator / Morton R. Harrison, Director" and "Works Progress Administration Project...

"Development of this 118-acre park began in the 1930s as a joint project of the Oklahoma City Parks Department and the National Parks Service, with labor from the CCC and WPA. The CCC cleared trees and brush, pruned, built terraces and dammed two small tributaries of the North Fork River to form two small lakes. The WPA work consisted of many native sandstone structures, including picnic shelters, a wood and stone Rose Arbor, footbridges, low walls and terraces, curbing, gardens, curved roads, and a beautiful amphitheater. These stone structures are still used today and are in excellent condition. The coordinates...

The College of Charleston's Willard A. Silcox Physical Education and Health Center gymnasium was a WPA project.

The WPA graded and landscaped the playground at Willard Elementary School.

The Willcox Women's Community Center was sponsored by the City of Willcox and completed in 1936. The project was completed with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. Project O.P. No. 65-2-166

"In 1934, under the Resettlement Administration, federal and state agencies united to buy 5,000 acres of this submarginal land to develop a recreation area. The Civilian Conservation Corps, as well as the Works Progress Administration, helped construct the site while providing much needed jobs. Four camps along with day-use and picnic facilities were built and the park opened to the public in 1937."

The school grounds contain a small New Deal sculpture by Hugo Robus entitled "Girl Weeding." It was made in 1938, probably under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project of the WPA.

This large bronze and marble memorial in Bryant Park commemorates the 19th c. poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant. The statue was created by Herbert Adams in 1911. In the 1930s, the it was restored with federal funding under Karl Gruppe, "chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department, from 1934 to 1937." The program was initially supported by federal funding from the Public Works of Art Project (Lowrey, 2008), and later by the WPA.

The WPA built the rock garden near the lake as well gutters and other improvements throughout the park.

The beautiful and well-used William Penn Park in Whittier, California was built by the WPA. Some WPA stamps from 1940 remain in the sidewalks.    

"Two new junior high schools in Bangor were built and equipped at the cost of $740,000. Every cent of this was paid by the W.P.A. (Works Projects Administration) City Manager Wallace designed the two school grounds." Original name was the Garland Street Jr. High School. Name changed in 1997 to the William S. Cohen School, named after former Secretary of Defense William Cohen who was born and grew up in Bangor . It is located at 304 Garland Street in Bangor Maine. "The Cohen school and its sister school, the James F. Doughty School were both built with funds from the Works...

A small park in Bangor with playground equipment, a basketball court and non functioning tennis court with plans to convert it into a Pickleball court. When constructed by the WPA as part of their comprehensive city-wide work program it originally contained a tennis court, concrete wading pool, playground area, baseball diamond and football field. According to various people who grew up in Bangor, the playground was a very important part of their lives and memories. "We always called it Newberry St. Park. Had a lot of fun there." "My Dad's family, the Burke's lived on Gridley St. and he (Bobby Burke)...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) rebuilt Williams St. in Pittsfield, Mass. WPA Bulletin: William Street, Pittsfield, a direct route from Pittsfield center to the Washington Mountain Road is being widened and reconstructed by WPA. Work includes filling, grading, oiling, building catch basins and a culvert and general repairs to a mile of roadway.  

From 1934 to 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed workers to construct Williamsbridge Oval in The Bronx's Norwood neighborhood, one of the most diverse areas of the City. Researcher Frank da Cruz notes the WPA Classic Moderne Style of its recreation center that he tells us was "constructed from granite quarried and cut on the site by WPA workers." He also points out that the park got it's name because of its oval shape which is "inherited from the reservoir it replaced." Da Cruz goes on to explain that Oval Park was, "Originally the site of Gun Hill Williamsbridge Reservoir, constructed in 1884-89, that supplied...

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. A 1.9-mile stretch of Williamsbridge Road was surfaced with penetrated macadam as a result of one $115,000 WPA project.

According to a digitized project card at the National Archives, the WPA dedicated more than $400,000 in 1935 toward the construction of a new roadway on the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan in New York City. Among the improvements, was the construction of a new eastbound lane. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-34. There were no records in The New York Times confirming WPA involvement with the Williamsburg Bridge. However, newspaper records and National Archives documents prove Public Works Administration (PWA) involvement with such a project, which occurred in 1938-9. The PWA provided a $239,319 grant for the roadway reconstruction; the total project cost was...

The school at Williamsburg was destroyed by fire and a new building was erected. Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects approved in the amount of $13,604 in July 1935 included construction of a gymnasium and improvements to the teacher’s house. Fifty-eight men were employed on the project, which included grading and graveling the road to the school. The school building is still extant and has been in use as a furniture company since 1959 after the school closed. The status of the teacher's house and gymnasium are unknown.

The Williamson Avenue underpass beneath the Santa Fe railway line was built with the aid of the Work Progress Administration (WPA), c 1937. "Construction of the Williamson Avenue underpass was a fine example of cooperating agencies (Works Progress Administration, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the State of Arizona, and the City of Winslow) to fund and develop an important engineered structure to improve Winslow's traffic flow." The underpass has been repainted in recent years, probably as part of Winslow's effort to attract more tourists.

The Williamsport Community Building at Byron Memorial Park, in Williamsport, Maryland, was constructed by WPA workers in 1938. The building is still used today, highlighting once again the enduring value of WPA projects.

The Williamsport Memorial Library was built with the assistance of the WPA in 1936-1937. The library is a memorial to 14 Williamsport High School students who lost their lives in 1935, when the bus they were riding in was hit by a train.

This beautiful structure, the Williamsport Town Hall, was built by the WPA in 1939.

The original Willis Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River opened in 1901. In the 1930s, the WPA allocated $326,290 toward reconstruction of the roadway crossing the Willis Avenue Bridge, which connects the Bronx to Manhattan in New York City. WPA Official Project No. 65-97-37. Due to its deteriorating condition, the bridge was replaced starting in 2007 when a new bridge was built. The old bridge remained a pedestrian-only bridge for three years, and was then dismantled.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a bridge across Granite Creek on West Willis Street (at Granite St), just northwest of downtown Prescott AZ, in 1937. It is a simple concrete span with a central pillar and low railings.  It still stands. The WPA project card in the National Archives is mislabeled as the Virginia Street bridge – an understandable error, given that there are two WPA bridges, one on West Willis and one on East Willis Street (the Virginia Street bridge is not actually on Virginia Street, just next to it).

"The park is associated with several Great Depression era federal relief programs. Constructed between 1933 and 1938 under the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), creation of the park provided a source of employment in Lamar during much of the Depression. Willow Creek Park was Colorado’s first CWA project and the first planned park in Lamar, providing a location for active and passive recreation activities. A prominent feature of the city, the park’s buildings and stone features are good examples of the Rustic style as interpreted by New Deal agencies....

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. The Mason City park retaining wall on Willow Creek in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa (Project 3650) is included among the many WPA projects described in the collection.

"In May 1935 planning for the Willow Freeway began and WPA funds were committed to the project; construction commenced in 1938, with the building of the first "cloverleaf" interchange in the state. The cloverleaf, completed 21 Oct. 1940 at a cost of $1.175 million, brought the new highway (Rt. 21) over Brookpark/Schaaf/Granger roads (Rt. 17) ..."

The Works Progress Administration built facilities at the Willow Wood Community Center. The park is still in service today under the name Willow Wood Recreation Center.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the domestic science building at Willowbrook Middle School in Compton, CA.

43 men of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked for nine months to develop and improved the road between Willsboro and Reber, New York. It is unclear whether this is what is now known as local route 14: South Mountain View Drive, or 14A: Sunset Drive, though Living New Deal believes it to be the latter.

The federal Works Progress Administration undertook a $93,900 project starting in 1935 to modernize and otherwise improve several public (now-former) bath facilities in Brooklyn, NY. The public baths at Wilson Ave. and Willoughby Ave. were constructed in 1908; the building has since been demolished. The facilities identified as part of the WPA project were: 209 Wilson Ave. Municipal Baths, Coney Island Duffield Street Hicks Street Pitkin Ave. Huron St. Montrose Ave.

Rochester's Wilson Commencement Academy houses a series of murals commissioned by the federal Works Progress Administration, painted by Carl W. Peters. "In 1937, Rochester’s WPA art project was called "the most interesting and effective outside of New York City” by the regional director of the Federal Art Project. Rochester’s model program—hosted and administered by the Memorial Art Gallery—funded several mural groups by the artist Carl W. Peters." (https://mag.rochester.edu/murals/) "Wilson Commencement Academy was originally called West High School. Carl W. Peters received the commission for the West High School murals in 1937/38 and chose as his subject matter the early years of Rochester...

Now housed at Rochester's Wilson Foundation Academy, the federal Works Progress Administration commissioned a series of murals by Carl W. Peters for the city's since-demolished Madison High School. "In 1937, Rochester’s WPA art project was called "the most interesting and effective outside of New York City” by the regional director of the Federal Art Project. Rochester’s model program—hosted and administered by the Memorial Art Gallery—funded several mural groups by the artist Carl W. Peters." (https://mag.rochester.edu/murals/) "Peters was awarded the commission for the Madison High School murals in March of 1937. His subject matter—Life of Action and Life of Contemplation—is a topic that...