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  • Bufano Park - Bronx NY
    A New York City Parks Department press release from August 26, 1939 describes the WPA’s role in developing what is now known as Bufano Park: “The Department of Parks announces that the two acre playground bounded by Bradford, Edison, LaSalle and Waterbury Avenues, in the Borough of The Bronx, will be opened to the general public without ceremony on Saturday, August 26th... This playground was planned by the Department of Parks and the work performed by the Work Projects Administration. Besides a completely equipped children's playground with wading pool, it includes eight handball courts, a softball diamond and a large asphalt surfaced...
  • Buffalo Church Outbuildings - Palestine WV
    "... three outbuildings: two pit toilets and a storage building that were constructed by workers associated with the Work Projects Administration."
  • Buffalo County Fairgrounds - Kearney NE
    In the early 1930s, the Buffalo County Fair was in dire straits. It went broke and was taken over by the County Farm Bureau, and thence was taken over by the newly formed Buffalo County Fair Board. In 1936, the old grandstand blew down in a storm. It appeared to many that the County Fair was becoming an extinct entity. Plans for a new and improved Buffalo County Fairgrounds were announced in February 1937. Buildings were planned for construction that would total a financial outlay of approximately $25,000.00 and included two horse barns, a double hog shed, two cattle sheds, a...
  • Buffalo Creek Park Dam - Coggon IA
    The New Deal dam in Coggon, located in northeastern Linn County, was replaced in 1967 by the current dam, known as the Buffalo Creek Park Dam.41 The New Deal dam was built in order to restore Manhattan Lake in Coggon. Construction began in September 1934 with labor supplied by FERA. Although the date of completion was not discovered, it was originally estimated that the dam would take four months to construct, suggesting an expected completion date in early 1935. However, just as with the FERA dam in Quasqueton, the construction of the Coggon Dam took considerably longer than originally estimated....
  • Buffalo Golf Course: Club House - Buffalo WY
    The Works Progress Administration built the club house for the Buffalo Golf Course in Buffalo, Johnson County.
  • Buffalo Hill Golf Club, Cameron Course - Kalispell MT
    The WPA constructed the 9-hole Cameron Course at what is now Buffalo Hill Golf Club. From the Buffalo Hill Golf Club website: "In the early 1930’s, land was purchased where part of the Cameron 9 holes now resides. The Cameron Course is named after Dave Cameron, who donated land to the city for golf course development. The original 9 hole course operated until the late 1930’s when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a nine hole, irrigated, green grass course; some holes are still in service today while others have been modified during subsequent expansions.”
  • Buffalo River State Park Improvements - Glyndon MN
    In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) pursued a variety of improvements at Buffalo River State Park, which had been established in 1937. “Buffalo River State Park near Glyndon is included in a $900,000 improvement project to be launched by the conservation department of the State of Minnesota during the next few months,” a reporter for Parks & Recreation noted in January 1940.  The WPA allocated labor and $84,000 for the project. According to the Minnesota Historical Society, “The Buffalo River State Park WPA/Rustic style historic resources include three buildings and three structures that form a historic district;” these are a Bath...
  • Buffalo Zoo Animal House Improvements - Buffalo NY
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers constructed and renovated animal houses in the Buffalo Zoo. WPA improvements at the Buffalo Zoo included work on the Sea Lion house and pool (shown above), and construction of new pens for the Sika and Fallow Deer (shown below). More information is needed to determine the current status of these projects.
  • Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court - Buffalo NY
    "Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court – funded by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), the entry court and gates (1935-38) are the most intact surviving work of John Edmonston Brent, one of few African Americans practicing as both an architect and a landscape architect in the early twentieth century."
  • Buford School Building - Buford AR
    The WPA was established in Baxter County in fall 1935, and the school was one of the first major projects undertaken by the agency in North Arkansas (Story, 1992). The "irregular-plan, single-story building" featured Craftsman influence of "exposed rafters and the ornamental brackets" (Story). The grey limestone block school was constructed in the Plain Traditional style. A community member described it as "...interior consisted for two large classrooms, separated by a moveable partition and several smaller rooms...utilized for a library and cloak rooms. One of the classrooms contained a stage complete with small dressing rooms and passageways. A canvass...
  • Buhre Avenue Improvements - Bronx NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration 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 the 0.4-mile stretch of Buhre Avenue between Mulford Ave. and what was then Eastern Blvd. (Eastern Boulevard provided the foundation for what is now the Bruckner Expressway.)
  • Bukolt Park - Stevens Point WI
    Bukolt Park was originally known as Water Works Park: "As with Iverson and Goerke Parks, Water Works Park got its big push during the recovery period of the 1930s when WPA construction was at its peak. Major improvements included landscaping, parkways, fireplaces, beautification of the lagoon including bridges and in 1935 and 1936 construction of the bathhouse, beach area, ramps and a diving tower. A large lodge built in the park was completed in 1940. On May 5, 1936, the council renamed the park the John J. Bukolt Park in honor of the founder of the Automatic Cradle Manufacturing Company, now Lullabye Furniture...
  • Bulkheads - Surf City NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration constructed bulkheads in Surf City, New Jersey ca. 1936 to mitigate soil erosion. WPA N.J. Project No. 5-248.
  • Bull Hill Road Development - Sunderland MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers worked on Bull Hill Road in Sunderland, Mass.
  • Bumblebee Bridge - Bumblebee AZ
    The Works Progress Administration built a bridge in Bumblebee, Yapavai County. Project #38, completed circa 1936.
  • Bundy Drive - Los Angeles CA
    The WPA worked on Bundy Drive in 1941.
  • Bunker Hill Construction and Improvements - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas VI
    The WPA carried out construction and improvements on Bunker Hill in Charlotte Amalie. Road construction and improvements carried out by the WPA in the Virgin Islands typically included “clearing the old roadway widening existing curves, blasting rock from the road surface and drains, relocating where necessary, installing culverts, preparing the subgrade and placing the bituminous macadam surface.”
  • Bunker Hill Monument Improvements - Boston MA
    The W.P.A. conducted restoration and preservation work at the Bunker Hill Monument. "Such colossal monuments such as the stone shaft at Bunker Hill, Grant's Tomb, and the Statue of Liberty have been repaired, have had their grounds beautified, or have been otherwise improved."
  • Burbank Elementary School - Modesto CA
    Burbank Elementary School was built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The original school appears to consist of three buildings, all long and low in the style of Spanish mission residential buildings.  All have covered, pillared breezeways along the entire front, with door to each classroom opening onto those outdoor corridors. The school has had additions and underwent a major renovation in recent years, according to a staffer who spoke to us in 2023.  The original design had tile roofs, as shown in 2010 photo, which have been changed to metal roofs.    
  • Burbank High School - Burbank CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) partially demolished and rebuilt Burbank High School in Burbank, CA, which had suffered damage in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.
  • Burbank Playground - Milwaukee WI
    "Constructing a brick and concrete field house containing toilet, assembly, checking and dressing rooms; erecting playground, apparatus, fencing around the outdoor theater at the Burbank Playground."
  • Burbank School Murals - Chicago IL
    Andrene Kauffman painted two murals for the Burbank School under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project. "Circus," composed of two 10' x 10' panels, is located in the school auditorium. "Incidents in the Life of Luther Burbank," composed of two 4' x 20' panels, is located in room 104.
  • Burdette School (former) - Burdette AR
    The English Revival Style, red-brick, one-story school building was constructed in the  town's existing school complex by the WPA in 1939. The large front wing and the smaller rear wing are connected by a large auditorium that intersects both wings in the center. The building contained two arched entries, and the interior was almost entirely original, with wood floors, trim and doors that remain, and in some classrooms, the original desks remained when the school closed in 2001. The library retained the original built-in shelves. It had served as an elementary school at the time of closure.
  • Burgaw Community House - Burgaw NC
    Burgaw Community House was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1939.
  • Burlington Gymnasium - Burlington CO
    "The rectangular-plan gymnasium measures 137 x 70. The gymnasium is two-stories tall, with a balcony level above the main gym floor. There is a full basement. The building has a reinforced concrete footing, foundation, and skeleton. WPA-made concrete blocks form the curtain walls and partitions. Adobe blocks are used for some of the basement partition walls. Stucco covers the exterior walls. The gymnasium is covered with a wood truss barrel roof; it is covered with asphalt roll roofing. Flat roofs cover the west and east ends of the building where the lobby and stage are located. The concrete exterior is demarcated...
  • Burlington International Airport - Burlington VT
    The W.P.A. worked extensively, for a period of several years, to develop what was then Burlington Airport. Major efforts included construction of the "diagonal" runway and extension of the north-south runway. Description of a WPA project at the site: Improve municipal airport. Cost: $464,738. Sponsor: City of Burlington. WPA Project No. 165‐1‐12‐66
  • Burnet Woods: Trailside Nature Museum - Cincinnati OH
    "Trailside Nature Museum: This fieldstone building was completed in 1939, a combined project between the PWA and the CCC and designed by Freund. It reflects the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright with its horizontal design and rustic stone work. All external corners are rounded, as is the central chimney." It is one of the approximately 67 structures (about half of the existing 135 in the Cincinnati Parks system) made by New Deal workers.
  • Burnham Park and 31st St. Beach - Chicago IL
    "The 31st Street Beach is located in Burnham Park, a green space first envisioned by renowned architect Daniel Burnham in his seminal 1909 Plan of Chicago...Burnham Park served as the site for Chicago’s second World’s Fair, A Century of Progress, between 1933 and 1934. After the fair, the newly consolidated Chicago Park District made additional plans for Burnham Park that echoed Burnham’s original vision for the space. With federal funding through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the park district began improvements in the mid-1930s, including additional landfill, playfields, walkways, tennis courts, basketball courts, and the 31st Street Beach and beach...
  • Burns Street NE Construction - Washington DC
    In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a new roadway at Burns Street between East Capitol and Blaine streets in the district's northeast quadrant. This project was part of a massive New Deal program of street paving and upgrades around the city of Washington DC.  Most such work is invisible today beneath subsequent repavings.
  • Burnside Avenue Playground Development - East Hartford CT
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a project "the clearing and grubbing of land on the eastern edge of the Burnside Avenue Playground and installation of drives and walks." Furthermore, the WPA installed a "new drinking fountain ... at the Burnside Avenue Plavground near the tennis courts. This was done in connection with the laying of a new six-inch water feed line for filling the wading pool." The park in question is unclear to Living New Deal.
  • Burnside Tunnel - Portland OR
    The Burnside Tunnel, historically referred to as the Barnes Road vehicle tunnel, improved traffic movement through Portland’s West Hills by straightening the roadway and removing steep grades.  Completed in 1940, it was one of three tunnels constructed in the West Hills with the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), along with the NW Cornell Tunnels. The 230 foot long concrete-lined tunnel is wide enough for vehicles lanes in each direction as well as sidewalks on either side of the roadway. The Burnside Tunnel features beautiful stone masonry portals made of rubble and squared local basalt. Further design details include decorative...
  • Burpee Museum of Natural History - Rockford IL
    Construction of Rockford's Burpee Museum of Natural History was undertaken as a federal Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) project.
  • Burro Cañon Bridge - Madrid CO
    "Completed in 1936, the bridge consists of three skewed semicircular arches with multiplates fabricated by the Hardesty Manufacturing Company. It features rusticated stone facing and grapevined mortar joints, trademarks of WPA workmanship in southeastern Colorado. It is Colorado's only WPA bridge of skewed construction employing a multiplate liner."   (www.historycolorado.org)
  • Burton High School - Burton TX
    The state historical marker at the site reads: "Burton Public Schools opened in 1874, and by 1926 nine grades were offered. In 1938, construction on Burton’s first high school began. Funded through the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), the building was completed in 1940. Designed by architect Travis Broesche and built by local contractor Will Weeren, the school exhibits international and rustic architectural style. Features include abutting two-story rectangular blocks, a curved wall near the entrance, and a native field stone veneer."
  • Bus Garage for Marysville High School - Marysville CA
    A brick garage built by the WPA for Marysville High School: "Gives the school district space to store and repair school buses, which heretofore sat out in the weather, and repairs to buses had to be done by private shops." (from the Verso below)
  • Bush Road Improvements - Mooers Forks NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Bush Road near the village of Mooers Forks, New York in 1936.
  • Bush St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of Bush St. between Fillmore St. and Presidio Ave.
  • Bushwick Sewers - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sewers in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. A 1936 photo shows construction at Bushwick Ave. & Vanderveer St.
  • Butterworth Park - Framingham MA
    "Butterworth Park is located at the corner of Grant St and Arthur St. The park occupies a square block near downtown. The park has includes a baseball stadium that includes permanent bleachers on one side of the field, a basketball court and a tennis court." "Bowditch, along with Butterworth and Winch Parks, were all built during the Great Depression of the 1930s as WPA projects." (Wikipedia)
  • Byrnes Auditorium - Rock Hill SC
    "The federal government’s New Deal programs, specifically the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration, also played a direct role in Rock Hill’s economic recovery. Building projects included ... Byrnes Auditorium on Winthrop’s campus." (sc.gov) "While a U.S. senator, Byrnes arranged for Works Project Administration funds to be used with matching state funds to construct three campus buildings – the auditorium, Thurmond Building, and Macfeat Nursery School, now the Macfeat House, a reception area created from the former Academic Computing Center. Byrnes exemplifies the monumental architectural style prevalent in Depression-era public buildings." (winthrop.edu)
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