Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts. First constructed in the early 20th century, the canal was widened during the New Deal.  That work was part of a much larger project that included three new bridges across the canal (Short & Stanley-Brown 1939) The project was overseen by the US Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), circa 1933-35.  The Works Progress Administration (WPA) came in later to do work on the banks, the nature of which is not specified in the...

The CCC began working along Cape Hatteras National Seashore in 1934 (this was actually three years before it was officially named "Cape Hatteras National Seashore"). The first CCC boys on this project were based out of Manteo, North Carolina, Camp P 63. The work they performed included the creation of sand dunes and the planting of grasses, shrubs, and trees. The plantings included Bermuda grass, wax myrtle, water bush, loblolly pine, bald cypress, and more (the shrubs and trees were obviously planted a little inland from the beaches and sand dunes). To facilitate the planting, two nurseries were created, one in...

Acquired for state park use in 1935, the State Park plans for this beautiful stretch of coastline in Tillamook County initially focused on its use as an undeveloped, natural preserve. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees built the first major improvement, a 5.2-mile trail to the end of the cape in 1939-1940. They also created a minimal picnic area at Jackson Creek. To provide road access to the park, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers were employed in the early 1940s. Progress on improvement of the primitive road was halted by lack of funds. Work on road access resumed in the early 1950s.

The WPA conducted a large-scale reconstruction project at the Cape May Naval Air Station, located at the easternmost part of Cape May. A thorough history of the installation can be found at Abandoned & Little Known Airfields (airfields-freeman.com). There are few traces of the New Deal- and WWII-era installation remaining, though an abandoned runway is still visible. The facility is now the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center. Cape May County Gazette wrote in 1936: “One of the finest WPA projects granted this section is the rebuilding of the U.S. naval Air Station at Cape May, on which work has already been started....

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

The Capital City County Club Golf Course was originally a 9-hole golf course developed by George Perkins. In 1924, the newly-incorporated Tallahassee Country Club purchased the golf course from Perkins. In 1935, the Tallahassee Country Club donated the land to the City of Tallahassee. That same year the city received a $35,000 Works Progress Administration grant to expand the golf course to 18 holes. The city engaged noted golf course architect Albert W. Tillinghast to inspect and comment on the plans, which also included renovating the existing 9 holes. Construction began in 1936 and was completed in 1938. In 1956,...

"The native sandstone wall around the football field is a WPA project. Capitol Hill High School is located at 500 S.W. 36th Street. Built in 1928, it is still in use today. On the west side of the school, the C.B. Speegle Stadium is home to the Capitol Hill Redskins. Surrounding the field is an approximately 8 ft. high wall made of the traditional Oklahoma sandstone seen in the greatest number of WPA projects in the State. At the east end of the football field, the sandstone wall attaches to a 10 ft. high white stone ticket booth area. This wall has a...

“Stadiums and field houses became important additions for many school systems. In Oklahoma, competitive sports added quality of life for residents during the Great Depression. Small school districts were especially proud to receive an ‘indoor’ gym. High school stadiums such as Taft Stadium and Capitol Hill Stadium were built in Oklahoma City and Webster High School in Tulsa."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the 1930s.

"Originally built in 1935 as Capitol School at 802 E. Vilas, this building is currently home to the Board of Education and other Guthrie Public Schools administrative offices. This WPA project is documented on the cornerstone where is indicates that this is WPA project 6-49. This is a one-story tan brick building which faces south. The entrance is slightly recessed with a single glass door, sidelights and transom. The entrance is within a stone surround with the words CAPITOL SCHOOL embossed in stone. Four concrete steps lead to the entrance door."   (waymarking.com)

The Works Progress Administration completed improvement work on Capitol Street in Charleston, Kanawha County.

"In 1929, one of Capitola's biggest goals was to 'carry the present sewer outfall much farther out into the bay.' Work on a new sewer outfall, built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, was completed in 1933 on the site of the old Capitola Hotel bathhouse under the Depot Hill bluff. The WPA plant was praised for its efficiency but gradually became an eyesore that was located too close to both the beach and a favorite local surfing spot - known for years as 'Sewer's.' Esplanade Park replaced it in the 1980s."

1940 WPA stamp at Capp and Adair in San Francisco's Mission District. Apparently every corner on Capp St. used to have these stamps.

The School was founded in 1939 as part of the New Deal program for Education. Original structure was built with labor provided through the Works Progress Administration. When new school was built in 2002, old building was razed. Original front entrance is all that remains.

The WPA improved the school building and grounds.

"Cardines Field, "a small urban gem of a ballpark" is a baseball stadium located at 20 America’s Cup Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Wikipedia: "Stone and concrete bleachers were built along the third-base line by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936-1937. The plaque at the entrance that reads "1937" refers to this date. The current grandstand was built by the WPA following the devastating hurricane of 1938. The distinctive curving grandstand section behind home plate was built in 1939. Over the coming decades, the park continued to grow through construction projects to increase capacity, eventually creating the patchwork, overlapping stadium seen...

Caribou Municipal Airport saw development work conducted by multiple New Deal agencies. It was developed as part of a statewide airport building effort by FERA. It was originally built with a N - S 3000x250 graded sod runway, & a E - W 2,000x300 graded sod runway. W.P.A. project info: "Construct municipal airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐11‐60 Total project cost: $181,424.00 Sponsor: Town of Caribou "Construct Caribou Municipal Airport" Official Project Number: 165‐X‐XX‐100 Total project cost: $276,174.00 Sponsor: Town of Caribou "Construct municipal airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐11‐100 Total project cost: $1,022,200.00 Sponsor: War Department

The NYC Parks Department website explains: "This impressive monument to soldier, statesman and journalist Carl Schurz is the result of a collaboration between the distinguished sculptor Karl Bitter (1867–1915) and renowned architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). Built in 1913, the monument consists of a full standing bronze portrait of Schurz in the center of a granite exedra (curved bench) with carved reliefs framed by two ornamental bronze luminaries. The entire monument is located within a large brick-paved plaza projecting from the promontory at Morningside Drive and West 116th Street. Other studio assistants and associates of Bitter may have worked on the side...

An addition was built by the WPA.

In 1936 the WPA developed the area of Carlos Avery Game Farm, now the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, and constructed several buildings on the site. From the National Register of Historic Places nomination: Located within the 23,000 acre Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, the district includes eleven buildings, three structures, and one non-contributing building. The buildings at the Game Farm are designed in the Colonial Revival Style. All buildings and structures are considered contributing unless otherwise noted. 1. Entrance Gateway - The entrance to the Carlos Avery Game Farm is defined by an elaborate gateway flanked by stone pylons. Each gate...

"Stone retaining walls that line streets and highways throughout the region -- along Route 611 in Easton, Spruce Street in Tamaqua and Carlton Avenue in Bethlehem -- were WPA projects." This approximately 350-foot-long retaining wall begins on Carlton Avenue halfway between W 8th and W 9th Streets, then curves to the west on W 9th St. to Hess St. The wall is identified by an inscribed stone at its north end (on Carlton Ave.): "Erected by W. P. A. 1935"

The WPA allocated $3,161 for "cemetery improvement" near Carlton, Montana in August 1938. It is presumed that this site is what's presently known as Carlton Cemetery, which is located behind the Florence Carlton Church along Old U.S. 93.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Carmel Firehouse in 1936-1937. Carmel has used a volunteer fire department since 1915. The architect of record was Milton Latham, supervised by Bernard Rountree. The stone-clad facade is multi-hued and meant to echo the abundant use of stone in buildings around Carmel-by-the-Sea. There were 4 bays for firetrucks in the original building with a fifth bay added later. This firehouse appears to be used primarily for emergency vehicles now. The second floor was accessed on the west side of the structure via a steep stairway, part of the original structure, and included fire poles from the...

These two elaborate hanging light fixtures supply primary lighting to the large meeting room on the second floor of the Carmel firehouse, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.  They were produced separately by Otto Koehler as a project of the Monterey WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP). We believe they were hung as the building was completed in 1937. The light fixtures have a hexagonal shape, copper sides and top with a high relief of leaves. A white glass filters light to the floor.

Carmel's Forest Theater was established in 1910, when Carmel-by-the-Sea was founded as an artists' colony (and real estate speculation).  Since then, it has been a fixture of the Carmel scene and the life of the city.   The was deeded to the town of Carmel in 1937, which soon applied to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for help in renovating and improving it. The WPA renovation took place in 1939-40 and included a reinforced concrete floor, new seating, a new stage and dressing rooms underneath, and a new surrounding stone wall and entry stairs. There is a WPA plaque on the...

The New Deal helped build Carmel High School in 1940. In 1939, the city of Carmel purchased the lot and secured a bond issue for $165,000 for the school.  Groundbreaking came in early 1940 and school opened in September.   The city put in applications for funding to both the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Projects Administration (WPA), so it is not entirely clear from the newspaper sources whether the project was done with the aid of both agencies or just the WPA. The five-building school complex was designed by Ernest Kump, Jr. of Fresno, who created a long, single-story modern...

This sunken garden is chiseled out of the hill adjacent to the 1871 Governor’s Mansion that overlooks the Missouri state capital. The gardens were started in the late 1930s by the WPA. Work included extensive rock wall work. There is a grand stairway that ascends to a pergola that is lit with original lighting. The view of the capital is stunning. The gardens were renamed the Carnahan Memorial Gardens after the untimely death of former governor Mel Carnahan in 2001.

In the late 1930s, the historic Carnegie Library in Provo, Utah was greatly expanded with a grant and labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Provo Library website tells us that, "On December 1, 1908 the Library moved into a new building provided by a grant of $17,500 from Andrew Carnegie. By 1924 it was noted that 'the institution is greatly in need of more room.' With $59,000 from the WPA the remodeled and expanded facility opened on July 28, 1939." The building is now privately managed.

The Carnegie Library building in Washington DC was the District's Central Library from 1902 to 1970. It was one of many libraries built with funding from the businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.  From 1935 to 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) refurbished the entire exterior of the building for the Library. As reported by the DC Government in 1938: "The W.P.A. project for cleaning, cutting out, and repointing mortar joints of exterior marble and granite stone on the central building was started in December 1935 and completed at a cost of $27,717.50 and closed out on March 20, 1938. The entire exterior...

The Carnegie Libraries web page summarizes the history of the structure: "A men's group, the Paso Robles Improvement Club, initiated the first library in 1901, and the ladies auxiliary persuaded the city to establish a free public library in 1903. A Carnegie grant of $10,000 was received in 1906 for the building; the park, a full city block between 11th and 12th and Spring and Pine streets, was selected as the site. William H. Weeks, California's most prolific Carnegie architect, designed the building and R.O. Summers was the contractor. A small addition to the rear was built in 1939 by the...

In 1934, the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) funded a large three-panel mural by artist Arthur Ames, which was displayed in the Carnegie Library in Anaheim, California. The mural has been relocated to the Anaheim Central Public Library in Anaheim, CA. As of October 2023, the two smaller side panels are still there, but they are not viewable by the public due to the threat of vandalism. The central panel is currently viewable to the public for free at the Anaheim Heritage Center, located inside of the Muzeo Museum. The central mural is oil on canvas, 92 by 56...

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was "Hard-surfacing of Carolina Drive and Buford Way, Lower Valley, distance of 6.6 miles, $22,512.92. Living New Deal is unclear as to which road is Buford Way.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) reconstructed Lake Placid's Carolyn Road in 1936. The Lake Placid News reported: The WPA has allowed a grant of $11,622.40 for improvements on Carolyn road. The town of North Elba project is designed to employ 34 men for four months to widen, grade, and build gutters on the road from Chubb Corners to the Lake Placid - Saranac Lake highway.

"Located on picturesque countryside in western Onondaga County, the Hatchery was originally developed and operated as a joint venture between Onondaga County and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a Works Project Administration Grant. One of only four county run hatcheries in the state, Carpenter's Brook has been in continuous operation since its inception in 1938 and produces 80,000+ Brook, Brown and Rainbow Trout annually." (Onondaga County Parks) The WPA wrote of the project in 1940: "One of the many far flung stations of federal government for rearing game fish, Elbridge hatchery has been reconstructed with series of new concrete...

Access to the Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle, New Jersey was difficult prior to the advent of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA widened and reconstructed what had been a seven-foot-wide sand road, clearing brush and trees along the way. The end result was a 33-foot-wide graded road. The project was completed ca. May 1937.

Now: New Mexico Veterans' Center "The New Mexico Veterans' Center (formerly Carrie Tingley Hospital) was partially funded with WPA funds in 1937. The buildings were left vacant in 1981 when the Hospital moved to Albuquerque. In 1983 the Veterans' Administration and the New Mexico Legislature provided funds for renovation of the buildings and the establishment of the New Mexico Veterans' Center." -Phyllis Eileen Banks The "Turtle Pond" outdoor sculpture was commissioned from artist Eugenie Shonnard in 1937.

"The Carrizozo Womans Club, founded in 1920, is a community service organization open to all women who enjoy volunteering their time for worthy causes. ... The Womans Club building is an outstanding example of Pueblo Revival Architecture built of adobe. The ceiling in the unique round room, which is completely free standing, contains viga logs in an intricate wagon wheel pattern. Built in 1939 by the WPA, the building is one of the showplaces in Carrizozo and is included on the State and Federal Registers of historic buildings." -Carrizozo Historic Sites

Carroll Park has been a public park since the 1850s. A March 27, 1936 Department of Parks press release announced the opening of this new WPA playground in the park: "The Department of Parks will open ten new playgrounds Saturday, March 28, making a total of 125 added to the recreational system in two years. …at Smith Street, Carroll Street and First Place there will be four hand-ball courts, four shuffleboard courts and six horseshoe courts… All of these playgrounds were constructed es Works Progress Administration projects." Further improvements to the playground, including basketball courts and a play apparatus for older children, were announced...

The stone sculpture at this site, entitled "Alice in Wonderland," was likely made by Emmanuel Viviano with WPA Federal Art Project funding. Based on this post from 2009 0n the MIR Appraisal Services blog, the sculpture may have been relocated: Last Sunday, I attempted an “Emmanuel Viviano/ WPA Field Trip” all about Chicago—I wanted to scout out the Viviano public art in our city and report back to you. Sadly, I couldn’t locate any of his works… from the Carroll Playground in Oak Park (which once featured a statue and fountain of Alice), to the Nancy Hill School in Aurora (once...

"In the early 1930s the success of the Eau Claire Bears, a "farm" team affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, encouraged Eau Claire to apply to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to fund recreational improvements in Carson Park. The centerpiece of these projects was the simple but elegant sandstone-walled stadium, built to seat over 1500 fans. The stone was quarried from a site in nearby Downsville, Wisconsin. Unemployed skilled laborers were given work on the stadium through 1936 and readied the ballpark for action by early 1937."