Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 68th St. and Central Park West, appears to be what is now known as Adventure Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935,...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Frederick George Richard Roth, who worked for the WPA as head sculptor at the Parks Department, and who also created several other sculptures in Central Park including the Dancing Goat, the Dancing Bear, and Mother Goose, plus the animal friezes at the Central Park Zoo, created this Alice-in-Wonderland themed sculpture commemorating Sophie Loeb (1876-1926). Sophie Loeb was a writer who advocated for children and for playgrounds in Central Park. Mayor LaGuardia and Robert Moses attended unveiling ceremony on October 2, 1936. The statue was originally created for Heckscher Playground, but was later moved to Levin Playground...

The Central Park Arsenal was built 1847-51, but served only briefly in that function.  After 1853, it was a police precinct house, the American Museum of Natural History, a menagerie, an art gallery, the Municipal Weather Bureau, a restaurant, and, finally in 1914, the Manhattan Parks Department. In 1934, the five borough Parks Departments were consolidated into a unified New York City Parks Department. Then, the Arsenal was overhauled by Depression-era relief labor paid for by New Deal programs.    The architect for the project was Aymar Embury II, who was the chief designer for New Deal/Parks Department projects around the city (the Wikipedia entry on Embury says that, "it is...

In 1935-36, the Arsenal was renovated by the New York City Parks Department using Depression-era relief labor paid for by New Deal programs (WPA and FERA). Afterward, the lobby walls was covered floor to ceiling with murals by Allen Saalburg and his assistants.  Saalburg was the WPA's Director of Murals for the NYC Parks Department.     In the murals, "Saalburg depicted a series of scenes depicting recreational activities, notable park structures, and flagship parks. The project was funded by the Federal Works Progress Administration."   (www.nycgovparks.org) "In 1935, Juliana Force, the director of the Whitney Museum and organizer of the first Federal Art Program in New York, introduced...

Though Central Park was created in the 19th century by Olmsted and Vaux, the New Deal helped the Parks Department carry out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. Work relief funds and labor were used to construct 4 1/2 miles of bridle paths in the park: one circling the Reservoir, one around the North Meadow and one at the southern end of the park.   (www.kermitproject.org)

"The Conservatory Garden is a six-acre formal garden named after a conservatory (i.e. greenhouse) that was built here in 1898. During the Depression, Parks commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) decreed the aging structure too expensive to maintain and had it demolished during a major renovation of the park in 1934 that was paid for largely with WPA funds. The garden that replaced the Conservatory was developed by architects Gilmore Clarke (1892-1982) and Betty Sprout (1906-1962) (who later married) and opened officially on September 18, 1937. The garden is divided into three separate sections: the central Italian-style garden, the southern English-style garden...

Though Central Park was originally established in the 1850s, New Deal workers carried out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938. Work included the creation of the park's Great Lawn. The site was formerly the Lower Reservoir, which had recently been drained only to become a 'Hooverville' of people left unemployed and homeless by the Great Depression. With the help of CWA funding and labor in 1934 and most likely further WPA aid in 1935, the Parks Department had transformed the area into today's Great Lawn by 1936, featuring 8 ball fields and a promenade around the perimeter.   (www.kermitproject.org)  

The Harlem Meer is an artificial lake at the north end of Central Park, added to the original park by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux on the site of a former marsh. The New York Times reported in Sept. 1941 that the WPA, in conjunction with New York's Department of Parks, was working to improve Central Park for Harlem residents in "the area from Conservatory Gardens to 110th Street." "Major attention," The Times wrote, was being "given to the fourteen-acre lake and the series of rocky knolls rising from its southern bank." The WPA constructed a masonry wall "a foot high"...

After the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was launched in April 1935 (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939), it quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. Heckscher Playground in Central Park was one of many playgrounds in New York to be renovated or constructed with WPA funding and labor: "Before the New Deal, Heckscher Playground was the only playground in all of Central Park, and prior to 1926 there were no playgrounds at all. In 1935 a plan was announced for the "complete renovation and redevelopment of the area", to include a memorial...

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 77th St. and 5th Ave., is now called the James Michael Levin Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935, the WPA quickly...

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 84th St. is now known as Mariners' Playground. It was "commissioned by Robert Moses as one of his 18 original playscapes for the park" (dnainfo). A 2015 article explained that a renovation would soon restore some of the original features that had since been lost. Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks...

Frederick Roths's Mother Goose Statue at the entrance to Rumsey Playground in Central Park. The 1938 Parks Department press release announced the erection of the statue: "The Department of Parks announces that an interesting statue depicting famed characters of the Mother Goose series of fairy tales, has been erected in the circle at the entrance to the Mary Harriman Rumsey children's playground in Central Park, Manhattan, formerly the site of the old Casino. The statue consists of a large figure of the witch who is astride the goose's back; then on the east and west sides in bas-relief there are figures of...

Though Central Park was created in the 19th century by Olmsted and Vaux, the New Deal help the Parks Department carry out massive improvements to the park from 1934 to 1938.  Work relief funds and labor were used to create 15 new baseball fields in the old North Meadow, where ball playing had long gone on informally.       

On May 4, 1936, the Department of Parks announced the opening of "three new perimeter playgrounds for children of pre-school age" in Central Park. One, at 100th St. and 5th Ave., is now called the Robert Bendheim Playground. Although the 1936 press release does not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, the New Deal transformed much of Central Park in the 1930s. Furthermore, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were accomplished with New Deal funds and/or labor, and that after April 1935, the WPA quickly became...

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 96th St. is now known as the Rudin Family Playground. Today's Central Park Conservancy website confirms that this is the park that was built "between 1935 and 1936 as part of the perimeter playground system." Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out...

The history of Rumsey Playfield, the site of the City's popular SummerStage festival and other performances, is closely tied to the WPA. In 1864, a building was constructed on this site first as the Ladies Refreshment Saloon and soon became an expensive restaurant known as the "Casino." The building was torn down by the WPA after a long legal fight between the restaurant owners and Robert Moses. On May 7th, 1937, the Department of Parks announced the completion of the new Mary Harriman Rumsey Playground and explained the legal conflict that had preceded it: "The Park Department announces that the Mary...

This sculpture of a panther was created by Edward Kemeys in 1885. It was refurbished and remounted in 1937 by WPA workers and continues to be maintained by the Central Park Conservancy today.

A June 1936 press release from the Department of Parks announced the opening of four new playgrounds along Central Park West at 81st, 84th, 96th and 100th Streets. This playground at 100th St. is now known as the Tarr Family Playground. Today's Central Park Conservancy website confirms that this is the park that was originally built between 1935 and 1936. Although these sources do not mention the WPA or other New Deal agencies, researcher Frank da Cruz explains here that almost all New York City Parks Department projects between 1934 and 1943 were carried out with New Deal funds and/or labor,...

Based on Department of Parks press releases from the 1930s, researcher Frank da Cruz describes the role of federal funding in constructing this restaurant in Central Park: "What we know today as the Tavern on the Green in Central Park at West 66th Street was originally a “sheep fold”; that is, a barn for the sheep that used to graze on the Sheep Meadow." Meanwhile the Central Park Casino, an exclusive club for the rich and powerful situated across the park, was deemed an improper use of public land and torn down and the sheep fold converted into a ”popular priced...

The Central School in Vernal was built in 1940-41 with the help of the Works Projects Administration (WPA) (by then part of the Federal Works Administration), according to  a plaque in the entrance lobby.  An older Central School was torn down to make way for this building. The design of the long, two-story building is brick Moderne, with strong horizontal lines and lovely curved section to the left of the entrance.  There is a L-shaped wing on the south side.  The windows and their openings have been radically altered (probably to deal with summer heat). The building now has "Central Education Center"...

"A 1938 project supported by the school district, town leaders and a PWA grant resulted in a building used for school and sports functions as well as an auditorium for public gatherings. It is the largest auditorium in the San Luis Valley that continues to serve in the same capacity for which it was built. It is the only Monte Vista example of the work of prominent architect Charles E. Thomas incorporating Mission, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Romanesque elements. The PWA grant provided 45 percent of the building’s cost and WPA workers were involved in some aspects of the project."

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) undertook reconstruction of the damaged Central Street Bridge at the Sudbury River in Framingham, Mass. in 1938. Town Report, 1938: "The retaining wall on the northerly side of Central Street on the west approach to the bridge over the Sudbury River at that point, which collapsed during the fall of 1937, was rebuilt by the W.P.A. Also various repairs were made to the concrete structure of the bridge itself and two other retaining walls on the east approach to the bridge were rebuilt and repaired." The bridge's superstructure has since been replaced.

This WPA school was built in 1936-1937 as the Southwest High School. It is now the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. This school has been added onto multiple times and the front of the original building is not visible from the street. The front of the school is within an interior courtyard. 5 statues by Fred Morie representing “Youthful Leadership” were created during the original project. These statues have been moved to the front of the modern part of the building.

In 1936, young people employed by the National Youth Administration provided the labor for construction of an amphitheater on the Reed College campus in southeast Portland. The private college supplied the materials and land with the understanding that the theater would be used by civic organizations as well as for college functions. Created in 1935, the National Youth Administration (NYA) provided part-time employment for young people (16-25) who either needed financial assistance in order to stay in school or were out-of-school, unemployed and in need. During its first four years, the NYA was managed as a program within the Works Progress...

This pool was designed by architect Wesley Bintz and constructed by the Works Progress Administration between 1937 and 1939 for $31,000. It is one of two above-ground pools  designed by Bintz in the state of Missouri (Fayette has the other), two of the last existing above-ground public swimming pools in the United States. The two pools have markedly different appearances as a result of local control and flexibility for the planning and execution of WPA projects. Chaffee's pool is adjacent to Harmon Field.

The auditorium for Chalk School was constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration. Architect Penn Jeffries Krouse designed the addition to the school. It has most recently operated as the Calvary Christian School.

The fourth courthouse built for Chambers County was completed in 1936. The Works Progress Administration constructed the three-story ashlar limestone building with Moderne details at a cost of $276,000.

From a 1993 “Maryland Register of Historic Properties Internal Listing Notice” (prepared by Dr. Conrad Gregory): “The Chambers Park Log Cabin is significant as an example (of) New Deal park architecture more commonly associated with western Maryland parks than those on the eastern shore…The log cabin is located inside Chambers Park…While the NYA constructed the log cabin, another recovery alphabet program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), developed the rest of the park and the lake.” (The land for the park was a gift to the town of Federalsburg by Thomas H. Chambers, mayor of Federalsburg from 1915-1947.) Today, “Chambers Park offers tennis...

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." While not confirmed, Michael Lenson purportedly painted a mural at Newark's Chancellor Avenue School: "nother Lenson mural might be hiding behind the wall paint in a windowless room at the Chancellor Avenue School in Newark. According to a retired teacher...

"Funds from the WPA were used to construct four buildings and upgrade airfield infrastructure at Chandler Field in 1936-1937. An Administration Building (terminal), Administration Building annex, bathroom building and electrical control building, in varying styles, were added under this campaign. Each building was designed by different architects, most likely to offer employment to as many people as possible for the project. Chandler Field/Fresno Municipal Airport is notable as being one of the most intact WPA-funded airports in the United States." - https://www.fresno.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E7AF14FA-1440-4DBC-9B55-503662716B33/0/HPCNewDealBrochure.pdf "The Administration Building (Terminal and Restaurant) is one story with a small former control tower penthouse on the north elevation....

"Building has ahslar quarry-faced limestone walls laid in a random range. Dressed stone details include beltcourses and arched entry surround. The symmetrical facade has a 9-bay central block. At its center the castellated entry surround projects slightly from the building wall. Four-bay wings project in front of the central block. Modern 4/4 metal windows fill the original openings. A later gymnasium addition behind the original school has large blank walls...Damaged by tornado spring/summer 2008. Additions to school in 1952, 1959 and 1984. Original windows replaced recently. This school was constructed as an elementary and middle school in 1935. Construction of...

According to the Minnesota Historical Society: “By the 1930s, the boyhood home of famous aviator Charles A. Lindbergh had been badly damaged by souvenir-hunters. In 1936, the WPA began restoration of the house, which, along with the adjoining farmland, had been given to the state of Minnesota by the Lindberghs. Today, the homesite is a National Historic Landmark managed by the Minnesota Historical Society.” The WPA also put in two miles of footpaths, planted 4,000 trees and bushes, and built parking lots and other amenities on the Lindbergh property, creating what is now a state park.

Known as the “Kitchen Shelter” because it includes a fireplace and stove, it was constructed in 1936, making it one of the first WPA buildings in the park. The WPA also put in two miles of footpaths, planted 4,000 trees and bushes, and built parking lots and other amenities on the Lindbergh property, creating what is now a state park.

Charles E. Nash Elementary School was originally constructed in 1927 and received a small addition in 1936. It's likely that the addition was completed as the result of New Deal funding, but that has not been verified. It has been verified that the grounds were landscaped through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the improvements were these terraces and stairs on the north side of the grounds constructed circa 1936. The improvements were designed by Hare & Hare of Kansas City, Mo.

Huntington Avenue intersects but also passes under Massachusetts Avenue in Boston at Symphony Hall; the Charles H. Innes Memorial Underpass has a bronze plaques identifying it as a WPA project.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the Charles H. Lee Elementary School building(s) and graded/leveled the grounds.

Charles R. Adams Park is a 32-acre public city park located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The park is surrounded by the neighborhood of Cascade Heights. Construction of the park began in the mid-1930s, and the dedication ceremony took place in 1940. The park used county funds, federal relief money and Works Progress Administration labor to construct many of the facilities and landscape features. William L. Monroe, Sr., a noted Atlanta landscaper, is credited with the design. "The property consists of a 32-acre designed landscape including passive greenspace, a lake and stream, and active recreational and community facilities. The...

W.P.A. project description: "Charles River Reservation, Cambridge; a supplementary project for the completion of, and additional improvements of, the Charles River Reservation between Charles River Dam and Mount Auburn Street was approved in November of 1938 and work will be continued through the winter as weather permits. The project provides for the construction of 1,500 linear feet of 6-ft. wide stone dust walks, 1,500 square yards of bituminous concrete walks, 320 square yards of Portland cement concrete walks; the installation of 5,500 linear feet of concrete curbing for parking spaces, 100 linear feet of 1-ft. by 4-ft. concrete wall; placing of...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a bathing beach and recreation site along the Charles River by the end of Longfellow Bridge, in 1936. The project included a baseball diamond, benches, and shelters. WPA Bulletin: Children from Boston's hot and overcrowded West and North Ends, from Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, and East Cambridge, are smiling at the heat. For now, within short hiking distance, at the Boston end of the West Boston Bridge, WPA has built a bathing beach and recreation site. Charlesbank Beach, official title of the WPA Project, has proved to be one of the most popular swimming places in...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted construction and other improvement work at Charleston Field, today the joint military-civilian airfield site of Charleston Field and Charleston International Airport. "During the 1930s, airport operations expanded to keep pace with advances in general and commercial aviation being experienced throughout the country. Despite the Great Depression, the Federal Government stepped in to assist the city with modernizing the airport. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration literally poured $313,000 into the airport. Workers paved one 3,500-foot-long runway (1,100 m) and constructed a second 3,000-foot one (910 m). The project also improved upon the existing...