Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the no-longer-extant Children's Court building at 113(?) Schermerhorn St.

The Chilton County Airport, also known as Gragg-Wade Field is a small public airport in Alabama: "Many people don’t realize just how significant a place in history the Chilton County Airport holds. It was constructed in 1937 as part of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration. That opening weekend was quite a spectacle. Held over the July 4, 1937 weekend, the Chilton County Airport began its service with a bang... During the Second World War, the airport was utilized by the government to train people with an interest in aviation how to fly, with the understanding that they would be called upon if...

Provided lighting system and surfaced courts for tennis and basketball.--Healy, p. 58.

In 1935 and 1936, workers for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Chippewa National Forest Headquarters. The building, overseen by Ike Boekenoogen, “an expert in log building techniques,” is “made entirely… from Minnesota forest products. The exterior is Scandinavian style notch-and-groove (chinkless) log construction. And many interior details, including the fifty-foot glacial stone fireplace designed by Nels Bergley, the wooden stairway, and the ironwork on the door hinges and fireplace, were made by hand.” The building is used to this today and is in the National Register of Historic Places.

A plaque on the ruins of a wall in the community of Choate, near the city of Kenedy, Texas, indicate the Works Progress Administration constructed the building between 1938 and 1939. Another plaque listing board members and the superintendent and principal indicate the building was a school. Written tradition confirms the building was a school that closed in the mid-1960s. The property is now owned by the Choate Baptist Church. The church had the interior of the building burned and cleared out circa 2000. The ruins are used as a fellowship center.

This historic, two-story Art Deco courthouse has been designated a Mississippi Landmark.

"Constructed in 1836 for Joseph Neibert, Choctaw is a transitional Natchez mansion, containing the general Federal style form established by Arlington and Rosalie while blending Greek Revival details."   (misspreservation.com) According to the Historic Natchez Foundation, the WPA worked to renovate Choctaw during the New Deal. Located at the western corner of Wall St. and High St., Choctaw lies on the same block as the city auditorium, another WPA project.

A low masonry headwall rises above a sidewalk on the west side Chorro Street in a residential area south of downtown San Luis Obispo. Spanning a small creek, the Chorro Street Bridge was constructed under a WPA street and drainage improvement project. In 1939-40, the WPA paved eight blocks of Chorro Street between Pacific and High streets. This followed an earlier improvement of a different section of the street in 1937. The wall (14’-long, 32”-high, 20”-thick) is made of square-cut stone laid in regular courses. Embedded in the center is a sandstone tablet documenting the WPA project. The stonework continues below the street...

The WPA allocated $15,019 for improvements at the Chouteau County fairgrounds in Fort Benton, Montana in August 1938.

The Works Progress Administration built new bathroom facilities at the Christiansted Grammar School. The site of the school is today occupied by the Florence Williams Public Library.

The Works Progress Administration built a new cistern and carried out the repairs and extension of the water and sewer systems, at Christiansted Hospital. Today, the facilities, known as Old Hospital, are vacant and in an advanced state of disrepair.

The school contains three WPA murals by Arthur Lidov depicting "Characters from Children's Literature." Medium: tempera on plaster on presswood Size: 3 semi-circular panels each about 3'2" r Restoration Info: Restored 1999

An 8'7.5"-span stone arch bridge on Church Road, in Holland Township, New Jersey, was widened by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The structure is/was located approximately 240 feet east of the intersection with Amsterdam / Crab Apple Hill Road.

The WPA improved Church St. and the intersecting Center St. in 1938. These streets run directly in front of the Santa Cruz City Hall, Civic Auditorium and Fire Station No. 1, all PWA projects.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a small vehicle and pedestrian bridge over a creek in Handley, TX. The bridge has a WPA plaque. Handley is now a suburb of Fort Worth Texas.

In November 1935 the WPA approved the provision of labor for the construction of curbs and gutters along Church Street in Bohemia, NY.

The Works Progress Administration completed hardsurfacing work on Church Street in Christiansted.

"Virgin white pine of northeastern Wisconsin attracted early settlers to northern Oconto County. When the virgin forests were depleted, the rocky, sandy soil and the northern climate proved too hard to make a living. Marginal farms were abandoned and the area was destitute and under-employed during the late 1920s and early 1930s. The area looked very bleak and desolate. The answer appeared to be the growing resort industry. The WPA built Chute Pond Dam corrected and conserved the flowage of the Oconto River. This dam was constructed in 1937 on the site of an old log dam (parts of which...

"Circleville School is a historic school building located at Circleville, Pendleton County, West Virginia. It was built in 1937-1938, as a project of the federal Works Progress Administration. It is a two-story masonry building in the Georgian Revival style. It was built on the foundation of a previous school destroyed by fire. The front facade features a two-story pedimented projecting pavilion emphasized by large Doric order pilasters. It is constructed of hollow tile block with a red brick veneer. The truncated hipped roof is topped by a wooden cupola. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995."  ...

"The stadium began life in 1936 as a modest 8,900-person venue, built as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal program in the Works Progress Administration...The Orlando Citrus Bowl -- then named Orlando Stadium -- was one of 116,000 buildings constructed in the program."   (https://www.themaneland.com) The stadium is still in use, though it has since been substantially refurbished.

Completed rehabilitation of building started under S. E. R. A. projects, including plumbing, pipe covering, electric work, rearrangement of library and painting.--Healy, p. 69. This building no longer exists. It was demolished along with the neighboring County Jail and Hall of Justice and replaced by the San Francisco Hilton.

"Located just west of the John C. Fremont City Park, this brick auditorium, with Art Deco style detailing, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building is still used by the schools and local community. Despite infill of the upper level windows it is considered potentially significant for its association with the WPA." (Nebraska State Historical Society)

The striking municipal auditorium on Main Street, Hill City, South Dakota was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. Originally 50 feet x 100 feet, this poured-concrete building has since received additions on its north and south sides. The distinctive building also bears a unique WPA plaque. WPA Project Number 2934

The historic Jamestown City Auditorium was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1936. The exact location and status of the building (which is not to be confused with another WPA auditorium constructed in McElroy Park) are unknown to Living New Deal.

The Arts-and-Crafts-style City Auditorium in Kelliher, MN, was built in 1938-40 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

"The well-constructed City Auditorium, built by the Works Progress Administration between 1936 and 1937 in downtown Willmar, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to provide long-term value for the city." "Relief sculpture panels adorn the space above the Willmar City Auditorium’s front entrance. These sculptures on the front facade," which were created by the Federal Art Project, "are damaged due mostly to the effects of winter climate. That is just one of many detailed findings included in a new master plan that looks out 10 to 15 years." (https://www.wctrib.com)

Constructed by the WPA in 1940-42. "In August of 1938 a $90,000 bond issue was approved by more than 60 percent of voters. As those votes were being canvassed, the rumblings of war could be heard coming from Europe. Germany was being warned by Great Britain, France and Russia about the consequences of entering Czechoslovakia. Before the construction of City Auditorium could be completed, the initial goal of providing work for the unemployed would be supplanted by labor shortages due to the war. But, in July of 1940 there were 227 York County workers enrolled with the WPA. That month, after a long...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) transformed what is now Plattsburgh's City Beach "from a small inadequate watering place to its present high state. The bath house was enlarged, board walk constructed, nearly a mile of sandy beach graded and cleared, diving floats installed and a refreshment stand and parking area constructed so that it is now possible to take care of more than 10,000 bathers at one time." (Plattsburgh Daily Press)

This classic 1894 brick structure received some attention as part of a large number of New Deal projects being undertaken in the city of Biddeford, Maine. As part of the $120,000.00 Federal expenditures in the town in 1935, the mayor Arthur J. Remillard reported that "A public building project was in operation throughout the year employing 10 men. Under this project many necessary repairs were made to the City Building and to several school- houses. The roof of the City Building was leaking so that rain was ruining all the inside of the building. The edge of the roof was raised...

"The Yukon City Hall is a two-story light brick building constructed by the WPA in 1936. It faces north and has a centered entrance. The building has five bays, separated by decorative masonry pilasters, with engraving at the tops. The entrance is a single aluminum and glass door with a narrow sidelight and transom. Beneath the ground floor windows is a stone water table which surrounds the building. Each floors has a single fixed pane window with a stone sill. Across the top of the facade is a wide stone entablature which is engraved "CITY OF YUKON". The WPA shield...

From its origins in the 19th century, the cemetery in Cottonwood AZ was privately owned and run. A local committee was formed in 1937-38 to maintain the cemetery and it immediately sought federal aid from the New Deal.  Help came from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which fenced the entire site. We have no found a definite date for when the work was done. Notably, the WPA relief workers built a 4-5' stone wall along the front of the property and two entrance gates. The main entrance is notable for its a metal arch reading "Cottonwood Cemetery".   The wall, gates and...

The main buildings of City College were constructed between 1903 and 1907 and the library was built in 1929. A new wing to the library was constructed in 1939 with funds labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

These two 50' x 45' low-relief polished marble mosaics depicting "Organic and Inorganic Science" by the Swiss-born artist Herman Volz are located in the south portico of San Francisco City College's Science Hall. Juan Breda served as assistant mosaicist for the project. The images represent fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics in tiny tiles. Text accompanying the mural reads 'Give me a base and I move the world.' Restored in 2005, the murals were originally part of the Golden Gate International Exhibition's "Art in Action" show on Treasure Island before they were moved to the college. "Completed on site,...

These two 12' x 8' tempera fresco murals painted by Frederick Olmsted reside in the front lobby of San Francisco City College's Science Building over the west entrance stairs. Two murals depict students engaged in scientific research. Muted earth tones and small brush strokes represent a range of endeavors in the sciences, such as viewing bacteria through a microscope, conducting field research, and excavating dinosaur remains. A restoration was completed in 2002 by CCSF faculty, staff, students, and an independent conservator, bringing these images close to their original state. (lisa velarde) Frederick Olmsted (April 10, 1911-February 14, 1990) was born in San Francisco....

"My mural will picture the fusion between the great past of the Latin American lands, as it is deeply rooted in the soil, and the high mechanical developments of the United States." - Diego Rivera This 22' by 74' fresco on panels was commissioned from the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera by the organizers of the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island.  Rivera and his crew completed the piece in four months.  Rivera's largest free-standing work, "Pan-American Unity" was the centerpiece of Art in Action, an innovative exhibit where fair-goers could watch artists create their work. After the fair...

The scene is of a large spreading tree, probably a coastal pine in a fanciful setting with mountains in the background, a giraffe on the left side, and a woman sitting under the tree, a man behind and to her right. This is one of several paintings in the City Council chambers, though there is no clear documentation as to the source of the other works. It is signed Armin Hansen 36. Armin Hansen is a well-known painter of California coastal scenes who lived in Monterey from 1913 until his death in 1957. He was instrumental in forming the Carmel Art...

A Works Progress Administration (WPA) dam enlargement project was undertaken to increase the municipal water reserves of Crowell, Texas in an effort completed in 1936. "The capacity of city lake was more than doubled by a WPA project completed last spring. The dam of the lake was raised three and one-half feet and the spillway three feet."

The Works Progress Administration completed repairs and renovations for the City Fire Station, Parkersburg. The exact location of these facilities is unknown to the Living New Deal.

A 1939 Report on WPA works in Southern California describes WPA involvement in the construction of this large city garage, which is still standing today. WPA Work Project No. 996 employed an average of 79 men for 7 months. "Sponsored by the City of Glendale, provided for the completion of a garage building started under the S.E.R.A. (State Emergency Relief Administration) This building, which is located on Isabel Street adjacent to the City Hall, is for the purpose of centrally storing and maintaining city owned trucks, passenger cars and other equipment. The structure is ell-shaped, having a one story portion containing...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed a new city garage for Medford, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Medford's antiquated city garage built to accommodate horse drawn equipment will be replaced with a new Medford WPA city garage now in construction. The new building will contain offices, workrooms, and storage for motor vehicles at present kept in rented quarters. The exact location and present status of this facility is unknown to Living New Deal.