Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Works Progress Administration paved Curry Road in Tempe, Maricopa County, circa 1937. Pictured is a finished section of Curry Highway (presently Curry Road) at the intersection with Scottsdale Road.

The Works Progress Administration provided labor for the construction of Curtis Field between 1940 and 1941 under project number 165-1-66-325. The City of Brady and McCulloch County provided equipment for leveling and grading. In 1942, the facility was taken over by the United States Army Air Forces and was used during World War II as a pilot training airfield. The City of Brady currently owns the airport and operates it as a general aviation facility.

Cuscaden Park in Tampa's Ybor City was constructed by the WPA in 1935.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor conducted improvements at the since-demolished Cushman School in Boston, Massachusetts. The facility was located at 44 Prince St. WPA Bulletin: To insure the safety of pupils in the Cushman School, North End, WPA has rebuilt the fire escapes, setting in new gratings, new hook bolts and hand rails. Seven ironworkers and three laborers were employed on this job.

The Works Progress Administration built the elementary school in Custer WA.

Waurika's Cy Sloan Stadium (formerly Harmon Park Stadium) was built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration, and it bears a WPA 1939 stamp. It has a current capacity of 1,300.

The Cyclorama Building was built in 1888 and showcased a variety of cycloramic exhibits, including "The Crucifixion of Christ" and "The Battle of Gettysburg." The city of Buffalo acquired the building in 1910, using it as a livery and taxi garage and as a roller skating rink. The building fell into disrepair until it was renovated and repaired by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. The WPA added new windows, a new floor, and a new roof and built an additional room, all for the cost of $36,000. In 1942, the Grosvenor Library purchased the building, converting it into...

The WPA undertook work during the 1930s to improve Brooklyn, New York's Cypress Hills National Cemetery (the only National Cemetery in New York City). One $110,000 project entailed: "ehabilitate grounds and buildings which includes tree surgery, aligning, setting and resetting headstones, improvement to iron and chain link fences, laying concrete curb and other improvements to grounds and buildings ..." WPA Official Project No. 266-97-8000.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers expanded D.W. Field Golf Course in Brockton, Mass. WPA Bulletin: Brockton WPA added ten acres to the original 30 acres of fairways, built bunkers to tax the skill of players, widened fairways and did extensive grading and reseeding work at the D. W. Field public golf course.

The New York Times reported in 1941 that, as part of WPA efforts, Brooklyn would receive six new playgrounds, located at: "Third Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street, Second Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Fifty-second Street, Albany and Foster Avenues, Park and Nostrand Avenues and Eastern Parkway Extension and Fulton Street." D'Emic Playground , so named in 1973 after a local community stalwart, is, according to New York City's Parks Department website, "bordered by 3rd Avenue, 34th and 35th Streets. The City of New York acquired the site in 1940 in connection with acquisition of land for the Gowanus Expressway,...

"The property long known as the Town Farm on Wolcott Road in Simsbury has both an interesting past and an exciting new future. The property was originally donated to the town by Amos Eno... in 1883, 'to be used for the occupation and maintenance of the town poor' according to the deed. Over the years, the town has managed the property in various ways, all with meeting this requirement as a guideline. The new Community Farm of Simsbury, Inc., in cooperation with other nonprofit organizations and the town, will be establishing programs in the areas of education, community service, historic...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed barns at the dairy research installation in Willard, North Carolina. The exact location and present status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a dam in or near Plymouth, Indiana, impounding a 300-acre-foot lake. The location and status of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a massive dam on the John Lubeck farm southwest of Orleans, Nebraska. The farm is placed three miles west and four miles south of Orleans, per an article in The Orleans Enterprise. The dam was "350 feet long and 22 to 23 feet in height, measuring 110 feet at the base and 13 feet across at the top." It was planned that the lake impounded by the dam would become a resort. Per Google Maps, a lake called Lubeck Reservoir is impounded by a dam that generally fits the dimensions above. The structure is located...

The federal Works Progress Administration constructed dam and spillway, presumably as a mechanism for flood control, to serve the people of Lacey Township, New Jersey ca. 1936. The exact location and status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal. WPA N.J. Project No. 5-51.

Petrachrome mural by Grace Clements. "Damien High is renovating their physical plant and the music building was one of the structures that needed some T.L.C. While removing the stucco that covered the building's facade the mural was uncovered. What the workers had found was Grace Clements' The Spirit of Music... This mural utilizes a technique called "petra-chrome," which was invented by Stanton Macdonald-Wright for the Federal Art Programs. It is concrete that is colored to create a permanent and weather resistant art work. It is a cousin of tile and opus sectile, but one that is more affordable and uniquely suited to...

Then the Bonita Union High School, this school received extensive WPA support after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. According the a 1939 WPA Accomplishment Report for Southern California, the federal government spent $63,927 on the school out of a total of $92,406. The WPA constructed three new reinforced concrete buildings on the site: a library and classroom building, girls gym, and music building. They also developed 7.22 acres for athletic and playground purposes (grading and seeding, handball courts with concrete floor and walls). When Bonita High School moved in 1959, the site was sold to the Catholic Diocese and became an...

Originally known as simply Dana Road, this farm-to-market road connected the rural communities of Dana, McArthur, and Fall River Mills to Shasta County's more traveled traffic arteries. The unincorporated town of Dana from which it drew its name was named for George Dana, who owned and ran a sawmill near Rainbow Springs in the late nineteenth century. Currently, Dana/McArthur Rd (also known as Route A19) connects Route 299 to Route 89.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted a large development / improvement program at Danbury Municipal Airport. Official Project Number: 165‐1‐15‐167 Total project cost: $1,202,620.00 Sponsor: Town of Danbury

"Originally constructed in 1937 with assistance from the WPA, the Madison Municipal Airport was renamed Truax Field during World War II to honor Tommy Truax, a local air cadet killed during a training accident." The airport is now also known as the Dane County Regional Airport.

Constructed by the WPA.

1 of 27 schools in the Pasadena CA school system that the New Deal, whether the WPA or PWA, was involved in reconstructing, demolishing, or reinforcing after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Was built in 1926 in a Gothic style of architecture. Damaged slightly by the earthquake. October 31, 1935 WPA did reinforcement work to get the building up to standards.

This distinctive stone stadium was built by the WPA in 1939. A 1999 document from the Cherokee Strip Museum describes the stadium's origins: "This year we are celebrating the 60" anniversary of Perry Stadium, the home of Daniels Field. Men of the federal Works Project Administration (WPA) at an estimated cost of $100,000 built the sandstone structure in 1939. To those too young to remember, the WPA was an agency conceived by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help overcome the Great Depression. Originally the stadium included a baseball field as well as the football gridiron, but old age caught up with...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed an athletic field at the former Danvers Agricultural School in Danvers, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: Students, townspeople, and particularly young children will be benefited on completion of a six acre WPA Athletic Field at the Danvers Agricultural Institution. One third of this area will be a fully equipped playground for children.

"These two game pens and one barn are located at the historic site of the Darlington Agency, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Agency was established in 1870, later owned by the Masons and operated as a children's home, and then in 1932, operated by the Oklahoma Game and Fish Commission (now known as the Department of Wildlife Conservation). It was operated as a bird hatchery and research station. "The pens consist of two very long buildings constructed of tan concrete block. They were built by the WPA with an appropriation of $79,855 from 1937 to 1939....

The Works Progress Administration built the National Guard Armory in Darlington IN in 1938. Presently, (November 2021) it serves as a community center.

The bridge carrying Date Street across the Manoa-Palolo Canal (itself a W.P.A. project) was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) in 1937. Two imprinted stamps identify the bridge as W.P.A.

Rubble rock building with a WPA plaque. START WORK ON DUFFAU PROJECT: Construction work is under way on the $13,500 gymnasium building of the Duffau school, with Bryan Casbeer, of Lampasas, as project superintendent. The project is being financed through a bond issue of the Duffau school district and the Works Progress Administration. W. W. Stevens, area engineer, Hamilton, was in Stephenville last Monday and reported that 32 WHA laborers were employed on the project. He said that 50 men were expected to be hired by April 23, when the WPA will complete a school ground improvement project at Alexander. Laborers on...

Work had been done on the Alamo grounds in 1934 under the Texas Relief Commission which had been established in 1933 by Governor M.A. (Ma) Ferguson and used Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funds. A marker confirming this work is on the wall facing Crocket Street that connects the DRT meeting hall and their Library was relocated there from another lower wall that was present in the 1930's. Lewis Fisher writes in Saving San Antonio The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage that the City agreed to donate the fire station in the fall of 1936 and references an article in the...

"Davenport Cemetery is a Town-operated cemetery, 1.25 miles west of town off Route 66, on 3490 Road. The cemetery has graveled driveways forming a circle with north-south and east-west bisecting drives. At the center of the cemetery, at the intersection of these crossed drives stands a rock chapel, constructed by the WPA in 1939. This is a one-room chapel which contains wooden benches and an altar. An old upright piano stands at the front. The chapel has a north-south running gabled roof, with a rock gabled, recessed entrance. There are two wood doors. A chimney is constructed at the northwest corner. The...

The David City Park begins long before the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1889, Mrs. Phoebe Miles donated twelve acres to David City for a park, with the stipulation that the city pay the taxes and make improvements. During the depressed financial climate of the 1890s the city was unable to uphold their bargain, and the land reverted to Mrs. Miles. In 1902, a group of citizens organized the David City Park Association and purchased the twelve acres. In addition to buying the land, they also planted trees and made other improvements. In 1905, the city passed a bond issue...

The Seattle Park Department utilized funds and labor from the Civil Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, as well as the state-based Washington Emergency Relief Administration, to complete a series of maintenance and improvement projects at David Rodgers Park. The 8.5-acre park occupies a steep and heavily wooded hillside in Seattle's North Queen Anne neighborhood. The city was gifted the northern half of the park in 1883 and purchased the southern half of the park in 1909. In 1910, the city constructed a couple of paths through the park, followed by the installation of a small wood-frame comfort station...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Davie Tennis Stadium in 1936-37 with an allocation of $65,000.  WPA relief workers built five tennis courts, with lights for night play and bleachers for viewing,  plus a community center in rustic style  that has a WPA plaque in front.  Low stone walls circle the courts and run around the short entrance road; stone pillars flank the park gate.  The park opened to the public on September 1, 1937. The park lies within the city limits of Piedmont CA, itself entirely within the city limits of Oakland!  Piedmont residents opposed the park but Oakland built...

The Works Progress Administration constructed Mobile's Davis Avenue Community Center. The center opened in 1936 and it included facilities such as tennis courts and a pool. Today, the facility is known as the Davis Avenue Recreation Center. The center holds historical significance for the African American history in Mobile and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 27, 2011.

"Construction of Davis's first public park in 1937 was importantly funded by the WPA. Of the $13,128 total cost, the WPA contributed $8,355, leaving $4,773 for the city." - Davis: Radical Changes, Deep Constants The WPA constructed a public restrooms in the northeast corner of the park. "It was built in 1937 as a WPA project and was the first public restroom in Davis. It is also the only WPA building in the City of Davis, lending it additional historical significance. " (daviswiki.org)

Built by the WPA as the Davis City Hall in 1938, this building has since served as a fire station, a police station and now, a restaurant.

Two large murals for the Davis School in East Camden, New Jersey were painted by WPA Art Project artists Esther Heppler Inglesby and Russell J. England. The murals portrayed a half-century of progress in the City of Camden. Their names, titles, and current status are unknown to Living New Deal.

The Davisville School was completed with funds and labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It is a single or two-room school wi th a facade made of local rock. Presently, it is the site of the Davisville American Legion post.

The Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in 1938: "The irrigation project for the Dawson county fairgrounds is under way. WPA workmen are laying pipe and building a house for installation of pumping equipment on the Yellowstone river with a capacity of 9,000 gallons an hour. Pressure will be maintained by the large tank west of the main building which is ready for use."

The Works Progress Administration built the Day Street School in Montgomery. This was one of seven schools that were upgraded with larger classrooms throughout Montgomery County. Federal cost: $42,062.