Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed improvements on Elton St., a farm-to-market road in Berlin CT. The project consisted of 7,500 lineal feet of improvements. Pictured is Elton St. under construction with a WPA sign.  

Home football stadium for Morningside College, East High School, North High School and West High School. Formerly known as Roberts Stadium.

As part of a grant to the Pueblo before it became the City of Los Angeles, Elysian Park is the oldest and second largest park in Los Angeles at 600 acres. A section of the park Montecillo De Leo Politi is a limited use area available by reservation. In 1936, the WPA constructed two tennis courts and two comfort stations there. Under project number 9907, it was sponsored by the City of Los Angeles, the cost was $211,942, and provided 358 men on average per month with employment for 9 months.

"WPA Project #1 B20 950 Project opened February 13th, 1935 as an emergency project under Application #700-LA and was later assigned Project #1 B20 950. Work consisted of clearing streets of fallen trees and the disposal of other storm debris. The clean-up was made necessary by the severe windstorm of February 12th in the Sierra Madre section." Photos in archive depict damage on Grandview near Sierra Madre Ave., Mariposa Dr., Central Ave., Sturdevant Dr., Esperanza (first street south of Central Ave., Hermosa & Laurel, Central Ave. west of Lima, & East Central.

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on Emerson Avenue in Parkersburg, Wood County.

The historic Emery County Courthouse building in Castle Dale, Utah was constructed as a New Deal project with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor also contributed to the project. The building continues to house governmental functions. "With the assurance of a PWA grant providing 45 percent of the building's $60,000 cost, county voters approved bonding in August 1938. construction began later that year, and building was occupied in August 1939."

In March 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements to the playground at Emery Park Elementary School in Alhambra, CA. The work consisted of grading approximately 6,000 square yards and paving.

Emery Park in South Wales, New York was one of a number of parks in Erie County improved ca. 1936 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The old incinerators are among the historic stone structures that remain from the WPA improvement project (Erie County).

"The Emma Hart Willard Memorial, is a public artwork by designed by Pierre Zwick and Marion Guild and sculpted by T.A. Campbell who worked for the Houlihan Shop in Rutland, Vermont. Erected in 1941, the memorial is located in a triangular-shaped park at the intersection of route 125 and route 7 in downtown Middlebury, Vermont... The sculpture was designed and sculpted with funding from the Federal Arts Project, and erected with funding from the Works Progress Administration. Since its dedication in 1941, the Emma Willard Memorial has been maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution and is presently administered by...

"Emmons County Courthouse in Linton, North Dakota was built in 1934. It is notable for being the first Works Progress Administration project granted in the state. Seven courthouses in the state were completed as part of this program. The Emmons County Courthouse is also one of eight Art Deco courthouses in North Dakota. The Courthouse was entered into the National Register of Historic Places 1985-11-14."

The WPA made improvements to Empire Grade Road in Santa Cruz in 1936.

The W.P.A. constructed sidewalks in Phoenix, AZ, including at "Encanto & First Ave."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built park facilities at the Enderis Playing Field in Milwaukee. One among many parks built and improved by the WPA in Milwaukee, the Enderis Playing field is still in use today. The land, which the city purchased in 1931, was initially part of the Gale Crest Park subdivision, a sparsely populated area annexed by the city of Milwaukee in 1927. The park is named after Dorothy Enderis, who led the Recreation Division of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Together with Gilbert Clegg, she devised the 1937 Milwaukee park improvements plan. The list of projects to be completed...

"The Enid Armory, located at 600 E. Elm Avenue is a two-story red brick building, constructed as a WPA project in 1936. At the time, it was the third largest armory in Oklahoma. It is the only armory built using red brick. This building has been used to train soldiers for World War II and Korea. It was targeted by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005, as one of the 58 armories to be closed within the next five years. Currently, a new Armed Forces Reserve Center is being built at Vance Air Force Base in Enid. This Center...

A large allocation of WPA funds for school construction and improvement projects for the state of Montana was issued in late 1938. The allocation included funding for school building improvements in Ennis, Montana. The structure in question is most likely what is now Ennis High School. The allocation for the structure appears on Montana WPA Roll 25 under project number 665-91-2-55.

The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts, an ice rink, and a shelter house for the School in Enosburg.  

The original Eola School was built in 1928. In 1939, a five-room addition, a gym/auditorium, a rock wall, and two water towers were added with the help of Work Projects Administration (WPA) funds and labor. In 1983, the school closed. In 2005 the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently the Eola School Restaurant and Brewery. The five-room addition was added to the west side of the original building. It is constructed of rough faced limestone with brick trim. The gym/auditorium extends off the rear or north side. It is spanned by a barrel vault...

Contributor note: "Eastern Oklahoma State College was established in 1908, and has evolved over the years to becoming an accredited Junior College. It is located at 1301 W. Main Street west of the town of Wilburton. On the west side of the campus, a football gridiron and red cinder track was constructed by the WPA. Today, the track has been removed and the field is used for soccer. The grandstands are constructed of uncoursed native sandstone, and poured concrete seating. The stands measure 278 ft. by 14 ft. The stands have three tiers except in the center section which has six...

The Epping-Springbrook Dam was the "largest earthfill dam in the State. Constructed as an FERA and WPA project, it was completed in 1936. This bulwark on STONY CREEK has created a lake covering 180 acres, which, including a strip of land around the water, will be made into a State park devoted entirely to recreation." The exact location and current status of the project is unknown to Living New Deal, though we believe the dam to be no longer extant.

The WPA photo shown here shows the new Firemen's Building constructed for the Erie County Fairgrounds. The building remains in place today and "houses antique fire engines and other artifacts" (www.ecfair.org)

Originally known as "Port Erie Airport," what is now Erie International Airport was developed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. "Besides the privately-owned airport at Fairview, a modern airport, Port Erie, was completed in 1937 by the Works Progress Administration and the city. Air mail service was inaugurated on May 19, 1938." (WPA Guide) "On January 15, 1936 the mayor, Charles R. Barber announced that the City of Erie planned to sponsor under the Work Projects Administration, ... In March of 1936 it was announced that engineers of the Federal Government were to make a survey of the field...

"The Art Gallery, also on the second floor" of the main branch of the Erie Public Library housed, among other works, "Two interesting paintings by Harry Klopp, done under the WPA Federal Art Project, are Robin Hood and The Pied Piper of Hamlin." The library has since relocated, and the current status of the paintings is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration worked to beautify Cleveland's Erie Street Cemetery during the Great Depression. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: "Complaints of neglect inspired WPA action, including erecting a fence fashioned from the demolished Superior Ave. viaduct's sandstone. In 1940 the refurbished cemetery of historic graves, including that of Sauk Chief , was rededicated."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a project in Old Lyme, CT entailing "riprapping a section of shore front to preserve roadway from washout."

In 1937 the WPA improved Escalona Drive "in the city of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, including clearing, scrubbing widening, grading, oiling, installing culverts."

The Works Progress Administration built several roads and bridges in the vicinity of Atmore. This work was part of a county-wide bridge construction project in Escambia County. The approximate cost of the entire program was $377,500.00.

The WPA built the school's Manual Training Building pictured below. Several other renovations were done in the late 1930s and it is likely that the WPA was involved in those as well, however we do not yet have sufficient documentation to know. In 1955 all the buildings at this site were shut down and the school moved to another location.

'In 1939, the school was... expanded and remodeled, this time as a WPA project. The auditorium on Yolo Avenue and the homemaking classrooms are the principal buildings of historic significance from this remodel. The auditorium, in particular, is an excellent example of a WPA designed building and embodies fully the Moderne style of architecture common to WPA projects.' - Yolo County Historical resources (Source: David Herbst, local historian)

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. ..." "Three of Mr. Lenson's New Jersey murals still exist, all in Newark... The three other New Jersey murals are gone. ''The History of New Jersey,'' a 16-by-75-foot mural for the dining room at the Essex Mountain Sanatorium in...

New York's 15,000-square-foot Essex Street Market, located along the east side of Essex Street between Rivington and Delancey Streets, was constructed with the assistance of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). The market opened in 1940. It was "one of eight similar markets built by LaGuardia and financed in part by federal money from the WPA." (blogs.forward.com) After many years of vibrant activity, first with Jewish and Italian residents and vendors, and then with Puerto Ricans as neighborhood demographics shifted, the increasing popularity of supermarkets had reduced the number of vendors in the Essex Street Market from 475 to 59. In the...

The Works Progress Administration and the Work Projects Administration established, maintained, and operated homestead communities at Estate Mandahl on St. Thomas. The work was funded by a $20,400 emergency relief grant (1933-1940) to the Government of the Virgin Islands. The 1939 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands describes the outcomes of homesteading on St. Thomas as such: “Fifty-three homesteaders occupy 80 plots on two Federal homestead projects in St. Thomas on which they have contracted to purchase 609 acres. These projects are largely of a subsistence homestead character since no agricultural cash crop other than vegetables and fruit for local consumption is grown...

The Works Progress Administration and the Work Projects Administration established, maintained, and operated homestead communities at Estate Saint John on St. Croix. The work was funded by a $22,000 emergency relief grant (1933-1940) to the Government of the Virgin Islands. The 1939 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands describes the outcomes of homesteading on St. Croix as such: “On the four Federal homestead projects in St. Croix there are 284 homesteads totaling 2,148 acres under contract. About 70 percent of the homesteaders are now in their fifth or sixth year. During the year 7 homesteaders died, 9 relinquished their plots and 18...

The Works Progress Administration and the Work Projects Administration established, maintained, and operated homestead communities at Estate Whim on St. Croix. The work was funded by a $46,000 emergency relief grant (1933-1940) to the Government of the Virgin Islands. The Estate Whim plantation spread over more than 1400 acres. The Federal government bought the land in the 1920s and later subdivided the plantation for a homestead plan. The 1933 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands mentions the establishment of homesteads in St. Croix: “The six estates known collectively as "Whim", and located in the southwest portion of St. Croix near Frederiksted, contain 1,450 acres of land,...

The Works Progress Administration and the Work Projects Administration established, maintained, and operated homestead communities at Estates Colquhoun and Mount Pleasant on St. Croix. The work was funded by a $18,000 emergency relief grant (1933-1940) to the Government of the Virgin Islands. The 1939 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands describes the outcomes of homesteading on St. Croix as such: “On the four Federal homestead projects in St. Croix there are 284 homesteads totaling 2,148 acres under contract. About 70 percent of the homesteaders are now in their fifth or sixth year. During the year 7 homesteaders died, 9 relinquished their plots...

Photo caption, UVM: "This is a view of the building built under WPA Project No. 65-12-344 at Ethan Allen Park to be used as a combination tool house and toilet for ladies and gentlemen. Modern plumbing has been installed in the toilets with a large cesspool for sewage disposal which can later be connected with the proposed sewer to be built on Bradley Road . This building is erected near the picnic grounds in the Pine Grove." The exact location and status of this facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a masonry entrance at the south end of Ethan Allen Park. The W.P.A. also widened the entrance to 26 feet (W.P.A. Project No. 65-12-344).

The Works Progress Administration constructed a stone masonry lookout house at the pinnacle of Ethan Allen Park in 1938.

Photo caption, UVM: "This view shows Ethan Allen Park drive as seen from the pinnacle. This drive is being constructed with 8" telford stone sub base, 4 inches of stabilized sand and stone base and 1 1/4 inch of armor coat wearing surface covered with a thin layer of washed sand. There is a little over one mile of this type of pavement sixteen feet in width which has been constructed under the WPA project."

The W.P.A. conducted the following work along Bradley Road, since renamed Ethan Allen Parkway. Photo caption, UVM: "Photograph dated Oct. 17, 1941. Original caption reads: Bradley Road Sewer: This view is taken from a point near the intersection of North Avenue looking easterly toward the Poor Farm. This picture was taken after the North End Sewer construction had been completed and numerous large and small pine trees had been eliminated on the southerly side of the street as well as some excavation as shown in the right foreground bordering Ethan Allen Park. Note that the electric light and telephone pole line...

"Built in 1935 and finished in 1937, this building continues to house a unit of the Oklahoma National Guard... Construction began in November of 1935 on the Armory. The building was constructed of quaried of native sandstone. The architecture created a feel of a fortress. Relief stone work created the Seal of the United States over the doorway. Major Bryan W. Nolen of the Oklahoma National Guard, was the architect of the Eufaula Armory and the standardized plans for all the armories throughout the the state created under the WPA. Nolen created standard plans for one-unit, two-unit and four-unit armories for the...