City and Town Halls Sites

The historic Municipal Building for Forty Fort, Pennsylvania was constructed between 1936 and 1937 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $27,900 grant for the project, whose total cost was $72,273. PWA Docket No. PA W1077.

In 1939, civic leaders in Greenville successfully submitted an application to the federal government to obtain funding through the Public Works Administration for a new municipal building. The white brick facade of the building, designed by local architect William R. Ragsdale, fused Art Deco and Modern styles. The lower floor housed offices for city government and civic organizations, such as the chamber of commerce. The jail and fire department used the building also. The upper floor was the municipal auditorium. Eckert & Fair Construction Co. of Dallas built the structure for $148,700. Upon completion, the building was dedicated on October 24, 1939,...

Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Municipal Building in Greenwich OH. This building has housed village government offices since its completion. The architect of record was Granville E. Scott.The contractor was Roth Bros.

Lead, South Dakota's striking Art Deco Municipal Building was constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression, although construction is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA; see Lead Historic Preservation). The building "allowed the city to consolidate the various city offices, a courtroom and the fire department under one roof." The PWA provided a $31,909 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $79,165. Construction occurred between Nov. 1936 and Dec. 1937. PWA Docket No. S.D. 1042-R

Lehighton, Pennsylvania's historic Municipal Building was built in 1936. Its construction was enabled by the provision of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $20,455 grant for the project, whose total cost was $47,764. Construction occurred between Feb. and Sept. 1936. PWA Docket No. PA W1312

Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania's historic Municipal Building was built between November 1938 and September 1939. Construction of the new city hall was enabled by a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. The Beaux Arts building, designed by George M. Ewing, is "an imposing building built in a classical Egyptian-Greek Revival style set upon a high podium entered by symmetrical formal staircases." It is still in service. PWA Docket No. PA X2014.

"Milford's new Court and Office Building on West River Street was opened on March 27, 1937. This thoroughly modern community building, erected under the Public Works Administration program, provided offices for the Police Department, Town Treasurer, Health Officer, Engineering Department, Sewer Commission, Building Inspector, and Zoning and Planning Board, relieving the congestion in the Town Hall across the way. This building was but one of the several local improvements financed through Federal assistance during the last few years." (History of Milford, 1939) The building is still in use today. The PWA provided a $45,000 grant toward the $100,142 total cost of...

"This public building completed in 1938, was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project designed by Gainesville architect Sanford Goin. Relatively inexpensive local materials (pine and limestone) were used. The Municipal Building is part of the City Hall complex in Newberry, Florida. Contributing Building - Newberry Historic District - National Register of Historic Places."   (digitalcommons.unf.edu)

Pleasantville, Pennsylvania's historic stone Municipal Building was constructed as a federal public works project during the Great Depression. The building, which opened in 1935, is still in service. Credit is alternatively given to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) or Public Works Administration (PWA), depending on one's sources, though it is possible the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) assisted with the building's construction.

The historic Municipal Building for Quakertown, Pennsylvania was constructed between 1938 and 1939 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $22,770 grant for the project, whose total cost was $50,146. PWA Docket No. PA W1684.

The National Youth Administration (NYA), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for students and unemployed young people, built the Municipal Building in Roosevelt, Utah, in 1941. The Municipal Building is a modest, one-story structure in brick with very simple decoration (a zig-zag line in a white band above the front entrance).  Over the entrance is a cast-concrete plaque with the name and NYA 1941 on each side (see photo). The building sits next to the public library in the town's Central Park.  Presumably, it once was the town hall, but it presently houses a city ambulance garage (a later addition...

Saddle River's Municipal Building / Borough Hall was constructed with the assistance of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $26,181 grant for the project, whose total cost was $59,256. Construction occurred between Jan. and Dec. 1937. PWA Docket No. NJ 1192-D. Short and Stanley-Brown: “The first floor of the project contains an entrance foyer, the mayor’s office, council room, offices for the assessor and collector, and an auditorium seating 225 people. The second floor contains a balcony to the auditorium, seating 125, and a library. In the basement are a fire-apparatus room, firemen’s recreation room, police and recorders’ room,...

Two-story stone Art Moderne governmental building; symmetrical facades with recessed quadripartite windows; central entrance bay behind stepped recess with decorative metalwork around entrance and above central second-story window; central stepped parapet. A WPA project designed by architect Louis Wirtz, the building exemplifies one period of architecture in Seguin.

The Seminole city council make plans in 1935 for a new Municipal building to hold offices and a "civic center" due to the fact the old "civic center" exploded due to a gas leak on December 29, 1934. After selecting the architectural firm from Oklahoma City. The city council applied for a grant from the Public Works Administration in April 1935. The grant was approved September 26, 1935 with a total amount of the construction cost at $86,818 and the first federal check arrived January 27, 1936 but ground breaking did not occur until March 1936 and a grand opening...

The PWA built this single story colonial style municipal building in 1939. It has a brick façade with cut stone accents, and a cupola graces the center of the roof. It currently houses the Shrewsbury police department.

This building was constructed by the WPA in 1940: "A rectangular...structure, the Skiatook Municipal Building looks very much like an armory. It is constructed of dressed and lightly rusticated native sandstone laid randomly...It appears to be a military armory, but it was planned and has always been utilized as a municipal facility."   (www.okhistory.org) The building is currently occupied by the town Police Department.

This building was constructed as Springville's municipal and fire hall building by the WPA in 1936-1937. It no longer appears to house the fire department, but continues to serve as a municipal building housing the police department, court and other offices.

The historic St. Ignace Municipal Building was constructed in 1939-40 by the Work Projects Administration (WPA).

Warren, Pennsylvania's historic Municipal Building was constructed between 1936 and 1937 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. PA W1452. "This structure replaces a municipal building which was 70 years old, which had been remodeled several times, and had passed the point of economic usefulness. The new building contains offices for the burgess, borough clerk, city engineer, police department, health department and welfare clinic, and the council chambers. There is a pistol range in the basement, a jail with eight double cells, a dormitory for transients, and some unfinished space for future expansion. The structure is fireproof....

In late 1934, Wauneta had a substantial fund saved from the earnings of its municipal water system. Plans were drawn by a local architect for a building measuring fifty feet by twenty-five feet to provide space for the municipal offices, library, fire department and jail. The building was designed to allow a later addition of a second story for an auditorium. In the middle of January, 1935, a small crew of relief laborers started razing the old fire hall and pump house. The building was carefully dismantled in order to salvage as much material as possible for use in the...

City Hall and auditorium erected 1940-1942. Rock building with clock tower.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded half the cost of the handsome Municipal Building in Price UT, constructed in 1938-39.  The building includes city offices, a large auditorium and an enormous mural cycle by native son Lynn Fausett in the foyer of the auditorium.   The design is minimalist Neoclassical Moderne clad in desert-buff brick. The city offices have been completely altered, but the foyer with its murals  and the auditorium with its wooden seats with streamline sidebars (photos below) are both still intact.  The cornerstone attributes the building to the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (the formal name for the PWA). The...

The historic former Municipal Building ("Town Hall") in Front Royal, Virginia was built with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $10,707 grant for the project, whose total cost was $38,235. Construction occurred between June 1935 and early 1936. A plaque on the building offers more information about the its functions and history. PWA Docket No. 5744

The old Haverstraw Municipal Building, which now serves as a Fire Department facility, 25 Fairmount Ave., was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $39,000 loan and $31,909 grant for the project, whose total cost was $81,681. Construction occurred between Dec. 1936 and Aug. 1937. PWA Docket No. NY 1313

Among a set of 26 WPA projects for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania approved in Sept. 1935 was "improvements to the municipal building" in Braddock, PA. The Federal government contributed $600 for the project and local sponsors contributed $144. Braddock's Municipal Building has since moved; the address and present status of the former building is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to repair and remodel Florham Park's old Municipal Building in 1936. The exact location and current status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to renovate the old Municipal Building in Pennsauken, New Jersey in 1936. The exact location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.

A 1939 municipal report detailed extensive New Deal work in the area, including: "During the past year the wood and metal trim of the Civic Centre building was given one coat of paint. The interior walls were washed by the NYA in cooperation with one of the state dependents who makes his residence in the city. Minor repair work was carried on and an effort made to prevent actual deterioration of the building. In the near future a second coat of paint must be given the exterior and the interior walls must be painted. Stokers should be installed to feed the...

Among a set of 26 WPA projects approved for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in Sept. 1935 was "electrical rewiring of municipal building" in Turtle Creek. Additional work in the town involved "surveys for flood control and sewage disposal." The Federal government allocated $55,244 for the project and local sponsors contributed $11,062.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) carried out the reconstruction of the Municipal Building, formerly known as “Lange’s Building.”

An Independent Reporter article from the 1930s reported that an Emergency Relief Administration crew was nearing completion of a job at the local municipal building: "By the close of the present week the Municipal building will lose some of its untidy appearance which has been a natural result of the work undertaken by an ERA crew to paint, varnish and generally renovate the building. Painters stagings and other equipment will be out of most of the offices by then and possibly the corridors for the work has advanced at a good speed and much of the task already completed. Offices which have...

Bethel, Connecticut's town hall (also known as the Clifford J. Hurgen Municipal Center) was originally constructed as the town's high school; its construction was enabled by the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. According to Wikipedia, "A new building was built in 1939 on what later became School Street, and additions to its main building were made over the next few years. The School Street building is now the Bethel Municipal Center (Town Hall)." The PWA gave the community a grant of $99,477, and the school project cost a total of $197,451. PWA completion documents declare...

The WPA did extensive work in Colmar Manor in 1935, including constructing concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutter improvements. The WPA also made alterations to Town Hall and improvements to City Park and a local playground. It is not known whether the current town hall is the one referred to in 1935 or which playground and park were improved.

In 1935, the CWA and WPA were involved in cemetery work in the town employing 10 people. W. P. A. Hall project $2,625.36 W. P. A. Road project $223.46 W. P. A. Old Meetinghouse project. $42.64

Between 1935 and 1938, the Works Progress Administration funded a number of municipal improvements in the town of Danville, including upgrades for the local library, town hall, and cemetery; work on roads and forest sites; and support for a local sewing project. "1935 E.R.A. and W.P.A. Cemetery Projects 8 employed $382.08 Sewing project (W.P.A.) $46.89 1936 OUTLAY FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION AND PERM. IMPROVE. W.P.A. Cemetery ----- $1,334.96 W.P.A. Sewing -------- $106.62 Town of Sandown, for W. P. A., Sewing Project $10.00 1937 Town Warrant 11. To see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $500. to purchase material for repairs on the town hall, to be used in...

A significant amount of useful employment was provided thanks to the New Deal in this port city which dates back to the original settlements in the early 1600's and whose shipyards have played a key part in every conflict our nations history. Only 1933 to '36 and 1942 town reports were available. 1933 "The City received funds from the local Unemployment Committee, the State of N. H. Highway Department, the State of N. H. Relief Administration, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation via the State of N. H., the Civil Works Administration via the State of N. H., the Unemployment Relief Construction, and various...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of municipal offices and auditorium for the City of Marion, Kansas. It still serves this purpose.

"There is a Work Projects Administration plaque, dated 1938-1940, on the front of the building, and the school's cornerstone references the WPA and the dates 1939-1940. A Texas Historical Marker at the rear entrance (which is the main entrance today) elaborates: " 'Murphy was originally called Old Decatur after the hometown of founder C.A. McMillen. In 1888 the town was renamed Murphy after William Murphy donated land to build a train depot and a post office. The Federal Works Project Administration (WPA) built Murphy School in 1939, which because of consolidation lasted only until 1950. The city purchased the building and...

The Works Progress Administration built the Ness City Public Library in Ness City KS. This building originally housed the Ness City Fire Department, the Ness City city office, and the Ness City Public Library. It now is the location of the Ness City Public Library only. The city office and the fire department have moved to other locations. 

The Works Progress Administration built the Norcatur City Hall in Norcatur KS. According to the Kansas Historical Society, "In 1935, Norcatur residents voted 213 to three in favor of matching a federal grant of $26,000 to erect a new city hall. Despite construction delays and the frequent turnover of project managers, the Norcatur City Hall was completed in August 1937 under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal-era work relief program. Civic buildings erected as part of this program typically featured expressions of Classical or Moderne architecture. The Norcatur City Hall reflects a vernacular interpretation of the Streamlined...