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  • Community Hall - Loma CO
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a community hall, 1938-40, for use by farm families relocated from the Dust Bowl to a Resettlement Community in Fruita and Loma, Colorado. It is a tall, single-story, wood frame building, with plank siding painted white.  The high-ceiling interior is fitted out with hardwood floors, a basketball court, a stage and riser seating. Two ticket windows flank the entrance.  The basement has a full kitchen, which was used by WPA service workers to make hot lunches for the nearby elementary school. We have no corroborating evidence that the elementary school was built by the WPA, despite...
  • Community Hall - Purcell OK
    “The Purcell Community Hall is a single story rectangular building (51’ X 104’) and is constructed of dark red native sandstone laid in a cob web pattern.  The masonry is splendid…On the front a limestone frieze and water table line provide decorative relief, as does the segmental arch entryway… Reminiscent of a National Guard Armory, it has a style unlike any other civic center constructed by the WPA in Oklahoma...That it was constructed early in the life of the WPA program, when the skills of workers still lacked refinement, makes the structure even more unique...The Community Hall is notable because it...
  • Community Hall - Recluse WY
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a community center in Recluse, Wyoming. The location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Community Hall - Sandpoint ID
    The WPA built this community hall in Sandpoint in 1936. From the Idaho Historical Society (via Waymarking.com): "The idea behind the Community Hall originated with the local Boy Scout organization early in 1935. It was difficult to find meeting places for the three Sandpoint troops, especially during the winter months, "and for that reason the council decided to build a log cabin for the use of the Boy Scouts and other local groups," reported E. E. Hunt, president of the Bonner County Boy Scout council. Other groups soon became involved and the project became community- wide in scope. Local support for the...
  • Community Hall (former) - Farson WY
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a community center in Farson, Wyoming. The building then "burned in 1936 and was reconstructed with insurance proceeds and WPA labor." Living New Deal believes the community centers were located on what is now the site of the current Eden Valley Community Center, constructed in 2011. Google Street View imagery shows a building that reasonably fits the description of a mid-1930s community center.
  • Community House - Carrollton MS
    The community house was constructed 1935-1936 with native pine logs in the rustic style. Superintendent of construction was David Felts, a building and contractor from Carrollton. Extensive restoration was completed in 2001.
  • Community House - Columbia AL
    The Works Progress Administration built a community house in Columbia, circa 1937. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.
  • Community House - Enterprise MS
    Enterprise, Mississippi's rustic-style log community house was constructed c. 1935 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building features a porch with shed roof and stone chimney.
  • Community House - Eupora MS
    The stone veneer facade, one-story stone and brick Community House was constructed with Work Progress Administration funding in 1938. One room of the Community House was designated for a library in 1966. The first known library in the county was established in the courthouse through the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression but was in existence only eight months.
  • Community House - Flowell UT
    Flowell, Utah's historic community house was constructed as part of a New Deal project undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The exact location and present status of the community house are presently unknown to Living New Deal. "30 Families Raise $5,159 For New Hall FLOWELL, Utah March 23-(AP)--The 30 families living here, seven miles west of Fillmore, have made a bigger cash sacrifice per family to obtain a WPA project than any other community in Utah. Darrell J. Greenwell, state administrator, said the residents raised $172 per family to provide matching funds to obtain a $20,830 community house erected by the WPA....
  • Community House - Grenada MS
    The Grenada Community House is a Tudor style "stone-veneered building with false-half-timbered gables, very similar to the community house in Pontotoc and Winona" and is part of the Grenada Downtown Historic District (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). "On February 9, 1934, with aid from the WPA Library Project, the official Grenada County Library opened in the upstairs room in a building next to the Grenada Bank. In 1936 the Community House was built on Line Street as a project through WPA. Part of the building became the new home of the library. In 1963 the city of Grenada gave the entire Community...
  • Community House - Pittsboro NC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed the Community House in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The building is still in use.
  • Community House - Pontotoc MS
    The Tudor-style community house was constructed in 1935 by FERA. "A stone-veneered building with false half-timbered gables, very similar to the community houses in Grenada and Winona" (Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Historic Resources Inventory database Fact Sheet). The facility is currently available for community activities and is used frequently for committee meetings, weddings, funerals, and other local events. A committee formed in 1999 and was involved in restoration and renovation for a 10-year period (Elkins, 2009).
  • Community House - Red Oak NC
    The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed the Community House in Red Oak, North Carolina. The building, which is located on the south/east side of Church Street between Red Oak Blvd. and School St., is still in use.
  • Community House - Teoc MS
    The rustic style log cabin with stone chimney was conjectured to have been built by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) circa 1935, in the Teoc Community northwest of North Carrollton. WPA and other New Deal agencies built similar community houses in Mississippi in 1935. It was abandoned and collapsing in 1997, and in 2009, only the chimney remained.
  • Community House - Winona MS
    One of 17 community houses constructed in Mississippi during the New Deal, the facility in Winona is still in use and maintained through regular repair, retaining "a high degree of integrity" (Gatlin, 2008). The building is faced with native rock in a Tudor style.. The public library was housed in the building initially, as were many of the libraries opened in Mississippi under the New Deal library projects. The first event held at completion was a "celebration of WPA Project Day, held 'for the purpose of acquainting the public with the accomplishments of the program during its first year' " (WPA...
  • Community House (former) - Carson MS
    The Carson Community House was constructed as National Youth Administration project 5649 in 1939. It is a two story, brick veneer building, currently in use as a Masonic Lodge. It appears to be essentially unaltered, other than sealing of two upper windows. It retains the external double stairs to access the second floor.
  • Community House (Former) - Oxford MS
    The B. and P.W. Club of Oxford, the National Youth Administration and local citizens funded the construction of a community house for the use of Lafayette County. Home Demonstration clubs solicited funds from county communities to assist. The house was proposed to be located on North Lamar street, one block north of the courthouse. W. P. 5160 #896 for Oxford Community House, Lafayette County was constructed of 8 inch stone veneer laid random ashlar. Stone was quarried by NYA and the cypress shingles were cut at the Longview NYA sawmill. It contained a woodwork shop in the basement and was...
  • Coral Gables Woman's Club - Coral Gables FL
    The Works Progress Administration built a community house and library in Coral Gables, Florida. The building now serves as the Coral Gables Woman's Club. "During the Great Depression, the national Works Projects Administration operated projects in cooperation with state and local governments throughout the country. Of the 17 projects approved for Coral Gables, a library and community building built on land donated by the City was completed in 1937. The coral rock building at 1001 East Ponce de Leon Boulevard was the Library’s location for more than 30 years. The building also housed the Woman’s Club which operated the Library until 1953...
  • Cottonwood Community Club House - Cottonwood AZ
    The Cottonwood Community Club House – also known as the Community Center or Civic Center – was built in 1939 with the help of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  The WPA hired the relief workers to do the labor, many of whom came from the local area, while funds for materials did not come from city government, as was usual, but through volunteer subscriptions by local citizens. The local effort was led by the women's Cottonwood Community Civic Club, for which the club house was intended (on land donated to them three years earlier). The building is eye-catching, with walls of large, round...
  • County Hall (former) - Charleston SC
    What is now Palace Apartments started out as Williamson Mill (a cotton mill)—built in 1902. Sometime after that it was bought and plans were made to convert the building into a county multi-use building (basketball, boxing, tennis, indoor track, concerts, dances, etc.). WPA work included removing the upper part of the building, new roof installation, and upgraded utilities. The WPA spent $250,000 dollars on the project, which is about $4 million in 2013 dollars, so the conversion work must have been extensive. In later years, the county building became a popular venue for professional wrestling.
  • Daughters of the Republic of Texas Meeting Hall - San Antonio TX
    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...
  • Dayton Community Hall - Dayton WY
    "The Dayton Community Hall is a community building located at 410 Bridge St. in Dayton, Wyoming. The hall was built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration. The people of Dayton used the hall for community gatherings, as their previous community hall was no longer safe for activities. The hall was the largest such hall in the county, and the dances it hosted each Saturday night drew visitors from up to 50 miles (80 km) away. In addition to dances, the hall also hosted basketball games, Dayton Benefit Club meetings, local school events, and political functions. The hall continues to...
  • Dixie Pine Community Center - Hattiesburg MS
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a community center for the Dixie Pine community in 1936. Dixie Pine had 1000 residents and no public building for social activity. The center hosted many dances for the Camp Shelby soldiers through the WPA Recreation Project. The center was in use occasionally as a polling location for elections in 1977 when it was destroyed by fire.
  • Durham Armory - Durham NC
    A former armory quartering the Durham National Guard, what is now the central civic center in downtown Durham, North Carolina  was constructed between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) It was converted to a civic center circa 1954.
  • Earl Bell Community Center - Jonesboro AR
    Constructed in 1935-1936, the Community Center #1 (later renamed the Earl Bell Community Center) was a civil building in Jonesboro. Jonesboro architect, Elmer A. Stuck, designed the building that cost $100,000 (of which $45,000 came from the Public Works Administration, and $55,000 from a bond issue). The Community Center #1 is a single story building with buff brick walls on a continuous concrete foundation. It has a gable roof located in the center, with flat roofs on the east and west sides. With several changes through the years, it still features the art deco architecture. It has numerous Art Deco...
  • El Mercado/Farmer's Market - San Antonio TX
    Today this building is known as El Mercado, the home of the largest Mercado outside of Mexico. It was built as a WPA project during 1938-1939 after the existing municipal market house (known as the Giles building) was torn down. The new market was originally named the Municipal Truck Market because it was designed with a wide entry so farmers could drive their truck into the market and sell their produce direct from their truck. However, the market was commonly called the Farmer's Market. In 1975 the last produce was sold here and the market house underwent renovation to convert...
  • Emancipation Park - Houston TX
    Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas was dramatically transformed and improved by construction projects enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The park "was donated to the City of Houston in 1916. For more than twenty years, Emancipation Park was the only public park in Houston open to African-Americans. In 1938-39, the Public Works Administration constructed on the park site a recreation center, swimming pool, and bathhouse, designed by prominent Houston architect William Ward Watkin, on the site. The buildings are important examples of PWA construction in Houston and have been used since their construction for after-school...
  • Facility Development and Repairs - Ranger TX
    Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was "Repairs on a girls' dormitory and finishing of an auditorium and recreation building Ranger, at a total cost of $1659. Twenty men were employed for two months." The location and status of these facilities is presently unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Fairhaven Hotel (former) Renovations - Bellingham WA
    Bellingham, Washington's old historic Fairhaven Hotel occupied the northeast corner of 12th Street and Harris Ave. "A new use for a famous old landmark in Bellingham hes been found with a recently approved Works Progress Administration project designed to convert the old Fairhaven Hotel into a community recreational center and headquarters for local public welfare agencies. ... he question of what to do with the county-owned historic building is now settled." The building is no longer extant, having been destroyed during the mid-1950s.
  • Fireman's Park Improvements - Brenham TX
    The Brenham Fire Department established Fireman's Park in 1884.The Fire Department gave the park to the City of Brenham in 1917 "for cancellation of the department's indebtedness to the city." The Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park consisting of a two-story hut, a kitchen, a beer garden, an American Legion Hall and a sixteen-sided building that houses an antique carousel.
  • Fort Dupont Dwellings Community Building - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Fort Dupont Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1939-1941. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Fort Dupont Dwellings Community Building was part...
  • Frank H. Ball Park Swimming Pool and Community Building - Fresno CA
    A New Deal Fresno brochure lists the swimming pool at Frank H. Ball park as being built by the PWA. The playground also received $42,000 for an NYA project to give youth training in building trades. The recreation building plaque shows that it, too, was an NYA project.
  • Frederick Douglass Dwellings Administration and Community Building - Washington DC
    The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of an administration and community building for the Frederick Douglass Dwellings and surrounding community, ca. 1940-1942. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Frederick Douglass Dwellings Administration and...
  • Frist Art Museum (former Main Post Office) - Nashville TN
    Nashville's former main post office was built in 1933-34 by the Treasury Department's Office of Construction (later the Office of Procurement).  The enormous structure, filling a city block, was constructed in a record 18 months. The design by architects Marr and Holman is a distinctive "stripped" classicism exterior design (often simply called Classical Moderne). The exterior is white Georgia marble with gray-pink Minnesota granite. The interior is done in the Art Deco Style with cast aluminum doors and grillwork, colored marble and stone on floors and walls. Interior marble included Fantasia Rose and Monte Neva from East Tennessee, Westfield marble from...
  • Gainesville Servicemen’s Center - Gainesville FL
    The City of Gainesville purchased the Servicemen’s Center lot on December 7th, 1942. The Federal Works Agency constructed a $37,000 building with a ballroom, stage, dressing rooms, second floor reading room, three showers, three telephone booths for long distance calls, a coat check room, a 20-foot-long snack bar, and a kitchen with a ten-burner stove. A $420,000 renovation took place in 2000. Today, the building serves as a voting Precinct and used for various community meetings and gatherings.
  • Gamble Community Center - St. Louis MO
    This two-story Modern Deco brick building was completed in 1938 by the Public Works Administration to serve as the community recreation center for this part of St. Louis. The center is still in operation. The community center is surrounded by a large playground.
  • George Wilson Community Center (closed) - Selma AL
    The history of this building is tied very closely with the two people involved in the passage of the most significant legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Samuel Boynton, and Amelia Pitts Boynton Robinson. Samuel Boynton, Charles J. Adams, and others successfully lobbied the federal government for some New Deal money to be used to build a community center in Selma. Boynton had advocated for years for a public restroom facility for African Americans near downtown Selma. Jim Crow laws prevented African Americans from using any of the store facilities including restrooms, lunch counters, and other...
  • Girl Scout Little House - Casper WY
    The Girl Scout Little House at 1011 Bonnie Brae Street was constructed during the Great Depression with New Deal work relief labor. Approved as a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project, the Little House was constructed in 1934-5 and completed under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).
  • Glendale Civic Auditorium - Glendale CA
    Constructed by the WPA under projects 3635, 6994, 7706 and 9392 in 1938. When constructed it was called the Verdugo Municipal Recreation Center and was sponsored by the city of Glendale. "This project, costing a total of $736,422 of which $650,731 was supplied by the Federal Government, consisted of the construction of an auditorium containing 560,000 cubic feet with facilities for plays, concerts, conventions, dances and other public gatherings. A 50 meter swimming pool of the modern cloverleaf design, and conforming to intercollegiate and international specifications, was built together with a reinforced concrete grandstand. A connecting bathhouse containing 160,00 cubic feet...
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