Community Centers Sites

Edgerton Grange Hall was built in 1904. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) remodeled it in the late 1930s, presumably to accommodate electricity.

TheWorks Progress Administration built an extension for the community hall in Greybull, Bighorn County.

"Perched on a hilltop, the Hartman Gymnasium was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project c. 1938 by local workers as an addition to the existing two-story school. Though the school was torn down, the locally quarried limestone gym was saved and given to the town when the school district consolidated. The gym was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only WPA construction in Hartman and for its local social significance in long service as a community center."   (https://www.secoloradoheritage.com)

The Winslow Headstart building, originally the Winslow Clubhouse, was built in 1937 by relief workers employed by the Work Progress Administration (WPA).   "The Winslow Clubhouse (now Headstart) is a good example of the Winslow community’s desire for adaptive reuse. The building features many interesting details: hand-carved doors, inset "steer-head" designs in the stone wall, and hand-painted tiles gracing the patio steps... The clubhouse and the stadium were constructed in 1937 and funded by the WPA."

"Heights Community Center was the first community recreation center in the city and has served generations of Albuquerque residents. It was constructed between 1938 and 1942 as a National Youth Administration Project, one of several New Deal programs active in Albuquerque during the Great Depression. NYA projects were intended to give youth thorough vocational training and revive their interest in education. At the time, it was considered the largest NYA project in the country. Much of the work for the center was carried out by volunteers using donated or salvaged materials. Several different civic groups in the Heights thought up the...

WisconsinHistory.org: "The Herbster Community Center was funded by the Work Progress Administration, a federal agency established in 1935 by President Roosevelt to provide employment for needy workers during the Great Depression. The WPA project at Herbster was developed to utilize local material and to employ local labor while achieving the final goal of erecting a building that could be used as a gymnasium and town hall. Approval for the community center was granted on May 13, 1939 and work on the project was started in October 1939. The center was completed in the spring of 1940 at the cost of $30,000....

The Bartlett Tribune and News reported in 1935 that Taylor, Texas's new $35,000 high school gymnasium was financed in part by a PWA grant and loan. The old high school and gymnasium are now part of the Taylor Resource Center, which serves seniors and other community needs.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Highland Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 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 Highland Dwellings Community Building was part of the...

"Highland Hall was a WPA project. This building is still in use as a community building and can be reserved for an event... Located on the north side of Highland Park, Highland Hall was a WPA project. This is a one-story native sandstone building, used today as a community center available for meetings and events. The building has a centered entrance that is an aluminum and glass door with sidelight. There are eight 6/6 double hung windows with stone sills across the facade. The roof is gabled and covered with composition shingles. A kitchen area extends out from the rear of...

Originally constructed in 1921, the Hoosier Gym (best known for its role in the 1986 basketball movie Hoosiers) was improved and expanded the gym in 1936. "The project included an exterior facelift with a new front entrance and lobby, and the creation of basement dressing rooms." No longer used regularly as a gym, the building has been turned into a museum and community center.

Oxford, Massachusetts's old Huguenot Steamer No. 1 Fire Station is located on Main Street in North Oxford. A second-story community meeting space was in the building was known as Huguenot Hall. Huguenot Hall received assistance from the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. The building now houses a firefighting museum managed by the Oxford Firefighters Association.

Iola's North Community Building, located at 505 North Buckeye Street, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1940. The building was dedicated on August 4, in a celebration that also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

This historic Iowa Tribe Community Building was constructed in 1940 as a New Deal project. It is "one of the only extant resources built by the Civilian Conservation Corps – Indian Division in Kansas." NRHP nomination form: "The Iowa Tribe Community Building ... is located in northeast Brown County on the reservation of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. ... The one-and-a-half-story limestone building exhibits elements of the Rustic and Colonial Revival architectural styles, which were popular during the New Deal era. It was constructed as part of a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division (CCC-ID), a...

Esther Hurwitz and the Irving Felicity Club led efforts to obtain this U.S. Works Progress Administration project for Irving. The Felicity Club, Dallas Co., the WPA, and various individuals funded the project at a cost of $1,852.52. The Dallas Co. Irving Fresh Water Supply Dist. #5 donated land for the building. Work began on the Irving Community Clubhouse in January 1936. On March 17, 1936, the Felicity Club presented the one-story brick building to the city. J.F. Woerner served as architect and Robert Gidley as landscape architect. Local men constructed the 50' x 25' structure, which had a small kitchen and a...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration built a community building in Casper, Wyoming, which Living New Deal believes to be the Isaac Walton League Lodge at Isaak Walton Park (also confirmed to be an FERA project completed in 1934). The facility was constructed "at an outlay of $11,267." Additional work was conducted at Isaak Walton Park in 1934 by relief labor.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a community building and gymnasium, now known as the James E. Roberts Memorial Building, in Connersville, Indiana. "At Roberts Park in Connersville, a brick community house 120x50 feet is practically completed. The structure is part of a general program of park improvement being carried on in that city."

The Jess Norman Post 166 American Legion Hut is a historic clubhouse at 222 South First Street in Augusta, Arkansas. It is a single-story rectangular log structure, with a gable roof and a stone chimney. It is fashioned out of cypress logs joined by square notches, and rests on piers of stone and wood. It was built in 1934 with funding from the Civil Works Administration for the local American Legion chapter, and is architecturally unique in the city. It is still used for its original purpose. (wikipedia) "The CWA approved $1,779 for the project, of which $1,120 was earmarked for...

"John P. Murzyn Hall opened in 1939 as a WPA project at a cost of $649,407. John’s father, Albert Murzyn, was a mason and he worked on the construction of the building in 1938. Originally, the Hall was known as the Columbia Heights Field House, and it has served as a community center for the people of Columbia Heights since it opened. The first official event was the January 28th Birthday Ball to celebrate Washington’s Birthday in 1939. It was officially dedicated later that spring. Through the years it has 6 bowling lanes, billiards, and shuffleboard. It served as a youth...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a community center in Arvada, Wyoming. The location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal. Cassity: "The CWA constructed a forty by sixty foot log building on a concrete foundation, with a maple floor, stage, and additional rooms as kitchens or dressing rooms, and finished it with a rubble masonry fireplace. The community named the building Kendrick Hall in honor of the late senator ..."

Now part of the Adult Enrichment Center run by the city of La Mesa, this self-designated "clubhouse" was built by the WPA in 1937.

In 1934 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Lake Administration (FERA) constructed a dam to impound a recreational lake: Lake Tomahawk, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, as well as a community building and boathouse at its shore. The lake "was officially opened on Labor Day weekend in 1934." The community building featured shingle siding and a large room for social gatherings and boating and bathing facilities. The building is still in use today and the lake continues as a gathering spot. "The community house, built at Black Mountain, in Buncombe County, under project No. 11A-B11-2, is situated on the shore...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Langston Terrace Dwellings and surrounding area, ca. 1935-1940. 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 Langston Terrace Dwellings Community Building was part of the New Deal’s overall effort to provide more community and recreation...

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) sponsored additions to multiple school buildings in Laramie, Wyoming, including to the former East Side School, now the Laramie Plains Civic Center. The building also houses examples of New Deal art.

Now the Anderson-Murphy Community Center. It is a 17,964 square foot building constructed in 1927. This building served as the National Guard Armory before being purchased by the City for use by the Parks & Recreation Department. According to an index of WPA projects at the National Archives, the WPA improved and repaired the Laurel Armory in 1935.

The "one-story (plus) gabled, rectangularly-massed, frame club house with brick veneer exterior, has a transitional Tudor Revival/Craftsman style. Windows in front-gabled ell to left of facade have heavy concrete hood and lintel, stepped shutters. Door, also in front gable, is recessed in porch with concrete surround formed like rough planks, has concrete steps and rail, faux plank single-leaf wood door. Paired 1/1 windows to the right of the entry are set in faux board siding, enclosing former porch. Corbelled-top chimney has decorative brick work" (Embree, 2004). It is conjectured by MDAH that the building was completed by the Emergency Relief Administration,...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the public library in Morrill, Nebraska in 1936.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of an administration and community building for the Lily Ponds Houses and surrounding community, ca. 1943-1944. 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 Lily Ponds Houses Administration and...

Lincoln Community Center was established as a community center by Vassar College in 1916. The former Lincoln Community Center Gymnasium was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) in 1937. Arson destroyed the primary center in 1979, and Living New Deal believes the WPA-built gymnasium is also no longer extant. The exact location of the construction is also unknown to us at this time.

"The community house was a common project, with at least seventeen known to survive in the state. The style of building differed from community to community. In Macon, a one story wooden bungalow-style structure was built..." (Gatlin, 2008, p. 5). The former community house is now used as the Noxubee Post 63 of the American Legion. The building is part of the Macon Historic District.

“The CWA was implemented to deal with expected high employment. The president believed Many Americans would starve unless given a chance to work in the program. The plan included a specific amount of money and time, and it was under FERA in the winter of 1933-1934. Later, the WPA finished projects begun by the FERA or the CWA. In Oklahoma this resulted in the construction of the Mangum Community Building and the Purcell City Building.” --Leaning on a Legacy

The Manteo Community Building (Roanoke Island) was built by WPA workers, circa 1935-1937. Today, it is used as a government office building.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Marine Corps League building in Scranton in 1936. WPA crews also completed several small projects on the grounds of the property. The work included an arched, stone gateway leading to the main building, stone fences, retaining walls, and a creek bed. The stone imprint stamps bear the date of 1936. Today the building serves as the Marine Corps Historical Museum and Detachment Headquarters.

Originally constructed as the town's high school during the 1930s, Mars Hill, North Carolina's striking stone Cornerstone Apartments—a private apartment complex—was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration as the town's high school during the 1930s. The Rustic Revival-style building has also been known as Mars Hill School and Mars Hill Elementary School, and later, as Mars Hill's Community Center. It features a stone and concrete foundation, stone walls, and asphalt roof.

Community center, formerly an elementary school. Rebuilt in 2012 after tornado damage. The building is identical to the former New Market School, also in Oregon Township, Clark County.

"The Mauldin Cultural Center, on the same grounds as the Gosnell cabin, is also historical. The building, built between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration, was a high school until 1957, then an elementary school until 2002. The City of Mauldin has owned the property since 2005." (blogspot)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a community hall for the town of McFarland in the 1930s. The hall was constructed of adobe brick covered in stucco with a tile roof, in the Mission Revival style popular in California at the time. A concrete block addition was added in 1951 and another new wing was recently built to provide for a city council meeting room.  The whole building is still in use by the city. The original WPA community hall is the structure visible on the left in the photographs. The new wing, which replicates the Mission Revival style of the original,...

The stately Memorial Building in Jackson, Ohio was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936.

The Memorial Hall in Flasher, North Dakota, used as a community center, was constructed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Blueprints for the project date to 1936.

Constructed between December 1935 and September 1936, the historic War Memorial Building (also known as Memorial Hall, and now home to American Legion Anton Ulijohn Post 66) was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building was described in a Federal Writers' Project guide as a "a modern, stuccoed MEMORIAL BUILDING, a community center completed under the Works Progress Administration in 1936," though Living New Deal cannot presently confirm WPA involvement with the construction.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Milroy Park Club House, which serves as a community center in Houston TX.