Public Housing Sites

End End Homes was the third public housing project to be completed in Biloxi. Architects Matthes and Landry with John Thomas Collins designed the facility and it was constructed by Currie & Corley. Currie & Corley's bid was $225,576 for the 96 unit facility. Elmer Richards Electric Company secured electrical work for $9,994.50, Patton & Son awarded the plumbing, heating, and sewage contract for $36,990, and Ray V. Pisarich, sewage disposal system for $22,586. The work began Feb. 10, 1941 and was completed later that year. Damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 resulted in demolition and the Cadet Point Senior...

The East Lake Courts public housing complex was undertaken during the Great Depression in Chattanooga, Tennessee with the assistance of funds provided by the United States Housing Authority (USHA). East Lake Courts was constructed in a "restrained Colonial Revival Style" (Van West, p. 138) containing 437 units on 35 acres. The total cost for East Lake (White only) and nearby College Hill Courts (Black only) was $3.8 million. The facility was renovated during the 1990s and remained in use as of September 2014, when plans to demolish or sell were announced.

"Edison Courts, is a Miami-Dade 345-unit public housing apartment complex just west of the Little Haiti (Lemon City) neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Edison Courts is bound at the south by North 62nd Street/Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, at North 67th Street to the north, West Second Avenue to the east, and West Fourth Avenue to the west. The 345-unit low rent housing project Edison Courts, completed in 1941 and designed by the firm of Paist and Stewart with associate architects Robert Law Weed, Vladimir Virrick and E.L. Robertson, provided public housing for white people. It was similar in scale and design...

The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) built El Falansterio, a new public housing development located in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, between 1936-1937. PuertaDeTierra.info: In Puerta de Tierra a neighborhood house would be built between Matías Ledesma streets, San Juan Bautista, Fernández Juncos avenue and the train track (today the exclusive lane of the Authority Metropolitan Buses); cataloged as Tenement Group Project A, today known as El Falansterio. The inauguration of El Falansterio took place on November 7, 1937 at a cost of in 110,708 square meters and 216 apartments. The foundation work cost about $130,000, as there was a need...

In October 1936 -- two years after the First Lady visited Puerto Rico to assess social and economic conditions -- it was announced that the New Deal’s Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) was taking bids for the construction of the Eleanor Roosevelt housing development.  We don’t know which firm won the bid, but by 1939 about 472 homes were completed and about 1,500 more were planned.  The Eleanor Roosevelt neighborhood still exists today – it is a subbarrio of Hato Rey Norte, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico had been plagued by hurricanes, poverty, sub-standard housing, and a lack of...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Ellen Wilson Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1938 and 1941. The Ellen Wilson Dwellings were demolished in 1996, and the area appears to have transitioned away from public housing. 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...

This 50-acre farm was begun by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

The WPA Guide to New York City reported that: "On Avenue A and Third Street, three blocks east of the Bowery, rise the FIRST HOUSES, the first project of the NY City Housing Authority, opened in 1935. Of the old slum tenements which formerly occupied this space, some were torn down and others were completely rebuilt by WPA labour, using the old materials. Unfortunately the attempt to utilize old structures has forced the new ones into a dull scheme. Bathrooms, sound-proofed partitions, gardens, and playgrounds promote the health and comfort of the occupants, who pay five to seven dollars a room...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Foote Street Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 168 living units was built for African American national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.   The WPA added several houses for non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), as well as for senior officers.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared.  The only site marked as New Deal on the base is the bathhouse.   More photos taken by the WPA during the 1930s are in the archives of the library at the University of Utah, but have not yet been examined.  

Fort Douglas was expanded during the New Deal by the PWA, CCC and WPA.  The WPA added several houses for senior officers (buildings 621-625 on the central parade grounds, along De Trobriand Street) and non-commissioned officers (buildings 658, 600, 664, 665, 666 on Connor Road), along with entrance columns.  These are all still in use. There are several other WPA works at Fort Douglas that are harder to document or have disappeared.  The only site marked as New Deal on the base is the bathhouse.   More photos taken by the WPA during the 1930s are in the archives of the library at the University of...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of Fort Dupont Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1939 and 1941. The land had been acquired earlier, by the Public Works Administration (PWA). 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 Frank Berry Courts were constructed 1939 through the United States Housing Authority. The complex included 95 buildings, 113 dwelling units, of which 77 were 1-family attached units, 36 were 2-family attached units. Most were 5-room units, but some were 4 room and 6 rooms. The buildings were completely rehabilitated and modernized in 2011 through the Department of Housing and Urban Development funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Frederick Douglass Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1940 and 1942. The Frederick Douglass Dwellings were demolished in 2000, to make way for Henson Ridge, a mixed-income community. 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...

Gardner Commons is a low income housing apartment subsidized by the federal governments HUD (Housing and Urban Development Division) that utilizes the former Bucksport High School/Jr High, a PWA project. The Bangor Daily News reported in 2009 that $250,000 was spent to convert the Junior High school building into elderly apartments. It's located at 67 Elm St. A June 8, 1936 article in the Bangor Daily News reported that Bucksport was considering voting on a $25,000 gift for a new High School combined with the issue of bonds worth at least $26,500 to sell to the Federal Emergency administration. A June 11...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Georgia Avenue Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 170 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced...

"The P. W. A. made an allotment of funds for the erection of low-rent housing in the Virgin Islands sufficient to allow for the development of three such projects. These funds financed the following: (a) Bassin Triangle erected on a vacant site of 5 acres at Christiansted, St. Croix Island. The site cost $2,000 and was improved with 1-story row houses which provide 54 rooms divided into 30 family-dwelling units. The structures cover about 5 percent of the area of the site and average 10 rooms per acre. (b) Marley Homes at Frederiksted, St. Croix Island. An undeveloped plot of 17 acres...

The Harlem River Houses, together with First Houses in Manhattan and the Williamsburg Houses in Brooklyn, were the first federally-funded public housing projects in New York City.   The project was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA Docket No. H-1302). Wikipedia states:  "The Harlem River Houses is a New York City Housing Authority public housing complex located between West 151st and West 153rd Streets and between Macombs Place and the Harlem River Drive in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The complex, which covers 9 acres (3.6 ha), was built in 1936-37 and opened in October 1937 – one of the...

High School Park Homes was one of two public housing projects completed in Lake Charles in 1939. High School Park was 73 dwellings constructed by Robert Angelle for $225,556. The brick duplexes were designed by architects G. Lewis Dunn and Gustave G. Quinn.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Highland Dwellings in Washington, DC in 1942. It appears that some or all of the original Highland Dwelling homes still exist. 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. With the advent of World War II,...

Highway Village was built as white public housing. Construction began in December 1939 and was completed January 1941 using United States Housing Authority funding. The triplex units are still extant.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Hillside Homes, one of the first subsidized housing projects in the United States. Located in Williamsbridge, the Bronx, the housing complex spans five city blocks. It was designed by architect and urban planner Clarence Stein. The complex was dedicated on June 29, 1935 by Governor Lehman and officials representing of the Federal, State, city, and borough governments. At the time of its opening, the Hillside complex was owned by the Hillside Housing Corporation with with rents controlled by the Federal Housing Authority and the State Housing Board. The facility is still in service...

The homestead housing in Bethlehem, St. Croix was built by the Virgin Islands Company with the aid of PWA funding. A partnership program between the Government of the United States and the people of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Company sought to expand the homesteading and housing programs alongside industrial development on the islands. In Bethlehem, in addition to running the homesteading and housing programs, the Virgin Islands Company took on the reconstruction of the Bethlehem sugar mill, the island’s largest sugar mill. The 1934 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands provides details about a homestead housing program funded with...

A homestead housing program funded with the aid of a $45,000 grant from the Housing Commission and a $242,000 loan from Subsistence Homesteads Corporation, sought to improve housing conditions on the Virgin Islands. The program included housing on farm land in the vicinity of Frederiksted on St. Croix. The 1934 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands describes the housing conditions on the islands and the details of the new housing program. "A housing survey in October 1933 in St. Croix, where the need is greatest, showed 2,623 one-room houses, with from 1 to 12 persons in each house. Perhaps...

A homestead housing program funded with the aid of a $45,000 grant from the Housing Commission and a $242,000 loan from Subsistence Homesteads Corporation, sought to improve housing conditions on the Virgin Islands. The program included housing on farm land in St. Thomas. The 1934 Annual Report of the Governor of the Virgin Islands describes the housing conditions on the islands and the details of the new housing program. "A housing survey in October 1933 in St. Croix, where the need is greatest, showed 2,623 one-room houses, with from 1 to 12 persons in each house. Perhaps half of them are relics of...

In 1935-36, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a large housing clearance, replacement, and rehabilitation project at London Court. At the same location, the New Deal’s Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) constructed Hopkins Place, which consisted of 12 new units located in the block bounded by K, L, 12th, and 13th streets. The 1934 Alley Dwelling Act funded "slum" rehabilitation efforts in the District of Columbia. Though the Alley Dwelling Agency was initially underfunded, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was called upon to carry out its program. This is similar to how the New Deal continued the urban renewal plans in the...

13 "small bungalows are being constructed by WPA outside Millville on the Port Elizabeth Road. These will be rented at a nominal fee by old age pensioners. Project No. 9-70." What was then known as Port Elizabeth Road is now South 2nd St. The project is located in what is known as Roosevelt Park along Myrtle St. The homes were completed in August 1936 and each was occupied by one or two seniors (65 years or older). Each had a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bath, and front and back porches.

An early New Deal Federal public works project involved the construction of "family quarters" in Ancón, Panama, at the Pacific terminus of what was then the U.S.-managed Panama Canal Zone. A photograph of the completed project (shown on this page) calls this Federal Project No. 3. The Annual Report of the Governor of Panama, 1934 likely contains reference to this project in this passage: "The principal projects of building construction completed during the year consisted of 10 two-family houses, Gorgas Hospital area, Ancon ..." However, this subsequent passage in the report could also refer to the project: "The principal projects under construction at the...

The WPA was involved in housing construction in Hayward.

The PRRA carried out slum clearance work and built hurricane-proof housing developments in Arecibo and Ponce. “The PRRA located nine parcels of land available to purchase in Ponce, and two in Ponce Playa, and began construction on 4,290 concrete houses in Ponce and Ponce Playa. Built to house over 21,000 people, the PRRA also constructed an nearby incinerating plant, concrete storm sewers, new water supply system, and temporary workingmen's residencies (for PRRA construction workers) as part of the Ponce slum clearance project.”1 The PRRA created housing programs across the Island, as described in the 1938 Annual Report of the Department of the Interior: “The development...

The PRRA built housing across the Island, as described in the 1938 Annual Report of the Department of the Interior: “The development of that part of the urban housing program of the P. R. R. A. originally aimed for the elimination of unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions, for the provision of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of low income, and for the reduction of unemployment and the stimulation of business activity, was continued during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1938. Inasmuch as the funds originally allotted were not sufficient to accomplish the demolition and clearance of the existing slum areas,...

The Iberville Projects public housing was the third of six low-rent public housing developments in New Orleans funded by the United States Housing Act of 1937. The Housing Authority of New Orleans was the first housing administration approved in the US under the Housing Act (Adams, 2014). The 75 building complex resembled rowhouses, and were constructed of brick exteriors with tile roofs, chimneys, and galleries with iron columns and decorative cast iron railing, typical of other New Orleans style architecture. One, two, and three bedroom apartments made up the 858 units completed in 1941. The architects were Herbert A. Benson,...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the James Creek Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1941 and 1943. 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. Beginning in December 1941, the ADA was ordered to prioritize housing for war workers. James Creek...

"In 2006, a cross-section of Chicagoans came together to preserve and transform the only remaining building of the historic Jane Addams Homes on the Near West Side. The three-story brick building at 1322-24 West Taylor opened in 1938 as the first federal government housing project in Chicago. It housed hundreds of families over six decades, and has sat vacant since 2002. The Jane Addams Homes was one of three demonstration projects in Chicago built under the Public Works Administration Act, which was created to provide jobs and help revive the Depression-era economy. Designed by a team of architects headed by John...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of Jefferson Terrace in Washington, DC between 1937 and 1938. Jefferson Terrace consisted of 16 homes. Jefferson Terrace was described as being in the square bounded by I, K, 6th, and 7th streets southwest. However, it appears that square no longer exists, with K Street SW perhaps being shortened at some point to make room for a newly developed area bounded by I Street, Maine Avenue, and 6th & 7th streets. Additionally, the DC Housing Authority does not list Jefferson Terrace as one of their currently-managed properties, and Google satellite imagery does not show...

The Julia C. Lathrop Homes was one of the first federally funded public housing projects in Chicago, providing inexpensive housing to those who otherwise could not afford it. The project was an immediate success, as evident by the overwhelming amount of applications submitted in 1937, a year before the homes were completed. 2,383 families applied to live in the Lathrop Homes, which would only have 975 units total. These applications were narrowed down based on income; only those who made less than five times the amount of rent were considered. In 1939, the average monthly rent for Lathrop Homes was $5.39...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Kelly Miller Dwellings in Washington, DC between 1940 and 1941. 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 Kendall Home for Children was constructed by FERA in 1935. The home was later run by the Catholic Church and then by Dade County. Residents have since reported a history of child abuse at the site. By 2007, the buildings were demolished or in ruins.

Buffalo, New York's first public housing project, known as Kenfield, was located on what had previously been vacant land a few miles northeast of the city's downtown. Federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. H-6703) supported the project's construction. The project spanned roughly the area bounded by (and surrounding) Langfield Drive up to Kensington Highway, between Suffolk St. and Eggert Rd. ArtVoice reported in 2011 that the project was originally whites-only and contained 658 housing units.

The Civil Works Administration carried out repair work at King’s Hill Village (a subsistence housing development). The repair work included multiple buildings.