The historic Outhwaite Homes public housing complex in Cleveland, Ohio was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. “The Outhwaite Homes Estates, along with the Cedar Apartments and Lakeview Terrace, were the first three public housing projects… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Parkside Dwellings in Washington, DC, between 1941 and 1943. This housing project was described being at Kenilworth Avenue and Barnes Lane, N.E., and “near… read more
“Parkside, a low-rent housing development in Detroit, Michigan, was built on an undeveloped 31-acre plot adjacent to Chandler Park. The site cost $170,000, or about 17 cents a square foot. The buildings, which are fireproof, consist of 2- and 3-story… read more
“During 1935 and 1936 the Federal Government spent $100,000 in WPA funds for permanent improvements” at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Erie.
In September 1935, the Public Works Administration (PWA) allotted $41,818 for the construction of faculty homes at Potomac State College (PSC), in Keyser, West Virginia. The allotment consisted of a $23,000 loan and an $18,818 grant. The Tri-State Construction and… read more
The Federal Works Agency built prefabricated defense housing at Sheffield. “Construction of 250 units was assigned to the Tennessee Valley Authority for industrial workers in the Muscle Shoals area.” The exact location and status of these buildings is presently unknown… read more
“The Prowers Housing Welfare Housing is a complex of five buildings located on the northern edge of Lamar. The complex is located near the railroad tracks in an area that primarily light industrial. The Fairmont Cemetery, with stone walls constructed… read more
From the Works Progress Administration (WPA)’s New York City Guide (1939): “Queensbridge Houses, north of Queensboro Bridge Plaza, between Vernon Boulevard and Twenty-first Street, is the fifth low-rent, government-financed housing project in the city since 1936. Twenty-six brick dwelling structures,… read more
A 250 unit housing project in South Portland Maine. “Under the Lanham Act of 1940, and to the chagrin of the Portland Chamber of commerce, Washington ordered in February of 1942 that the Federal Public Housing Authority of the Federal… read more
“Richard Allen Homes, named after the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, is a housing project in lower North Philadelphia that was funded by the U.S. Housing Authority under the Housing Act of 1937.” (“The USHA reported directly to… read more
The brick “restrained Colonial Revival style” (Van West, 2001, p. 148) two-story apartment complex contained 48 units for African-Americans. Constructed at the same time as the Robert E. Lee Homes for whites, both complexes were funded for a total of… read more
Brick, two-story “restrained Colonial Revival style” (Van West, 2001, p. 148) housing for whites was completed at the same time as the Riverview Apartments for African-Americans. Both complexes were constructed for a total of $607,000. Robert E. Lee contained 128… read more
By the early twentieth century, the area that would become the Robert Mills Manor site consisted of a large assemblage of dilapidated late-19th and early-20th century residences and tenements surrounding the county’s jail on the corner of Franklin and Magazine… read more
The Robert Mills Manor public housing project in Charleston, South Carolina was constructed with New Deal funds, likely under the auspices of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The Library of Congress: “The Robert Mills Manor Remains as Charleston’s earliest and… read more
On September 1, 1937, President Roosevelt signed the United States Housing Act of 1937. This created the United States Housing Authority (USHA) and provided $500 million for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies… read more
The first Mississippi county approved for rural housing loans from the United States Housing Authority was Lee County. Loans represented 90% of the construction and 10% was locally supplied for the $790,000 program. “America’s first ‘economy wall’ unit of brick… read more
In response to the foot dragging of Portland city officials on creating affordable housing for the influx of military related industry in a city with a severe lack of modern housing, the Federal Housing Authority of the Federal Works Agency… read more
On September 1, 1937, President Roosevelt signed the United States Housing Act of 1937. This created the United States Housing Authority (USHA) and provided $500 million for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies… read more
The Sitka Pioneers’ Home was built with financial assistance from the PWA, ca. 1935, and served as “a home for aged pioneers” (source note 1). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 (source note 2)… read more
“Smithfield Court is a low-rental housing developmenterected in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, fully financed with P.W.A. funds. A site of 22 acres on which were located some of the city’s worst slum dwellings, was purchased at a cost of… read more
During the Great Depression the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) funded the labor for the construction of what is now known as the Somerset Residential Care Center, in Madison, Maine. When constructed, the facility went by a different name: the… read more
St. Bernard Projects were constructed 1940 as one of New Orleans’ “Big Four” high-density urban public housing projects. Initially comprised of 744 units in 74 buildings constructed on 30.9 acres, the project was bordered by St. Bernard Avenue to Gibson… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority funded the construction of the St. Mary’s Court Apartments in Washington DC between 1935 and 1938. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings… read more
St. Thomas was one of six public housing projects constructed under the Housing Act of 1937. It was constructed 1938-1941 and contained 920 units of two or three story brick buildings. The architect’s rendering for the St. Thomas Street project… read more
Stanley Holmes Village (a.k.a. Stanley Village) is a 420-unit low income housing project on Adriatic Avenue that was built in 1937 and expanded in 1951. Its the oldest public housing complex in New Jersey. Atlantic City was the first municipality… read more
Second Half of Final Extended Building Phase (1941-1942). Residential housing for employees of the Stewart Indian Boarding School Staff and Civilian Conservation Corp – Indian Division (CCC-ID) was acute by the late 1930s. Off-site rental units in Carson City and… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Stoddert Dwellings in Washington, DC in 1942. Today, the DC Housing Authority manages “Stoddert Terrace,” in the same general area (and perhaps the same exact… read more
Pearl City was an area of Vincennes that was described by the newspapers in the 1930’s at the time as an area next to the Wabash River that was filled with hovels made of crates and tin and occupied by… read more
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt allotted $2,000,000 in emergency rural rehabilitation funds to the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs (OIA). Out of this sum, OIA sent $32,000 (about $607,000 in 2020 dollars) to the Swinomish Indian Reservation for an… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Syphax Houses in Washington, DC in 1942. The Syphax Houses were located at 1st and R streets SW, and it does not appear that any… read more
The Techwood Homes public housing project in Atlanta was a whites-only complex constructed between 1935 and 1936 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. It has since been demolished. “Techwood Homes was the first public housing project in the United… read more
The accompanying colored post card shows early trailers, brick road, palm trees and Trailer City office building. Trailer City, a mobile home park, was built in the 1930s with WPA (Works Progress Administration) funds. It was a $200,000 project, the… read more
Cairo, Illinois’s old (and since-demolished) Marine Hospital was located between 10th and 12th St., Cedar St. and Jefferson Ave. As part of Federal Project F-26: Improving Facilities for Sheltering Transients, the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) rehabilitated the hospital in… read more
Triangle Homes for African American families was constructed 1940-1941 by W. J. McGee and Son for a base bid of $325,866. Two-story row houses are still in use in the triangle formed by South Maple Street and South 4th Avenue…. read more
“The last of three Public Works Administration projects commissioned in Chicago as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, Trumbull Park Homes is arguably one of the CHA’s most historically significant buildings in its housing portfolio. Built in 1938, the development… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Tunlaw Road Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 92 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly… read more
The University Homes public housing project in Atlanta was completed in 1938 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. It has since been demolished. “Built in 1938 on the site of the former Beaver Slide slum. Seen as the African… read more
The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of the V Street Houses in Washington DC between 1936 and 1938. It appears that the V Street Houses no longer exist. They were described as being constructed “in the square directly west of… read more
The Williamson Housing Authority built the Victoria Court Housing Project with aid from the Federal Housing Authority. The development consists of a complex of seven, two-story brick buildings laid in rows of three providing a central court (now a modern… read more
San Antonio’s Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. On September 1, 1937, President Roosevelt signed the United States Housing Act of 1937. This created the United States Housing Authority (USHA) and provided… read more