Civic Facilities Sites

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided the funds for the restoration and expansion of the historic French market along the waterfront of the Vieux Carré of New Orleans.  Short and Brown's 1939 compilation of important PWA projects has the following to say: "Along the Mississippi River water front in New Orleans is located a group of buildings comprising the old French market, which is one of the largest public markets in the United States. One of the buildings was erected during the Spanish domination in the eighteenth century, and it has been an object of interest to tourists for the past...

  'The building is approximately 170 by 236 feet in over-all dimensions. The auditorium is 100 by 140 feet and is provided with a stage, 35 by 100 feet, and a gallery around three sides. A large foyer, committee rooms, and the necessary services are included in the facilities. The construction is reinforced concrete designed to resist seismic disturbances, and the exterior finish is in concrete. The project was completed in December 1936 at a construction cost of $406,292 and a project cost of $517,903.' - C.W. Short and R. Stanley Brown This Monumental Moderne building with Art Deco details was built by...

This building is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The PWA Deco Moderne building was built by Allied Architects, a "Great Depression-era consortium between architects W. D. Coates, Charles H. Franklin, H. Rafael Lake, Ernest J. Kump, Sr., Fred Swartz, and Edward W. Peterson in Fresno, California. Among their buildings were the Fresno Memorial Auditorium and the Fresno County Hall of Records." From the Fresno New Deal walking tour guide: "The Fresno County Hall of Records is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in Fresno, and exemplifies the high quality design of New Deal projects....

This firehouse was constructed by the PWA in 1938: "Constructed in 1938 (the oldest fire station in the Fresno Metropolitan area) and located at 1406 Fresno Street near E Street, Station No. 3 houses an engine, a 121-foot aerial ladder truck, and a water tender (staffed as needed ). Station No. 3 is known affectionately as The Rock by those who work there, (referring to the unique cast in a single block of concrete construction of the building). Station No. 3 has been placed on the State Registry of Historical buildings. Originally built to house 32 firefighters, this cavernous block of...

The Fresno Bee of 10/6/38 reported that Fresnos first New Deal art project was an 8x12 feet historical wall map for the Fresno County Historical Society in the Fresno Memorial Auditorium. Current status to be determined.

Friendly Plaza is a small park in front of historic Colton Hall and the city hall of Monterey, California.  The brick courtyard of Friendly Plaza was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project (Owens et al., 2004, p. 139).  The decorative stone wall around the plaza was probably also by the WPA, although Dennis Copeland, archivist and historian for the City of Monterey in the early 2000s, claimed that it was partly funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA).   Given the common confusion between PWA and WPA, both then and now, our guess is that both projects were undertaken by the WPA...

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...

The Old Fullerton City Hall (now the Fullerton Police Department) was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. It was completed over a 3 year span and cost over $130,000.  The building was built in a Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. Key characteristics include its central 3-story tower and cupola. Decoratively, it has beautiful terra cotta and ceramic tile work throughout the building and extensive iron wrought elements. It’s a stunning example of New Deal architecture. Additionally, the former Fullerton City Hall houses a large 3-wall mural named the “History of Southern California” by Helen Lundeberg.  A new city hall was...

Presently a middle school, the Fulton High School building was constructed by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works in  1938. An addition to the building was completed at a later date with the high school moving to the newer part of the building.

The Fulton State Hospital was the first mental health facility west of the Mississippi, opening originally in 1851. During the 1930s, an extensive building program transformed the hospital.  The building projects included: An addition to the clinic building, a power plant, dining and kitchen buildings, a five story hospital building, and two buildings associated with the Missouri penal system. Interestingly, all of the buildings are interconnected by underground tunnels.

The G. B. Cooley Tuberculosis sanatorium was constructed by the Works Progress Administration. It was located at Pine Top, seven miles from Monroe, Louisiana, or at White's Ferry, 3 1/2 miles from Monroe, depending on source. The WPA provided $66,303 and the community and Tuberculosis and Public Health Association raised the remaining $10,000 for the project. The sanatorium was spearheaded by efforts of Captain G. B. Cooley of Monroe. The central structure was two stories with one-story wings on each side, approximately 7,000 square feet. The wings contained 11 bedrooms on each side, with one wing for men and one...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Gadsden Municipal Amphitheater in 1935. Built from locally sourced stone, the facility was designed by Alabama architect Paul W. Hofferbert. The WPA cost was $17,316.00. The structure is still in service today and was renamed Mort Glosser Amphitheater. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

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.

Jim Jenks writes: "Designed in the Moderne style" popular at the time, "Gallatin County's 1936 courthouse at 311 West Main Street was one of several federally financed projects that brought jobs and civic improvements to Bozeman during the Great Depression." The author notes that the WPA underwrote both the construction of the new county courthouse as well as the demolition of its predecessor. The building is still utilized by Gallatin County today. A 1939 survey of PWA works described the building as follows: "This building is three stories and a basement in height and is 85 by 110 feet in plan.  The courtroom...

According to the Illinois Office of the Governor, WPA crews built the new Shawneetown courthouse in 1938 after the flood of 1937 forced the original town to be relocated.

The original Gallinger Hospital dates back to 1846, when the hospital was first located on the banks of the Anacostia River. The hospital moved to this site during the Civil War, with frame buildings meant to house wounded soldiers and more structures were added in 1923.  The hospital was abandoned in 1929, but the Works Progress Administration (WPA) rehabilitated the old complex in 1935-1936 for use as tuberculosis, child disability, psychiatric, and venereal disease wards. Work: A Journal of Progress reported: "The 45 buildings at Gallinger Hospital cover 65 acres. Under current appropriations funds have been allotted to permit the hiring of...

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.

A reinforced concrete one story building at 19th Ave. between Taraval and Santiago Streets, designed to conform to the general character of neighborhood, to be used for storage of equipment and service tools of Street Cleaning Division.--Healy, p. 49.

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...

This PWA courthouse was built from 1934-1936. A 1939 survey of PWA works described the site: "This new four-story and basement structure, with a partial fifth story, replaces an old courthouse which was destroyed by fire. The basement contains offices for the justice of the peace, an assembly room, ladies' parlor, and the necessary utility rooms. The first floor is occupied by the offices of the county treasurer, clerk, assessor, recorder, county engineer, auditor, and superintendent of schools. The district and county courtrooms, with offices for the judges, reporter, and attorneys, are on the second floor. The third floor contains the jury...

"The Garvin County building was WPA-constructed. The cornerstone shows the date of 1941. Above the entrance, is the date 1942. The building is in excellent condition and houses several community headquarters, including the 911 services, the Red Cross, Big Five Community Services Employment/Training, and the Delta Community Action Foundation... The entrance faces south and has a wide stone surround. Engraved above the entrance is "GARVIN COUNTY / 1942"..."   (https://www.waymarking.com)

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the old Gates Avenue Court Building.

The Works Progress Administration built the City Hall and the Auditorium building in Gatesville, between 1935 and 1937.

This art deco courthouse in Gem county Idaho was built by the PWA in 1938-39. Architect Frank Hummel designed the building. A National Register of Historic Places report describes the courthouse design: "The Gem and Washington county buildings use the bas relief ornament typical of Art Deco in a highly classical fashion. In them the vertical pier of Art Deco becomes a shallow pilaster with a stylized capital."

"This monumental bronze portrait bust, dedicated in 1893, depicts Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824–1886), and was created by American sculptor James Wilson Alexander MacDonald (1824–1908)." (www.nycgovparks.org) In the 1930s, the bust was restored with federal funding under Karl Gruppe, "chief sculptor of the Monument Restoration Project of the New York City Parks Department, from 1934 to 1937." The program was initially supported by federal funding from the Public Works of Art Project (Lowrey, 2008), and later by the WPA.

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...

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...

Georgia State Prison was constructed as a massive federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the mid-1930s. It is located southwest of Reidsville and has been extensively remodeled and expanded since its opening in 1938. The PWA supplied a loan of $1,142,000 and a grant of $358,000 for the project. Primary construction occurred between Jan. 1935 and Dec. 1936. PWA Docket No. GA 714 "The State purchased the 7,000-acre Tattnall County farm and an additional 900 acres to be used as a building site, and with a loan and grant from the P.W.A. this up-to-date prison was constructed. The project includes the administration...

This structure was originally built as the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1907-09. It was thoroughly renovated with WPA assistance in 1938 and given a new facade in 1943. The building was sold to Georgia State University in 1979, and now serves as the school's Alumni Hall, also known as Dahlberg Hall.

"The first building built under the "Civil Works Administration" was the Naval Armory. Constructed on the site of the temporary gym that burned in 1931, the Armory Building was a "no-frills" building. The building was to serve the Atlanta Naval Reserve, the Georgia Tech Naval ROTC unit, and the Communication Reserve of the U. S. Navy. By February of 1934, the foundations were almost completed and all of the labor for this project was being supplied by the Civilian Works Administration." The building was demolished in 1980 to make way for the Edge Athletic Center building.

"The Geronimo Surrender Monument commemorates the final surrender of the famous Chiricahua Apache Chief Geronimo and the last of his band to General Nelson A. Miles on September 4, 1886. That surrender marked the end of more than 20 years of warfare between the Chiricahua Apache and American settlers and the U.S. Army. Geronimo and his fighters, along with those Chiricahua already settled on the San Carlos Reservation, were forcibly removed to a prison camp in Florida. The monument was constructed by the City of Douglas on Highway 80, then the main east-west route, as a point of interest for...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) companies 385 and 1355—both African American units—restored, improved, and maintained Gettysburg National Military Park between 1933 and 1942. CCC projects in and around the battlefield included: road, trail, and fence construction; tree planting and maintenance; tree and stump removal; firefighting; snow shoveling; and utility pipe installation (presumably for water, sewage, or drainage). “The CCC also reconstructed the XII Corps earthworks on Culp’s Hill and provided manpower for the 75th anniversary commemoration of the battle in 1938” (James J. Campi, Jr., Hallowed Ground, 2013).   The CCC worked with the National Park Service (NPS) to plan projects with...

"The Gilchrist County Courthouse is an historic two-story red brick courthouse building located at 112 South Main Street in Trenton, Gilchrist County, Florida. It was designed by the Jacksonville firm of Smith, Holborn, and Dozier and was built in 1933 by the Works Progress Administration. Although a very plain building, it does have "decorative corbeled courses, arched window opening with drip courses, triple arched entry porch." with four sets of double columns. In 1965 it was remodeled and expanded with one-story utilitarian additions. In 1989, the Gilchrist County Courthouse was listed in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture,...

Built in the Moderne style, the Gillespie County Courthouse was completed in July 1939. There is a plaque just inside the front door that attributes the construction to the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Construction began on the courthouse in September 1938 after an election in August approved the issuance of bonds for the project. The federal government would contribute $65,450 to the construction of the building; this represented approximately 45% of the cost of the building.

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).

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to restore the Giuseppe Verdi Monument during the mid-1930s.

The Glacier County Courthouse in Cut Bank, Montana was constructed with WPA assistance in 1938.

"In 1938 and 1939 a Works Progress Administration project made several improvements" to Des Moines's Glendale Cemetery, "which included improving curbing and the six miles of winding roads through the hilly property and making a two-acre lake which continues to attract ducks and geese."

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...