Civic Facilities Sites

"On August 2,1940 the Town Board offered a resolution which was unanimously carried to hold a special election at the Sylvan Grange Hall in Beekmanville on the 24th of August. The resolution was to erected and construct on its lot in Poughquag a Town Hall and building for town purposes at an expense not to exceed $23,000 of which $8,000 is to be contributed by the Town of Beekman and the Balance by the W.P.A. The town would issue a $1,000 bond each year for eight years to pay the $8,000. The election of the 24th resulted in 160 voters...

Located in downtown Springdale, the Beely-Johnson Post 139 American Legion Hut was built in 1934 by American Legion members and local citizens. A kitchen was added to the building’s interior in 1937 by the Legion Auxiliary. The one-story building is constructed of rough-cut native stone quarried from a mountain east of Springdale. There have been no major changes to the building over the years. At first, Legion members met in the upstairs rooms of various downtown businesses. By 1929, plans were under way for the construction of a post hut, but due to a drop in membership during the early years...

The approximately $5 million Bellevue Hospital was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The present status of the New Deal structures within hospital complex, which has been extensively renovated, is unknown to Living New Deal.

Construction on Belmont's central fire station was begun in 1935 by SERA and completed under the direction of the WPA using local labor. The station hired its first two employees in 1938. Presently, the building houses Belmont's Center for Independence of the Disabled (https://www.cidbelmont.org).

The old Nashville City Market was constructed in 1936-1937 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  The chief contractor for the project was Foster & Creighton Construction Company. Project cost was "almost a half a million dollars" (Van West, 2000, p. 81). The building's design by Henry Hibbs is "Adamesque Revival Style" with a classical temple entrance and a dome just behind.  The walls are brick over reinforced concrete. The window frames and sashes are steel and the roof is copper.  The original interior had five-foot wainscoting of glazed tile and terrazzo flooring.  It included stalls, restaurants, and rest rooms.  The market's construction...

"The Legend of El Diablo" "...is an oil painting on masonite done by Clarkson Dye (FAP/WPA Project #7754). It measures 42-1/4" x 52-1/2" and hangs in the second floor legislative meeting room. Originally this painting was installed at Mt. Diablo State Park, but was moved to the old State Capital Building after restoration."

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Benning Road Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 138 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...

This simple wooden building was constructed by the WPA in 1936-37. As the town's website explained: "Until the 1930's, town meetings were probably held in the schoolhouse at Bennington Center. In 1936, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, the Works Progress Administration, known as W.P.A., provided jobs in building projects for a long-range value. The Town of Bennington had their town hall built. The federal government furnished the cost of labor for the building. The building is still used for the Town meetings. Several other organizations also use it."

Berea, Kentucky's Police and Municipal Center was originally built as the community's post office. The New Deal building was constructed ca. 1938. It also houses an example of New Deal artwork.

In 1913 the City of Tyler purchased the land for Bergfeld Park. Starting in 1936, the Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park including a stone amphitheater, rock culverts, and a rock lined creek, restrooms, and tennis courts. The city renovated the amphitheater in 2017 with a new stage and seating arrangement.

The Berkeley Community Theater, part of Berkeley High School, was started with funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1941.  The foundation was laid and the street framework erected when World War II interrupted further work in 1942.  It stood like that until it could be finished and dedicated in 1950. The Community Theater is a Moderne/Art Deco-style building constructed of reinforced concrete and finished in stucco.  The design has striking curves and masses, and it is decorated with cast stone bas-reliefs by prominent local artists (see linked pages). The building has three parts: the 3,500 seat Berkeley Community Theater,...

A WPA project in Reading, Pennsylvania involved "washing all of the exterior of the old 19-story county courthouse" and painting its interior. The project provided work for 19 laborers during the summer of 1939.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Bernal Recreation Center in San Francisco in 1939-1940.  It sits just behind and below the Bernal Heights Public Library. Work consisted of excavating and grading 1,492 cubic yards of rock and soil, building 75 feet of rubble wall (18 inches by 4 feet), and paving 16,000 square feet of playgr0und area. Notably, the report on WPA work in San Francisco made a point that the combination of the library and playground on the same property was ."... combining the benefits of physical and mental recreation.(Healy, p. 64). The WPA built rock walls are still visible above...

The Berwyn Municipal Building was completed in 1939 as a non-federal Public Works Administration project. The architects Hubert Burnham and Charles Herrick Hammond were chosen by the city of Berwyn. It was built in the Moderne style and the main façade features large blocks of tan limestone as well as tan glazed bricks and unusual prism shaped pilasters. The main façade features a limestone parapet with “Municipal Building” incised into the stone cornice. On either side of these words are two carved emblems depicting homes emitting a stylized ray of light. The building originally functioned as a government office, fire...

Longport, New Jersey's Betty Bacharach Home for Afflicted Children was constructed in 1924, before the Great Depression. However, the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an addition, featuring a "new physiotherapy pool and treatment unit" at the site starting in 1936. The old Betty Bacharach Home is now the Borough Hall building.

Quoins at corners-smooth limestone also on buttresses. Ticket windows along facade, 1 story 6 windows, flat roof-bonded cement overhang. All windows filled with cement block. Facade: 2 pairs of double doors w/transom. Large open space, wooden stairs to bleachers. Walls Oolitic Limestone-rough cut. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1938 and 1939.

Billings architect J. G. Link designed the 1937 Monumental Deco-style courthouse that resides in downtown Hardin, MT. It was built using WPA labor. A nearby historical marker notes: "Constructed at a cost of $150,000, the project put over a hundred men to work. ... Simple cast concrete elements decorate the courthouse's rose-colored ashlar limestone, quarried forty miles south of Hardin. In addition to the courtroom, the two-and-one-half-story building housed a jail, public auditorium, living quarters for the sheriff, and county offices."

The Municipal Building in Biggs CA was constructed under the New Deal with funds and labor from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was very active in Butte County.  The federal government provided about one-third of the cost and local governments paid the rest.

Made general repairs, cleaned tile and installed new tile, replaced glass, installed new plumbing and heating fixtures, did painting and concrete work, layed new floor in main auditorium, made accomodation for new health service municipal employees, increased corridor space on 2nd floor by removing hat check rooms.--Healy, p. 69.

Originally constructed as the Lumberton City Armory-Auditorium, what is now the Bill Sapp Recreation Center was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.). Postcard: "The Lumberton City Armory-Auditorium is one of the most handsome and best equipped buildings of its kind in North Carolina. It is the home of the famous Lumberton Coast Artillery Company and the war-time organization Home Guards."

The community house was approved as Works Progress Administration (WPA) project 20,814 in 1938. The wood-frame Colonial Style building was constructed to replace the former community house, on the same site. The design featured a banquet hall, recreation room, 850-seat auditorium and 350-seat balcony (Approve Biloxi Community House, 1938). The portico and columns were planned to be used from the existing community house. Biloxi provided $6,287 of the total cost of $17,051. The building was "nearing completion" in January 1939, and scheduled for dedication in late February or early March. It was demolished following Hurricane Camille damage in 1969.

"By a vote of its 113 citizens, the Town of Biscayne Park was incorporated on December 31, 1931, and on June 16th, 1933, a state charter was granted changing the name to the Village of Biscayne Park.  The Works Progress Administration built a log cabin, a clear and distinct reference to the Depression as well as to the simplicity of the American frontier days.  On February 1, 1933, at the height of the Depression, the Federal Emergency Relief Program provided the labor for the Dade County pine construction.  William Green, a resident of the Park, as well as a Councilperson,...

The Works Progress Administration built the Blanchard gym/auditorium in Blanchard OK. Contributor note: "The Blanchard gym/auditorium was completed as a WPA project in 1941. This is a one-story red brick building with an arched roof. On the west end, two wings reach north and south. All windows have been boarded up. The west end of the building has been remodeled with a roof facade, and currently houses the Blanchard Alumni Association, addressed as 400 N. Harrison Avenue. Two brick pillars at curbside were placed by the Classes of 1939 and 1940. Above the windows on the rear portion of the building is a...

Tall rock wall with periodic columns for strength that is capped with concrete. It surrounds 3 sides of a large baseball field. One of the corners has a curved façade. The structure was completed with funds and labor provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) laborers conducted grading and landscaping work on the Bluebeard Castle Hotel grounds. Improvements included the construction of additional sleeping quarters and a parking area. CCC workers also built a water storage system. "Since no well water is available it is necessary to catch all rain water which is stored in large cisterns under the buildings."    

"Among the several projects in the Virgin Islands was the Bluebeard Castle Hotel. The group of buildings was erected on the summit of a hill 200 feet above the sea. An ancient stone tower with walls 5 1/2 feet thick, is supposed to have been the watchtower of the famous legendary pirate, Bluebeard. The building on the right in the larger illustration contains the lobby, administrative offices, dining room, bar, kitchen, and service rooms. A detail of its entrance portico is illustrated on the right side of this page. Terraces planted with palms, tropical flowers, and foliage surround all the...

This is now San Francisco Fire Station No. 8

“The Civilian Conservation Corps and local experienced men, under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service, constructed the Bly Ranger Station compound between 1936 and 1942. The compound, made up of both administrative and residential buildings, continues to service and house employees of the Fremont National Forest to this day. The Bly Ranger Station compound is on the National Register of Historic Places (March 11, 1981). Historically and architecturally, the Bly Ranger Station compound is important to the community of Bly and to the residents of the Sprague River Valley. As administrative headquarters of the Bly Ranger District, it represents the...

The structure was originally built as the headquarters of the Boise District of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The Boise District supervised CCC camps in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Currently, the building serves as a restaurant.

The state acquired the land for Bonham State Park in 1933 from the City of Bonham. The Civilian Conservation Corps developed the 261-acre park, landscaping the rocky, hilly terrain for erosion control and recreational purposes, and constructing an earthen dam to impound a sixty-five-acre lake. CCC Company 894 constructed buildings of local cream-colored limestone and Eastern red cedar, working under the supervision of Bonham architect Joe C. Lair and San Antonio architect William C. Caldwell. The overall design exhibits a WPA rustic style. The CCC built the entrance portal, concession building (currently the park headquarters and storage facility), waterfront storage building...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of additions and alterations to the Bonner County Courthouse in Sandpoint in 1938-39. One source suggests that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was involved with other related work at the building or grounds. The PWA provided a $37,650 grant for the project. The total construction cost was $83,521. PWA Docket No. ID 1178. In a piece about the history of the Bonner Courthouse, Bob Gunther recounts the story of a local who worked on the construction of the jail addition: "Nellie Garrison recalls, 'It was during the depression and people needed food. My father was caught poaching deer and since they...

The Bonnyview School was expanded in the 1930s with the help of the Public Works Administration (PWA).  At the same time, the Bonnyview grounds were landscaped and   220 feet of rock retaining wall were built, along with entrance steps.  The school district furnished the materials at a cost of $980, while WPA provided the labor from the ranks of locally unemployed men (estimated at three months of work for twenty men). The school has since been demolished and the site left empty, but the elegant rock wall and entrance steps remain (though the concrete steps are deteriorating).

Originally the Booker T. Washington High School for Coloreds, this Art Deco community center was constructed in 1936 with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a grant of $30,991 for the project, whose total cost was $75,760. Construction occurred between Jan. and Oct. 1936. Expanded in 1960, the building is listed on the National Register of historic Places. PWA Docket No. Va. 1098

The Booker T. Washington Courts was one of two rural public housing projects constructed in Lake Charles in 1939-1941. Architects G. Lewis Dunn and Gustave G. Quinn designed the complex initially as barracks-type housing, which was rejected for one-story duplexes. T. Miller and Sons constructed the project at a cost of $238,397. The 72-unit complex was demolished in 2013 and replaced.

The historic Wilkinsburg Borough Building—also home to the public library—was built in 1939 as a New Deal project: the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $130,014 grant for the project, whose total cost was $407,643. PWA Docket No. PA 2209

"Closter Borough Hall, erected in 1938, was a triumph of effort and cooperation between our local leaders of that time and the able workforce provided by the federal Works Progress Administration (the “WPA”). Its style is described as Art Deco/Moderne, or “WPA Moderne,” a label which denotes both the aesthetic elements of the architecture and its practical origins... Architect Carl G. Mettberg designed the building, and the WPA labor to construct it was provided at very little cost (25% of its actual value). A ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place on March 12, 1938... Some stylistic details which are make this...

Dunellen, New Jersey's historic borough hall building was constructed during the Great Depression by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) ca. 1937. The building is still in use today.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the borough hall of Emerson in 1938-9. The building also houses numerous examples of New Deal artwork.

The historic Emmaus Borough Hall was constructed between 1938 and 1939 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $41,422 grant for the project, whose total cost was $87,141. PWA Docket No. PA X1902.