Civic Facilities Sites

The Carter County Courthouse was a very early project ofthe Works Progress Administration, no. 168. Completed in 1936, it includes not only the courthouse itself, but the grounds and the surrounding native rock wall. This is the only native rock courthouse in the state of Missouri.  

Originally constructed as Cary High School in 1938-39 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building, which replaced a 1913 school, was built at a cost of $132,000. The building now houses the Cary Arts Center.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration funded repair work at Casa Blanca in San Juan.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge, Arizona, preserves an ancient Sonoran Desert people's farming community and "Great House."  One of the largest prehistoric structures ever built in North America, the purpose of the Casa Grande remains a mystery. Between 1937 and 1940 the CCC did extensive work in the area, including constructing a number of adobe park facilities. All of these structures remain in use today and are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "y 1937 the park still did not have a maintenance and storage facility. For this large building project of the 1930s, Park Superintendent Frank...

"The building is three stories and a basement in height and houses all the county official on the first floor. The second and third floors are occupied by the courtroom, offices for the court officers, and the jail. The structure is fireproof throughout, with exterior walls of brick trimmed with stone. It was completed in June 1935 at a construction cost of $141,274 and a project cost of $152,872."

On August 19, 1933 a fire of unknown origin swept through the two-story Cass County Courthouse in Linden. A call went out to all available citizens to help fight the growing blaze. As Linden had no water system or fire truck, those who responded were asked to hand pump water from local wells and line up in bucket brigades. A call went out for assistance to Texarkana, Jefferson and Atlanta, cities with tanker trucks and more sophisticated firefighting expertise. By the time help arrived and the fire was put out, most of the second floor was gutted. During 1934, thanks to...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded roughly half the cost of the construction of a new courthouse for Cassia County, in Burley, Idaho. A grant of $53,000 was offered to the county in 1938 and constrution began that year. The building, which included a jail, was completed in 1939 – as proudly carved above the entrance. The County Courthouse is a substantial two and a half story brick building with a central tower, slightly recessed, jutting up another story. The design is Moderne (Art Deco) with four low-relief pillars on each side and up the central portion, each...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an extensive Recreation Center on the grounds of the Utah State Hospital for the mentally handicapped.  The recreation center is popularly known as the "Provo Castle" or Castle Amphitheater. It includes an 800-seat stone amphitheater with attached interior rooms and a grass-covered play area on a 3-acre site.  The original intention was to build a much larger recreational facility for the hospital, but that plan was never realized. The Provo Castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is still used for public events.

The current Castro County Courthouse was constructed in large part with labor provided by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Text from the state historical marker reads: "This site was set aside as the Dimmitt town square in 1891, the year Castro County was formally organized. Temporary court facilities were set up in J. N. Morrison's office while the first courthouse was built. An ornate two-story structure, it burned in 1906 after being hit by lighting. A brick courthouse with a central dome, built in 1908, was dedicated at a community picnic. It served until the 1930s, but was razed to make...

The Works Progress Administration remodeled the Castroville School in 1939 under project number 665-66-2-541. The workmen added a two classroom wing on the northwest side of the building and a two classroom wing on the southeast side of the building. The wings were constructed using rock masonry with wood floors. The State of Texas formed Medina County in 1848. The county erected the first permanent courthouse in Castroville in 1854. When the county seat moved to Hondo in 1892, the courthouse in Castroville was converted to a school. The building is currently the Castroville City Hall.

Situated on the east side of Ocean Boulevard, in a little valley is the town of Cayucos’s only cemetery. The front of the cemetery is defined by a low masonry wall constructed by the WPA in 1940. It is made of light gray to iron-colored uncut stone laid in random courses. A few stones are arranged in odd patterns to provide visual interest. Approximately 335’ long, it is divided into three sections. Masonry posts topped with concrete balls are placed at intervals along its path. The cemetery improvement project began in the winter of 1940, but stalled for a time because of muddy...

“A former CCC camp is located at the base of Hart Mountain. From this camp, Company 3442 carried out various projects, including fence construction and the installation of telephone lines. The remaining building was the camp infirmary. The CCC campsite will be developed as a campground in the future. Refuge personnel supervised the building of the existing refuge headquarters buildings and residences, which feature CCC-era stonework.” –“CCC Landmarks: Remembering the Past”

From Our Mark on This Land (2011): "If you have driven, hiked, or slept in the Chisos Mountains, you have experienced CCC history. In May 1933, Texas Canyons State Park was established; it was later renamed Big Bend State Park. Roads and trails were needed for the new park, and the CCC provided an ideal workforce. A year after the park was established, 200 young men, 80 percent of whom were Hispanic, arrived to work in the Chisos Mountains. The CCC's first job was to set up camp and develop a reliable water supply. The CCC boys faced many challenges, living...

The groundwork for a new, enlarged courthouse for Cecil County was put in place in 1935, when the General Assembly of Maryland authorized the county to "expend $5,000 for a lot of ground on which to build a new courthouse whenever it was needed," which the county "visualize to be built with the aid of Federal funds".  A site on East Main Street, about 200 yards east of the then-courthouse, was selected for the new building. In December 1938 the contract for the construction of the Cecil County Courthouse was awarded by the PWA to Laachi Construction Co., a Baltimore contractor,...

The historic Cedar-Central public housing complex in Cleveland, Ohio was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds during the 1930s. "The Outhwaite Homes Estates, along with the Cedar Apartments and Lakeview Terrace, were the first three public housing projects to be completed in Cleveland. The three projects were also among the first in the nation to receive approval and funding from the federal government's newly-created Public Works Administration in 1935."

The Cedar Avenue Complex was constructed in 1938 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It began life as a county civic center in Lancaster CA, forty years before that city was incorporated (1977).   It included a library, memorial hall, courthouse and sheriff's office, as well as an older jail from the 1920s.  The simple Art Moderne (Art Deco) design was by Los Angeles County architect Edward C. M. Brett.   The Cedar Avenue Complex was successfully nominated for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1990s. The entire complex was renovated by the city in 2014 and...

Th Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Cedar County Courthouse in Stockton, in 1938. According to information published by the University of Missouri Extension, "Cedar County Courthouse is the third for the county in the first of this particular site. The courthouse was constructed beginning in 1938 using the matching funds grant from the Public Works Administration. The courthouse was designed by James D Marshall and M Dwight Brown, an engineer and architect for Kansas City. The architects recommended a monolithic cement building as it would be fireproof. W. F. Edgell and Son from Leavenworth Kansas were contracted to...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Bessemer, Alabama.

"A vacant site of approximately 22 acres was purchased for the Cedar Springs Place low-rent housing development in Dallas, Texas. It cost $66,149, or about 7 cents per square foot. The structures cover 15 percent of the land area and contain an average of 27 rooms to the acre. The development consists of a series of 2-story apartment buildings and 1-story row houses with no basements. All buildings are fireproof. There are 598 rooms divided into 181 family-dwelling units, approximately 13 percent of which are arranged in 2-room, 51 percent in 3-room, 28 percent in 4-room, and 8 percent in 5-room...

The 1935 Town report mentions: Public Service Enterprises Fence Construction Centre Cemetery ERA Project ----- $563.69 employing 13 people WPA Highway Project $260.34 WPA Sewing Project $60.21 employing 2 people

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) conducted a cemetery beautification project in Boone, NC. It is unclear which cemetery was improved as part of this project.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an expansion to the Evanston Cemetery in Wyoming'. Regarding the City Cemetery, Evanston, Wyoming's website states: "The largest expansion of the cemetery took place in the mid 1930s, when the “New Section” was constructed as a WPA project." "The Works Progress Administration helped develop this section of the cemeterybeginning in 1938. WPA workers preparedthe ground, laid the irrigation system, andinstalled the landscaping. This was the firstsection of the cemetery to require flat grave markers to make it easier for cemetery custodians to maintain the lawns."

The Brigham City Cemetery grounds were improved by the WPA. "Major Cemetery improvements started after World War I when the existing roads were mapped out sprinkler systems installed, grave markers lined up and landscaping improved. Much of this work was accomplished by the Works Progress Administration, a federal assistance program established during the Great Depression. Since that time the Cemetery has been under perpetual care maintenance by the City."

The C.W.A., F.E.R.A, and W.P.A. conducted development and improvement work at Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Burlington, Mass. Work included construction of new roads and grading a new addition of land.

"The cemetery is located at the junction of Midway Road (County #13) and Seville Road (County #694), a short distance south of the intersection of Midway Road and US Highway 53... Some WPA funding in the 1930’s and 1940’s allowed the town to add a few improvements."

The Civil Works Administration conducted improvement work at Cardiff Cemetery north of Cardiff, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-162: completed. Work began Nov. 23, 1933.

Municipal reports from 1933-1942 detail PWA and WPA work on several local cemeteries. In 1933, the PWA spent nearly $5,000 on the following: Fencing Blossom Hill Cemetery. Crematory Blossom Hill Cemetery. Drainage Blossom Hill Cemetery. Grading Blossom Hill Cemetery, Maple Grove Cemetery, Pine Grove Cemetery. Water systems Maple Grove and Woodlawn Cemeteries. The report states, "This work required a vast amount of time, as the federal government is very exact in detail and text." A 1939 report stated further that: "With the assistance of the WPA, the pond at Blossom Hill Cemetery was restored after many years of disuse. To further beautify this area, azaleas and rhododendrons were...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted a project which, according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Dec. 1933, "at present is making possible a much needed road around the cemetery." Living New Deal believes this to be a reference to Cordova Cemetery.

A town report for 1938 says that the WPA helped in the reconstruction of the Curtis and Village cemeteries (located in what is now Chester, NH), in work that employed 30 men.

A municipal report of 1934 describes CWA work on a local cemetery: Cemetery Project US.Govt.Funds on C.W.A. Project Paid for labor $1,556.50 Stone furnished $57.00 Total $1,613.50 The town constructed a wrought iron fence, the CWA's share was the granite foundations for the fence posts and granite pillars for the entranceways.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve the cemetery in Lakota, North Dakota in 1936.

National Youth Administration crews conducted various improvements to the Minersville cemetery.

Per the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) supplied labor toward "the cutting of the brush and erection of a relief cabin at the cemetery" in Nenana, Alaska in 1934. It is unclear to which cemetery in Nenana the article was referring.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted work at what Living New Deal believes is Riverside Cemetery (a.k.a. Cody Cemetery) in Cody, Wyoming. Cassity: "At Pine Bluffs, the water main was extended about a half mile so that it would reach the cemetery; to do so, the CWA workers dug a five-foot trench and laid three inch cast iron pipe, refilled the trench, and then placed four hydrants in the cemetery"

Cemetery improvements were undertaken as a New Deal project, most likely by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

A local newspaper from 1939 explains that, "The cemetery improvement work started on August 28, 1938, with provision of rebuilding some 500 feet of rock walls and rock masonary entrance portals; laying 1000 feet of water mains; sodding and landscaping two acres of the area. Thirteen WPA workmen are currently employed, one of whom is a non-certitified foreman. Expenditures so far total $3,248 in federal funds and $355 in city funds." The WPA also built the town's swimming pool, and it is documented that the WPA demolished an old hotel building and was to use the recycled lumber to build a...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Centennial Building in Port St. Joe FL. Past Use: Auditorium/Gymnasium. Present Use: Civic Center. The 1996 National Register documentation notes that the Centennial Building has been the site of centennial celebration of the signing of Florida's first constitution, which ran from December 7th to December 10th, 1938. The building was dedicated on December 7, 1938. It was also used for other political events and civic functions. Also fund raising events, such as the Fireman's Ball and the March of Dimes President's Ball, have been held in the building. It has sometimes been used for community Fourth of July and...

A 1200-seat auditorium in the Public Works Administration (PWA) Moderne style built primarily as an addition to the facilities of Central Junior High School, but also served the Nampa community for many years as a venue for concerts, sporting events, and other large public gatherings. According to the Idaho Statesman, "The structure was built as a PWA project at a cost of $88,725.88. It is at the corner of Fourteenth avenue and Sixth street south. All intermural sports for the entire system will be played in the new building. Opera seats arranged on three sides of the hard maple center floor...

Federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor worked to improve the conditions at the Central Cemetery in Carver, Massachusetts.

Improvements were made to the Central Cemetery in Millbury, Massachusetts with Federal Emergency Relief Act funds in 1933. 282 Millbury locals were given employment in 1933 as a result of the federal E.R.A. The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge at the cemetery in 1937.