Civic Facilities Sites

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 $607,000. The facility was demolished in 2008 in order to construct new housing.

The historic former Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee received a two-story addition during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building remained in use as the courthouse until 1974, and is in use currently as a museum and home to the Roane County Historical Association.

The Roanoke Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital Historic District, currently known as the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is located at 1970 Roanoke Boulevard, Salem, Virginia, within Roanoke County. The city boundary of Salem and Roanoke extends through the medical center’s property, but the majority of the property is located within the Salem, Virginia, city limits. The hospital was originally referred to as the Roanoke VA Hospital. The PWA provided $1,300,000 for the construction of numerous buildings at the site. The neuropsychiatric facility was dedicated on October 19, 1934, with approximately 25,000 attending the ceremony. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Brigadier...

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 units. The facility remains in use.

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 Streets. Conditions at the site had deteriorated to the point where contemporary accounts called it: "the worst disease breeding spot in the lower section of the city. Its existence was a constant police problem and fire hazard. Its crowded poorly lighted, evil smelling tenements depreciated the entire section of the city." In its 1937 report published in the City Year Book,...

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 most intact example of a locally initiated public low-income housing project. During the 1930s, the Federal government began a subsidy programs for the development of low-income housing and for slum clearance. The City of Charleston quickly took advantage of these programs, developing several large low income projects, the first of which was the Robert Mills Manor. Its associations with prominent local architects...

Located behind the Roberts County Courthouse, Sisseton South Dakota's former Roberts County Jail was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $11,200 grant; the total cost of the project was $42,800. Construction occurred between January and July 1934. (PWA Docket No. SD 2370)

Lumberton, North Carolina's Robeson County Agricultural Building was constructed in 1937 with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor.

Robinson Hall was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Discussions regarding the hall’s construction started in 1934 with Bismarck-based architect HM Leonard. According to Golden Jubilee, Robinson North Dakota, “A special election was held October 3, 1934, to issue bonds of $2,000.00 to erect a community hall. In August 1935, lots 10, 11 in block 3 were purchased for $100.00 from OB Wells as a site for the community hall.” Pete Konningsrud worked as foreman during the hall’s construction. The construction of the hall alone employed a great number of people from the area. According to an article from...

"The Robinson High School Auditorium-Gymnasium, also known as the RHS Gym was a historic gymnasium located on the campus of Robinson High School in Robinson, Illinois. The gym was constructed in 1939 using funds granted by the Public Works Administration. The Art Deco building featured fluted columns around its entrance, glass-block windows at the entrance and east and west sides, and curved metal awnings. Both high school athletic events and public events were held in the building, as Robinson had no other large public space suitable for hosting community events at the time." The building has since been demolished. PWA Docket...

Members of the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a monument to five fallen members of Company 1212 who died fighting a fire outside Orovada, Nevada on July 28, 1939. The monument and plaque reside at the center of a U.S. 95 rest area south of Orovada, toward Winnemucca. BLM: "A crew comprised of 23 men from a Civilian Conservation Corp responded to a lightning fire just outside of Orovada on the Santa Rosa mountain range. A thunderstorm had been developing above the fire while the crew hiked in and had now collapsed, creating a sudden wind shift and strong down drafts. Five of...

The New Deal contributed substantially to the betterment of Rock Creek Park in the 1930s.  This involved a number of federal agencies. Rock Creek Park is a key greenway in the District of Columbia and, at 1750 acres, is almost twice the size of Central Park in New York.  It was established by Congress in 1890, making it officially a National Park at the time.  It featured prominently in the far-reaching plans for the District of Columbia by the McMillan Commission in 1901-02 and the Olmsted Brothers report of 1918, which envisioned a major park with a scenic parkway running through it. In...

Rock Island National Cemetery in Moline, Illinois was improved as part of Federal Project F-87 by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA). The work done "included the resetting, realigning and cleaning of headstones ... as well as the filling-in of sunken graves."

The Works Progress Administration built a rock wall in Camp Verde, Arizona. A wall stamped "USA/WPA" is located directly in front of the current Camp Verde Historical Society, which is housed in the historical former elementary school.

According to a report from the regional office in 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had recently constructed rock walls in Stanislaus County, California. Unfortunately, nothing more specific is known about this project, neither the location nor the purpose of the walls.  WPA reports could be maddeningly vague about some of their minor projects.

The historic Rockdale County Courthouse building in Conyers, Georgia was constructed with federal funds as the community's post office ca. 1939. The building housed an example of New Deal artwork, which has since been relocated.

The Flanagan Center alternately also referred to as the Rockland Recreation Center was built in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. It is a red brick and granite building with a small playground in the back. "Our indoor facility is located at 61 Limerock Street in Downtown Rockland, Maine and offers many Youth Programs and Adult Programs. It consists of a lined gym floor for both basketball and volleyball, a new Weight Room, and a game room. The game room, which is located on the lower level, has a concession stand, many table games, arcade games, board games, and a living...

An onsite marker reads: "Rockport School has served the town of Rockport for many years as both an educational and community institution. It dates to 1935, during the era of the Great Depression. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs to combat the Depression was the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, later the Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Workers completed construction on the Rockport School, labeled Project Number 2813, under the PWA, and local bonds helped to subsidize the government project. The district had the structure built on the site of an...

A WPA plaque hanging in front of the chapel building reads: "This Historic Monument Erected A.D. 1856 by Solano County Pioneers. Reconstructed by Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration A.D. 1940" A nearby California Historical Marker no. 779 highlights this structure and reads: "Erected by pioneers of Methodist Episcopal Church South with volunteer labor and donated funds. Cornerstone laid October 3, 1856. Dedicated February 1857. Site supplied by Landy and Sarah Alford. Chapel deteriorated by 1929 and deeded by the church to Rockville Public Cemetery District as a pioneer monument. Restored in 1940." -------------------- This chapel is currently home to the Church of Christ.

Rockwall County is the smallest county in Texas and was primarily agricultural during the Great Depression. By 1940, fifteen percent of the available workers were doing relief jobs or in search of work. The federal government kept the county government from bankruptcy with federal relief funds. Through the Work Projects Administration (originally named the Works Progress Administration), a new courthouse was constructed to replace the old one built in 1893. Voelcker and Dixon designed the $100,000 Moderne style stone structure, the third courthouse for Rockwall County. The county renovated the courthouse in 2002 and built a new courthouse at another location in...

Rome, New York's Historical Society & Museum occupies what was originally constructed as the city of Rome's post office in 1936-7. The building was funded with federal Treasury Department funds. A New Deal mural painted for the building now resides at Rome's City Hall.

Roosevelt Care Center in Edison, New Jersey was originally known as the Middlesex County Tuberculosis Hospital. The building was constructed with PWA funds. NJ.com states: "Today, that building is on the National Register of Historic Places. For many years, Roosevelt served as the Middlesex County tuberculosis hospital. In the 1950s, it was converted to a long-term-care facility, and rehabilitation and recreation programs were added. An annex building on the other side of Parsonage Road was completed in 1964, and a major addition to the main building opened in 1982." The structure was reconditioned and converted into affordable senior housing. It opened in April...

Construction of the Roosevelt County Courthouse and Jail was undertaken as a New Deal project during the Great Depression. Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), the building was actually a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. The P.W.A. supplied an $89,173 grant for the building's construction; total cost of the project was $197,381. Construction occurred between 1937 and 1938/9. P.W.A. Docket No. N.M. 1024-D.S.

The Roosevelt County Courthouse, at 400 2nd Avenue South in Wolf Point, Montana, was constructed between 1939 and 1940 with WPA labor.

At the behest of the city of Barrett, Minnesota, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built a combination public auditorium and high school gymnasium in 1933-34.  The CWA provided the labor from the ranks of local unemployed workers and the city provided the empty lot and pitched in $5,000 for materials. The building was named Roosevelt Hall in honor of President Franklin Roosevelt. It served for around twenty years as the school gym and Barrett community hall. The 34' x 110' structure is wood frame, with Western Red Cedar siding and a shingle roof. The roof is rounded in a style roughly reminiscent of...

Roosevelt Park is located in Edison, New Jersey. It contains a number of picnic groves and sports facilities. The WPA did major work on the park in the 1930s. In addition to general park development, a monument honoring the laborers who built the park was erected in 1933. There is also a WPA sculpture in the park by Waylande Gregory (see linked project page).

"Rose Hill Cemetery now encompasses 28 acres. Limestone walls along the north and west sides, and ditches throughout, were installed in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project. Buried over time, the ditches were discovered and restored in 1993."

“This is a most unusual example of WPA construction - the use of petrified wood. We noted several buildings in this area of Oklahoma which used petrified wood. Apparently, the local topographical circumstances lead to availability of this type of preserved wood.   “This chapel is still in use and was constructed in 1935. In 1965, a carport facility was attached on the north to serve with cemetery maintenance.   “The chapel is constructed of native stones. The front of the building, however, has been overlaid with chunks of petrified wood. The centered entrance is recessed under a covered portico. The one-over-one windows (some...

"This is one of the more interesting post-office buildings in which the design avoids tradition. It is fireproof except for the roof, which is slow-burning construction. The exterior walls are a blue-gray brick trimmed with Indiana limestone and the spandrels are aluminum. The lobby has a terrazzo floor and base and a wainscot of American butternut. The workroom has an area of 8,600 square feet. The building was completed in August 1936 at a construction cost of $90,047. The P.W.A. allotment was $121,804.67 and the cost of the site $12,250."

In 1936, the WPA completed the addition of this two-story annex next to the old city hall. At the time it housed a new jail, but no longer does so. An excerpt from the archive photo below reads: "This project has provided the City Police Department with a modern jail. The old jail was inadequate to handle the demand. The town being a railroad division point, results in numerous transients to deal with. Front view of City Hall - under this project the interior and exterior of building were remodeled and a new jail addition 10'x26' was built."

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 (LHAs) to improve living conditions for low-income families. The Austin City Council established the Austin Housing Authority on December 27, 1937. The housing authority made an application to the USHA for $500,000 to build 186 units of public housing at three sites. Austin’s housing agency became the first in the country to receive funding and to start construction on its USHA...

Built in 1798, the Rossborough Inn is today the oldest building on what is now the campus of the University of Maryland College Park. The WPA was involved in extensive renovation and improvement of the Inn in 1937-38 including: "Improve and restore Rossborough Inn, including tearing out and rebuilding old work, altering interior, painting, constructing new additions, installing plumbing and electrical facilities."   (National Archives) "Articles in the University of Maryland archives reveal that WPA grants funded renovation of the building starting in 1938. The Dec. 14, 1937, issue of the Sun reported that the WPA approved $19,042 for renovation, and the...

"Rehabilitation of old Cemetery" occurred in November of 1935 thanks to $2,303 by the Works Progress Administration for this former gold rush town of 637 (1930 population). The cemetery was established in 1850 and is open and active for burials.

The Rowan County Jail and Superintendent's Office was completed in 1938 with funding from the WPA. Both the jail and the supt office are constructed of local rock.  The jail has crenellations decorating the top giving the appearance of a formidable castle. The superintendent's office now houses a museum.

Construction of stone voting houses was recommended because there were insufficient places for voting with previous solutions producing problems for locations that were over-crowded because of a central location, too small such as in one room schoolhouse, or too far for individuals to travel to vote.  It was felt that this discouraged voting. A total of 17 stone voting houses were proposed along with redistricting to enable citizens to access voting more easily.  Construction on the stone voting houses started in late 1935, concluding in 1936. Of 17 original stone voting houses, 11 remain, 9 of which are held in private...

The National Youth Administration constructed the building that houses the Runnels County Sheriff's Office between 1941 and 1942.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of the Ruppert’s Court Automobile Repair Shop in Washington, DC between 1935 and 1936. In 1943, the building became a woodworking shop for the ADA, It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any part of this structure still exists today, but it is not likely. The alley where Ruppert’s Court Auto Repair Shop was located is now called “Lincoln Ct. SE.” and is historically known as DC’s “Square 762.” (Note: On page 7 of the ADA’s 10-year report, Ruppert’s Court is said to be located in Square 672. However, in the ADA’s 1937 fiscal...

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 residences have been completed under direction of the rural housing authority on Highway 78, three miles east of Tupelo..." (Housing Work, 1941). D. D. Smith Lumber Company constructed the brick houses, which were the first of the farm houses under New Deal work to be built of brick. The project authorized 300 rural homes to be constructed. The first home...

The historic former Russell County Courthouse in Phenix City, Alabama was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Presently titled the Justice Building, it is still operated by the county. The PWA provided a $42,340 grant for the project, whose total cost was $102,493. Construction occurred between December 1937 and November 1938. PWA Docket No. AL W1174.

The WPA built an annex on the North side of the Sacramento City Hall in 1939, but it was demolished in 2003. A new, five story building (much larger than the historic City Hall itself) was recently built just behind the building.