Civic Facilities Sites

The WPA made "alterations and construct new addition to the Santa Cruz County Hospital and improve grounds" in 1942. Exact location and current status of this hospital unknown.

The building was retrofitted and remodeled in 2001, but most of the original structure and appearance was preserved.

Phone: (831)423-0109 Access Hours: M-F 5am-7 pm; Sat 5am-6 pm Constructed by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, this building is home to Henrietta Shore's murals depicting Santa Cruz industry: "Cabbage Farming," "Limestone Quarries," "Artichoke," and "Fishing."  

The historic former county courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building, which was completed in 1939, "served until the 1970's when the judicial building was constructed just down the street. It now houses county administrative offices." (flickr)

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted numerous improvement and development projects at Santa Fe National Cemetery. "Improve cemetery" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐85‐143 Total project cost: $14,833.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 8th Corps Area, U.S. Army "Develop landing area at airport" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐85‐144 Total project cost: $16,588.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 8th Corps Area, U.S. Army "Construct landing strips at airport" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐85‐72 Total project cost: $56,513.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 8th Corps Area, U.S. Army "Construct and improve buildings, facilities, and grounds at cemetery" Official Project Number: 265‐3‐85‐71 Total project cost: $44,900.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 8th Corps Area, U.S. Army "Grade, drain, and landscape grounds and improve buildings" Official Project Number: 265‐85‐8000 Total project...

Barnum Hall Theater was one of three new buildings constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at Santa Monica High School between 1935 and 1938 as part of the largest reconstruction project undertaken by the Santa Monica City School District following the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake. "The high quality of design of the new auditorium building suggested not only the importance of this facility to the growing high school, but also the degree of civic pride associated with this new community amenity. Designed by noted Los Angeles architectural firm Marsh, Smith & Powell, it displays the smooth surfaces, curved...

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...

This park commemorates the first major American victory of the Revolutionary War in 1777. "Establishment of a national park to commemorate the Saratoga battles, authorized by Congress in 1938,  came about largely due to the direction provided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The National Park Service accepted 1,430 acres from New York  State, although the area remained under state  administration. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established at the park in 1939.  Although the program by then was past its peak and was terminated in 1942 due to U.S. participation in World War II, the CCC performed the first methodical...

Framingham's 1936 Town Report details work accomplished by the W.P.A. with respect to the Saxonville Fire Station (now also known as Framingham Fire Station 2): The work, started in 1936, of replacing existing wooden floor of the apparatus room with a reinforced concrete floor and installation of a new steam heating plant was completed. The entire interior of the station was painted and much of the electrical wiring was renewed. Also other work, such as repairs to roof, repointing outside brickwork, and reconditioning of the old police cell room, was carried out.

A school in Hawk Springs, Wyoming was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. Construction was completed in 1939. School operations ceased in 1965, and the building has since been rehabilitated for community use. PWA Docket No. WY 1087

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Rogers, North Dakota's historic school auditorium in 1938. There is no school in the community anymore; the exact location and current status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built a combination auditorium-gymnasium for the school in Aguilar. The structure was built of native limestone. It is located at the south end of the educational campus in Aguilar that includes the elementary school, on the west side of Balsam Ave. south of E Cedar St, though it is unclear whether the facility is still in use.

The fieldstone school was built in 1936 by the WPA, in part in an effort to help revive the town. The school closed in 1946 during a consolidation, and was later converted to a community center. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From contributor Lindsay Penn: "In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Smithville Public School Building in Smithville, Arkansas. The WPA-funded stone building replaced a ca. 1872, one-room, frame schoolhouse, which had replaced the Solomon Schoolhouse (constructed ca. 1840) on land that is now part of the Smithville Cemetery. Smithville had served as the county...

In 1911, the Texas legislature approved the creation of a school district for Jourdanton after citizens appealed for assistance. A high school and football field were built after a bond election passed. In 1938, with assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a gymnasium was constructed to serve the growing community. At some point, the gym was destroyed. The gym's cornerstone and WPA plaque have been preserved in a brick enclosure on the school grounds. Phelps & Dewees & Simmons designed many structures in the San Antonio area, including Alamo Stadium another New Deal project previously submitted.

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium/auditorium combination for the Elm Mott School. Interestingly, the records show that they put "used" bleachers in the building. This is a two-story, red brick building that now sets behind a locked chain link fence. In 1955, Elm Mott and Lakeview Schools combined to create the Connally School District.

The one-story, Art Deco School Gymnasium/Auditorium was erected in Moulton TX in 1939 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Kai J. Leffland was the Architect and J.E. Dickey the Contractor.

Currently vacant, the former "Scott County Courthouse in Waldron was designed in 1934 by the Fort Smith architects Bassham & Wheeler, and was constructed in part with Works Progress Administration labor... "The Scott County Courthouse stands as the finest Art Deco building in Waldron. The quality of its typically geometric, shallow detail is particularly fine in such features as the carved stone panels above the windows on the main and side elevations, the shallow stylized floral patterns above the pilasters which flank the front entry, and the inscribed lettering in the stone entrance parapet, spelling “COURTHOUSE.” Of special note are the...

The federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied funds to undertake this county project during the 1930s. The jail was added to the rear of the courthouse with PWA project Miss. 1287-F. The courthouse was remodeled, with an Art Moderne style. The courthouse and jail were demolished c. 1955. A PWA grant funded $24,545 and the work was completed June 21, 1939.

Multiple New Deal organizations, particularly the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), worked to develop Scotts Bluff National Monument during the 1930s. From the National Park Service: For a short time, construction efforts came under the guidance of an agency known as the Civil Work Administration, which continued until April 28, 1934, when all construction came to a stop. At this time a complete survey was conducted to identify the bluff's historic and natural resources and to determine its future needs. During this survey, Dr. Harold J. Cook was named the monument's first ranger and on December 20, 1934, another federal agency, the Public...

Originally called the Power Plant Building, it was repaired and expanded as a WPA project in the 1940s.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Sea Lion Point Rock Wall near Florence, Oregon. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, "his section of rock wall (.36 miles) extends around Sea Lion Point, providing a pull-out for viewing, to the north entrance of the Sea Lion Caves parking lot. The wall is a low, solid structure and believed to have been built under the federal Public Works Administration Program during the early 1930s." Video along full length of rock wall along coast highway at Sea Lion Point 

The historic municipal auditorium, a.k.a. Seacrest Auditorium, in Zanesville, Ohio was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project that started in 1937. Various construction and financial delays hindered completion until 1940.

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). The children's hospital pictured here was constructed by the PWA. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin. In recent years some of the facilities have been restored as the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center. As far as the Living New Deal has been able to ascertain, however, this building remains in ruins.

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). In addition to the nurses' residence and children's hospital, New Deal agencies did other work on the site, including completing new roads, like the one pictured here. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin, but in recent years many of the facilities have been restored as the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center.

Seaview Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium constructed "between 1905 and 1938 and was the largest and most costly municipal facility for the treatment of tuberculosis of its date in the United States" (wikipedia). The nurses' residence pictured here was constructed by the PWA. The hospital was eventually abandoned and spent many years in a state of ruin. Many of the facilities were eventually restored as  the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and the nurses' residence was turned into a senior housing facility known as Park Lane at Sea View. However, the Living New Deal recently received word that the facilities have fallen into ruin.  

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a seawall east of Hilo in 1939. The 2.5-foot-thick structure was credited with saving the Pu‘umaile Home / hospital; the seawall "withstood the severe pounding of the angry waves ... lessened the force of the waves and the hospital was safe." Images of Old Hawaii: Some incorrectly suggest that the hospital washed away by the 1946 tsunami; however, it was spared. “The (sea)wall itself was undamaged, and buildings sheltered by it were undisturbed except for minor damage by flooding.” (Wiegel) The exact location and status of the seawall is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Second Division Memorial is located in President's Park, between 17th Street Northwest and Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. It commemorates those who died while serving in the 2nd Infantry Division of the U. S. Army during World War I. The artist was James Earl Fraser. While the sculpture itself does not appear to have been a New Deal project, it was erected with New Deal labor and/or funds and was dedicated on July 18, 1936, by president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The labor was most likely provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during its extensive parks improvement effort in 1935-36. Two...

"Constructed by the Works Progress Administration between 1938 and 1939, the courthouse represents federal New Deal relief programs at work in eastern Colorado during the Great Depression. The county commissioners took advantage of the WPA program to match county funds toward the construction of a new courthouse to replace a 1904 facility. The building is an excellent example of the WPA Art Deco style applied to a government building whose construction was constrained by the economic conditions of the Depression. Designed by Denver architects W. Gordon Jamieson and R. Ewing Stiffler, its Art Deco elements include the vertical emphasis with...

This Sedgwick county public building was partially constructed by the WPA in 1941: "The west portion was constructed by the WPA, a Federal New Deal work relief program, to house the county's engineering department. The east portion, a materials barns, was constructed prior to 1935. The Art Deco WPA addition underwent a renovation in 2003. ...A one-story brick building with barrel vaulted roof and parapet ends dates from at least 1935. In 1941, a two story building housing the engineering department for the county was constructed by the WPA at a cost of $42,000. The WPA portion utilized a simplified Moderne style,...

In 1939 the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a two-story addition on the south end of the original courthouse building. The style of the addition was intended to match the original two-story red brick courthouse that had been built in 1927.

The Scotland Neck Historic District contains multiple buildings constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "A brick gymnasium and vocational building constructed on the grounds of the no longer extant 1923 Scotland Neck High School in the 1300 block of Main Street was built by the WPA in 1940 (#49). The building was renovated in 1996 for use as a Senior Citizen Center."

"Built in 1935, the Scipio Town Hall is one of over 480 public works buildings constructed in Utah under various New Deal programs during the Depression years of the 1930's and 40's. ... The Scipio Town Hall was intended for use as a town hall and as a meeting place for all civic and political functions in the community. Two Scipio men Will and Lew Critchley were the brick and stone masons on the building. Several years after construction, probably during the 1940's, the brick work on the front was added. ... The building was renovated in 1988 with funds...

The New York Times reported in 1937: "Tourists have begun to visit the memorial in Sequoyah County, Okla., built by WPA under the sponsorship of the Oklahoma Historical Society ... The stone building erected by WPA encloses the log cabin in which Sequoyah lived 100 years ago, and a new road laid by WPA makes the memorial accessible to motorists." The cornerstone for the project was laid on June 12, 1936. The WPA also constructed a stone wall and the base to a water tower at the site.

The Public Works Administration completed this services building for the St. Louis City Hospital Complex in 1940. The red brick building is vacant at the present, but is currently for sale. Surrounding buildings have been successfully repurposed and this building has the same potential with solid construction and architecture consistent with the surrounding buildings. "St. Louis City Hospital was the city's primary public hospital. For most of the 20th Century, it operated out of this multi-level, multiple-building complex, whose earliest structures dated from 1906. By the time it reached its developmental apex in 1970, it included 12 buildings total (7 of...

Originally built as a generic county office building, this structure has since become the Shafter City Hall. A plaque on the building reads: "Constructed by Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration and County of Kern - 1940" Plans for the building were announced publicly in 1939: "Supervisor Announces New Building for Shafter, Association Will Donate Lots for New Structure," Bakersfield Californian, 19 August 1939.

The Shannon County Courthouse was designed by architect Dan R. Sanford of Springfield, MO. The Works Progress Administration completed the public building in 1941. The building was constructed after a fire destroyed the previous courthouse. A referendum was held on the question of whether to rebuild in nearby Winona, but voters chose to keep the county courthouse in Eureka.    

"The new courthouse at Shelbyville was erected on a public square in the center of the town on the site of an old pre-Civil War building. It is a two-story and basement structure with a partial third floor which houses jury rooms and a few offices. In the basement are record offices and record-storage vaults, a community social room with a stage, and various accessory rooms. The first floor contains the commissioner's court and offices for the county treasurer, auditor, assessor, and recorder. On the second floor are the courtrooms and offices for the county clerk and county...

The Shenandoah Memorial in Ava, Ohio was built to honor those lost in a 1925 airship crash that occurred in Noble County. The memorial was constructed with Treasury Department funds. The contractor was George Dodds & Sons Granite Company of Xenia, Ohio. Archival photos suggest the project was completed in September or October 1938. The memorial, according to Roadside America, "originally stood at the spot where the stern section of the Shenandoah fell to earth, but that was back in the wooded hills where few people could visit. The people of Ava have since moved it to a convenient spot along...

This WPA project was constructed in 1937 and dedicated in 1938.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the Sheridan County Courthouse in Sheridan, Wyoming. Cassity: "CWA painted the outside woodwork, the cornice, and the dome of the courthouse, and the workers also reworked the entire inside of the building."