Civic Facilities Sites

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France in 1886. It was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War. In 1937, FDR proclaimed the entire island a National Monument administered by the National Park Service. From 1937-1941, the WPA and PWA carried out extensive renovations of the statue and Bedloe (now Liberty) island. In his history of the Statue of Liberty, Berenson (2012) elaborates on the federal government's role: "the NPS devised an ambitious plan to remove all structures save for the statue itself, shore up the...

From the Sterling Kansas Bulletin article 8 November 1934: "Another CWA project of which the city and community may well be proud is the new chapel that has just been completed in the northwest corner of the Sterling Community Cemetery. Built of stone and cement blocks, which were taken from around lot curbing, the Spanish style building makes a very substantial and attractive little chapel. The material, which had to be purchased for the building, was furnished by Sterling City and Sterling Township, and the work was all done as a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project. Marion Heter was the architect and...

The Sterling County Courthouse was built in 1938 with assistance from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works under docket number TEX 1585-F. It has "wonderful Art Deco details of the local sheep and cattle-ranching enterprises and the ubiquitous cactus.” (waymarking)

The Steuben House is a longstanding historical and architectural landmark in Bergen County NJ. Its style recalls the Bergen Dutch community. The house was occupied for military purposes during much of the American Revolutionary War, including by General Washington. During the 1930s, New Deal workers renovated the house, helping preserve the historic structure up to this day: "On June 20, 1938, a crew of WPA workmen began a $20,000 renovation of the Steuben House (the New Jersey Historic Sites Commission contributing $3,000 and the WPA supplying $15,800 worth of labor to the project). A new oil heating system, a bath and lavatory...

Second Half of Final Extended Building Phase (1941-1942). Residential housing for employees of the Stewart Indian Boarding School Staff and Civilian Conservation Corp - Indian Division (CCC-ID) was acute by the late 1930s. Off-site rental units in Carson City and Reno were expensive and hard to find. Stewart Indian Agency Superintendent Don C. Foster made several attempts to gain approval for two new cottages for CCC-ID employees and approval finally came after his offer to redirect CCC-ID funds (earmarked for a Walker River project) to the cause. Five cottages (including two duplexes) were built west of the Indian School in the...

The Village of Stewart Manor received a $16,363 federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant that enabled the construction of the village's Municipal Building in 1936. The total cost of the project was $36,684. The building is still in use today. PWA Docket No. NY 1170.

The Stockton Federal Building contains two 1936 murals funded by the Section of Fine Arts. This oil on canvas mural "Mail And Travel By Stage" by Jose Moya del Pino depicts stage coach travel in early California.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a stockyards building and enclosed a lot for sales, on North Cumberland Street in Morristown, Tennessee. The project included a "modern horse and mule shed," and enabled farmers to sell their stock in a location other than on the streets. The location and status of the project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Stoddert Dwellings in Washington, DC in 1942. Today, the DC Housing Authority manages “Stoddert Terrace,” in the same general area (and perhaps the same exact area) as the original Stoddert Dwellings. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the original structures still exist. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a...

The Stone Cottage in Addison, Texas, originally called the Addison Community Building, was built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) between 1939 and 1940 as the permanent meeting place for the Addison Home Demonstration Club. The official project number was 65-1-66-362. The building originally cost $4,600, which the Addison Home Demonstration Club helped raise through bake sales. The building is rock veneer construction on a concrete foundation. It had a kitchen, restrooms and fireplace. The building was the original home of the Addison Centre Theatre until it fell into disrepair. In 1998 the City Council voted to remodel the cottage at a...

Works Progress Administration project No. 50,037 for $21,140 was approved September 26, 1940 for rehabilitation and additions to the Stone County courthouse constructed in 1917. Architects were Smith and Norwood. The project was slated to begin in early January 1941. By fall of 1941, the Report of the Grand Jury Circuit stated the process of repair and addition of wings would provide sufficient office space. A stairway was in process of construction at the rear of the courthouse to lead into the center of the courthouse and it was thought to lead to interference with court hearings so the Board...

Relief workers of the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a low wall along West Kaahumanu Avenue (then Main Street) in Kahului, Maui in 1939. The wall, which is about 100 yards long, originally formed part of the boundary of a school campus.  It is marked on one end with the initials WPA and 1939.

"The building is of fireproof construction up to the roof. With the exception of the portico, the exterior walls are of red face brick. The floor slabs are concrete of bar-joist construction, and the roof is wood covered with slate. The cupola is wood. Offices and a garage for the police department are in the basement. The upper floors provide quarters for the town clerk, the tax assessors and collectors, the town manager, a courtroom, council chambers, and drafting rooms for the chief engineer. The dimensions of the building in plan are 99 by 143 feet. The...

The Works Progress Administration built a school in Stratton CO, in Kit Carson County, School District # 57. The reinforced concrete structure includes four classrooms and a combination auditorium and gymnasium, which accommodated 4,000 persons. The construction cost was $35,354.

Located in Straus Park on the Upper West Side is "a bronze 1913 statue by American artist Augustus Lukeman of a nymph gazing over a calm expanse of water in memory of Ida and Isidor Straus, a United States congressman and co-owner of Macy’s, who perished on the RMS Titanic" (wikipedia). In the 1930s, it 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 Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted around 400 street trees in the city of Martinez in the winter of 1933-34. The plantings consisted of walnuts and sycamores.  (Henderson 2014) Susana Park had just been deeded to the city by the Masonic Lodge, which stands nearby.  Many of the trees in the park are probably planted by the CWA.  Rock work at the entrances to the park may well be CWA, but that cannot be confirmed (benches connected to the low rock walls were removed in a recent renovation of the park). A special ceremony was held at Susana Park to plant trees...

"This long, narrow, rectangular brick building extends west from Pine Street and was built in four phases. Phase I, built 1934, was funded by the federal Public Works Administration (Project #2215). The original structure, as shown in Figure 1, consisted of  a one -story brick building with an office at the east end and seven large garage bays – three with doors and four without doors. "

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a program of planting 10,000 street trees around the City of Oakland in 1938 to 1940.  Some $113,000 was earmarked out of a large grant of over $1.5 million for parks improvements in the city made by the WPA in 1938.  The work was supervised by Edgar Sanborn, City Forester. We do not have detailed information on which streets enjoyed the benefits of this program. 

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted 10,000 street trees around Berkeley CA in 1933-34 and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) followed with 5,000 more, c. 1938-39.  (Gazette, 3/11/39) According to the city manager of Berkeley, 15,000 flowering fruit trees had been planted by April 1939 (Gazette, 4/4/1939) Street tree planting was a major, if unappreciated, aspect of the New Deal. Determining which trees were planted on which streets is impossible at this point, and most of the trees (particularly short-lived fruit trees) have passed on by this time.  Nevertheless, there are several streets, such as Hopkins Street, where elm, camphor and ash trees of...

The Works Progress Administration built the Stuart City Park and Community House in Stuart City FL, Martin County. The City was a cosponsor. The community house housed public gatherings and also served as a hurricane shelter. The location and status of these projects is presently unknown to Living New Deal.  

Boston, Massachusetts's Suffolk County Courthouse was constructed between 1936 and 1939 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA contributed a grant of $2,151,000; the final cost of the project was $4.9 million. PWA Docket No. MA 1142.

No-longer-extant, the Suffolk County Tuberculosis Sanatorium is now the site of Suffolk County Community College in Selden. Suffolk County News reported that, between 1935 and 1936, the WPA undertook many projects in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including landscaping the grounds of the Suffolk County Sanitorium.

The historic former Sugar House Station post office was constructed in 1939-1940 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is now privately owned. NHRP Nomination form: The May 7, 1936 edition of the Sugar House Bulletin reported a "rousing talk" by local Postmaster Smoot that was a 'call to arms' to members of the newly-formed Sugar House Rotary. Mr. Smoot stated that a new federal building was seriously needed to handle the sixteen percent increase in mail during just the preceding twenty months. ... On March 19, 1938, the Salt Lake Tribune announced that the House Appropriations Committee had approved $150,000 for a...

This courthouse has clean art deco lines with classic light fixtures flanking the front entrance.  Above the entrance are 3 doves holding the scales of justice.

Also known as the National Guard Armory, the Sulphur Armory stands vacant today at 500 W Wynnewood Ave, Sulphur, OK. Placed on the National Register in 1994, it is an outstanding example of the work of the Works Progress Administration.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Memorial Building in Hinton, Summers County. The structure served as a community center. The building foundation was not part of the work performed by WPA crews. Operating no. 65-41-871. State Serial no. 354-357.

Sumner County Courthouse in Gallatin, Tennessee was erected with the assistance of funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The two-story PWA Moderne courthouse replaced an older Greek Revival style building and was the last PWA courthouse to be constructed in Tennessee (Van West, 2001). Total cost was $170,000 and the PWA provided $78,750.

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the remodeling of the 1893 Opera House building, converting much of the four-story building into municipal offices. The building houses Sumter's city hall to this day. Wikipedia: "The building was remodeled in 1936, converting the first floor into a movie theater and the second floor opera house into offices." SumterSC.gov: "The cornerstone was reset in May, and a $120,000 renovation transformed the Opera House into a moving picture theater. This project also provided jobs for 300 workers in the midst of the Great Depression." "The very first film shown at the Opera House was Earthworm Tractors....

"The theater originally was constructed in 1930 and expanded and renovated in 1937 using Texas Centennial funding. The architect for the 1930 project was Harvey P. Smith, who was joined by George Willis and Charles T. Boelhauwe to design the 1937 project. The old quarry wall forms the western (back) edge of the theater site, providing an open-air setting with natural acoustic features. The 193- design included stage and classical wings, while the 1937 expansion added dressing rooms and stage support buildings, restrooms, seating, and a concrete floor for the seating area. The 1937 project was constructed by WPA workers, while...

"Built in the 1940's as a means to house military personnel and their families, it was later bought by the city of San Francisco and converted to a low-income housing project." - https://wikimapia.org/1802193/Sunnydale-Housing-Projects

" group of animals of cast terrazzo (a camel, burro, grasshopper, duck, hippopotamus and elephant), each approximately 26 inches long, 24 inches high and 12 inches wide, and variously colored coral, green and gray, were placed in the Child Care Center Playground of the Sunnydale Housing Project." - https://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Sargent_Johnson_and_His_Milieu Apparently Johnson, who was a friend of Bufano's, was careful not to use the same animals that Bufano used.

Pearl City was an area of Vincennes that was described by the newspapers in the 1930's at the time as an area next to the Wabash River that was filled with hovels made of crates and tin and occupied by barely recognizable humans living in squalid conditions after shell fishing by squaters declined. With labor supplied by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), 20 houses were constructed in a 4 acre area called Sunset Court. From the look of the photograph, the small houses can be compared to the popular tiny houses today. Still, considering that the people who moved...

Completed in 1937, the state Supreme Court and Library in Carson City, Nevada was constructed with funding from the Public Works Administration.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the former Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River, Wyoming. Cassity: "In Green River, CWA workers not only painted and renovated the exterior and interior but also the furniture and fixtures of the courthouse."

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt allotted $2,000,000 in emergency rural rehabilitation funds to the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs (OIA). Out of this sum, OIA sent $32,000 (about $607,000 in 2020 dollars) to the Swinomish Indian Reservation for an 18-house homestead community. The community was completed in the late summer of 1936 and helped relocate families away from nearby (and less stable) floating houses. The cluster of homes still exists today and is known as the “Swinomish Model Village.” In a special 1936 edition of Indians at Work (a publication of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs), Martin J. Sampson,...

"The site contains two historic buildings: a forest ranger residence and a small barn with corral. Both buildings sit adjacent to the perennially flowing Sycamore Creek in an open forest of piñon pine and juniper and shaded by large sycamore trees along the creek. The buildings were constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees between 1940 and 1941. The cabin contains original CCC-constructed furniture. Recently restored, the cabin is now part of the Forest Service rental program, "Rooms with a View" and is available to the public for daily rental."

Constructed by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) in 1935, the Sylva G. Martin Community Center is a one-story masonry structure, built in a rectangular plan inspired by the simple bungalow. The high-quality stonework is its most notable feature with wall surfaces fashioned from local oolitic limestone, cut and finely laid in irregular courses. There are five bays across the front with a porch across three bays. A gable roof covers the main portion of the building with shed roofs over the front porch and rear. Four square piers of oolitic limestone support the front porch roof. The space between...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Syphax Houses in Washington, DC in 1942. The Syphax Houses were located at 1st and R streets SW, and it does not appear that any of the original homes still exist. Today, the DC Housing Authority operates “Syphax Gardens” at P and Half streets SW, one block northeast from where the original Syphax homes were located. (“Syphax” is the surname of a prominent African American family from Virginia, with family ties to Martha Washington.) The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) funded the construction of a community building for the Syphax Houses and surrounding area, ca. 1942. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if this building still exists. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally controlled special authority. It then slowly evolved into today’s DC Housing Authority, an independent agency of the DC Government. The Syphax Houses Community Building was part of the...

"Built at a cost of approximately $32,000, and designed by Bryan W. Nolan, this armory was completed in 1937 using WPA labor. It consists of a one-story administrative wing, and a large barrel-roofed drill hall. The armory is built of uncoursed, squared white and tan polychromatic sandstone in a castle-like style....   "The administrative wing has a flat roof, with a stepped roof line and entrance which is slightly projected. The main entrance has double aluminum and glass doors, with the entrance and flanking windows having black cloth awnings. Some of the tall, narrow windows have the original steel frames and 2-over-4...