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  • 4th Avenue Court Building (former) Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the old 4th Avenue Court Building. The building now houses the NYPD.
  • 5th District Magistrates Court Building (former) Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    Beginning in 1935, Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a large program of improvements to public buildings in Brooklyn, New York.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the old 5th District Magistrates' Court Building (also known as the Williamsburg Bridge Courthouse). The domed, beaux-arts building was originally built by the Williamsburg Trust Company in 1915.  It is located at the northwest corner of South 5th St. and New St. in Williamsburg, facing Continental Army Plaza. A caption for a 1938 photo available at the Brooklyn Public Library states: "The Williamsburg Bridge Courthouse, acquired by...
  • 8th District Magistrates' Court Building (former) Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the old 8th District Magistrates' Court Building. The building, which also housed the NYPD's 60th Precinct, is no longer extant.
  • Alameda County Courthouse - Oakland CA
    Alameda County courthouse is a striking example of Moderne Architecture. It consists of a large base filling a city block, a setback tower, two further stories of jail set farther back and a hipped roof with observation cupola at the top. The base and tower are white concrete with striking vertical window columns.  The south facade features a large bas-relief eagle over the door (and has been altered for wheelchair access).  The main entrance, no longer used, faces Lake Merritt to the east, with a grand lobby and staircase flanked by large marble mosaics. The interior, housing several floors of...
  • Alamosa County Courthouse - Alamosa CO
    The historic Alamosa County Courthouse was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). "The U-shaped complex is one of the county's best examples of the Mission style. The courthouse was the largest of several WPA projects built in the county during the 1930s. Construction began in 1936. Using local clay and sand, more than 450,000 bricks were produced at a kiln located north of Alamosa. The courthouse continues to house a variety of county offices."
  • Allamakee County Courthouse - Waukon IA
    The Allamakee Courthouse has helped its communities by educating, protecting and preserving the county. The courthouse serves as a spot with many departments that improve the life of those who live in the county. There are many services the courthouse offers, this include ASAP, a department that helps educate people about drug and alcohol abuse. Assessor’s office which helps estimate the value of one’s property. Along with the most well-known treasures office which is where one’s property tax and vehicle registration occurs. The courthouse has become an important site for all of Allamakee county residents. The courthouse is important because...
  • Amador County Courthouse (former) - Jackson CA
    The Amador County courthouse and Hall of Records in Jackson CA was rebuilt in 1939-40 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  The previous courthouse and Hall of Records on the site, built side by side in 1863, were completely remodeled and joined into a single building.   The architect was George Sellon, who turned brick Romanesque structures into a fine example of Art Moderne design.  There is a plaque in the foyer that credits everyone but the WPA for the 1940 remodel. This courthouse was replaced by a new superior court building across town in 2007 and has been sitting empty ever...
  • Amite County Courthouse Improvements - Liberty MS
    Mississippi’s oldest courthouse was enlarged, modernized and renovated with a Works Progress Administration project of more than $30,000. The red brick two-story Federal style building was originally constructed 1839-1840. The project added two-story wings on the east and west ends of the building, and two-story porches across the back and front elevations, adding six new offices to the existing building. Indoor lavatories and rest rooms were installed for the first time, and a steel fire-proof records vault installed. The remodeling and repair was authorized as a Civil Works Administration project in February, 1934, however, was discontinued prior to completion. An...
  • Aurora County Courthouse - Plankinton SD
    "The Aurora County Courthouse is a flat roofed rectangular three story poured-in-place concrete building constructed in the Art Deco and Art Moderne styles. The facade and sides are symmetrical with seven bays on the front and five bays on each of the sides. The concrete foundation extends up to the sills of the first floor windows. Above that, the first floor concrete has a rusticated appearance of incised mortar joints, creating the appearance of a podium or pedestal upon which the upper stories rest. The second and third floors are smooth concrete. Between the first and...
  • Baca County Courthouse Annex - Springfield CO
    "The current courthouse was built in 1916 after a fire destroyed the first Baca County Courthouse in 1910. The elegant brick addition, which presents the Main Street facade, was designed by the Denver firm Mountjoy and Frewen and constructed in 1929-30. In 1935, WPA workers began construction of a second addition. This two-story, stone building served initially as a jail and sheriff’s quarters, which remained at this site until 1972 when a new jail was built. The WPA plans by E.C. Measel included landscaping and a stone wall around the grounds. The lovely stone building behind the courthouse was built...
  • Baxter County Courthouse - Mountain Home AR
    "The Baxter County Courthouse in Mountain Home was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1941 and 1943. It was designed by T. Ewing Shelton of Fayetteville, and constructed by the WPA. Its minimalist design and use of local materials in its construction are features common to many depression- era public works projects... The Baxter County courthouse in Mountain Home is being nominated under criterion A with local significance because of its role as a seat of government in Baxter County and for its association with the WPA. Through its many projects in the area, the WPA had a...
  • Beaufort County Courthouse (former) Remodeling - Beaufort SC
    The old county courthouse in Beaufort, South Carolina was built in 1883, architect Robert McGrath. The building was remodeled extensively in 1936 with the support of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. This served as the county courthouse for decades until a new building was constructed; from 1994 to 2014 the building served as a U.S. Courthouse. Its current use is unknown to Living New Deal. The PWA provided a $14,760 grant in support of the $33,124 total cost of the courthouse renovation project during the 1930s. Construction occurred between February and November 1936. (PWA Docket No. SC 1146)
  • Bee County Courthouse Addition - Beeville TX
    The Bee County, Texas Courthouse was built in 1912. In 1941 a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project built an L-plan brick addition to the south side of the courthouse. The brick used to create the addition is nearly identical to that of the original building,
  • Berks County Courthouse Improvements - Reading PA
    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.
  • Big Horn County Courthouse - Hardin MT
    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."
  • Bonner County Courthouse Additions - Sandpoint ID
    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...
  • Bosque County Courthouse Addition - Meridian TX
    In 1935, the Meridian Tribune reported that a "contract for re-modeling the Bosque county courthouse and constructing a one-story addition was awarded ... to O.K. Johnson, Waco contractor, for $44,113.00." In 1934, the clock tower and hipped roofs were replaced with a flat concrete roof as a result of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. That renovation also resulted in a one-story addition to the west side of the courthouse. A restoration project in 2005-2007 removed the addition and restored the clock tower and roof to give the courthouse back its former Gothic style.
  • Brazoria County Courthouse - Angleton TX
    The Brazoria County Courthouse had undergone much damage after the 1932 storm that hit the Houston and Galveston area, having also been used as a refugee site during the storm. After investigations about whether the courthouse should be renovated, in 1939, the Brazoria County officials and a grand jury finalized that a new courthouse would be constructed with Public Works Administration funding. The new building consisted of five stories with a county jail on the fifth floor. In addition, the project utilized $500,000 and around 100 workers. While there were countless applications sent for PWA funding, it seems that the...
  • Brewton Courthouse Annex - Brewton AL
    The Works Progress Administration built the Brewton Courthouse Annex in Brewton, Escambia County. The new annex provided additional space for ten county offices—the Department of Public Welfare, the county Education Department, the Home Demonstration and County Agricultural Agent, the County Health and Sanitation Departments, among others. The15-room brick structure has a basement with a storage vault. The approximate cost of the project was $16,000.
  • Bristol County Courthouse (former) Renovations - Bristol RI
    "During 1934-35 the building was refurbished as a PWA project under the direction of Bristol architect Wallis E. Howe, a partner in the firm Howe & Church. The original Tuscan-columned portico was replaced with a "Gothic" design of clustered colonettes, a ball-frieze design used by Russell Warren on the cornice of Hey Bonnie Hall was replicated, and the courthouse was painted a Colonial Revival scheme of yellow with white trim and green shutters." The building is still standing and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • Broadwater County Courthouse - Townsend MT
    The 1935 county courthouse in Townsend, Montana was built with the assistance of PWA funds.
  • Bronx County Courthouse - Bronx NY
    The Bronx County Courthouse was built on the cusp between FDR's governorship in New York and the federal New Deal of his presidency.  It was approved in 1928 and construction begun in 1931, but the work was not completed until 1933 or 1934, when Mayor LaGuardia officially dedicated the building. As researcher Frank da Cruz explains, " FDR did not become president until 1933, before that he was the governor of New York State and had already begun the New Deal right here to provide work relief and build worthwhile projects, such as the Bronx campus of Hunter College." There was evidently an injection of...
  • Bureau County Courthouse - Princeton IL
    "The new courthouse is 114 by 109 feet in plan. It encloses and makes use of the walls of the old courthouse which was 56 by 92 feet and provided space for the courtroom ad accessory quarters. The new building provides space for the county clerk, county treasurer, county court, circuit court clerk, State attorney, board of supervisors, county superintendent of schools, highway commissioners, tuberculosis clinic, old-age pension board, police, work-relief agencies, and rooms for the grand jury and petit jury. The structure is fireproof throughout, including the old building where the wood floors were replaced...
  • Burnet County Courthouse - Burnet TX
    In 1935 the Burnet County Commissioners’ Court requested a grant from the Public Works Administration for the construction of a new courthouse. On November 18th of that year, the PWA made available a loan of $74,000 and a grant of $61,000 for the project. An election for bonds to cover the loan was called and passed. The Commissioners then accepted the grant. Construction began February 10, 1936, and finished on August 1, 1937. The courthouse was built of the same type of granite that was used in the construction of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
  • Caldwell Parish Courthouse - Columbia LA
    This parish courthouse was undertaken during the Great Depression with the assistance of funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The two story jail courthouse, "...modern structure to be constructed of concrete, brick, and hollow tile, with stone trimmings" (1937, p. 10) was completed in 1937.
  • Calhoun County Courthouse - Grantsville WV
    The Works Progress Administration built this courthouse in Grantsville between 1941 and 1942. The building is stone construction with an entrance marked by a portico and a taller central portion. The massing of the rear facade is minimized by a gable roof and the facade is built of similar stone work. Of an interesting side note, Grantsville is named for General and President US Grant who is a distant cousin of FDR with the common ancestor of Philip Delano of 17th century Massachusetts.
  • Callaway County Courthouse - Fulton MO
    The courthouse has an art deco design and includes light fixtures and the external façade.  The use of a stylized “u” that looks like a “v” was widely panned at the time.  In addition to the plaques for the present courthouse, the plaque for the previous courthouse is included.  It was the site of the controversial trial of Celia, a slave who killed a sexually abusive master in the 1850’s.
  • Cameron Parish Courthouse - Cameron LA
    The historic Cameron County Courthouse in Cameron, Louisiana was constructed with the aid of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "Further testimony to the structures' solidity can be found in Cameron Parish, where its courthouse was one of the few buildings in town to weather Hurricane Audrey in 1957 without serious damage. In 2005 Hurricane Rita leveled almost the entire town, but the courthouse is still standing."
  • Carbon County Courthouse - Rawlins WY
    The Carbon County Courthouse is located in downtown Rawlins, Wyoming.  The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $130,500 for the financing in 1938 and the building was completed in 1940.  The building is still in use today as the county courthouse.
  • Carter County Courthouse - Van Buren MO
    Stone courthouse constructed by the WPA in 1936.
  • Carter County Courthouse - Van Buren MO
    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.  
  • Cass County Courthouse - Atlantic IA
    "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."
  • Cass County Courthouse Repairs - Linden TX
    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...
  • Cassia County Courthouse - Burley ID
    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...
  • Castro County Courthouse - Dimmitt TX
    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...
  • Cecil County Courthouse - Elkton MD
    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,...
  • Cedar Avenue Complex - Lancaster CA
    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...
  • Cedar County Courthouse - Stockton MO
    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...
  • Central Court Building Improvements - Brooklyn NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935.  The project involved the "Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices" at more than 30 locations, including the Central Court Building, which presently houses the Kings County Criminal Court.
  • Chambers County Courthouse - Anahuac TX
    The fourth courthouse built for Chambers County was completed in 1936. The Works Progress Administration constructed the three-story ashlar limestone building with Moderne details at a cost of $276,000.
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