Museums Sites

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.

The Roosevelt County Museum was established in 1940, and a home for it was funded and built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA). It is located at the northern end of the ENMU campus, off W 2nd St. In addition to exhibits contributed by local residents, the museum houses examples of New Deal etchings.

"The Las Vegas Municipal Building was constructed during 1939-40 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. As state agencies grew to comply with New Deal program requirements, the city needed more office space. It became apparent to civic leaders that Las Vegas required a new public building. In the spring of 1938, voters passed five bond issues. One was for $7,500 'for the construction of a public building to be occupied by the offices and departments of the City of Las Vegas.' Following the bond election, the city council hired the Santa Fe architectural firm of Kruger & Clark to prepare...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Alfred Poledo Boonton created a series of 21 paintings — "Reconstructions" — for the Geology Museum of Rutgers University, ca. 1936. The present status of this work is unknown to Living New Deal.

This chapel was originally a house, built in 1850, and converted into a chapel in 1858. In 1937, San Diego's streets were realigned and the chapel was bulldozed. The WPA rebuilt the chapel that same year on an adjacent site, using parts of the original Chapel, such as the tabernacle, the altar, woodwork, pews, confessional and doors. In restoring the chapel, WPA workers made the bricks by hand.

"Owing to radical cuts in its budget, the museum was able to afford no curator of insects until WPA project 597 came to the rescue by providing a college trained entomologist who is equipped to take complete charge of more than 175,000 insect species contained in Natural History Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA."

"Many have been the favorable comments on this spectacular mount of the "sea devil" of giant ray, which now stands near one of the main entrances of the museum. The preparation of the exhibit was very difficult and required taxidermy ability of higher order, both as to form and color of the finished product. This is another outstanding example of work done on Project #597, Natural History Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA."

"When the museum's curator of shells was retired on a pension, her WPA assistant on Project 597 was capable of stepping into a vacant place. This aid came at a time when three large shell collections were received by gift, that required immediate attention for cataloging and scientific classification at the Natural History Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA."

Building restored and repaired by the PWA.

Between 1935 and 1939, WPA crews conducted historic restoration and renovation work at this site, Casa-Torre de Ponce de León, built in 1521 for the notoriously brutal conquistador who died before ever occupying the residence. It is better known as Casa Blanca, or "White House." WPA work included roof repairs, installation of lighting, and creation of a garden. It now houses a museum with information about early colonial life on the island.  

WPA crews conducted extensive renovation and restoration work at this 18th century Spanish fort, including repair of the fortress walls, and cleaning, repairing, and lighting tunnels under the fortress, in order to facilitate tourism.  

Between 1935 and 1939, WPA crews conducted extensive historic restoration and renovation work, including restoration of the fortress walls, at this site, a 16th century fort later used as a military site during WWII.

"Located on a plaza in the San Luis de la Culebra Historic District, the San Luis Museum and Cultural Center was constructed in 1943 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Originally constructed as an Institute of Arts and Crafts and later used as a high school, the Museum houses interpretative exhibits and a diorama of the village."

The Seaford Museum and Seaford Historical Society in Seaford, Delaware are located in what was formerly the community's 1935 New Deal post office. "The Seaford Museum includes a changing exhibit gallery, a presentation room, a general information area, and a gift shop. It is located in downtown Seaford on High Street in the restored 1930’s post office building."

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 Treasury Department funded the construction of the New Deal-era Sevierville post office in Sevierville, TN. The post office has since relocated, and the early-'40s building currently serves as the Sevier County Heritage Museum.

In 1933-34, relief workers of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the Sharlot Hall Museum building.  They also restored a rustic ranch house on the site and helped move and restore Fort Misery cabin, moved here from its original site. Sharlot Hall museum complex occupies a square block on the west side of downtown Prescott and includes several buildings and an archive in the city library across the street.  It was begun in 1928 by local historian, politician, and activist Sharlot Hall, whose founding act was to save the historic Governor's Mansion. The New Deal then came in to help build...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted substantial work at Shenipsit State Forest in northern Connecticut. Work was undertaken by Camp Conner, housing Company #1192, which operated from Sept. 5, 1935 to May 23, 1941. Projects, which include those given separate pages on this website, included "miles of hiking trails" and "clean-up after the Flood of 1936 and the Hurricane of 1938 in East Hartford, Stafford Springs, and South Windsor."

A 1933 Washington Post article reported $1,020 in unspecified repairs planned by the Public Works Administration (PWA) for the United States Patent Office. The old patent office, which was constructed from 1836 to 1865, is now the home of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

In 1935-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an art museum for the city of Springville UT.  The building was designed in the style of the Spanish Colonial Revival style by local architect Claud S. Ashworth. The Nebo School District donated the land, the town of Springville granted $29,000 in materials and tools, and the Mormon/LDS church offered another $20,000. The WPA contribution was $54,000, chiefly in labor costs. WPA workers also manufactured the decorative tile for the museum. The Springville Museum of Art is, in fact, the oldest museum in Utah for the visual fine arts. In 1964, a two story wing was...

This WPA Coast Guard Station at St. Simons Island, GA was built from 1935-1937. The building is still in existence, but is now a museum rather than a USCG facility. "In 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), authorized the building of 45 United States Coast Guard Stations around the country. Later that same year, Georgia Senator Walter F. George, and Georgia Congressman Braswell Deen obtained an $115,000 appropriation from Congress for the new Coast Guard Station and Boathouse to be built on St. Simons Island. Work began in the fall of 1935 and of...

"Built in 1939 during the Great Depression by the Public Works Administration on eight acres of land purchased with private donations from black citizens who had formed a “county league” for that purpose, the Stafford Training School was the only African-American high school in Stafford County during the era of segregation. Today it is the most significant site in the Fredericksburg area to interpret the struggle for desegregating Virginia’s public schools. In 1960, students from the training school were the first to attempt school integration in the area by attending the all-white Stafford County High School. That attempt failed, but...

Constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), what was originally the Michigan State Police District 2 post in Romeo now houses the Romeo Historical Society Museum. The post opened on Oct. 6, 1936.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to restore the the Staten Island Historical Society Museum, now part of Historic Richmond Town. New Deal efforts on this project likely began under a precursor agency to the WPA: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) or Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The Federal Writers' Project guide to New York City has this to say: "The Staten Island Historical Society Museum, opposite the old county courthouse at Court Place and Center Street, is housed in the old county clerk's and surrogate's office, a two-story brick structure of Colonial design, built in 1848 and restored in 1933-5 by...

"he historic Nature Museum features displays on forestry, flora and fauna native to Connecticut, local history artifacts, rocks and minerals, and insects. Programs are offered throughout the summer. The Museum is on the National Register of Historic Places." "The museum was built in 1934-35 by a crew of the Civilian Conservation Corps based across the river in American Legion State Forest, and was formally dedicated by Governor Wilbur Cross in 1935. It closed in the early 1950s, and was reopened in 1992 after standing unused for many years."

Stony Point Battlefield is the site of a 1779 Revolutionary War battle. This stone building was constructed on the site as the Stony Point Battlefield Museum in 1936 by the WPA. It continues to serve that function.

The campus of Sul Ross State University was greatly developed during the 1930s as a result of efforts on the part of several New Deal agencies, including the Public Works Administration (PWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Per the El Paso Herald-Post: A modern state institution of higher learning in the far-western "Big Bend of Texas,” Sul Ross State College faces its 20th anniversary in 1940 with a college plant and campus of first rank among state educational centers Opening of a new $150,000 PWA dormitory for women this year has brought...

Thaddeus Stevens and John Paxton built this structure in 1837 as part of the Caledonia Iron Works. It was destroyed during the Battle of Gettysburg, and was rebuilt and functional until 1895. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration undertook structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site, which is now open to visitors.

The historic former Town Hall building for Tooele, Utah was constructed as part of a New Deal project with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. The building is presently serves as part of the Tooele Pioneer Museum, which is "operated by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers located on Vine Street in the old Tooele City Hall."

This historic post office was built by the Treasury in 1936-37. It now houses the Tracy Historical Museum.

Tucson Mountain Park, created in 1929, was opened to general recreation use in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working with the Pima County parks agency.  The northern half of the original park was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961, which became a national park in 1994, and this portion of the park was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD). (See also Saguaro NP (TMD) project pages) The CCC 'boys' set up Camp Pima, SP6A, in December 1933 at the northwest corner of what was is now Saguaro NP.  Working from there, they carried out extensive...

The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come to...

The Tumacácori National Monument was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to protect the ruins of the Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori.  In 1918, it came under the administration of the National Park Service and its regional 'custodian', Frank Pinkley.  Congress created the Tumacácori National Historic Park in 1990, adding the ruins of two nearby missions, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi and San Cayetano de Calabazas. Under the park service's guidance, Tumacácori mission church and its dependencies were stabilized in 1920-21, but intentionally not restored.  Only with the aid of the New Deal did the park come to...

Construction of new additions to the 1884 US Marine Hospital in Memphis began in 1933, although the majority of the work was completed by WPA crews after 1935 (Van West, 2001, p. 94). Buildings added by WPA were the 3-story neoclassical hospital building, a nurses dormitory, and junior officers quarters (Metal Museum). The hospital closed in 1965 and currently houses the Metal Museum.

"These illustrations are of the new museum building on the campus of the University of Arizona. It is 76 by 140 feet with a museum room on the first floor 87 by 70 feet, two small rooms each 31 by 23 feet, and offices for the curator and staff. A mezzanine exhibition gallery extends around the building. Construction is semifireproof with exterior walls of brick trimmed with stone. The project was completed in March 1937. The project cost of $1,043,174 included 16 buildings for the university." The museum is located at 1013 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ.

As part of the planning for the 1936 Texas Centennial, academics, citizens and other politicians desired to create a state museum for Texas. They wanted the museum to contribute to the conservation of the historic treasures of Texas and also to the educational system of the state. The American Legion Texas Centennial Committee, The University of Texas at Austin and Texas Congressman James "Buck" Buchanan worked together to secure $300,000 from the Public Works Administration for the Texas Memorial Museum. In addition, the Legislature of the State of Texas appropriated $225,000 for furnishing and equipping the museum and for gathering and...

The WPA restored and renovated the building and ground of General Vallejo's home, during 1936-1938. The parts restored included the residence, servants quarters, the brick Swiss Chalet (this became a museum to house relics of the General and CA history), fountains and grounds. A water system was installed, and garage and rest room constructed. The WPA also built the split rail fence and gothic-style fence on the property. Acquisition by the state enabled Sonoma County to retain this historical property. If left to local financing, the property may have been lost forever (Goddard).

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Park Museum and Headquarters at the National Military Park inVicksburg MS. the building is currently vacant. "The 1934-35 PWA allotments provided for new combination administration/museum buildings in five eastern parks: Chickamauga and Chattanooga, Guilford Courthouse, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Morristown." "Predictably, those designed by Service architects without knowledge of museum requirements proved ill-suited to their purpose. The Vicksburg building resembled so well an antebellum plantation mansion that a later superintendent converted it to his residence and packed the museum off to utilitarian frame structure elsewhere in the park."

The historic Virginia Museum of Fine Arts building was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the mid-1930s: PWA Docket No. 3551. Short and Stanley-Brown: "Before the erection of this art museum, the city of Richmond had no building suitable for the exhibition and storage of works of art. The structure is placed on the grounds of the soldiers' home and the area surrounding it has been landscaped with lawns and planting. The building is fireproof and is approximately 120 by 134 feet in plan. It is constructed of steel and reinforced concrete and the exterior walls are faced...

This US Treasury building replaced the old building in 1938. Both buildings are now part of the Wenatchee Valley Museum. "As a Depression era public works project, the proposal for replacing the old Federal building drew considerable attention from the local press. In 1933, after three years and in the middle of a series of more than 30 first and second page news articles on the subject, headlines reported 'Hope glimmers for post office building here.' "Plans for the new building were not finalized until late in 1936. Congressman Sam B. Hill secured an appropriation of $305,000 which was estimated as the...