Education and Health Sites

A small brick school building, built to replace a wooden school on the same site. It was designed by Albert Harkness of Providence, who also designed the Harmony School at the same time. The school replaced five one-room schools in the town. It is today the Glocester Town Hall.

Just south of I-44 in the northeast corner of Oklahoma lies a historic 1936 school building built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "This one-room, rectangular (23' x 45') structure is made of uncut native stone." The building is now privately owned. Remarkably, Google Street View imagery from I-44 shows the building to be extant as of 2017, even given that there is no exit to S 680 Rd., on which the structure resides, from the interstate.

The Cherryville, MO school project is on the east side of route 19, just north of route 49. The school and gymnasium were more recently built, with funds and labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The school is no longer in service.

Contracts for the construction of two high schools in Cecil County (Cecilton and Chesapeake City) were awarded to to Lang Brothers of Baltimore by the PWA in December 1938.  The $134,800 contract for the Chesapeake City high school called for "a two-story and part basement , designed to take care of 490 pupils." According to The Cecil Democrat, the contract called for "modern heating, plumbing, and electrical work." The facilities were as follows: Basement: A cafeteria, kitchen, boiler room, fuel storage and engineer's room, and industrial arts rooms. First floor: Six classrooms, a teacher room, doctor's office, an auditorium with stage and dressing...

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) funded the labor for and materials for improvements to the former Chestnut City School building in Millville, Massachusetts. Improvements included painting, for which the federal government also paid for the project's materials; and filling, grading, and drainage work to the grounds. Living New Deal believes this to be what was known as Millville's Little Red Schoolhouse, a building on Chestnut Hill Road that is now a private residence. Its exact location is unknown to Living New Deal.

"The Chevalier Theatre was built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration as part of the Medford High School complex."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the former Cheyenne River School building in Niobrara County, Wyoming in 1933/4: "t also needs to be remembered that the schools were not just schools. At the Cheyenne River School (and elsewhere too), the justification was plain: “this school house, in addition to being an institution of learning is used as a meeting hall by all people of that part of the county. It is badly in need of the outlined repairs.”" Sources suggest that the former school building is still extant, about 23 miles south of Newcastle, Wyoming, at...

"The Chickasha Junior High School building currently houses the Middle School. The gymnasium/auditorium so closely matches the architecture of the main school building that it appears to be a single construction project, however, research has only found reference to the gym/auditorium as being a WPA project. The aerial photo in the gallery shows the auditorium at the bottom, and the gymnasium above it, in the center of this block-square school campus. The auditorium is constructed of tan brick and has a curved entrance with the word "AUDITORIUM" cast in stone at the top. A set of four 8-pane windows are on...

The historic Childress County Heritage Museum was originally constructed as the Childress post office in 1935.

Construction of the Childress High School Gymnasium building was enabled by Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1939. The building is a two-story rectangular plan, front-gabled Italian Renaissance style building with two flat-roofed wings. Additional architectural details can be found at the NRHP reference below.

The University of North Texas's Chilton Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided roughly $209,000 for the construction of it and Terrill Hall. "Chilton Hall was the first dormitory to be built to house men. It was opened in 1938. Located on the west side of Avenue C, the structure originally faced the tennis courts that were located behind the Orchestra Hall (now the location of the Music Building). During World War II, the dormitory housed the Army Air Corps soldiers who were sent to a glider training center in Denton. This structure was renovated...

"Construction of an Elementary School Bldg. consisting of four units of wood frame on concrete foundations. Exterior walls stucco and all interior walls and ceilings plastered to replace school now being demolished; the old school building was very dangerous and the State Department of Architecture recommended the erection of a new earthquake resisting structure. This new building consists of a one story four room frame and stucco structure which will accommodate about 200 children. The work was done under the supervision of John LaClaire, Foreman for the Chino School District and employed on an average of ten men. San Bernardino,...

"Construction of Chino High School Bldg. This project consisted of the erection of three units one story stucco High School Building. Unit #1 is 191' x 25'5", consisting of one sewing room, girls' rest rook, waiting room, fitting room and two offices. Unit #2 is 140'3" x 28' and consists of drafting room and two offices, typing room, bookkeeping room, work room and supply room. This building replaces the old condemned High School Building which was unsafe for school purposes. The new Bldg. is earthquake resisting and will make the residents who have children in High School rest easier than...

A plaque on the ruins of a wall in the community of Choate, near the city of Kenedy, Texas, indicate the Works Progress Administration constructed the building between 1938 and 1939. Another plaque listing board members and the superintendent and principal indicate the building was a school. Written tradition confirms the building was a school that closed in the mid-1960s. The property is now owned by the Choate Baptist Church. The church had the interior of the building burned and cleared out circa 2000. The ruins are used as a fellowship center.

The Works Progress Administration built new bathroom facilities at the Christiansted Grammar School. The site of the school is today occupied by the Florence Williams Public Library.

The Works Progress Administration built a new cistern and carried out the repairs and extension of the water and sewer systems, at Christiansted Hospital. Today, the facilities, known as Old Hospital, are vacant and in an advanced state of disrepair.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration carried out “repairs and renewals” work at the Christiansted Junior High School (renamed Elena Christian Junior High School) on St. Croix.

The Public Works Administration reconstructed the Leper Asylum on St. Croix and added new buildings that included a laboratory. The colony was originally located two miles west of Christiansted, in the Richmond district, adjacent to a penitentiary and an "insane asylum." "On St. Croix a new leper colony will be set up with $25.000 of PWA funds," writes The News-Review from Roseburg, Oregon, on June 27, 1934. As noted in National Archives records, the work included the construction of three new cottages, dormitory buildings, completion of… cisterns, drains, additional water supply, construction of sidewalks, grading and landscaping at the Leper Colony...

The Church Street School is an "ultra-modern" design that has been described as "...one of the best examples of the Moderne style of architecture in Mississippi" (Enzweiler, 1991). The building is constructed of concrete, as were other Moderne schools designed by Overstreet and Town during the mid to late 1930s that were funded by the PWA. The interior features terrazzo floors, round windows, and other Art Moderne influences. The school cost $225,000.

Cienega Elementary School, which opened in 1917, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with me...

"Circleville School is a historic school building located at Circleville, Pendleton County, West Virginia. It was built in 1937-1938, as a project of the federal Works Progress Administration. It is a two-story masonry building in the Georgian Revival style. It was built on the foundation of a previous school destroyed by fire. The front facade features a two-story pedimented projecting pavilion emphasized by large Doric order pilasters. It is constructed of hollow tile block with a red brick veneer. The truncated hipped roof is topped by a wooden cupola. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995."  ...

Citizen Genet School in East Greenbush, New York was constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project from 1939-40. The building bears a 1939 cornerstone. Originally a K-12 school, the facility now houses an elementary school and central offices. Striking reliefs along the front of the building (five on each side of the main entrance) depict the attributes of society the students should strive to attain. The ten reliefs depict, respectively: Parent - Interest Kindergarten Academic Studies Social Life Manual Arts Athletics Citizenship Graduation Manhood Womanhood According to the East Greenbush Central School District, "As the United States of America was...

The Romanesque Revival style Citrus Elementary School was built in 1936 in a residential area north of downtown Chico. It was financed through a bond issue and a Public Works Administration grant which provided 45% of the total cost.  The building remains in good condition with little modification, but the school yard is now gated and the windows shaded, no doubt out of security concerns. There is a name plate with the date of construction, but nothing indicating the role of the New Deal. "This 1936 project is an L-shaped stuccoed school building. It is a single story structure with a continuous...

The present Moab City Center, effectively the City Hall, was originally built to house the Moab elementary school and the Grand County high school.  It was built with a federal grant and cost $135,000.  It was first proposed in May 1933, according to local newspaper reports, and dedicated in December 1934. Firmage (1996, p. 275) claims that it was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds, but this appears to be a classic confusion between the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the WPA – which did not yet exist in 1933-34. PWA funded the neighboring Carbon County Courthouse, so it is likely that...

The main buildings of City College were constructed between 1903 and 1907 and the library was built in 1929. A new wing to the library was constructed in 1939 with funds labor provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The former Marsac School in Park City, Utah was constructed in 1935-36 with funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The large structure was built to consolidate schools from around the town.  It now serves as the t0wn's city hall. The building was bought 1983  by the city from the school district, which had built a new school complex outside the old town.  It was renovated once, then completely redone again c. 2008, according to the plaques on the south front. Only the state historical plaque mentions the New Deal contribution. The architects were Carl Scott and George Welch of Salt Lake City, and the building is...

The historic Alpine City Hall was constructed in 1936 as a New Deal project with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. It included meeting rooms, an assembly room, public library, jail and fire station. The architecture is a melange of New England Colonial and Renaissance Revival styles, with a bell tower and entry flanked by capped stone pilasters and urns and topped off with a sunburst under the archway.    The Utah State Historic marker, placed in 1992, declares: "...this building represents the significant impact of New Deal programs in providing both jobs and public facilities. It is one of over 240 buildings constructed...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the municipal building in De Leon, Texas. The building has housed various municipal functions over the years, including  the City Hall, Fire Station, Auditorium, and Library. Official project No. 665-66-2-16. File card text: City Hall; City hall and fire station, including Auditorium; reinforced concrete foundation, brick construction, steel trusses in auditorium; also contains library. Two story brick building is still City Hall. But the building now houses a police station instead of a fire station. Plaque on building reads: Works Progress Administration 1938-1939.

The WPA helped build this municipal building for the town of Salina. From A History of Sevier County: "A municipal building was constructed in Salina in 1936-37 with the assistance of the WPA, which paid 50 percent of the building's cost."

Originally built as a high school during the New Deal. It now functions as the town's City Hall, as well as holding the Police and Fire Departments.

The former combination city hall and library in Artesia, New Mexico was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1939. The PWA provided a $13,975 grant for the project, whose total cost was $31,250. Construction began at the end of December 1938 and the building was completed in July 1939. Artesia Walking Tour: brought several City departments together under the same roof, including the City Clerk, City Manager, and the Public Library. The WPA Sewing Room also was there, as well as an assembly room for public meetings. In later years, the Police and Fire departments...

Euclid, Ohio's historic former city hall building was constructed with the assistance of the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. The building now houses the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame and Museum ('Polka Hall of Fame'). "Construction of the new city hall started in 1937 as a project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to put Americans back to work. The new city hall was completed a year later and dedicated on June 8, 1938 by Mayor Sims. Stone used in its construction was taken from a quarry located in...

The Hamilton Municipal Building (city hall), now the Heritage Hall Museum, was constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. "This project included, in addition to the construction of the municipal building, the purchase of a site which was selected in the business district of the city, facing the Miami River. The building provides space for the city council, all of the offices for the departments of the city government, municipal courts, a jail, the police department with a rifle range for their use, and a unit of the fire department. The structure is fireproof throughout and its exterior walls are faced with...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the former city hall in Lordsburg, New Mexico. Operations have since been relocated. The site of the historic New Deal city hall is presently unknown to Living New Deal. "Another city with a list of projects is Lordsburg: Lordsburg City Hall, Hidalgo County Fairgrounds, Animas High School and the Sunset Canal Dam. The Lordsburg-Hidalgo Public Library is one that also originally housed the Health Department and Justice of the Peace. People often stop at the Library to revisit the place where they were married. Windows in the children's section were replaced with stained glass commemorating...

New Smyrna Beach's city hall was originally built as the city's library. The building was constructed by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor during the Great Depression.

Originally constructed as the Cass County Agricultural Society Auditorium, Weeping Water's striking city hall and library building was constructed with a $40,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant. Construction was completed in 1938, though the building was not formally dedicated until Aug. 1940. The Bouncing Czech: "The auditorium served the fair and the community until a new fairgrounds was built north of Weeping Water in 1967. The building was then sold to a travel trailer and camper dealer. The dealership closed in the early 2000's and the building was left to deteriorate. It was renovated and is again used as a community...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor constructed a park at what was then known as the Boston City Hospital. WPA Bulletin: This new park in the rear of the Administration Building, Boston City Hospital, was laid out and planned by WPA engineers. Convalescent patients will benefit from these beautiful surroundings.

A WPA photo (pictured) shows a bathhouse and two swimming pools built by the WPA for what was then the Buffalo City Hospital. The hospital was renamed the Edward J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in 1939, and has since been expanded into the Erie County Medical Center. Google images show that the bath house building and pools (now empty) are still standing. Their current function is unknown.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the following work at the former City Infirmary in Haverhill, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: WPA is building a modern, brick silo at the City Infirmary, Brown Street, Haverhill, to replace an old silo in need of repair and in danger of collapse. Living New Deal believes the project is no longer extant.

During the 1930s, the WPA did extensive work in Keokuk. In addition to grading city streets and installing sewers, stop signs and stop lights, the WPA also built a high school athletic field and made improvements to the National Cemetery and Keokuk's riverfront.