Education and Health Sites

PWA Project Miss. 1225 was constructed at Delta State Teacher's College (now Delta State University) in 1938 (MDAH) to serve as part of training in applied home management. Currently named Marshall House, the building is a residence for the Vice President for Academic Affairs (Bulletin of Delta State University).

The Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) "...did add to its physical plant with the completion in 1936 of an outdoor swimming pool with $20,000 from the Works Progress Administration" (Gunn & Castle, 1980, p. 45). The pool opened in May, 1936 for the senior class party. The pool was eventually demolished, and the site remodeled into a natatorium.

The 1939 PWA library constructed at Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) was designed in an Italian Renaissance/Mediterranean style. It was used as the library until 1968, and has been used as the Fielding Wright Art Center since then. A rear addition was added in 1954, another addition in 1970, and the building was renovated in 1978.

The 1938-39 Art Moderne Project Miss. 1225 is "...a rare surviving example of a university gymnasium from the period before World War II. ...maintains its interior and exterior integrity" (MDAH). The gym was expanded with a rear addition of a second gym in 1947, which was demolished in 2000. Brick veneer was added in 1964, and the building was renovated in 1975-76. It remains in use today, and is prominently located at the front of the campus on Leflore Circle.

W.L. Delzell Hall, a men's dormitory at Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in 1939.

"The land on the corner of Tin and Hemlock, was acquired in 1921 for $900. It was not until 1935, however, that the library building was constructed with funds provided by the Public Works Administration. Although the building was remodeled and enlarged throughout the years, the original architectural style was preserved. Built of adobe with beamed ceilings in the original part of the building, it is a typical southwestern structure, featuring a beautiful Spanish corner fireplace in the room which housed the fine Southwestern collection. An added attraction were the hand painted windows depicting wildflowers of New Mexico. The latest addition...

The original Texas Woman's University "Demonstration School served the teaching students of the University's College of Education as a means of gaining practical experience. The original building was erected at the southeast corner of Bell Avenue and Texas Street in 1941. In 1959 a new Demonstration School building was built north of the TWU golf course. The original building became home to the Department of Occupation Therapy." Since demolished, the building was constructed with the assistance of $30,000 of Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) funds / labor.

Originally constructed as a dining hall, what is now the DeNike Center for Human Services at East Stroudsburg University was one of four buildings constructed as a New Deal project. Work was sponsored by the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The PWA assisted in the funding of an addition to the old Denison High School. The school occupied the block bounded by Main and Woodard Streets and Armstrong and Barrett Avenues. Razed in 2007, as of 2013 the old high school site is a vacant lot.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed to the early development of the De Pelchin Faith Home and Children's Bureau. "Construction of the present nine main units began in 1937. The home had on hand $103,000; the City of Houston voted a bond issue of $30,000 for the buildings, and the Work Projects Administration appropriated $72,765. Ground breaking ceremonies were held on December 13, 1937."

DeSaussure College, the second-oldest building on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia, South Carolina, was improved with New Deal funds. The school's building history page states: "In 1934 a Civil Works Administration grant paid for repairs to LeConte, Davis, Sloan, Rutledge, and DeSaussure colleges and other buildings." DeSaussure College is located along the south side of the Horseshoe.

Devils Tower is a dramatic igneous rock formation rising 1,267 feet above the surrounding area. It and the surrounding area were declared a national monument in 1906. "From 1935-1938 a CCC camp was located there. Practically all the improvements on the area at the present time are the results of their efforts. New roads were built, modern water and electrical systems installed, footpaths were laid out, picnic areas were established with tables and comfortable benches, and trailer and overnight camping areas were provided the visitors. Residences for employees, workshops and machine shops were erected. In 1938 a museum of sturdy log...

The large gymnasium is standing by itself in a residential part of town, built on donated land that at the time was outside of the town proper. It has been in use since it was built and has been used for athletic events as well as for entertainment events by the community. Photographs were taken in a torrential downpour.

The CWA did construction work for the Diamond School on St. Croix. “Setting door frames with concrete forms around, setting concrete forms around steel sashes, laying rib lath for roof, erecting iron columns for lean to roof preparing to pour roof”

"It is unknown when the first school was formed for this community, but in 1938 the National Youth Administration (NYA) constructed a stone school. The school in the community of Ida has been known as the Antioch, Center Ridge, Dill and Ida schools. This was one of 17 schools in the county to be constructed or renovated by the NYA or WPA during the 1930s. Ten years after the construction of this school, a plan was devised by the county to consolidate schools of less than 350 students to larger schools using buses. The students that had attended the Dill School...

In 1938, the Washington Post reported funding allocations for work at the District Training School for the Feeble Minded, which opened in 1925: "About 70 men will be employed on the construction of the hospital and administration building at the District Training School for Feeble Minded at Laurel, Md." The site was later known as the infamous Forest Haven Asylum, which closed in 1991 amid scandal over patient abuse and neglect. The sprawling facility still stands, and is a popular place for photographers and "ghost hunters." Unfortunately, few if any photos exist of the years when the facility was...

"The school was built by the Works Progress Administration. It opened for classes in 1936 and was dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt. The main building is nearly identical in construction and materials to Simon Kenton High School, located in Independence, Kentucky. Before the renovations to both Dixie Heights High School and Simon Kenton High School, they were known as the sister schools. The school was originally to be named for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The school is on U.S. Route 25 (Dixie Highway)/U.S. Route 42."

This fireproof structure replaced makeshift quarters previously occupied and that had been subjected to much criticism. Here the impounded animals could be kept in comfort until humanly destroyed or claimed (from Jessen). The local Civil Works Administration contributed $2206.10 against a total project estimate of $4627.30. The building has since been demolished.

This replica of a dog-trot style cabin (two rooms with a breezeway between them, sharing a common roof) on the grounds of the Witte Museum was constructed in 1939 through the efforts of the National Youth Administration. Thirty youth were involved in the project. The dog-trot cabin was very common in Texas and throughout the Southeastern U.S.. The cabin is situated perpendicular to the San Antonio River and features changing exhibits representative of the Texas Frontier in the two rooms.

Dominguez Elementary School, which opened in 1909, 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...

The Demonstration School was re-roofed by Gordon Van-Tine Company, and three dormitories were repaired and improved through PWA funds at Mississippi State Teachers College. Oden and Glenn were contractors, making general repairs and installing new toilets and bathroom facilities. Rear porches were screened, tile floors and marble bathroom walls were added to each of the six bath compartments in each of the two bathrooms per floor. The projects were funded for a total of $78,000.

Improvements were made to the Millbury, Massachusetts's Dorothy Manor School building and grounds with the assistance of federal New Deal funds. Municipal reports note that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) redecorated the building and installed a concrete floor in the school's basement in 1936.

Dorsey High School's modernistic main building and auditorium were constructed to be earthquake-proof with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The central building features glass brick and two single-story wings. The auditorium is located to the south of the three classroom buildings. From Southwest Builder and Contractor, October 8, 1937: "The streamlined appearance of Dorsey High was conceived by architects H. L. Gogerty and C. E. Noerenberg, who declared that the design of the campus was intended to architecturally and structurally express in functional form the outer envelope of a process of public education" (p. 12).

"It contains 10 classrooms, an auditorium, a library, and other facilities. The building is not fireproof. The outer walls are cinder block, covered with brick veneer. The interior and roof framing are wood. The auditorium roof is carried on steel trusses supported by steel columns. The upper part of the auditorium is constructed of wood, covered with wood siding. The project was completed in December 1936. The total cost of construction, including equipment, was $52,038 and the cost of the project was $58,492."

Douglass Auditorium is a two-story native stone building in Duncan, Oklahoma that was constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. It faces east and has five distinct bays, separated by projected stone pilasters with heavy stone caps. On the upper wall of the center bay is a stone panel which reads "19 DOUGLASS 36 / AUDITORIUM". Lower on that wall is an embedded bronze WPA shield showing the year 1936. A community center is located in the adjacent school and we believe this auditorium is used as part of that operation.

Douglass Community Center, formerly Douglass School, is is a one-story classroom building constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. It is located just south of the Douglass Auditorium. The school was an African American school during segregation and closed in 1968. It now houses the community center and is an active building. There is no WPA shield on the school itself, however, stamped in the sidewalk in front of the entrance is a WPA shield with what appears to be the year 1938. (The auditorium directly to the north is dated 1936).

Michigan Technological University's Douglass Houghton Hall was constructed during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant money (PWA Docket No. 1732). The PWA supplied a grant of $178,601; the total cost of the project was $398,713. Construction occurred between December 1938 and September 1939.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of the Downey Grade School in 1939. The school building is a long, single-story, brick Moderne (Art Deco) structure. The former school is now a private assisted living facility called "Whispering Pines".  

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a major rebuild of the former Patrick Henry Elementary School (now the Downtown High School) in San Francisco, California. In December 1933, the San Francisco Board of Education decided to remodel the 3-story, wooden Patrick Henry Elementary School for seismic reasons and the work was carried out in 1935-36, replacing much of the old school with an elegant Moderne structure. In the 1950s, the rest of the old school was torn down and rebuilt to match the 1930s additions. According to Verplanck & Graves (p. 109): "The remodel, designed by architects Gardner A. Dailey and Wilbur...

The Draper Junior High School building was originally constructed in 1938/1939 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), which was by then a part of the Federal Works Agency. When the Junior High School was later closed, the building served as Draper Elementary School for several decades. Draper Elementary School was closed in the mid 2010s.  The city of Draper has also been dissolved to become part of the city of Eden. Recently, the building has been used as a storage facility for Rockingham County Schools. In 2021 the City of Eden purchased the property from Rockingham County Schools. The city has...

This school near Muskogee was originally constructed in 1925. It was listed on the National Register in 1984 as "the only extant educational facility associated with Summit, an all-black town founded in 1896. Further, it was one of the few remaining schools in Oklahoma constructed as an all-black school during the era of segregation which retained its historic integrity."   (nr_shpo.okstate.edu) The WPA built an addition to the school in the late 1930s, which was "approximately 35' x 85' and finished with red brick laid in the running bond." (NRHP form) The building burned down in 1991.

"A number of other APS buildings were built, remodeled, or had additions built as the result of this source of this source of funding. Likewise adjacent school playgrounds, ball fields, etc. were also created. The schools include Armijo, Coronado, Duranes, Five Points School, La Mesa, Lincoln, Los Candelarias, Pajarito, San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Stronghurst. For specific information on each of these refer to the Albuquerque Museum Monograph written by Charles Biebel." -Treasures on New Mexico Trails

The Works Progress Administration built facilities for the Dublin High School between 1938-1940. A large rock construction structure located to the right of the High School building bears a plaque that reads "Works Progress Administration 1938-1940." Across the front of the building is a sign that reads "Recreation," suggesting that it may be an auditorium with a stage as well as a gymnasium. There is a wall around the school, and across the street is another rubble rock building that does not have a plaque.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a new Duchesne High School in 1936, near an earlier structure built in 1907 that the school had outgrown. It was expanded in 1965 and then demolished in 1980, to be replaced by the present structure.

The town's annual report from 1934 reports that: "The Federal Emergency Relief Administration aided greatly in improving our school buildings and grounds... The Duck Cove building was painted inside and outside and the roof shingled." The Duck Cove school building still stands: "Built in 1895, this wood frame one-room schoolhouse served as a school until 1943, and been owned by a local community organization since. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993... It was transferred to the Duck Cove Community Club , which has maintained it and used it has a clubhouse since then."  (Wikipedia)

"This is one-story native stone building once housing a Vo-Ed school operation. There is a wooden sign above a door which reads "HOUSE OF MANNA" and it is possible the building is being used in some way by the church. The Oklahoma Historical Society records show that this building was constructed with an appropriation of $19,779 in 1937. It was once enclosed by another building, which was removed in time past. The building is rectangular with a flat roof. The building appears to be structurally sound, however, it is not being kept up...A small concrete area set into the stone to...

This WPA building was originally constructed as the general Duncan Public Library. It now houses the Stephens County Genealogical Society Library. "This one-story buff brick building, located at 301 N. 8th Street, was constructed by the WPA, as were several local school buildings. A bronze plaque at the entrance show it was constructed in 1937, however, the NRHP nomination form shows 1939. The Colonial Revival style was used, in lieu of the typical native stone construction. The architect was Kenneth T. Price... The building was placed on the National Register in 1999 (#99001427)."   (https://www.waymarking.com)

"The Public Works Administration, one of the New Deal programs, was a large-scale construction effort which built dams, bridges, hospitals and schools. The Duncan Senior High School was PWA Project No. 8458 and was constructed in 1936. Facing 9th Street, at Ash Avenue, this is a two-story light-colored brick building, which currently houses Duncan Edge Academy. This is a school program for students who would likely not graduate from high school. Special attention is given to learning and health needs, and the issues related to difficult family situations. It meets in the mornings. Unlike many WPA projects where native rock is used,...

"At Jacksonville Beach, a new two-story brick high school was financed in part by PWA funds. Designed by Marsh & Saxelbye, the building was assembled by the Frank Mitchell Construction Company in 1937 at an approximate cost of $75,000. The new school was named Duncan U. Fletcher High School in memory of one of Florida's most successful politicians of the early-twentieth century. Fletcher High School was among the largest New Deal projects built at Duval County's beaches area during the 1930s, perhaps rivaled only by Public School No. 65 in nearby Atlantic Beach, a WPA project." The school is now known...

Flat horizontal 2/2 windows, flat alum glass doors, glass block. Birthplace of Edward Rector. Good example of the arch type, has remained virtually unaltered, unusual for a hospital. It was constructed in 1939 by the Public Works Administration (PWA).