Education and Health Sites

Burlington's former Elihu B. Taft School was built as a New Deal project in 1938-9; its construction was enabled by Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a grant of $111,272 for the project, whose total cost was $245,198. Construction occurred between Aug. 1938 and Nov. 1939. PWA Docket No. VT 1079

The school (originally the Elim Union Elementary School) was one of three major projects by the WPA in Hilmar during the mid 30s. The other two were the Merquin Elementary School and the Lander Gym at the Hilmar High School. Elim Elementary was completed in 1936 and opened in 1937.

Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School in Guilford, Connecticut was originally constructed as the community's high school. Its construction was enabled by the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. The original structure has since been significantly added to. The PWA gave the community a grant of $89,189 toward the school's construction; the school project cost a total of $198,913. PWA completion documents declare that construction on the building began Jan. 1936; the building was completed by the end of the year. PWA Docket No. CT 1118.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton School in Seneca Falls, New York was constructed in 1935 as a New Deal project with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.), the P.W.A. provided a $24,355 grant for the project, whose total cost was $93,193. P.W.A. Docket No. NY 5651

Constructed by the PWA in 1938-40. The need for a hospital dedicated to diagnosing and treating cancer was envisioned in the early ‘30s and with the political support of Lloyd Stark and the work of Dr. Ellis Fischel of St. Louis, the plan was made to locate the state cancer in the center of the state on the main thoroughfare through the state at the time, US highway 40. Unfortunately, after all of the planning and before construction started, Dr. Fischel died in a car accident on business for the new hospital. The building is in the process of being repurposed...

The Ellis library was built in 1915. The PWA added this addition in 1935. The addition to the existing Ellis Library “provide urgently needed, usable, fire-proof, stack space for books, reading, seminar rooms, and other library facilities.” It is still heavily used including a large auditorium on the first floor.

Big Timber Pioneer reported in May 1935 that a "$3,700 grant from the PWA has been approved to help build a new high school in Elliston, Powell County ..." The structure is still in use today.

Formerly known as Ellsworth Memorial High School, this Colonial Revival building incorporates elements of what was a seminary built in 1834. The project was undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) sponsorship. The P.W.A. supplied a $56,250 grant for the project, whose total cost was $125,759. Construction occurred between Jan. and Oct. 1936. P.W.A. Docket No. CT 1036

What today is the Elm Street Junior High was the Nashua senior high school until 1975. In the Town Report for 1936, Mayor Alvin A. Lucier wrote in his summary for the year: "In the latter part of 1935, the City Government accepted the offer of the Federal Government of a grant of two hundred and seventy thousand dollars toward the construction of a new senior high school. That this structure was vitally needed admits of no question. Work has proceeded speedily and efficiently, and we have every reason to believe that the building will be totally completed within the next...

A federal WPA-sponsored set of alterations, repairs, and general improvements was undertaken at the old Elmhurst branch library in Elmhurst, New York during the 1930s. The building was demolished in 2012.

The historic Elmira Academy (most recently the Ernie Davis Middle School) was the recipient of a large annex constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "n 1938 an annex was built on the north side of the Academy to make room for the industrial and vocational arts departments. The commercial department was expanded and more rooms were added to the east side of the building. The teachers found themselves competing with bulldozers, hammers and saws, concrete mixers, and derricks, far more attractive to the pupils than their daily school lessons. By the Fall of 1939 the...

The Works Progress Administration built a school Gymnasium in Elmore City, OK. Contributor comments: "This gymnasium is located on N. Muse Avenue, on the north side of the Elmore City High School campus. It was built in 1938-1939. Much of the work had already been completed, before the WPA handled the completion of the construction. The gymnasium is a one-story red brick building with gabled roof. Entrances on the west and south are recessed under an arched opening. The windows are covered with wood boards, but the building is still in use by the school as a training room."

Elmwood was a tuberculosis sanatorium located at 2805 Kimbo, Fort Worth. The building has been demolished. The sanatorium was a joint project of the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County with partial funding coming through the PWA. It was designed by Preston Geren and constructed by Quisle and Andrews at a total cost of $101,733 without equipment. It opened in 1937.

In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a new grade school for Ely, Nevada. It was PWA project Nevada 1040-DS. The school building is a large, three-story, modern brick structure, with no decoration. It is has evidently been closed for some time, but still appears to be in good condition. It stands on the hillside just north of Main Street in the old downtown of Ely. The same cannot be said for the former playing fields behind the school, which have been abandoned. You can still see the stone and concrete retaining walls built to level the...

Elysian Heights Elementary School (today an Arts Magnet), which opened in 1915, 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...

From Wikipedia: "Emerson Middle School's main building was designed by architect Richard Neutra in the International Style of Architecture, and built between 1937 and 1938. It is a two-story, steel-framed structure with strong horizontals. The first-floor classrooms have large, 15-foot glass and steel sliding doors that open to extend the spaces to the outside, while the second-floor classrooms have stairs leading to rooftop terraces. Due to its streamlined and clean appearance, "Emerson Middle School was considered a leading example of 1930s Modernism," along with Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater House and Walter Gropius's House."

The CWA painted inside and outside of Emerson School. Emerson Park has replaced Emerson School. The palm trees in the park show where the entrance to the school once was.

1 of 4 schools rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake by the Garvey School District in Los Angeles and L.A.C.R.A. (Los Angeles County Relief Agency). "Project #1 B20 478 LACRA Labor $19,226.00 Sponsor $12,140.00 The exterior brick walls of the original structures were removed and replaced with walls of wood studding, metal lath and plaster with stucco finish. The original trim was used again, in a most cases, being repainted to harmonize with new color scheme." Project dates: Oct. 9, 1934 to Mar. 7, 1935.

In March 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements to the playground at Emery Park Elementary School in Alhambra, CA. The work consisted of grading approximately 6,000 square yards and paving.

In 1939, the Public Works Administration funded the construction of a gymnasium addition to the High School in Emmett Idaho. Project Docket No. Idaho 1045D. The architect of record was Tourtellotte & Hummel. The exact location and present status of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"The federal government’s New Deal programs, specifically the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration, also played a direct role in Rock Hill’s economic recovery. ... PWA funds coupled with local bond money, improved several Rock Hill schools. A sewer system, assembly hall, and classrooms were added to the desperately overcrowded African American high school, Emmett Scott." The facility was demolished in 1952.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement work at the Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University) in Emporia, Kansas. "NORMAL IMPROVEMENT Emporia, Jan. 15. A CWA project involving the expenditure of $3,000, most of which will be for labor has started at the Teachers college. The program provides for finishing rooms in the basement of Union building and redecorating others."

A large allocation of WPA funds for school construction and improvement projects for the state of Montana was issued in late 1938. The allocation included funding for school building improvements in Ennis, Montana. The structure in question is most likely what is now Ennis High School. The allocation for the structure appears on Montana WPA Roll 25 under project number 665-91-2-55.

The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts, an ice rink, and a shelter house for the School in Enosburg.  

Enslen Elementary School in Modesto, California apparently gained a new building in 1935 with aid from the New Deal.  That aid may have come as Public Works Administration (PWA) funding or relief work by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The original school building is a long, single-story structure with red-tile roof (Mission Style) and ample window openings onto classrooms.  It is a close (identical?) match to the Wilson Elementary School in Modesto. We have a photograph from the National Archives and Records Administration of an unidentified school building in Modesto that matches the basic lines of the Enslen and Wilson schools. Further information...

The original Eola School was built in 1928. In 1939, a five-room addition, a gym/auditorium, a rock wall, and two water towers were added with the help of Work Projects Administration (WPA) funds and labor. In 1983, the school closed. In 2005 the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently the Eola School Restaurant and Brewery. The five-room addition was added to the west side of the original building. It is constructed of rough faced limestone with brick trim. The gym/auditorium extends off the rear or north side. It is spanned by a barrel vault...

Contributor note: "Eastern Oklahoma State College was established in 1908, and has evolved over the years to becoming an accredited Junior College. It is located at 1301 W. Main Street west of the town of Wilburton. On the west side of the campus, a football gridiron and red cinder track was constructed by the WPA. Today, the track has been removed and the field is used for soccer. The grandstands are constructed of uncoursed native sandstone, and poured concrete seating. The stands measure 278 ft. by 14 ft. The stands have three tiers except in the center section which has six...

"The Art Gallery, also on the second floor" of the main branch of the Erie Public Library housed, among other works, "Two interesting paintings by Harry Klopp, done under the WPA Federal Art Project, are Robin Hood and The Pied Piper of Hamlin." The library has since relocated, and the current status of the paintings is unknown to Living New Deal.

The WPA built the school's Manual Training Building pictured below. Several other renovations were done in the late 1930s and it is likely that the WPA was involved in those as well, however we do not yet have sufficient documentation to know. In 1955 all the buildings at this site were shut down and the school moved to another location.

'In 1939, the school was... expanded and remodeled, this time as a WPA project. The auditorium on Yolo Avenue and the homemaking classrooms are the principal buildings of historic significance from this remodel. The auditorium, in particular, is an excellent example of a WPA designed building and embodies fully the Moderne style of architecture common to WPA projects.' - Yolo County Historical resources (Source: David Herbst, local historian)

Ethel Bisbee School was one of several schools that were improved with Civil Works Administration (CWA) funds in Bethel. The work consisted of painting the interior and exterior of the building, and the labor was paid for the most part with CWA funds. The CWA expenditure was $1236.00 for all school improvements in Bethel. Excerpt from the Annual Reports of the Officers of the Town of Bethel: "1933 Superintendent of Schools Through the funds furnished by the Civil Works Administration milk has been provided each school day to meet the needs of 60 undernourished children. Enough funds have been secured to carry this project through...

Construction of a school building and ground improvements.

With the help of New Deal funds, the school was built by by Epple Construction from Columbia, MO. The company built many of the schools in central Missouri at this time.

"This new school replaces two obsolete buildings approximately 50 years old. It is part one and part two stories in height and provides eight standard classrooms, two primary classrooms, a principal's office, a teachers' room, a workroom, and the auditorium which has a well-equipped stage and a kitchen. The building is semifireproof. Its exterior walls are red face brick trimmed with stone and the cupola is wood. It was completed in June 1935 at a construction cost of $157,116 and a project cost of $190,640."

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the old Eureka Grade School in Eureka, Utah. The school was probably completed in 1939. The main two-story building and accompanying single story structure were designed by the architecture firm of Scott and Welch. The contractor of record was Tolboe & Tolboe. The style is brick Moderne, with a curved front on the smaller of the two buildings. The old grade school has been supplanted by a new Eureka Elementary School next door.  The main building of the old school is still being used for Adult School classes in 2023. The smaller building...

Architectural firm Bonsack and Pearce designed this building which was completed in 1934 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. The building originally served as the Eureka High School. At present, it continues to serve the community as headquarters of the Rockwood School District.  

The Industrial Arts (Education) building at Eureka High School was funded in part by the Public Works Administration (PWA).  PWA provided 45% of the money for a set of construction projects by the Eureka Public School District, including this building. A school bond measure provided the balance of the funds. The funding was apparently secured in late 1938, the structure erected in 1939 and the official opening took place with little fanfare in early 1940. The style of the two-story building is Streamline Moderne, with a curved wall made of glass bricks to the left of the entrance and streamline horizontal bars...

Large building along HWY-183 in Coryell County town of Evant. It is located next to a modern school building. Building is mainly rubble rock construction with brick accents. Has Evant engraved above the entrance. Has an outside metal staircase to a second floor.

""1939 will long be remembered in Everton and with much pride because it marks the completion of our beautiful new school building through the cooperation of the W.P.A., local school board and our entire citizenship...  This new structure was made possible by the united efforts of a public spirited citizenry and the unstinted cooperation of the federal government through its agency, the Works Progress Administration.  With the completion of this plant the Everton district is adequately equipped to take care of the youth within her present and extended borders..." The first schoo1 in Everton was established around the turn of the...

A WPA press release from Nov. 1937 reported: "More than 150 schools have been repaired and the grounds improved and landscaped , and five brand new schools in the state were erected entirely by WPA with a small percentage of sponsored funds," among which was a new school in Ewan, Washington. The precise location and the present status of the school building are unknown to Living New Deal.