Education and Health Sites

"Tech's development continued in the Fall of 1938 with the announcement that the Board of Regents, with Public Works Administration assistance, would spend $350,000 for the construction of four buildings and an addition to a fifth. Work began on the Howell and Harrison Dormitories by December of 1938."

"The Works Progress Administration which as we have seen sponsored the Gymnasium for Georgia Tech, was also responsible for adding the third and final addition to the Lyman Hall Chemistry Building. Construction began on a three-story "L" shaped addition in February of 1936. This addition has a large, two-storied chemical engineering laboratory 22 feet by 72 feet. The third story of this building contained a lecture room, library, and offices. Designed by Bush-Brown, Galley and Associates, the building followed the Collegiate Gothic of the Emerson Addition in style ..."

"The first building built under the "Civil Works Administration" was the Naval Armory. Constructed on the site of the temporary gym that burned in 1931, the Armory Building was a "no-frills" building. The building was to serve the Atlanta Naval Reserve, the Georgia Tech Naval ROTC unit, and the Communication Reserve of the U. S. Navy. By February of 1934, the foundations were almost completed and all of the labor for this project was being supplied by the Civilian Works Administration." The building was demolished in 1980 to make way for the Edge Athletic Center building.

Georgia Tech's Stephen C. Hall Building was constructed as the Civil Engineering Building. "Today, the Stephen C. Hall Building houses the Writing and Communication programs at Georgia Tech, as part of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts." "The Federal Government continued its support of Tech by assisting the Board of Regents in 1937 with the construction of the Civil Engineering Building and the Mechanical Engineering Drawing Building. This $275,000 project allowed three departments to move out of the Mechanical Engineering Building and the Electrical Engineering Building. It also increased Tech's research capability through a Hydraulics and Highway laboratory in the...

The Gibbon Public School was designed by John P. Helleberg, Kearney architect. The contract for plumbing and heating the school was given to Art Hilberg of Kearney in December 1935. The building was estimated to cost $45,400.00. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant in the amount of $20,450.00 toward the building’s construction. The construction of the school was initiated on February 24, 1936 and completed by August.

Serious discussion about building a new women's dormitory at Stephen F. Austin began immediately after the programs of the New Deal made the project feasible. The Board of Regents authorized the dorm's construction in July 1936. It took another two years before the appropriations for the women’s dormitory came through. The building was constructed with Public Works Administration funds. Construction started on September 6, 1938 under the supervision of architects Shirley Simon of Henderson and Hal Tucker of Nacogdoches. The building is named for Miss Eleanor H. Gibbs, one of SFA’s favorite members of the original faculty and Head of the...

This long, linear high school was constructed as a PWA project in 1937. It is still in active use and in very good condition having been well-maintained.

The Works Progress Administration built tennis courts for the Gilbert High School in Gilbert, Maricopa County. The original Gilbert High School, now the Gilbert Historical Museum, is located at 10 South Gilbert Road and was built in 1917. The building pictured in the background of the tennis court construction is still in place. Looking at the arrangement of windows and roofline, the courts would have been south of the building. That space is now occupied by a newer building meaning the tennis courts are no longer extant. 

While constructing central Washington's Vantage Highway in 1927, road workers uncovered the fossil remains of a diverse petrified forest. Over several years, local geologist George Beck advocated for the need to create a state park for preservation purposes. That goal was achieved in 1935 and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees began work to realize Beck's vision. From 1935 through 1938, the CCC developed the park. This work included unearthing and protecting the petrified logs in the park area as well as building structures for the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. The National Park Service designed the structures and guided the CCC...

This one-room stone school house features an unusual entry at its front corner. As of 2014 the building was abandoned and slowly deteriorating.

"Originally known as University Stadium, was built in 1936 at a cost of only $335,000 as a Works Progress Administration project. Originally the natural seating bowl held 8,000 in two sideline grandstands. There was a grass hill at the south end of the stadium, and at the open (north) end of the bowl were two stone towers (still standing), that served as makeshift housing for the football team in its early years. Following World War II, the stadium was renovated, with many glass elements. Because of this, and the city's concentration on the industry, the stadium was renamed the...

Glassell Park Elementary School (today a STEAM Magnet), which opened in 1912, 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...

18 classrooms, library, auditorium. See Visitacion Valley Elementary School.

1 story addition (2 rooms)

This small building on the grounds of the Texas Memorial Museum at the University of Texas was built by the WPA to house specimens from the Glen Rose Dinosaur Trackway. The tracks were removed and the building closed in 2004, after experts discovered that roof leakage, improper ventilation, and mold growth were damaging the tracks.  

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a new public library in Glendale, Queens. The WPA also constructed additions to other libraries in the borough.

Glendale Community College (formerly Junior College) relocated to its present campus in 1937. Several of the campus' original buildings—including the John A. Davitt Administration Building—were constructed between 1936 and 1937 with the support of a bond election and funds matched equally by a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. "The initial campus would consist of four buildings: a 24,000 square-foot Administration Building, a 12,000 square-foot Science Building and men's and women's locker rooms, together totaling 6,960 square feet. This plant would have 32 classrooms and laboratories. Space would be set aside for a student-funded student union, auditorium, liberal arts and classroom buildings....

The Works Progress Administration improved a playground on the site of the Glendale High School.

The old Glendale Public Library was built in the early 1900s. The WPA added two wings between 1940 and 1942. Unfortunately this building was replaced by the current library in 1973 and demolished in 1977.

Public Works Administration project 1083 funded the construction of the Glendale School in Alcorn County Mississippi. A loan of $8,500 and grant of $6,954 was approved 9/25/1935. Construction started 2/10/1936 and was completed 1/18/1937 for a total of $15,581. The newspaper accounts identify approval for a school building and annex.

The 1939 WPA Accomplishment Report for Southern California reports that the WPA demolished and reconstructed a school building in the Glendora school district. Exact location and current status unknown.

The PWA constructed multiple buildings at the Glenn Dale Sanatorium (Then a tuberculosis hospital). The site is currently vacant but still standing. "Shortly thereafter, Congress approved a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of $1,500,000 for the construction of an adult sanatorium to house four-hundred patients. The appropriation also allowed for the construction of associated buildings including nurse's dormitories, doctors' quarters, employee quarters, additions to the power plant, a laundry, a sewage disposal plant, and a garage. The appropriation also allowed water to be piped to the property from the Maryland Suburban Sanitary Commission...The PWA oversaw the planning and construction of federal...

The Works Progress Administration built the Glenn H. Curtiss Memorial School in Hammondsport NY. Originally the facility was the K-12 central school for Hammondsport, NY. It opened in 1936 and closed in 2010. Now in private hands.

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 Glenrose, Washington. The precise location and the present status of the school building are unknown to Living New Deal.

Text from the state historical marker reads: "The town of Godley began in 1886, as rancher and lumber merchant B. B. Godley donated land for a townsite and right-of-way to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Predating the railroad town was the local school, as Johnson County Commissioners Court formed Godley Independent School District in July 1884. Dr. John I. Pearson was one of the earliest teachers. Godley College began in 1899 in a three-story frame building, becoming Godley High School three years later. A three-story brick building opened in time for graduation in 1916. Godley School experienced great growth...

This building was originally built as a mining exhibit hall for the 20th Agricultural District Fairgrounds. It became the first Placer County Museum in 1948. The WPA built much of the rest of the Gold Country Fairgrounds as well.

The building plaque mentions that the structure was erected A.D. 1941 and built by the Work Progress Administration, Project No. 18286. A plaque on the Vocational Agriculture Building notes that the structure was erected A.D. 1940 by the National Youth Administration - 847.

Goodell Hall was constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. Construction occurred in 1934-5.

Goodison Hall on the campus of Eastern Michigan University was constructed in 1939 during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $156,240 grant. The residence hall, which had been constructed along with King Hall, was demolished in 1998. The site is presently occupied by Marshall Hall. (PWA Docket No. NY 1552)

“Because the private Goodland Academy was consolidated with an adjacent public school district in the 1930s, the Presbyterian-sponsored orphanage that was founded in the nineteenth century was given WPA funds to add buildings to its campus. A grade school building, gym/auditorium, a shop building, and a hospital were added. The school and gym are still used as intended. The buildings are unique in that  pieces of white quartz are used in a decorative manner throughout the stone work of the buildings. Although (as of 2012) Goodland is planning additional construction, the old buildings will be retained. Administrator David Dearinger estimated that...

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted repair work at Goodnow Library in 1934. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) continued the work that year: "The walls were painted, ceilings whitened, floors oiled and a fine window seat built in the juvenile room making that room much lighter and more cheerful. The books are now clean and properly classified and the town can be justly proud of the library."

The Public Works Administration index of non-federal projects lists a school project for Goodrich, Texas under docket 6287. This may have been funding for the Goodrich School which was built in 1934. A plaque by the flagpole indicates Works Progress Administration involvement at the school—likely, at least in part, constructing surrounding sidewalks—from 1935 to 1937. The school was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2011. The historical marker reads: "Goodrich is one of the few existing area schools known to be created through the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Construction of the Jeffersonian style building began May 2, 1934 under...

"Goodson Memorial School represents one of many federal relief efforts to lift devastated areas of Union County out of the effects of the Dust Bowl and Depression. Located in the northeast corner of New Mexico, Union County was situated near the heart of the Dust Bowl of the southern High Plains, with its small ranching and farming and homestead communities, devastated by successive waves of drought years. Along with federal aid given locally to farmers and ranchers to keep them out of foreclosure, the Works Progress Administration worked actively to build infrastructure in small communities throughout Union County by constructing...

This small school was built by the WPA in 1939. It is still in use and still has just two classrooms.

One story multi-colored brick on the east side of the 1929 High School. Has a WPA marker to the left of the entrance: Works Progress Administration 1935-1937. (other source says the cornerstone says 1938, unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the cornerstone so I can't verify).

A grade school in Lingle, Wyoming was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. The P.W.A. supplied a $39,383 grant for the project, whose total cost was $87,761. The New Deal structure, which lies on the north side of 3rd Street, is now part a larger educational campus. PWA Docket No. WY 1073

The former Grade School building in Cokeville, Wyoming was constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. Construction was completed in 1939. The building, which Living New Deal believes to have been located along Pine Street, has since been demolished and replaced with a newer educational campus. PWA Docket No. WY 1057-DS

A grade school facility for Boone, NC at the corner of what was then the intersection of Locust Street and College Street was improved by the efforts of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The CWA re-graded the school playground; worked on the flooring; and remodeled the school lunch room. The FERA completed the school gymnasium. The building has since been demolished.

A grade school building for Egbert and Golden Prairie, Laramie County, Wyoming was constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. Construction on the building was completed in 1939, though operations were discontinued as part of rural school consolidation in 1959. The location and present status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. WY 1020-R