Education and Health Sites

Sayville's Suffolk County News reported in 1936 that the WPA had allocated $20,248.50 for "landscaping the Copiague school grounds and laying out a baseball diamond, tennis and badminton courts, at a cost of $20,248.50." Living New Deal believes the school in question to be what is now known as the Great Neck Road Elementary School.

The amphitheater, located on the campus of Southern Arkansas University, was constructed by the NYA in 1936-38.

This mining town took advantage of the New Deal to get aid for the repair of its school, a classic one-room school house, originally built in 1917. "Provide new underpinning under Grammar School, repair of walls, etc." WPA Proj. No. 65-3-3770, December 27, 1935, $1,136.

The WPA built the Greenbush School in Greenbush MN. According to the Greenbush Local Government website: " Superintendent Marvin Lueck, President Dr. H. C. Stone, Treasurer O. K. Christianson, and direc­ tor Matt Kotchevar went to St. Paul to interview members of the educational department, Works Progress Administration (WPA) officials and executive council, and senators and representatives regarding aid to build a new school. Tom Hendrickson and A. W. Clay were also on the school board. The school board decided to build rooms on the school grounds for temporary classrooms. the Works Progress Administration (WPA) started work on a new school in the...

What is now St. John’s College’s Greenfield Library was originally constructed as the Annapolis Hall of Records, which served as the Maryland State Archives until 1984. The facility was constructed in 1934, and was funded by the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.). The land was deeded to the state of Maryland for $10, and Lawrence Hall Fowler was the architect. The building is part of the Georgian Revival style.  Originally, the building had a seven storied interior. The building was completely renovated from 1994 to 1996 as part of the conversion to Greenfield Library, featuring conversion to a three-story interior.

The former Greenpoint Hospital was constructed during the 1930s with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. 9063). According to New Deal New York, "The Public Works Administration helped to finance the construction of a new out-patient building and nurses' homes at this facility." The City of New York ceased operations at Greenpoint Hospital in 1982, and the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation took over the site.

A 1934 addition to Emporia, Virginia's old Greensville County Training School was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA contributed $16,957 toward the project, whose final cost was $56,533. (PWA Docket No. VA 3495.) According to a National Register of Historic Places registration form: "In 1934, an 8 by 12 foot addition containing classrooms was built onto the rear west wing of the building." The building, abandoned, has had its roof fall in and its windows boarded up. Its future is uncertain.

"Greenville School is a ten-room school built in 1937-1938 by the WPA. It is a long, flat-roofed building constructed of rusticated and coursed native sandstone from the local area. "The larger window units have been covered with wood paneling, leaving just a small one-over-one window. A shield on the front wall reads 'USA 1939 WPA Oklahoma' but it appears to be a replica and not the original shield. "The website below shows photos of the building as it appeared in 1985, revealing the window units to be triple 9-over-9 windows."

"The Greenwood Gymnasium is a load-bearing stone masonry building located at 300 E. Gary Street, near downtown Greenwood, Arkansas. It was built in 1938-39 by 100 workers employed and/or directed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) . This durable structure rests on a combination of concrete and native sandstone foundations. The building's dimensions are 108 feet long by 85 feet wide, encompassing two classrooms, lobby, gymnasium with basketball court, stage, bleachers and toilet / shower rooms each for boys and girls beneath the bleachers." (National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form)

The Greenwood high school for African American students was located in what was known as the Stone Street School complex. The building finishes included both marblework and mosaic (MDAH). The architect of record was Robert James Moor. Moor received the Public Works Administration (PWA) work order on February 1, 1936 and work began on February 10th. Construction was executed by J. R. Flint Construction and J. D. Lanham received the contract for plumbing, heating, and wiring. The project was funded by a PWA grant following fire damage to the former high school building, which burned in 1934. The project included an auditorium and...

The school was named after James Greenwood, a noted educator  in Missouri in the 1800’s.

"This 1939 WPA constructed school is located on county road E590, northwest of Inola. The Gregory area is a 3-square mile area considered a Census-designated place, and not an official town. The school appears to be in good condition, and occupied, but it does not appear to be used as a school at this time. The playground equipment in the yard is quite old and in disrepair. "This is a rectangular building with a gabled composition shingled roof. It is constructed of cut, coursed and rusticated native stone. The ribbon windows are set in groups of three. The centered entrance has...

From 1939 to 1940 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements and built additions to Gresham High School in Gresham, Oregon, just east of Portland. The additions included a gym, an agricultural building, the north wing of the classrooms, and an auditorium. Michael Schaefer, Gresham High School Principal, estimates that, at the time, 80% of the school was rebuilt with funding provided by the WPA. The primary architectural style of the high school is Art Deco. Teresa Carson of the local Gresham press tells us that "The building originally had hand-crafted doors created by highly-regarded WPA blacksmith Orion B. Dawson, who also created gates at WPA-built Timberline...

"373 men are employed on the largest project, the improvement of roads, farm buildings, sewage and water works at Greystone Park."   (mcl.mainlib.org) "Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (also known as Greystone Psychiatric Park, Greystone Psychiatric Hospital, or simply Greystone) refers to both the former psychiatric hospital and the historic building that it occupied in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township (formerly part of Hanover Township, New Jersey). Originally opened on August 17, 1876, the hospital was known as the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum at Morristown. The asylum officially received the familiar Greystone Park name in 1924."   (wikipedia)

"The Griffithville School, built by the Works Progress Administration in 1939, employs Craftsman features and has a construction method and design that is characteristic of the federally funded institutional buildings from the late 1930s. The building, located along a state highway in Grifftthville, is still used as a school, is in good condition, and has undergone very little alteration within the last fifty years." (National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form)   As of 2015, the gymnasium has been used as a community center and a park is on the grounds of the original school. The extant buildings are in disrepair.  

Though the high school was originally established in the 1920s, the WPA carried out several projects on the school grounds in the 30s: "Built by the New Deals Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression years 1936-37, our Gym has literally seen millions of individuals from the school and community pass through its doors to watch and participate in plays and musicals, the communitys Christmas Pageant, sporting events, assemblies, committee and district meetings, conventions, speeches, and practices and rehearsals of every conceivable kind. The Gym was even noticed in the April 13, 1959 issue of Life Magazine, highlighting the schools nominating...

The CWA began building the Grove Place Clinic on St. Croix. By 1934, the following construction phases had been completed: “Wall foundation complete, floor fillings 2/3 complete and 60 blocks complete”

The building was originally constructed in 1832 and many of the rooms portray it as it looked in 1837, the year of Grover Cleveland's birth. In 1936, laborers for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) restored the building to its original appearance.

1 of 27 schools in Pasadena that were rebuilt, demolished, or reinforced after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake by either the WPA or PWA. 1909 School built 1914 Replaced with a new brick building. 1933 Damaged by the 1933 earthquake. 1935 Rebuilt by the PWA

Native limestone rock building built in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed this building out of limestone between 1935 and 1937.

Guernsey State Park is built around the Guernsey Dam and Reservoir, constructed in the 1920s as a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project along the North Platte River in  southeastern Wyoming. In the 1930s, the Bureau worked with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to develop the area around the reservoir as a recreational park. The land is owned by the Bureau and managed by the state of Wyoming. The CCC developed the park's recreational facilities from 1934 to 1937, working out of two camps: Camp BR-9, on a bluff north of Guernsey Dam, and Camp BR-10, about a...

Gulf Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1923, 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...

Coudersport, Pennsylvania received a new school building during the 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Construction occurred between May 1936 and January 1937. The school is no longer in use and is now known as the Gunzburger County Office Building. PWA Docket No. W1108

Local WPA workers used hand crow bars to dig stones from North Cadron Creek to build the gym in 1938. They hauled stone in horse-drawn wagons, and used scaffolds and chains to move them into place (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program). The gym was still in use by the Guy-Perkins School District as late as 1992.

Local WPA workers used native stone to construct the home economics building in a Craftsman style (Story, 1992). The building was still in used by the Guy-Perkins school district as late as 1992.

The Civil Works Administration funded improvements at the Industrial Home School for Colored Children, between 1933-1934. The structure appears to be today’s Guy Manson Recreation Center, but very little remains (see here and here). “Through Civil Works Administration assignment, some much needed work was done. The interiors of the cottages and administration building were painted and considerable flooring replaced. Some concrete walks were laid. A new cow shed was erected adjacent to the barn and extensive excavation for the replacement of the 6-inch water main was made.”

Gwynn Hall is immediately to the east of the Memorial Union, a memorial to students who fought in WW1. Gwynn Hall was built in 1922, but was not completed, in fact was a shell. It was completed by the PWA in 1936 and housed the Home Economics dept which moved there from the Niedermeyer Building in downtown Columbia that was and still is the oldest building in Columbia. It was dedicated in the same ceremony as Walter Williams Hall, Townsend Hall(the Education building), the Engineering Lab, Stephens Hall, and the large Northwest addition to Ellis Library and at the dedication...

"Ernest was... instrumental in the building of Gyger Gym at Greely. He and Herman Sweetser made a study in 1937 of the Federal Public Works Administration program, with the idea of financing a gymnasium for the school. In spite of considerable opposition, they persisted, and were able to continue. PWA Project No. 1097F was accepted in 1938 at a special Town Meeting. With the Town having to pay only half the cost, work started in October. The name was originally going to be Cumberland Gymnasium, but upon the unexpected death of School Superintendent, John Thomas Gyger, one week...

The gym and auditorium in Throckmorton, Texas is a two-story rock building built by the Works Progress Administration.

A gymnasium construction project in Adrian, Texas was undertaken in 1938-9 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $12,523 grant for the project, whose total cost was $28,013. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 1917

A gymnasium construction project in Amherst, Texas was undertaken in 1938-9 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $16,200 grant for the project, whose total cost was $36,131. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 2380

The historic (former) Amistad School Gymnasium was built by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) in 1937. The Mission-style structure is made of concrete, stucco, and metal. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

From Waymarking.com: "This gymnasium was constructed in 1935 as a WPA project. It is a rectangular building constructed of coursed and rusticated native sandstone. The building is no longer in use, and is heavily overgrown with vines and plants. It appears on the Oklahoma Historical Society's Region 3 list under the town of Okmulgee."

Pearl River County Central Elementary complex, formerly the McNeill community school, includes the 1940 WPA constructed gymnasium. The gymnasium is a Mississippi state landmark.

The gymnasium was constructed 1938-1939 as Public Works Administration project W1232. Architect E. L. Malvaney designed the gymnasium with a seating capacity of 1000, offices for athletic officials, dressing rooms, and a band hall on the second floor. It was converted to use as the Girls' gymnasium when a new one was constructed 1946 for boys. A grant of $16,930 was provided toward the total cost of $37,827. The project was approved 6/22/38, started 9/33/38, and completed 4/17/39. The building was demolished July 2019.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a gymnasium in Crossville, Illinois. The facility was dedicated in November 1937. The location and status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

A gymnasium in Darrouzett, Texas was undertaken in 1938 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The location and status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 1644

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a gymnasium in Elizabethtown, North Carolina in 1939-40. Living New Deal believes this to be the facility on King Street that now houses the Bladen County Recreation Department.

The National Youth Administration project #872 completed demolition and salvage of the Farmhaven gymnasium and built a new gymnasium. The project employed 30 youth at a cost of $1,080.