Education and Health Sites

"Two Buttes Gymnasium, constructed between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), is significant under the New Deal Resources on Colorado's Eastern Plains Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF).  The gymnasium is significant in the area of Social History for its association with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislative agenda to rescue the United States from the Great Depression.  Additionally, it is significant for Education and Entertainment/ Recreation.  This community building is a good example of the efforts of the WPA to boost morale during the Depression through the construction of buildings for the enjoyment of the entire community. ...

The WPA project for the gymnasium/band building for Tylertown High School was approved January 1939 and construction began in February. The monolithic concrete gym was proposed for 120 x 110 feet, with a playing floor of 80 x 50. Each side held bleachers with locker and dressing rooms underneath. The band room was proposed for 40 x 22 and could be converted into a stage by removal of a partition. The use as an auditorium would enable capacity for about two thousand people.

After the county seat was moved from Washington, Arkansas to Hope, Arkansas, the Washington Public School moved into the empty 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse in Washington. With assistance from the Works Progress Administration, a gym was erected next door in 1940 to serve the school. The gym currently is used as an event venue for public functions.

Details were completed for construction of a modern gymnasium building at Washington High School. It was constructed of concrete blocks, with a size of 70 feet x 120 feet. It was constructed under the Works Progress Administration with a "large crew of workmen given employment" and were billed as "strictly modern and up-to-date" (Gymnasium work, 1936, p. 2). At completion, a "gala celebration" was planned. The gymnasium was slated for completion for the fall start of school. The school is still extant, but the gymnasium appears in maps to have been demolished.

The Coxburg community gymnasium was constructed 1936 by the National Youth Administration. The structure cost approximately $5,000 and was 80 x 100 feet. The gym was destroyed in 1952.

The Como gymnasium, recreation hall, two classrooms, and kitchen were PWA project W1256, approved June 22, 1938. The estimated cost was $22,727 and a $10,227 grant was awarded toward the project. Construction began August 25, 1938, and was completed February 2, 1939, at a final cost of $22,887. Architect was Edgar Lucien Malvaney.

The Emergency Relief Association funded the construction of a gymnasium for the Cross Roads School and it was under construction in February 1935. The gymnasium is still extant and is used as the Family Life Center by the Cross Roads Baptist Church.

The two-story red-brick former gymnasium was constructed by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (later the PWA) in 1936-1937. It retains its original massing and pedimented parapet. It was renovated in 1964 to become a first floor library and second floor science laboratories/classroom space.

With the consolidation of the numerous one-room school houses into a central facility, the Works Progress Administration helped construct a gymnasium for the school district. "WPA Project No. 265-1-63-83, $26,321, Total funds $47,163, Application date 12-12-41, Average Employed 48. "Construct a school gymnasium building and perform work incidental and appurtenant thereto. Publicly owned property. Sponsor: Newark School District #33." A new facility was constructed in 1984 and Newarks school district was consolidated into the Cord-Charlotte School District to create the Cedar Ridge School District in 2004.

The Art Moderne gymnasium designed by architects N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town was completed June 19, 1939. The project was approved as PWA x1310 9/13/1938 for a $15,000 loan and $12,272 grant. Construction began 11/30/1938 and completed for a total cost of $27,500. The building is in use by private enterprise.

This local gymnasium was built by the WPA in 1936. It was destroyed by fire in 1972.

The former Texas Woman's University gymnasium was constructed with the assistance of Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) funds and labor. Located at the northwest former of N. Bell Ave. and Administration Dr., the W.P.A. contributed $40,000 toward the project.

This large Works Progress Administration (WPA) project includes the gymnasium which has been in continual use since construction and also the space below the gym floor. Currently, it is used for storage, but it is anticipated that it could potentially be used as a community tornado shelter. The exterior is local rock.

A Public Works Administration (W1003) loan ($15,000) and grant ($12,641) were approved August 5, 1935 to construct a gymnasium and three vocational classrooms at the Inverness high school which had been built in 1922. A bond election was held to finance the remainder and the Hattiesburg American reported it was approved in October 1935. Construction began on October 24, 1935 and was completed on April 14, 1936. The school building was sold following federally-ordered integration and was operated as the private Central Delta Academy until it closed in 2010. The church that had owned and operated the private school proceeded...

The Art Deco structure was completed in summer of 1936 and opened for the school year Sep. 7, 1936. The opening program was held in the newly completed building. “With its additional school rooms as well as its splendid gymnasium and auditorium, it will add much to the efficiency with which the school program can be carried on this year and the years to come” (Carson School slates opening, 1936, p. 9). The gymnasium was PWA project W1013, approved 9/25/1935. Construction started 12/26/1935, and completed 7/8/1936 for a total cost of $27,235. Fire destroyed the unused structure in March 2019.

The Public Works Administration (project W1154) constructed the gymnasium, athletic field, and swimming pool for the Fernwood school. The project was approved on 11/14/1935 with a loan of $16,000 and grant of $13,090. Bids were advertised in November for the gymnasium construction, swimming pool and bath house, "to be constructed under the old PWA plan" (p.1). Contract was awarded 12/16/1935 and construction began 1/22/1936. The project was completed 9/25/1937.

The Nailor High School was initially known as the Cleveland Consolidated School for African American students. It was designed by architect E. L. Malvaney and approved as WPA No. 50,022 in the fall of 1940. The monolithic concrete building contained two wings of classrooms connected by an auditorium seating 400, with a proposed cost of $63,000. WPA approved $25,394 toward the cost of the new school. "Nailor's poured concrete construction and Art Moderne style is almost unique for black schools of the same period and would have made it one of the finest African American school buildings of its time"...

The H.L. Trigg Building, on the campus of Elizabeth City State University, was originally the G.L. Little Library and later the Thorpe Administration Building. It was built with Public Works Administration and state funds. It was dedicated in May 1939, along with Bias Hall, a women's dorm. That same year, the name of the school changed from the Elizabeth City State Normal School to Elizabeth City State Teachers College.

“Haldeman-Hayes Crossing Community Center inhabits the old Haldeman school gymnasium. The community of Haldeman is named for L.P. Haldeman, owner of the Kentucky Firebrick Company. Haldeman’s company took advantage of the local geology to mine clay to create firebrick that was exported across the nation. Haldeman valued education and built schools in the community for the children of his employees, expanding those schools as the community developed. In 1937 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed construction on a new stone school building, and completed the current gymnasium in 1938. The building served the community of Haldeman until December of 1993,...

The high school moved to Foster Lewis Drive at some point, and this is now the Cunha Intermediate School. There is an elementary school directly next door that is built in an identical style and may also have been PWA, but further research is needed to confirm.

"The new Hall of History Building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been completed. It is a three-story brick structure which cost $32,000." The building was constructed with the assistance of either the federal Works Progress Admininstration (WPA) or the Public Works Administration (PWA); sources vary on the attribution. The building was an "annex" to the Moravian Boys School in Salem. It was demolished in 1985. See https://www.cityofws.org/DocumentCenter/View/3835/049---Boys-School-PDF?bidId= The only notable change to the building was an annex built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937-1938. This annex was demolished in 1985 during a restoration by Old Salem, Inc.

The former Hammel Street Elementary School was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Hammel was demolished to allow for the construction of Esteban Torres High School, which opened in 2010. 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 Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded the construction of this New Deal stone schoolhouse in Brooksville, FL. In 1941 the building was converted for use as a cannery. In the years following its construction, the building has served as a school for orphans and runaways; a cooperative extension site (Hammock Extension Homemakers); and as a northern extension site for the Hernando County Library system, known as the Rock Cannery Library. Presently, the building continues to serve the community as a facility where members of the public can come to preserve fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood using the commercial kitchen's pressure canning...

In September of 1938 the citizens of Hampton, Nebraska went to the polls to decide if the Village should transfer $6,000 from the electric light fund and borrow another $7000 for the purpose of building an Auditorium. Those funds were to be matched at 30% by funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The issue carried by what the Aurora Republican Register called “a small margin.” In fact the vote of 111 to 61 represented a winning margin of 64.5%. In February of 1939 bids were let for the project. Local builders Bamesberger and Parpart were granted the general construction contract...

Once the home of Bishop William Hanby, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and his son, Benjamin Hanby, a popular composer, in 1937 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) moved the Hanby House to its current location, to save it from demolition. Between 1941 and 1942, WPA laborers also performed structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site, now a museum.

The historic former Sparta Public School in Sparta, Georgia was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The high school construction project was sponsored by Hancock County. Living New Deal believes the building now houses offices for the Hancock County Board of Education. The PWA supplied a $44,000 loan and $18,577 grant for the project, whose total cost was $65,291. Construction occurred between Feb. and Oct. 1935. PWA Docket No. GA 5988

New Deal hospital in Hanford, CA.

The WPA constructed this simple stone schoolhouse in 1938. It is still in use today. A 1985 Oklahoma Landmarks Survey of WPA projects described the structure in detail: "This school of twelve to fourteen rooms in a single-story, rectangular (200' x 60') structure constructed of uncut native stone in buff and auburn colors with beaded masonry in a random rubble. The roof is flat with parapets. The front doors are recessed behind square entryways outlined in concrete. The windows on the front have continuous lentils and sills... Few structures in Hanna can compare to it in scale. The strategic placement of the...

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "WPA workmen have completed repairs to the Hannah Dustin School, Haverhill ..."

The 1936-7 component of the Hanover Township school building on State Route 130 was built as a New Deal project with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $11,469 grant for the project, whose total cost was $27,153. The building is no longer extant. PWA Docket No. OH 1297

This building was part of the Harding County High School in Buffalo, SD, until its demolition at some point between 2013 and 2016. This small school serves the entire county, for all grades, and has a total enrollment of less than 200. A National Parks Service, National Register of Historic Places document explains the school's New Deal history: "The stand-alone gymnasiums and auditoriums erected by the WPA as additions to schools underscored the importance of these amenities to the community schools. Gymnasiums were often added to older schools that had been constructed without one, while auditoriums, too, were a common addition...

Renovations to Harlem Hospital were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Montana's Big Timber Pioneer newspaper reported in 1938 that a new high school and attendant gymnasium were being constructed in the town of Harlowton: "This structure is being financed by a $45,000 PWA grant and a $55,000 bond issue which was carried by a large majority at an election last September." The WPA also contributed to the project: "The gymnasium connected with the present high school building is being razed by WPA workers at a cost of $2,100."

A simple brick school building. It replaced a wooden school on the same site. The architect was Albert Harkness, of Providence, who designed the nearby Chepachet School at the same time. It was later renamed the Adah S. Hawkins Elementary School, which was succeeded by the Fogarty Memorial School. It is today occupied as offices.

Harris High School for African Americans was completed in 1938 with PWA funding that also constructed the Meridian High School, gymnasium, and vocational buildings. Harris High School was smaller and less elaborate than Meridian High School, and contained no additional buildings. The site is now occupied by T.J. Harris Upper Elementary School, and while some 1950s buildings remain, all of the PWA buildings have been demolished.

Richard B. Harrison Auditorium, part of the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, was constructed in 1939 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds. The building, which has since been expanded, is still in use today. A National Register of Historic Places registration form states: "This rectangular, flat-roofed two-story building with a full basement at the rear was constructed in 1939 by the Federal Works Agency, Public Works Administration for use as the university's main auditorium. According to a lobby plaque, Leon McMinn was the architect and H. L. Coble, the contractor. The building stands close to...

Large windows, glass block over modern 2 pane windows, central entry replaced with glass. 1936 addition included large 1/1 windows with flat arch brick lintels and limestone sills. Gym & north wing were Public Works Administration (PWA) construction from 1936.

Between 1938 and 1939 the Works Progress Administration built a combination auditorium and gymnasium in Millersview, Texas under official project number 665-66-2-352. The building had a concrete foundation and buttresses with stone walls and brick trim.

"Perched on a hilltop, the Hartman Gymnasium was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project c. 1938 by local workers as an addition to the existing two-story school. Though the school was torn down, the locally quarried limestone gym was saved and given to the town when the school district consolidated. The gym was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only WPA construction in Hartman and for its local social significance in long service as a community center."   (https://www.secoloradoheritage.com)

"Much of the park's development came to a halt in October 1929 when the Great Depression gripped the country. Work did not resume until the spring of 1933 when the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived at Hartwick Pines. The CCC Boys did a lot of work in the park: They finished the interior work of the Memorial Building, built the two buildings of the Logging Museum, expanded the campground, planted several thousand trees, eradicated the white pine blister rust within the park, built roads, and added a number of visitor amenities such as a campground, picnic area...