Education and Health Sites

A Mechanical Arts building was added to the former Park City High School in 1935-36, with funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).  The old high school was built in 1928 in brick Collegiate Gothic-style and is now the Park City Library and Education Center.  The former Mechanical Arts building was done in a stripped-down, Moderne version of the high school and is now privately owned. The former high school, including the Mechanical Arts building, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.   The NRHP nomination quotes a Park City newspaper report on the inauguration of the Mechanical Arts building, giving the...

What is now the High School of Fashion Industries began in the 1920s as a vocational program in a garment center loft on West 31 Street. It was intended to train a work force for New York's large garment industry, and most early students were first or second generation immigrants. In 1938, the WPA helped build a new campus for the what was then called the Central High School of Needle Trades. The school was completed in 1941. The school's current website explains that "It’s curriculum was almost entirely vocational, stressing sewing, machine work, and fashion design. It had many ties...

"The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics constructed this 8-foot high-speed wind tunnel for test purposes. It is the largest structure of this kind in the world and is built of reinforced concrete throughout except that the air passages are lined with steel plates. Large-scale airplane models and full-sized airplane parts are investigated for the effects of air velocities varying from 85 miles per hour up to the speed of sound. The tunnel is equipped with an 8,000-horsepower motor which drives a 18-blade propeller 16 feet in diameter. The working space in the dome is at a...

"The Jordan School District Administration Building was built in 1935 as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It was part of a $75,000 PWA project that also included rebuilding the fire-razed Highland Boy Elementary School at Bingham which included an auditorium." The current status of the historic building is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a central clinic building in the Highland Hospital in Oakland in 1935 or 1936.  The exact location and design of that building are unknown. There is no evidence that the WPA clinic building is still standing; it was undoubtedly demolished during recent construction of a large new hospital building behind the original hospital of 1927. The photo here shows the entrance to the 1920s hospital, which was built in florid Spanish Revival style.

The auditorium annex to the Highland School, originally constructed in 1907, was completed by the WPA in 1936. It was destroyed in 1986.

The Works Progress Administration built an annex for the Hillman Hospital in Birmingham. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an annex for the Hillman Hospital in Birmingham. Adjacent to the hospital stands a new clinic, also built by the WPA.  

The Hillsborough High School was built in 1927 but soon thereafter the Great Depression caused a halt to construction of the gymnasium and the track. These were eventually built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration under the supervision of Mr. E.H. Foxworth. This structure has come to be known by the students as the Barn due its architectural style.

The WPA built this building as the Lander Gym, then part of the Hilmar Union High School. It now serves as the Hilmar Unified School District office. "During the construction of the high school gym, students could skip school to help with the building, Grant said, which made some students happy. In April of 1936, the high school received a $6,626.86 check from the federal government, the first of several payments for the new gym, according to the Hilmar-Irwin Enterprise. L. Ubels, the gym's contractor, was eventually paid $24,488 for the work." - https://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/05/01/1406511/wpa-elim-elementary.html

The Hinckley High School Gymnasium was built in 1935-36 with funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA).   It was part of a larger project for the Millard County School District that included a mechanical arts building at Delta High School and a gymnasium at Millard High School in Fillmore.  Total cost for the three buildings was $130,000. Lyman and Newell (1999) suggest that the Hinckley Gym was "fully constructed under the P.W.A. program." The architects of all three were Carl W. Scott and George W. Welch. The contractors were Talboe and Litchfield.  The Hinckley gym is an example of stylized...

PWA project W1183 constructed a boys’ dormitory and boys’ gymnasium for the Hinds County Junior College in 1938. A grant for $151,986 was approved June 22, 1938 toward the total cost of $322,153. Construction started November 14, 1938 and was completed December 4, 1939. The architect was James Manly Spain and the builder/contractor Newton & Schmoll for the Stripped Classic/Colonial Revival dormitory. The brick dormitory contained 43 rooms and an apartment for the dormitory manager. The dormitory is not extant.

Public Works Administration project W1183 constructed a boys’ dormitory and boys’ gymnasium. A grant for $151,986 was approved June 22, 1938 toward the total cost of $322,153. Construction started November 14, 1938 and was completed December 4, 1939. The Denton Gymnasium is a Stripped Classic, two-story brick designed by architect James Manly Spain and constructed by builder/contractor Newton & Schmoll. The first floor contained locker rooms, club room, supply room, visitors quarters, office, first aid, showers and dressing rooms. The gymnasium with a seating capacity for 700 people was located on the second floor. It remains in use.

In 2013 the Department of Housing and Urban Development wrote: "Built in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration project, the Wilkesboro, North Carolina Elementary School, known as the Historic Wilkesboro School, was recently transformed into an affordable housing community for low-income seniors. ... restoration of the old school building a sustainable, walkable community of 41 one- and two-bedroom units for low-income seniors."

Traversehistory.org: "In 1934, Traverse City Park’s commissioner, Con Foster, had an idea. He envisioned a park along the lakeshore at the south tip of the West Grand Traverse Bay. The park would have a zoo, a beach house and a historical museum about the region. Over the next several years, Con Foster traveled over 15,000 miles throughout the Midwest buying Native American and pioneer artifacts to display in the Museum. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration built a building to house this collection and it was later named the Con Foster Museum. For the past 70 years this collection has grown to...

Thanks to the assistance of the Lakeport History Museum, a former WPA built history museum was located. The WPA constructed the museum in 1936. The history museum was moved into a historic courthouse that had operated from 1871 to 1968 and after a vote, was refurbished and became the town museum in 1976. The former museum is now utilized as a law library. WPA Project No. 65-3-3325, App. Date 12-9-35, $3,299, "Construct building for historical museum."

A 1985 Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory of WPA buildings describes a 1938 school in Hitchita, Oklahoma. The survey describes the school in detail: "This school of twelve rooms is a single-story, rectangular (145' x 58') structure constructed of uncut native stone of auburn and buff colors. The building's base, however, is made of cut, coursed and rusticated native stone of buff color. All doors are recessed behind archways. There is a horizontal frieze dividing the two types of stone. The sashed windows contain wood inserts painted brown. A gymnasium is attached to the south side of the school. These alterations do not...

"The new school occupies the corner of a 7-acre lot, permitting the development of athletic and play fields. It is a combination grade and junior high school and provides an auditorium and gymnasium, as well as the necessary classrooms and special rooms. It is of semifireproof construction and was completed in April 1937 at a construction cost of $198,628 and a project cost of $219,275." (Short and Brown) Wikipedia; "The original school building was constructed in 1936. Over the years, several additions have been made to the school. The most recent construction added 30,000 square feet of space, primarily in the middle...

A state historical marker at the site reads: The first school in what would become the Hobbs community was known as Buffalo and taught in a tent on Buffalo Creek from 1887 to 1888. The Rev. Robert Martin erected a church and schoolhouse on the site with funds from his home church in Louisiana. By 1896 the school was named for Vachel Hobbs Anderson, postmaster at Roby, and had changed locations several times. J. W. Hale became county school superintendent in 1922. His efforts contributed to the voters' decision to consolidate the Hobbs, Dallas, Grady and Baird common school districts in 1924....

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Hoehne School and Gymnasium in Hoehne, Las Animas CO. The gymnasium addition was two-stories high. Other WPA-built facilities included a shop and home economics classrooms.

The WPA worked during the late 1930s to improve "properties of the U.S. Maritime Commission on Hoffman and Swinburne Island in New York Bay" in New York City. Each island was previously artificially created and was, at the time, being used for the U.S. Merchant Marine as a training station. WPA work on the islands included "reconditioning buildings, grounds, utilities and facilities; excavating; back-filling; draining; painting; improving roads and walks; installing electrical and heating facilities; grading and landscaping grounds; doing carpentry and demolition work ..." Approximately $210,000 was dedicated to these projects as well as work to "the Maritime Ship 'Tusitala' at...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Hoisington High School - Hoisington KS, and Art Deco high school built in 1940. The school is still in use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Hoisington High School was designed by the architecture firm Brinkman & Hagan.

The Hoisington High School Stadium was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937 with limestone from the nearby Ney farm. The stadium is still in use and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hollenbeck Middle School in Los Angeles, CA, was designed by architect Alfred P. Rosenheim and constructed with PWA funding in 1936.

Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School, originally a high school, was built in 1936-7 as a New Deal project: the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $117,818 grant for the school construction project in Bradford, whose total cost was $262,499. The since-expanded facility is still in service. PWA Docket No. PA 1137

Hollywood High School, which opened in 1910, 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. Hollywood High School's beautiful Streamline Moderne styling was designed by the architectural firm of Marsh, Smith and Powell. Built of reinforced concrete, the two-story Science Building ($208,968 in PWA...

In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Liberal Arts Building at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, CA. The PWA aided in the reconstruction of hundreds of Southern California schools after the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Built of reinforced concrete designed to resist earthquake damage, the Liberal Arts Building contained 14 classrooms as well as facilities for art and domestic science (Short & Stanley-Brown, 1939). It was featured alongside the Science Building in Hollywood High School's 1939 yearbook: "Two of the most beautiful buildings on the Hollywood High School campus house the six Academic Departments....

Holmes Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1907, 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...

Holmes Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. Construction occurred in 1937. PWA Docket No. Neb. 1282. Short and Stanley-Brown: "The Holmes School occupies a 10-acre plot, thus providing ample space for playgrounds. It accommodates 160 pupils. The building is one story and a basement in height, and is T-shaped in plan. It contains three classrooms, a combination library and museum, a playroom, a storage room for bicycles, and a community room which has a stage and a kitchen. The construction is semifireproof. Exterior walls are brick trimmed with wood, the floor is reinforced...

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (FEAPW) added two classrooms and a gym/auditorium for the Holmesville High School.

Bristol, Tennessee's historic Holston Valley High School building was constructed between 1933 and 1935 with $90,828 of federal funds through the Public Works Administration (PWA). The building is still in service.

Built by the National Youth Administration, all that remains of the structures are rock wall shells. The Home Economics Cottage has a plaque, the vocational shop does not.

Locally known as the Home Economics/F.F.A. Building, this "combination NYA youth community center/classroom" was constructed in 1937-1938. It has been described as "the best local example of a building executed in the indigenous stone Rustic style which was popular with the WPA in its construction throughout Arkansas, and in the Ozark region in particular" (Arkansas Historic Preservation Program).

"This building is listed on the Oklahoma Landmark Inventory database as the Industrial Building for Home Economics District #1. It was a WPA construction from 1935 with an appropriation of $5,984. The building is constructed of native sandstone. It is a high-ceiling one-story building, with a gable roof that does not extend to the outer walls. The Oklahoma Landmark database indicates that it is possible the original roof may have burned and has been replaced. All windows have been infilled with wood. We were unable to determine how the building is being used at the current time."   (waymarking.com)

Originally known as the Blue Plains Home for the Aged and Infirm, this facility was improved by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the early 1940s. The facility was originally built in 1906 at the district's southernmost tip. According to WPA project cards at the National Archives, from 1935 to 1941, relief workers were used to: "Rehabilitate and enlarge the facilities of the Blue Plains Home for the Aged and Infirm, including constructing storm doors, fire exits, and additions to buildings; rehabilitating buildings; screening and roofing porches; reconstructing old and placing new floors; erecting partitions; reconditioning locker rooms; painting; constructing and reconstructing...

The North Texas State College's Home Management House was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided $11,250 for the construction of the building, which was located at the northeast corner of what are now S. Welch St. and W. Chestnut St. The building has since been demolished. "Home Management House was a two story, brick veneer duplex that faced west on Avenue A with West Chestnut Street on the south. The building was erected in 1938 and 1939 with PWA funding for about 45% of the cost of construction. The house served as the living quarters Home...

Homer G. Phillips Hospital was built from 1932-1936 and dedicated in 1937. It was a segregated black hospital in a highly segregated city at the time. The initial funding for the hospital was a bond issue in 1922 for $1,000,000 plus an additional $200,000 contributed by the City government. These funds were unused for 9 years due to indecision as to whether to build a wing onto the City Hospital or construct a new hospital. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided the remaining funds necessary to construct the hospital. The dedication ceremony included a speech by Harold Ickes, Secretary of the...

Originally constructed in 1921, the Hoosier Gym (best known for its role in the 1986 basketball movie Hoosiers) was improved and expanded the gym in 1936. "The project included an exterior facelift with a new front entrance and lobby, and the creation of basement dressing rooms." No longer used regularly as a gym, the building has been turned into a museum and community center.

Construction of Hope High School, undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funding, comprised one of the largest New Deal undertakings in Rhode Island. "The Hope Street High School is one of the largest high schools in America, accommodating 2,200 pupils. It is in the vicinity of Brown University. It has 60 classrooms, an auditorium seating 1,285, a large stage and sound-moving-picture equipment, a library, study hall, cafeteria which accommodates 700 at one sitting, modern kitchen facilities, boys' gymnasium, and a girls' gymnasium with 105 individual shower stalls. There are special rooms for wood-working, art metal, machine-shop work, music rooms, and...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of doctors’ apartments at the Hopemont Sanitarium in Hopemont. The facility treated tuberculosis patients. Project W. Va.-1079-R. The facility is still extant and is adjacent to the Hopemont State Hospital.

"Located in a mall White County community near Bald Knob, the Hopewell School building has specific features that identify it as one of several federally funded institutional structures in the county dating from the late 1930's. ... The former school's exterior is embellished with many elements common to Works Progress Administration structures. For example, its rectangular, one-story plan is constructed of native stone, and there is a one-bay, central front porch with a flat, parapeted roof and arched entry on fie front (east) elevation. The gable-on-hip roof is low-pitched with a wide eave overhang and exposed rafters. As with other...