Education and Health Sites

The Magee grammar school was completed as PWA project W1215. The project was approved 8/19/1937 and a $10,627 grant awarded toward a total cost of $23,615. Construction began 12/4/1937 and completed 3/18/1938. The architect was Edgar Lucian Malvaney.

"In the heart of the Great Depression, five small rural elementary schools were consolidated into Cooper Rural High School, District 1, to give more rural students a chance for a high school education. ... The New Deal era was an opportune time for school districts to build schools. The Cooper Rural High School building, which was opened in 1938, cost either $83,000 or $84,000, depending on the source you use, but the bond costs to taxpayers was about $40,000. The rest of the money was paid by a federal Public Works Administration grant." The status of the original structure within what is now...

Originally the Lucy F. Simms School, the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia was constructed with the aid of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant. Construction occurred between July 1938 and June 1939; the grant supplied $45,000 toward the building's $98,870 total cost. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of Ludlow School. The three-story school was built in 1938 and housed grammar and high school grades. The PWA funding was $36,000. The architects of record were A.E. Hudson, A.T. Win and Mr. Quinn. The superintendent was of construction was Arthur D. Wilson. The contractor of record was Casper Ranger. The school was dedicated on November 6, 1938, and was open on September 5, 1939. The enrollment was 454. Docket No. Vt. 1069-DS. Today the school serves as the Black River High School.

'The Lugonia Kindergarten is entirely detached from other buildings on the school site. It is a one story and basement structure which contains one classroom, a group room, a library, and workroom, and a covered arcade or cloister. To break the monotony of the concrete surfaces of the ceiling, cork panels have been inserted in the roof slab and on the sides of the arched ceiling beams, which not only are decorative, but are of acoustical value. The low tile wainscot has inserts of colored tile illustrating Mother Goose and other characters of fairy tales and fables. The construction is designed to...

Many useful things were done during the New Deal in this coastal community whose population in 1930 was 2,135, including work on several local schools. The 1934 town report describes: Federal assistance for milk distribution in the schools. The report also describes how: "The Federal Emergency Relief Administration aided greatly in improving our school buildings and grounds. The Spofford building was completely redecorated, desks repaired and varnished and other minor repairs made. The Duck Cove building was painted inside and outside and the roof shingled. All of the desks at the Luman Warren building were varnished. The garage built in the basement of...

"This school is constructed of buff-colored brick, with darker tan brick around window and entrance openings. The rounded brick walls at the entrance gives the building an Art Deco look. The school was part of a WPA project funded in 193-1940 in the amount of $63,557, which includes a bus barn not shown. The school is listed in the Oklahoma Landmark Inventory database. Their survey done in 1987 shows that a considerable updating has been completed on the window units of the school since their photos were taken."   (waymarking.com)

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied funds to construction of a new Lycoming County Home in Williamsport, PA. The exact location and building status is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

Lyme Township School #2 was constructed in 1937 as a New Deal project, with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $26,182 grant for the project, whose total cost was $63,028. The building is presently vacant. PWA Docket No. OH 1228

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an eight-classroom school building: the former Mabel Elementary School—as well as sanitary privies for said school—in Mabel, near Zionville, North Carolina. It was one of many educational facilities constructed by the WPA in Watauga County. The historic Mabel School has since been replaced, and the location and status of the WPA structure is unknown to Living New Deal.

Constructed in 1840, the Tower Building, "the only surviving remnant of the Little Rock Arsenal," was traded by the federal government to the City of Little Rock for 1,000 acres and the "condition that the grounds be 'forever exclusively devoted to the uses and purposes of a public park.'" The building remained vacant until the late 1930s when workers, sponsored by a grant from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) renovated the structure, leading to its opening in 1942 as the Museum of Natural History and Antiquities. (www.littlerock.org.) Workers. Workers installed new plumbing, lighting, and other improvements. (National Archives.)

Multiple New Deal-supported construction projects were undertaken on the campus of Winthrop University during the 1930s. "While a U.S. senator, Byrnes arranged for Works Project Administration funds to be used with matching state funds to construct three campus buildings – the auditorium, Thurmond Building, and Macfeat Nursery School, now the Macfeat House, a reception area created from the former Academic Computing Center." (winthrop.edu)

"This new vocational high school is part of an extensive school construction program in Toledo which involved 19 new school buildings and repair work on many others. It is a unit for boys in the upper 3 years of high school, is 3 stories in height and contains an auditorium with a stage, a library, gymnasium, 17 classrooms, 12 laboratories, and 18 shops where students can learn the fundamentals of engineering mechanics by dismantling and assembling standard equipment and in which the essentials of many trades are taught. The building is fireproof, of structural steel and reinforced concrete....

The Madera County Hospital was built using Public Works Administration funds and Works Progress Administration labor. The PWA built building is now the headquarters of the Madera County Public Health Department. There was a bronze plaque inside the building where the entrance used to be indicating the date, 1935, the supervisors, and the architect Ernest J. Kump. 'It is a one-story building and provides an operating department of six rooms, an X-ray department of three rooms, a maternity unit of 10 rooms including two wards, a children's ward, a dental department of three rooms, nine men's wards, two solariums, an observation room, a...

"In 1940, the City of Chowchilla gave three lots (4,5, and 6 of Block 88) to Madera County for the purpose of building a library. Madera County contributed $5400 toward a total building cost of $15,800.1 The library, built by the WPA, was made of adobe brick, and had a basement. It is reputed to be the last structure built by the agency in Madera County. The library opened to the public on 1 August 1941. It closed on 1 February 2003, and was replaced by a new library on Kings Avenue." The building is still extant, but it's current use...

Originally the high school gymnasium, built in 1924, now a city recreation facility. Improved by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including extensive repairs after the disastrous flood of 1937.

The Works Progress Administration spent $995 on renovations to the former Madison County Agricultural High School and employed 14 workers on the project. The school complex was located between Camden Road and McCarty Road, just East of Mississippi Highway 17.

The PWA provided funds for the construction of Lincoln School in 1940. From Wikipedia: In addition to Lincoln, the new elementary schools included Monroe, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and McKinley. Lincoln was the only new facility to be built on the location of one of the older buildings. The floor plans for all six school buildings was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Smith & Childs, and they are all similar in layout. Local architects were employed to design the stylistic features for each building.  

The historic former Madison School building in Sandusky, Ohio was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. The P.W.A. provided a $66,138 grant for the project, whose total cost was $146,768. Construction occurred between 1938 and 1939. P.W.A. Docket No. OH 2026

Architects N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town designed a 2 story, buff brick structure to serve as the gymnasium for the existing high school. It was connected to the earlier school with a 1 story walkway. Funded by the PWA, it is known as "a rare example of the Art Deco style in Mississippi, particularly as it was applied to schools" (Enzweiler, 1986). The addition features brick piers, circular windows, mousetooth detailing, concrete canopies, and stylized griffins sculptures on the front entrance. Total construction cost was $37,432 and the building was completed December 7, 1936.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) approved a grant for construction of the Madras Grade School in 1938. The original, $35,000 four-room school building plus auditorium was designed by the Portland architectural firm of Roald & Schneider and constructed by Baldwin & Whier of Hood River. Substantial renovation work has expanded the school, currently called the Madras Elementary School. The front facade, however, retains much of its orginal colonial revival appearance. The one-story, red brick building is decorated with simplified classical details.

The Works Progress Administration built a new school in Mafolie on St. Thomas.

"This WPA building was erected in 1936 on the original site of the rock school building. The rock building was so sturdy that the workers were unable to tear down all the walls. It is said part of the original school building makes up the walls of the WPA gymnasium. This building had the only stage in town and was used for plays as well as many a graduating class ceremonies." -Magdalena Historic Walking Tour Today, the gym is preserved and used by the local London Frontier Theatre Company.

Magnolia Elementary school (originally called the Oakdale Union School) was constructed in 1938 with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA). There is a PWA plaque by the entrance door.   The school building is single-story with one long classroom wing.  Behind the main building is a two-story auditorium.  The architecture is streamline Moderne, which was nicely highlighted in blue trim when we visited in 2023.  There is a 1938 New Deal mural by Herman Struck in the school.  

Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Magnolia Elementary School Gymnasium. The architect of record was Harry E. Boyle & Co. Architects and Engineers of Evansville, Indiana. PWA Docket No. KY-1375-F. The structure is currently part of a complex called “The Old School Market.” It houses a professional office space and a restaurant. The gym is an entertainment venue used for events such as weddings, entertainment, family reunions, and other community events. The Gym was originally built for the Magnolia High School. Later, the school became an Elementary School. It was decommissioned in 2006.  It’s been privately owned since then. The gym...

Herman Struck painted a mural for the Magnolia Elementary School (formerly the Oakdale Union School) in Oakdale, California.   The mural was probably paid for by the Federal Art Project (FAP) and hung when the school was completed in 1938, but both those claims need to be verified. The mural hangs in the present school library, formerly the kindergarten room.

The magnificent main library building in Toledo, Ohio was constructed with the aid of multiple New Deal agencies: the Public Works Administration (PWA), which supplied a large grant to the city for construction, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which supplied labor. The building, which bears a 1939 cornerstone, was dedicated on September 4, 1940. "With a cost of nearly 2 million dollars, the Main Branch Library brought work to many Toledo workers and continues to be one of the best public libraries in the nation." One remarkable aspect of the building is the breathtaking frieze that wraps around above its main lobby. According to ToledoLibrary.org: "Displaying...

A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 stated: "To provide employment for needy persons on relief rolls an allotment of $6,900 has been made ... for labor in cleaning and renovating public buildings in Tacoma, such as the city hall, library, and others... The work includes cleaning walls, woodwork, furniture and washing and repairing furnishings and drapes. This project employs mostly women and the funds will curry it until about June 1, 1938. Tacoma as sponsor is supplying materials needed with $740."

"The main public library is a joint undertaking of the city of Massillon and its school system. The project included the construction of the main library, the remodeling of the adjacent museum, and the erection of a branch library in another part of the city. The main library was constructed as an addition to the city museum. It is irregular in plan and 120 by 87 feet in its over-all dimensions. On the first floor are the main reading room, reference room, librarian's room, and the stack room. The basement, due to sloping ground, is well lighted and...

Maine, New York's Central School was built in 1940; its construction was enabled by the provision of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded new construction or improvement work for the Makapala School, near Niulii and Kapaau, on the Big Island. The PWA grant amounted to $6,750, and the work was carried out in 1938. The project, listed as Docket No. TH-1071-F, was part of the PWA’s non-federal projects expenditure for the Territory of Hawaii for 1938-1939.

Malabar Street Elementary School, which opened in 1913, 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...

In 1941, workers with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Malaga School and the sidewalk in front.

"Immediately following Thanksgiving, work will begin on the grounds of the Malaga School, Chelan County ... Funds from WPA in the amount of $18,083 have been provided for excavating, grading, leveling and covering the ground with a top soil. The sponsors, School District #115, will provide $4,400 to be added to the WPA grant and men from WPA rolls will complete the work by July 1, 1938." The precise location and the present status of the school building are unknown to Living New Deal.

The old section of Malakoff Elementary School, locally referred to as the “Rock Building” or the “Old Rock School,” was constructed of brown fieldstone in 1940 as part of the federal Works Projects Administration (WPA).

Then known as the Lincoln School, this school was improved by the WPA in 1937-1938. In his book on Berkeley and the New Deal, Harvey Smith reports that "Research has not yet revealed what improvements were made, but earthquake safety was undoubtedly on the minds of school administrators" (p. 53).

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) installed a heating system atWorcester's  Malvern Road School in 1937.

"In 1937, this art deco terminal was a bold architectural statement for rural New Hampshire. Built as one of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects that sprinkled New Hampshire with unique, useful structures and employed hundreds of Granite State residents, the 1937 airport terminal continued in service until the expansion of Manchester Airport in 1995 slated it for demolition... In 2004, the New Hampshire Aviation Historical Society, Manchester Airport, the City of Manchester and Town of Londonderry, came together to preserve The 1937 Terminal. These groups raised 1.1 million dollars to convert the facility into a museum and educational center and...

Manchester 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...

"This school is situated on a 22-acre lot, rolling in character, and overlooks Manhasset Bay. The grounds are arranged for football and baseball fields, archery, junior playgrounds, tennis courts, and landscaped areas. The building is not symmetrical in plan. It contains seven classrooms of the types used in the best modern schools and also a large greenhouse where flowers are grown and transplanted into the school gardens by the pupils. It is of fire-resistant construction with special interior finish. The exterior walls are brick, trimmed with stone. Its over-all dimensions are 312 by 144...