Education and Health Sites

Designed by Watson L. Hawk, Mann Elementary School was built in 1935 with New Deal funding. The style is WPA/PWA Moderne. The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building materials were salvaged from damaged buildings, some schools were rehabilitated, and new schools were constructed with...

"Today, as the nation works its way out of a mighty recession, it seems natural to look back at the Depression-era origins of the old stone building in which the Mansfield Historical Society is housed. Construction began in late 1934 for the Mansfield Town Office Building.  The project was one of many sponsored by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) during the period.  A one-story colonial edifice with stone exterior and a fireproof vault within, the building was designed to provide a central place for carrying on town business and for safely housing important town records.  Meanwhile, however, the construction project gave much-needed work...

America Builds: "Many schools for feeble-minded and epileptic children have been built ... At Mansfield the State of Connecticut maintains a school, which with the aid of a PWA grant of $2,576,700 provides living and hospitalization facilities, as well as farm and shop work adapted to the abilities of the patients."

Then known as the Mansfield State Teachers College, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania benefited during the Great Depression from a large construction project enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $194,680 grant for the project, whose final cost was $623,191. Construction occurred between February 1938 and July 1939. (PWA Docket No. 1867.) Four buildings were constructed on the campus, including a home economics building and gym. The present status of these structures is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Manteo School Gym, a large white building near the corner of Devon Street and US Highway 64 was built by the Works Progress Administration. The building was recently demolished.

Manual Arts High School, which opened in 1910, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Architects John and Donald Parkinson designed a Moderne-style campus of reinforced concrete, featuring horizontal banding, rounded corners, concrete grilles, and tiled entries. 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,...

A grant from the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of an addition to Seattle's former Maple Leaf Grade School during the late 1930s. The school, which was part of the Maple Leaf School District at the time, was located on the northeast corner of Northeast 100th Street and 32nd Avenue NE. The original school building, situated at the northern end of the site, was completed in 1926. Four years later, an addition to the school was built to accommodate the increasing number of children who attended the school. As the surrounding neighborhood continued to grow during the 1920s and 1930s,...

Mar Vista elementary school was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935.

This school is also known locally as “the little school” and although the façade is predominately native rock, the entry has a more “modern” appearance with concrete and the rock work is rather spare as compared with the more elaborate rock work at the Scopus school. The entry goes into the school between the 2 floors with the whole school below the level of the street. It is one of many stone schoolhouses in Bollinger County and the largest along with the Lutesville school.

A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 announced that the agency had allotted $1,028 "to install a furnace and lights and for general repairs at the Marblemount school, Skagit County." Marblemount no longer maintains a school. The exact location and status of the facility are unknown to Living New Deal.

Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, constructed 1928 to 1931, underwent a $2,000,000 extension project undertaken in part with federal Public Works Administration funds. At one point this was among—if not the single—busiest maternity hospitals in the U.S. The massive addition, identifiable as the tallest component of the building, faces Cornelison Avenue, was completed ca. 1940. Jersey City's mayor at the time, Frank Hague, named the hospital for his mother, Margaret Hague. Terry Golway of The New York Times writes that "...W.P.A. money allowed... to expand the complex into the nation’s third-largest medical facility. At Hague’s insistence, the center offered medical care...

Margaretville Central School in Margaretville, New York was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building bears a 1939 cornerstone, and a "Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works" (PWA) plaque.

The Civil Works Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration built the Arizona State Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Tempe, Maricopa County, in 1934. Also known as the Maricopa County Welfare Sanitarium, the facility was initially built as a 60-room sanatorium. The structure was located on the same site where today stands the Arizona State University Climatology Office, at the intersection of Curry Road and Mill Avenue. The building was designed in Moorish Revival architectural style, and it featured a dome, minarets, and arched windows. According to Jared Smith, a curator at the Tempe History Museum, the building had a large basement...

  The October 3, 1938 edition of the Daily Pacific Builder reported that $207,500 in PWA funds had been awarded for the construction of the Marina Junior High auditorium. Construction on the main building seems to have begun earlier.

1000 seats, concrete.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Marine Corps League building in Scranton in 1936. WPA crews also completed several small projects on the grounds of the property. The work included an arched, stone gateway leading to the main building, stone fences, retaining walls, and a creek bed. The stone imprint stamps bear the date of 1936. Today the building serves as the Marine Corps Historical Museum and Detachment Headquarters.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop the grounds at San Francisco's Marine Hospital. Work summary: Widen the lawn around Building No. 9 to a 20 foot width, with a 2 to 1 slope. Excavate for and construct approximately 360 lineal feet of reinforced concrete retaining wall. Spade, loam, fertilize 60,000 square feet of lawn.--Mooser, p. 85.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed tennis courts at San Francisco's Marine Hospital. Work involved: Grading and construction of double tennis courts, including certain planting and shrubbery around same after construction, and in area adjacent to same. This is for the use of the personnel living on the reservation.--Mooser, p. 83.

Although initial applications for WPA help were rejected in 1935, this WPA project replaced the old Mariposa High School in 1937. A page from the 1937 yearbook described the new school: "Our move into the new school has been a great advantage to both the students and the faculty. It has made teaching a great deal easier." "Every room is supplied with the necessary conveniences that we did not have in the old school. Telephones connected with the office are in each room. There is plenty of closet space, blackboard space, and steam heist. A new system of ringing the bells also...

From Joseph Conforti's Creating Portland: "The Public Works Administration constructed a number of staff residences and dormitories on the campus of the existing Maritime Commission hospital, which was completed in 1859." From Joseph Conforti's Creating Portland: "The Public Works Administration funded the construction of buildings for federal, state, and local  government... Other projects in Portland included a number of staff residences and dormitories at the U.S. Maritime Commission Hospital at Martin's Point" (2007, p. 278). From the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 1974: "Portland's Marine Hospital is a rare surviving example of a series of such buildings erected during the...

The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum was constructed as a Naval Reserve Armory by the Works Project Administration (WPA) in 1940-42. In 1939, the City of Santa Barbara deeded the land to the Navy, because city leaders thought that a Naval Reserve Armory would be beneficial to the city. The Armory was almost complete when WW II broke out and construction was stopped. The building was boarded up. Then, in 1942, the City of Santa Barbara leased part of the harbor to the Navy for a wharf and the following year Naval Reservists were ordered to finish the building, which was designated a Small...

The construction of Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, CA, was primarily funded by Public Works Administration (PWA) grants in 1938. The Daily Pacific Builder cites bids being collected for contracts on the school's administration, physical education, and industrial arts buildings, as well as for heating and ventilation work. According to the school's website, "The morning of December 19, 1938 dawned damp and cool. Nevertheless, workmen eager to earn a day's pay huddled in groups in the field that sloped downward toward the streetcar tracks, airport hangers, and a Valley Boulevard awakening to light work-bound traffic. As they waited for their...

Among the many sanitary privies constructed by Work Project Administration (WPA) employees across America from 1935-1943, two latrines remain at Mark Prairie School near Canby, Oregon. Using the concrete vault design, these simple structures represented a significant increase in public health for rural schools and other primarily rural public and private facilities with an estimated 2.3 million WPA latrines installed across the country. The WPA reworked a U.S. Public Health Service concrete vault model outhouse to simplify its production. The standardized design produced a four foot by five foot wood-frame building with wood cladding and a braced-board door.. The interior specifications...

The Mark Twain Museum and rock wall to the north of the original Mark Twain Home were constructed in 1937 to serve as a museum and to serve as protection from fire for the home.  The rock has the same appearance as that used for the Admiral Coontz Armory and Clemens Field.

This stately brick school was constructed by the PWA in 1934. Classic elementary school that has undergone renovation for handicap accessibility, though there are still some issues.  The school has been added onto extensively.  The original rock walls surrounding the school and playground are still present.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) granted the Marple Newtown Joint School District $32,500 of a $70,000 project to alter and expand the former high school building (see PWA voucher image). The structure is located at the intersection of Media Line Road and West Chester Pike in Newtown Square, PA. This school building was destroyed by fire in April of 1956, but the former school building has been repurposed into the district's administration building. Pieces of the PWA funded project are still visible in the lobby of this building.

The University of North Texas's Marquis Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. "As North Texas grew boarding houses were no longer adequate to accommodate the student population. Parents often requested a dormitory for women so they would not need to place their daughters in private homes. The first dormitory, Marquis Hall, was built with PWA funds in 1936. It was built to house 100 women and was located between Mulberry and Sycamore streets, near Avenue B. Plans for the dorm were started the year Dr. W. J. McConnell became president.  Unfortunately, President Marquis died soon after the...

Originally constructed as the town's high school during the 1930s, Mars Hill, North Carolina's striking stone Cornerstone Apartments—a private apartment complex—was constructed by the federal Works Progress Administration as the town's high school during the 1930s. The Rustic Revival-style building has also been known as Mars Hill School and Mars Hill Elementary School, and later, as Mars Hill's Community Center. It features a stone and concrete foundation, stone walls, and asphalt roof.

The Works Progress Administration built a brick wall for Marshall College in Huntington, Cabell County.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed repairs for the Training School Building at Marshall College (today Marshall University) in Huntington, Cabell County. The structure was built in 1937 and served as a laboratory for teachers in training. Also called Burkirk Hall, the structure currently houses administration, offices, and classrooms of the College of Education and Human Services.  

The Marshall school was originally constructed in the late 19th century and was a brick building. It was rebuilt in the late 1920s and featured a classic Greek-style entrance. Some work was done in 1931 but ruined by the 1933 earthquake. The WPA demolished and reconstructed the Marshall school in an Art Deco style in the 1930s in at least two official WPA projects. One at a cost of $26,602 in federal funds and $35,380 total. Another at a cost of $17,861 in federal funds and $$25,841 total. Major reconstruction was done in 1990 with a new addition to the front...

The stunning Marshall Junior High School in Clovis, New Mexico was constructed in 1936 as a New Deal project. The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) provided a $55,271 grant for the project, whose total cost was $123,102. P.W.A. Docket No. N.M. 1008

1 of 4 school reconstruction projects including Willard, Monterey Vista, and Emerson schools that were supervised by the Garvey School District in Los Angeles, with some funding, and labor provided by L.A.C.R.A. (Los Angeles County Relief Agency) that rebuilt following the Long Beach earthquake in 1933. "Project #1 B4 479 LACRA Labor - $13,071.00 Sponsor - $10,011.00 As these jobs were all handled through one superintendent employed by Sponsor, the work on each structure was so arranged that the skilled workers were passed along from one job to another and unusually good progress was made on all schools. The Emerson, Willard, and Marshall schools are...

With the provision of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding, the City of Marshfield, Oregon replaced its crowded, thirty-year-old high school in 1939-1940 on the same site. Local funds covered 55% of project costs. The New Deal era campus construction included the main classroom building, an auditorium, and a new gym. At the time, the new gym was referred to as the west gym. Portland architect Francis Marion Stokes designed the concrete Art Deco structure. Additional buildings were added later to accommodate the high school's growth and changing needs but the Marshfield classroom building and Auditorium still dominate the eastern facade. Residents voted...

Laredo, Texas's historic Martin High School was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. The building is still in use today. The PWA supplied a $250,000 loan and $101,853 grant toward the $352,283 total cost of the project. Work occurred between August 1935 and April 1937. (PWA Docket No. TX 5725)

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School (formerly Santa Barbara Avenue Elementary School), which opened in 1914, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. According to the Los Angeles Historic Resources Inventory, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School's Art Deco main classroom building and auditorium, designed by Los Angeles architectural firm Walker and Eisen, "exemplify the Art Deco style, with an emphasis on verticality despite being only one story in height. Additionally, the school's original buildings are indicative of LAUSD's design and planning practices following the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933. The two contributing...

Presently known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School, Nashville's historic Pearl High School was built in 1936-37 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Pearl High School was built expressly to serve Nashville's African American community (which was wholly segregated at the time).  It was described at the time as the finest school for Blacks in the South, according to the University of South Carolina Museum of Education. Designed by the nation's first African American architecture firm of McKissack & McKissack, the school features a "stripped classicism highlighted by creative, abstract grillwork in an Art Deco manner above the central entrance"...

"South Manchester Free Public Library moves into a new building and is renamed Mary Cheney Library, located 'in Center Park' on Main Street. Money for the building is made possible from Cheney Brothers fund and Federal Public Works Administration funds." The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied a $35,969 grant for the library's construction, whose total cost was $79,997. Construction occurred between Nov. 1936 and Oct. 1937. PWA Docket No. CT W1260

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work on all school buildings in the city of Bayonne ca. 1939. Work on the Mary J. Donohoe School building included "painting, repairing, and general improvement work."

Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School (formerly Jacob Riis High School), which opened in 1925, 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...