Education and Health Sites

Polytechnic High School was built in 1936-37 by the PWA. The architect was Joseph R. Pelich and the cost was $483,000. The WPA landscaped the original 18.5 acre campus. The school's mascot is the Fighting Parrots--there's a parrot on the weathervane!

Though the roots of this school go back to 1884, it opened at its Carl Street location in 1914. Unfortunately, after a sad and racialized history in the 60s, the school was closed in the early 70s. The buildings were demolished in the mid 80s. During the 30s, New Deal agencies were involved in the construction of the girl's gym (1937) and the school auditorium.

A WPA press release from Nov. 1937 reported: "More than 150 schools have been repaired and the grounds improved and landscaped , and five brand new schools in the state were erected entirely by WPA with a small percentage of sponsored funds," among which was a new school in Pomeroy, Washington. The precise location and the present status of the school building are unknown to Living New Deal.

The library on this site was built in the early 1900s and expanded by the WPA in 1939. It was closed and demolished in 1965.

"The city erected the new building which is one and part two stories in height. It contains a reading room for adults, a junior reading room, children's room, reference room, delivery room, workroom, and a librarian's room, as well as the necessary stack space. It is a semifireproof structure with light-colored brick walls elaborately trimmed with terra cotta. The foundation walls and floors are reinforced concrete. The project was completed in December 1935 at a construction cost of $80,019 and a project cost of $100,644."

This WPA school is in reasonably good condition and is presently being used as a hunting retreat. The native rock building has a plan very similar to the abandoned school in Gipsy with the entry at a corner and a large open space under the opposite eave.

The stone veneer teacher's house was constructed as W. P. 5288, Application #678, Pontotoc High School Teachers Home. The rock for the Colonial Revival style house was quarried from nearby Tishomingo County, at the NYA quarry. The house is currently used as a private residence.

The wood siding teacher's house #2 was built next door to the stone veneer teacher's house #1 for Pontotoc High School. According to the Series 2018-National Youth Administration Work Projects Photograph Album, 1937-1939, the house was constructed by WPA, and while started on the same day as the stone veneer house constructed by NYA, was finished a month after the stone house. The floor plan for both houses was the same. While the front facades differ, the rear of both houses appear to be the same, indicating #2 may have been renovated at some point. The original photograph for #1...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) began construction on "a collegiate-sized pool with underwater lighting and an adjacent bath house" in 1936 at what is now Valdosta State University. The school was completed by the state in 1938.  The exact position of the pool on the campus is unknown to Living New Deal; the pool has since been replaced.

The Works Progress Administration built the Popes Chapel School in Warner. This  4-room, single story school measuring 49 x 55 feet is constructed of irregular blocks of red sandstone. It is currently a private home, though the alterations in the structure have not changed the school significantly. The school was designed by the Oklahoma State Department of Instruction.

The Poppenhusen branch of the Queens Library system, located in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, was constructed in the early 1900s. A WPA photo shows the WPA sign and explains that "new copper sheeting for roof is another improvement provided for the College Point Branch of the Queens Library system by the WPA," implying that other improvements were made as well.

"Port Allen is a town of 1,500 inhabitants, across the Mississippi from Baton Rouge. Its new high school is 1 story and part 2 stories in height and contains on the first floor 10 classrooms, administrative offices, and a first-aid room. The second floor has the science laboratories and an office. Connected with the building is the auditorium with a seating capacity of 700, a well-equipped stage and dressing rooms. The wall construction is concrete with a machine-rubbed finish on exterior. The project was completed in July 1938 at a construction cost of $158,795 and a project cost of $169,693." (Short...

Porter Hall was one of multiple buildings constructed on the GCSU campus with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "The Music and Theater Building facing Wilkinson St. was constructed in 1939 over and around a 1912 steam plant, partly with Public Works Administration money and partly by funds from a bequest by Louisa Porter Gilmer Minis of Savannah."

Doors of the Milwaukie Junior High School opened in November 1936 after the structure's construction with funding from a Public Works Administration grant ($53,118) and a local bond issue ($65,000). The new building replaced a wooden school a short distance away that was demolished for construction of Milwaukie's City Hall. In 2002, the Portland Waldorf School acquired the red brick building and currently occupies it. The Portland based architect Luther L. Dougan designed the Georgian-style school building with Walter E. Kelly serving as the site architect. Portland contractor Joseph H. Anderson won the bid to construct the structure. As noted in...

600 seats; concrete,terra cotta trim, tile wainscot. The October 3, 1938 edition of the Daily Pacific Builder reported that $68,348 in PWA funds had been allotted for the project and an architect was being sought.

Flat windows 6/6 with stone sills. 2 Stone trimmed arched entrys, fanlights with double flat doors. Inscriptions: Erected by the Works Projects Administration (WPA) in 1937.

The historic former post office building in Adel, Georgia was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds ca. 1939. The building now serves as the Cook County Historical Society Museum. A New Deal mural, which had been created and housed in the historic post office, has since been relocated to its current location.

From Flickr user Courthouselover in 2012: "Built in 1940, this former post office today acts as the Alvin Historical Museum. The old mural that once hung in this post office's lobby today is rolled up in storage awaiting restoration." Since then, the mural has been restored, thanks to the efforts of former Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan and his wife Ruth. It now hangs in the museum.

The Transylvania County Administration building at 101 South Broad Street in Brevard, North Carolina was originally constructed as a New Deal post office. The post office was one of several similar Federal/Greek Revival-style facilities in western North Carolina. Per The Transylvania Times: "On Aug. 3, 1938 bids were received on 10 sites available in the downtown Brevard. A lot on the corner of Broad and Morgan streets was purchased from Mrs. Beulah Zachary for $4,000 on May 5, 1939. Groundbreaking took place on May 6, 1940. The Post Office began operating from the building in January 1941." "The building served as the...

The historic former post office building in Cocoa, Florida was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is now home to the State Headquarters of the Florida Historical Society.

"The Greer Post Office, constructed in 1935, is architecturally significant as an excellent example of a New Deal-era Colonial Revival post office produced by the Public Works Branch of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Architect Donald G. Anderson of New York City designed the Greer Post Office under the administration of Louis A. Simon, Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury. The Greer Post Office reflects the designs favored by the Treasury Department at the time, exhibiting a restrained Colonial Revival style with minimal ornamentation. The new post offices in South Carolina built during this era reflect the...

The historic post office in Henryetta, Oklahoma was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was constructed in 1935 but no longer serves its original purpose; the building now serves as Henryetta's Public Library.  

The historic former post office in Tallulah, Louisiana was constructed ca. 1935 with Treasury Department funds. The building now houses the Madison Parish Health Unit. A mural created for the building has been relocated to Tallulah's current post office.

This New Deal post office is now the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center.

This post office was built under the New Deal in 1937 and now houses the "Old Post Office Museum." An original New Deal mural still hangs in the building.

This deep red brick building was previously the post office for Columbia, but with the construction of the new post office, this was remodeled and housed the public library until the library moved to west Broadway and Garth Ave. The present iteration of this building is the home for the parks and recreation administration

The Works Progress Administration built the Poteau School Gymnasium in Poteau OK. Built in 1936-37, primarily to accommodate basketball, but could also be used as an auditorium. Two stories, 100'x78', sandstone.

In September 1935, the Public Works Administration (PWA) allotted $41,818 for the construction of faculty homes at Potomac State College (PSC), in Keyser, West Virginia. The allotment consisted of a $23,000 loan and an $18,818 grant. The Tri-State Construction and Building Company of Ashland, Kentucky, won the bid to construct the homes, and broke ground in April 1936. In its April 24, 1936 edition, the PSC student newspaper, The Pasquino, reported that “The homes will be built on the property of the school on the site of the old golf course. Three buildings will be erected on the site. One will...

In 1935, the Public Works Administration (PWA) awarded $41,818 for the construction of faculty homes at Potomac State College (PSC), Keyser, West Virginia. The current Farm Shop appears to have been the "tool shed" included in the original contract for those homes. The Tri-State Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the homes, and a report in April 1936 said that, “First signs of construction on the Potomac State faculty homes here are seen with the construction of a tool shed. Mr. Gates of the Tri-State Construction Company, Ashland, Ky., is here supervising the preliminary work” (Mineral Daily News and...

Potomac State College (PSC) in Keyser, West Virginia, received a great deal of aid from the New Deal’s National Youth Administration (NYA). As early as October 1935, 45 PSC students were in the NYA program (34 men and 11 women), with their financial assistance ranging from "thirty dollars, the lowest amount allotted any individual a term, to one hundred dollars" (The Pasquino, 10-9-1935). A year later, with NYA enrollment growing to over 50 students, Ernest E. Church, the president of PSC, summarized the arrangement: "The whole N.Y.A. program is to assist worthy students to secure a college education by providing necessary...

Work on Stayman Field began in December 1932 (before the New Deal) with funding from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The initial construction was completed in November 1933. The stadium was named after Joseph W. Stayman, the president of Potomac State College from 1921 to 1936. In December 1933, it was reported that a crew of workers from the New Deal’s Civil Works Administration (CWA) had begun work on the expansion of Stayman Field, from its original “450 feet, by 270, to a long rectangle of 700 feet” (The Pasquino, 12-12-1933). The expansion facilitated better maintenance for the football field, and...

PWA funding built this high school in Potosi in 1936. It is a large 2 story building with a brick façade and a concrete base. Bas reliefs are at the top of the central entry portion of the front of the building, with Potosi labeled prominently. The information plaque is a gold hued bronze material. The school is now John Evans Middle School.

A description of Works Progress Administration (WPA) work: "Potsdam Normal School was given a modern athletic field, with a baseball field, tennis courts, etc." What was then Potsdam Normal School now comprises part of SUNY Potsdam.

The PWA funded this addition to the Potter School, which dates to 1881. Like the Carey School, it has been converted into luxury condominiums.

Poultney High School was built as a New Deal project in 1936; its construction was enabled by Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a grant of $43,364 for the project, whose total cost was $105,966. PWA Docket No. VT 1027

"Dedicated by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941 as Georgia State Women's College Library and officially named for Richard Holmes Powell, the first president of the institution, in 1947. It served as the library for the college for 30 years before Odum Library was constructed. Powell now houses an auditorium, the offices of Career Services, Co-op Education, Testing, Housing, the Counseling Center, and Alcohol and Other Drug Education." (Wikipedia) The building "represented the fifth project designed for the campus by the firm of Edwards and Sawyard. Later, the completed building was dedicated by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941 ..." (Wikipedia)

The historic Powell Township School in Big Bay, Michigan was constructed in 1938 as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project, after the prior school building burned down in 1936. The P.W.A. supplied a $45,000 grant toward the project, whose total cost was $104,045. P.W.A. Docket No. MI 1451 D. S.

Lock Haven University's former power plant building was one of several facilities constructed during the late 1930s with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. It has since been demolished.

"Funding from the WPA was also granted to North Texas State Teacher’s College. Some of the smaller projects included the construction of tunnels that connected the power plant on the college campus to the larger buildings such as the library, the Education Building, and the Science Building." The power plant was located just east of what is now Curry Hall. The status of the tunnels is unknown to Living New Deal.

Powers Hall / Keeler Union on the campus of Central Michigan University was constructed during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $119,250 grant. Construction occurred between October 1938 and 1939. "Powers Hall, which now houses the history department, has undergone several major changes since it was first built as the combination student union and first men's residence hall on campus. Although the outside looks nearly the same, the inside would be completely unrecognizable to its original inhabitants. ... The building was funded through a Public Works Administration Grant, one of the programs...