Education and Health Sites

Congressman Ross Collins announced Public Works Administration (PWA) approval of allotment of $28,636 for the Philadelphia School in Neshoba County. Project W1214 was approved 8/17, 1937. Contract was awarded 12/14, 1937, construction began 12/18/1937, and was completed 8/18/1938. The school's 1938 gymnasium, designed by Krouse & Brasfield, may have been part of the project. Philadelphia schools were recipients of additional $9,116 in August 1938.

Big Timber Pioneer reported in October 1935 that the WPA allocated $1,500 for "park improvement in school district No. 1, Big Timber" -- that is, school ground improvements at what is now the abandoned site of the former (1905) high school at the northern corner of West 4th Ave. and Hooper St.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)'s "constructive project work" in Russell County, Virginia included "the Honaker school ground." The location and status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal, though a historic map shows a school at the site of the current high school in Honaker.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) put 20 men to work improving school grounds in Mexico, New York beginning in March 1939. The exact location of the grounds is unknown to Living New Deal.

"Rehabilitation of the athletic field and school grounds at Washougal is also expected to begin on December 4 . The work will consist of grading the field, building a tennis court, cinder track, bleachers and sidewalks. The cost will be $4,264.75 of which the WPA will put up $2,147." The exact location and current status of this project is unknown to Living New Deal.

The federal Works Progress Administration constructed sidewalks and landscaped school grounds in Oakhurst, New Jersey ca. 1936. It is unclear to Living New Deal whether these projects were related / located at the same facilities. WPA N.J. Project No. 5-233.

The W.P.A. constructed a school gymnasium in Quemado, New Mexico. The facility is no longer extant.

"The school Gymnasium at Agawam (pronounced by the locals "Egg'-Wom", is a rectangular building constructed of red brick by the WPA in 1935. Trees and ground cover have grown up around the building and it is very difficult to approach or photograph. For several years recently, the building was used by an antiques and collectables business, Agawam Mercantile. The gym is located on Highway 81, just south of CR 1470. The main entrance, facing east has double metal doors, with projected stone pillars to each side. Above the doors a modern-looking, stylized "GYM" is engraved into a stone panel. A concrete plaque...

Public Works Administration project 1313 for Sharkey County school was approved 11/14/1933 for a new gymnasium at the Cary Line Consolidated School. The county received a loan of $5096 and grant of $1730 for a total of $6230 toward the completion cost of $7182. Construction began 5/11/1934 and was completed on 8/7/1934. The school complex was abandoned in 1961, damaged in a tornado in 1971, and has since been demolished.

The PWA gymnasium constructed in 1937 is now surrounded by additions to the school that followed it. It has a red brick façade with stone accents.

The Work Project Administration constructed a gymnasium at what is now the Dieterich Junior-Senior High School complex, in 1939. The facility was designed by Deal & Deal of Lincoln, Illinois and can be found the west side of Pine Street, just north of Church Street.

The Edwards High School Gymnasium was designed by architect James Manly Spain in the Art Moderne style. It was constructed in 1941 by the National Youth Administration. It is currently vacant.

"The Harrah school gym is unique because it is constructed of poured concrete. This is a two-story gym building with a barrel roof. The building is painted white and the windows have been covered with metal siding painted blue. Only a couple of window units have a small window remaining. "The building was constructed in 1939-1940 with a WPA appropriation of $84,078. A brick extension has been added to the gym on both the east and west sides. The building appears to still be in use."

This building is still in use and appears to be part of what is now the Holly joint Jr./Sr. High School. "Built under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, the building is associated with the federal relief programs administered in Eastern Colorado during the Great Depression. Providing employment and increased job skills for the area’s unemployed, construction began on the Holly Gym in 1936 utilizing a locally quarried chalk-like stone—Niobrara. The WPA created an opportunity to provide the town with a more “progressive” educational facility. This was the first school gymnasium in Holly, which not only functioned for athletic education,...

The Works Progress Administration built the School Gymnasium in Meridian, Ada County.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a school gymnasium in Moran TX in 1939. Rubble rock construction was ongoing in 1939. Proj. No. 665-66-2-63. Excerpt from article published in the Abilene Reporter-News, 9/20/1938: "Moran Votes Today on School Bonds. Qualified tax-paying voters of the Moran Independent School District will vote Tuesday on issuance of $9,000 in bonds to finance a gymnasium - home economics building for the school here. Last May 3 the district voted for issuance of bonds in the same amount, by majority of 139 to 60. A flaw in the election petition caused the attorney general's department to refuse approval of the bonds,...

A school gymnasium in Rocksprings, Texas was constructed in 1938-9 with the assistance of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $14,265 grant for the project, whose total cost was $30,986. Construction began in Sept. 1938 and was largely completed in May 1939. The building is set back from the street (U.S. 377), located largely behind the Gilmer Memorial Library. PWA Docket No. Tex. 1495

The School Gymnasium in Schoenchen KSLimestone gymnasium built by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. It is currently owned by a private company and in use as an office building.

"This is a one-story native sandstone building constructed by the WPA in 193-1940 with an appropriation of $29,000. A newer extension has been built at the front, however, a photo from 1987 on the Oklahoma Landmark Inventory database shows the building as it originally stood. The database also shows a photo of the rear of the building which is fenced off from the public today. This building is currently part of a Spencer elementary school. The corners of the building, and the projected pilasters are rusticated sandstone set in courses. The walls are uncut and uncoursed. The corners have projected buttresses...

In September 1935, the City of Waelder applied for Works Progress Administration funds to build a Gymnasium. The Living New Deal could not confirm if the building located on this site is the one built by the WPA built. There is no marker on site.

The Works Progress Administration built a school gymnasium in Wortham, Freestone County. The structure has a reinforced concrete foundation, rock walls, concrete beams, built-up roof, and steel trusses. The interior floor finish is wood floor on concrete sub-floor. The official project number is 665-662-619.

This Batesville elementary school gymnasium was PWA Project # 1371. It is no longer extant.

In 1911, the Texas legislature approved the creation of a school district for Jourdanton after citizens appealed for assistance. A high school and football field were built after a bond election passed. In 1938, with assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a gymnasium was constructed to serve the growing community. At some point, the gym was destroyed. The gym's cornerstone and WPA plaque have been preserved in a brick enclosure on the school grounds. Phelps & Dewees & Simmons designed many structures in the San Antonio area, including Alamo Stadium another New Deal project previously submitted.

The WPA constructed a school and gymnasium in Locust Grove in the 1930s. The gym, pictured here, served as a functioning gym for the Locust Grove High School and was in good shape until it was torn down in 2014 due to the construction of the new high school. It is unknown to the Living New Deal whether the rest of the WPA school construction has also been demolished or when.

The Works Progress Administration built a school gymnasium in Washington OK. Contributor note: "The gymnasium was built as a WPA project in 1941-2. It is a rectangular one-story building with a high ceiling, constructed of red brick which has been painted a cream color. The gym is located on the southwest corner of Kerby Avenue and S. Turner Street, behind the Washington Middle School. All windows in the gym are boarded up, but windows in the office areas are exposed and it appears the building is still in use." The building known locally as the “Old Gym” was in use as a library...

An onsite marker erected in 1998 explains the history of this WPA rock structure: "Land was first purchased for a public school in Omaha in 1892 and a large wooden building near the railroad tracks soon housed three teachers and 165 students. The community formed an independent school district in 1905 and built a new two-story brick structure the following year. It was enlarged as necessary, including the addition of a rock gymnasium erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1938 and 1940. After a tornado damaged the property in 1950, the school merged with nearby Naples at the urging...

Now a private residence, the Washington Township Gymnasium & Community Building was built by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works in 1938 as an addition to the 1916 Roll, Indiana School.

The gymnasium of the Spanish Fork school was paid for by the Public Works Administration  (PWA). The design is elegant Art Deco with exaggerated Neoclassical Moderne columns over red brick. Today, the building houses the Nebo School District offices.  It  was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The condition of the interior is unknown to us.

Located on Walnut Avenue West of 4th Street are the ruins of a school gymnasium. It was constructed of native sandstone, and WPA shields at several locations on the concrete sidewalks show the date 1939. The building was one-story, with a two-story section on the east side. The roof was barrel shaped and the metal framing is all that is left. Windows around the building were large 20-pane casement windows. Among the rubble inside the building are the remains of concrete bleachers on either side of the gym floor. An outside 16-step staircase leads up the hill to the building.

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium/auditorium combination for the Elm Mott School. Interestingly, the records show that they put "used" bleachers in the building. This is a two-story, red brick building that now sets behind a locked chain link fence. In 1955, Elm Mott and Lakeview Schools combined to create the Connally School District.

The Works Progress Administration built a school gymnasium and auditorium in Frederick, Colorado. The structure was built of concrete. The facade concrete panels are finished with inlaid ornamentation. The exact location and status of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

A gymnasium/auditorium was built for Marion High School in Marion, Arkansas in 1938-39 with a funding from the state Department of Education and the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) – also known as the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (see plaque).  (The high school paper at the time made the common mistake of confusing the PWA with the WPA (Works Progress Administration)). The new structure was built across the street from the old Marion High School on E. Military Road. According to the Marion High School Yearbook of 1942, it included typing and bookkeeping rooms, two music rooms, a biological laboratory,...

The Works Progress Administration built a school gymnasium/auditorium in Davis, OK. Contributor note: "This gynmnasium is located at the center of the Davis school campus." "The coordinates shown above are for the gymnasium itself. However, due to later construction, the building is now surrounded by several Davis schools, which cover a two-block area between 4th and 5th Street, from Ferguson to Atlanta Avenue. The only viewing point for the gym is through a chain link fence from a vantage point on 5th Street."

The one-story, Art Deco School Gymnasium/Auditorium was erected in Moulton TX in 1939 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Kai J. Leffland was the Architect and J.E. Dickey the Contractor.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted school improvement work in Acme, Wyoming.

Public Works Administration project w1218 for $28,635 loan and $28,635 grant was approved 6/22/1938. Construction started 9/14/1938 and was completed 5/10/1939 for a total of $63,968. The citizens voted approval of $55,000 in bonds toward the project with a vote of 84-1 to construct a new auditorium and gymnasium. The “modern gymnasium” (Remodeling, p. 10) was “62x85 with maple flooring” and could seat 400. Several classrooms were enlarged and four new classrooms constructed. The auditorium seated 500 and featured a stage, scenery, and blinds. A loud speaker system was added with the improvements. Architect was James Manly Spain and construction...

The town report for 1935 reported: "Mrs. Stevens has been very helpful in securing projects for the schools. If it hadn’t been for the financial aid given the town by these projects we wouldn’t have been able to have made so many extensive repairs. With the help of the C. W. A. lumber that the town had we have put a double roof on the Central Building/ The labor for the most part was labor that worked out back taxes. The double roof has prevented the snow from melting and backing up under the shingles. During the summer it was thought best...

A large allocation of WPA funds for school construction and improvement projects for the state of Montana was issued in late 1938. The allocation included funding for school building improvements in Belgrade, Montana. The location and current status of the structure in question is unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration conducted improvement work at one or more school facilities in Bernie, Missouri. The work employed 19 men for four months.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted school improvement work in remote Bitter Creek, Wyoming. "The Bitter Creek School in Sweetwater County used the CWA labor to add a drain and cesspool."