Education and Health Sites

This building was built by the WPA circa 1938-1939, and was the high school for Princess Anne, Maryland, for many years. Today, the building still serves the public as the Somerset County Office Building.

The Somerset-Berkley Regional High School building was constructed as a New Deal project. The federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied an $81,900 grant for the project, whose total cost was $190,088. Construction occurred between Mar. 1936 and Feb. 1937. The facility was added to further, and the New Deal structure was demolished in 2014. PWA Docket No. MA 1168.

The PWA contributed 45% of costs to a new hospital building in 1937. According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, construction of this building hinged on approval of the PWA funds.

These retaining walls are adjacent to the first hospital on the property and to the Oak Knoll (tuberculosis) Sanatorium, built 1939. In 1997, its name changed to Norton Psychiatric.

Originally known as Sonoma State Home, Eldridge, all the structures and streets of this place later became Sonoma State Hospital (now Sonoma Valley Hospital). Various WPA projects were undertaken here.

The locally beloved Dunlavy Stadium was constructed by the Works Progress Administration and was dedicated on Sept. 24, 1937. It can seat about 5,000 people and is built of rock and concrete. The seating was originally wooden-backed but the rotting wood was removed in the 50s, leaving just concrete.

This mural "Lumbering, Agriculture and Mining" was moved from the original location to the new Sonora High School Library in 1976: "Acclaimed watercolor artist George Post was hired by the in 1936. His first assignment was a mural to be painted for Sonora High School depicting industries in Tuolumne County, which included lumber, mining and agriculture. Post created the only oil painting of his career, a mural eight feet high by 36 feet long, which is still in the Sonora High library today. The work took him a month and a half to complete, Post said in a 1964 interview with the...

The auditorium for Sonora Union High School in Sonora, CA, was completed by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1939.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Science Building at the Sonora Union High School in Sonora.

Soto Street Elementary School, which opened in 1914, 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...

The gym was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940 for use by the local high school and El Dorado Junior College which shared the building. The gym remains in use today on what is now the South Arkansas Community College campus.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of an addition to the South Cache High School in Hyrum, Cache County. The school was designed by the architecture firm K.C. Schaub of Logan, Utah. The contractor of record was Johnson & Mickelson of Logan, Utah.

The former South Canaan Consolidated School, located on Easton Tpke., was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $20,950 grant for the project, whose total cost was $47,757. Construction occurred between Dec. 1937 and Jul. 1938. PWA Docket No. PA 1710

"...During this time Cross County was suffering effects of the Great Depression along with the rest of the nation.  They did not have the funding needed for new classrooms.  The creation of the PWA program was their salvation and a new four classroom building was built circa 1936.  This new building became known as South Elementary and housed the 3rd and 4th grades classes for many years and eventually became the 2nd grade building. The first teachers were Miss Bobbie Smith and Miss Lucile Kernodle who both taught 3rd grade and Miss Elaine Smith and Leola Hamilton who taught 4th...

"By the early thirties, the city was outgrowing its municipal buildings, so property for a civic center was acquired. The location was on California Avenue between Firestone and Ardmore Boulevards. The first building was a library, to be leased to the Los Angeles County Library for one of its branches. The building was built with labor provided by the Works Project Act. The work of W.P.A. artists is still in evidence on the interior walls where murals depict events in the history of writing. A beautiful mosaic graced the entrance. When the new library on Tweedy Boulevard was built in 1973,...

South Gate High School, which opened in 1932, was renovated 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 Arlington Heights area school is an eclectic blend of Colonial Revival and Moderne influences. It was financed by the PWA, designed by Hubert H. Crane and erected by Quisle and Andrews. The central wing of the 2-story building is divided by cast stone columns and flanked by pedimented porticos whose severe styling reflects a Moderne influence. Like the nearby Arlington Heights Senior High School, this building is also crowned with a lantern. In 1940, the school was featured in the publication, Texas Architecture, edited by Henry Whitworth. Four classrooms and a cafeteria were added during the 1948 Building Program...

Abilene's South Junior High School, renamed Jefferson Middle School during the 1980s, was a 1942 WPA project. No longer a middle school, the building has "been used while other Abilene Independent School District campuses renovated."

"The South Junior High School at Newburgh is one of 2 schools which comprised this project. It is on the highest point of a 12-acre site and commands a superb view of the Highlands of the Hudson. It serves 19 percent of the area of the city and 39 percent of its population. The building is 2 stories in height with a small third story devoted to a band practice room, a choral room, and a room for public speaking. On the first floor is an auditorium seating 500, a gymnasium, 6 classrooms, rooms for special subjects, a lunch room,...

"This project was undertaken to replace about 60 frame buildings which had been constructed at Mont Alto since 1907 and which were obsolete as well as fire hazards. Four new fireproof structures had already been built by the State with the assistance of the P.W.A. This program included the main hospital, the nurses' home, a women's-help dormitory, a garage, a kitchen and dining-hall building, the children's hospital, alterations and additions to the powerhouse, the steam distribution system, sewers, and the sewage disposal plant. The main hospital is six stories and a basement in height with a partial seventh story. It...

Multiple school buildings in southeastern Vermont were improved with federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funds and labor. Athens/Jamaica town report, 1933-4: At present there are four different jobs under the C. W. A. either going on or finished. At South Wardsboro the school house has been shingled and a new chimney built. At West Wardsboro one side of the school building has been shingled. At Athens running water is being piped to the school. In South Newfane the school building has been moved farther back from the road and is being completely remodeled. The labor for all these projects is provided...

South Park 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...

In the aftermath of the devastating 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, the Public Works Administration (PWA) helped rebuild this high school. PWA work included the science building and the auditorium. "The size of the stage enables the production of major plays. Covered passageways connect the auditorium with the other buildings of the school plant. The inside is finished with acoustical plaster. An organ is installed by the stage. The project was completed in April 1937 at a construction cost of $113,528 and a project cost of $126,378."

This WPA bas-relief "CCC Workers" was carved for the school by Donal Hord in 1933. It shows CCC workers engaged in a variety of activities. The relief adorns the south entrance of the school auditorium. It has recently been restored with a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. South Pasadena Middle School students created this video about the relief.

Rehabilitated by the WPA.

The South Seneca Central School building in Ovid, New York was constructed in 1937-8 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $157,500 grant for the project, whose total cost was $358,496. PWA Docket No. NY 1503

Originally constructed as the Interlaken Central School, what is now the South Seneca Elementary School in Interlaken, New York was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The Ithaca Journal: "On June 8, 1934, Interlaken, Ovid, Covert and Lodi created a central school district. In a year and a half, district pupils occupied new building, at Interlaken, built with PWA funds. And Friday night , residents of the district formally dedicated the new building." The cornerstone was laid on May 6, 1935.

With WPA support, architects Krouse & Bradfield designed additions of classrooms, auditorium, and lunchroom for the 1888 South Side School.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed the South Sioux City Public Library in South Sioux City, Nebraska. The location and status of the building is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

A school construction project was undertaken in Danbury as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. Living New Deal believes this to be South Street Elementary School. The original structure is located behind a newer addition to the facility. The P.W.A. supplied a $15,468 grant for the project, whose total cost was $34,918. Construction occurred between Jan. 1937 and Jan. 1938. P.W.A. Docket No. CT 1276

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted modest improvement work at Ballston Spa's old South Street School. Work included full interior painting and was completed in January 1937.

Multiple school buildings in southeastern Vermont were improved with federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funds and labor. Athens/Jamaica town report, 1933-4: At present there are four different jobs under the C. W. A. either going on or finished. At South Wardsboro the school house has been shingled and a new chimney built. At West Wardsboro one side of the school building has been shingled. At Athens running water is being piped to the school. In South Newfane the school building has been moved farther back from the road and is being completely remodeled. The labor for all these projects is provided...

Kansas City's Southeast High School was constructed as part of a New Deal project during the Great Depression. The Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a grant of $500,000 toward the construction of multiple school buildings, for which construction occurred between 1934 and 1938. Total construction cost for the multiple-school project was about $1.75 million. Southeast High School bears both a cornerstone and plaque dating it to 1937. PWA Docket No. 2409.

"The Cross and Nelson Hall Historic District, located on the campus of Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, Columbia County, is being nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the Public Works Administration’s work in Columbia County, a social works project of the 1930s.  Cross and Nelson Halls were one of two PWA-built projects in Magnolia, and the most intact remaining project constructed by the PWA.  As a result, the buildings best exemplify the PWA’s work in Magnolia during the 1930s.  It is also being nominated under the multiple property listing “An Ambition to...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work, including painting, at School No. 70, later known as Southern High School. The school was located on the south side of Warren Ave. in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. It has since been converted to an apartment building. Maryland WPA Project #15.

"The Southside School annex was built in 1936 to provide additional classrooms for the Southside School, which was built in 1903 and demolished in 1960 to make way for Reno's City Hall. The school annex was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds and labor, and housed the kindergarten, and the fifth and sixth grades. The WPA programs were initiated under President Franklin Roosevelt and the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. The program employed nearly nine million people over an eight-year period; in Reno, both unemployed professionals and laymen contributed to the construction of the new Southside School Annex....

“Southwestern State Teachers College, now Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, received several WPA projects, including this building still used for classrooms.”

The Works Progress Administration built the chapel at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford OK. Contributor note: "This WPA constructed chapel is located on N. State Street, south of the Old Science Building. This is a one-story native sandstone building with a steep gabled roof. The centered entrance is recessed beneath a cross gable, and is flanked by a set of double 6-over-6 double hung windows. The window placement is identical at the rear. A second entrance is located on the south side of the chapel. A large exterior stone chimney is located on the north side. A WPA bronze shield is mounted...

The Works Progress Administration built the Milam Stadium Field House at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford OK. Contributor note: "The Fieldhouse is a one-story native sandstone building located just outside of the southeast entrance to the field. The small brick addition on the east side was added later. The fixed pane windows have stone sills, and a continuous three-row stone belt course above. The building was constructed by the WPA in 1941-2."

The Works Progress Administration built the Milam Stadium grandstands at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, in 1935. Contributor note: "The Milam Stadium grandstands at Southwestern Oklahoma State University were built by the WPA in 1935. The grandstands are concrete with steel girders, and seat 8600 fans. The stadium is located on the west side of the campus on North 7th Street. The home team stands on the west side have a two-story announcer's booth also built of concrete. The grandstands were completed in 1935, and the stadium is named for former football coach Joe Milam who coached at SWOSU from 1926-1936." "