Schools Sites

This grade school, elsewhere listed as "Taylors Colored School," is reported in the National Archives as the first completed PWA project in the country. No other information, including location or current status, is available. See link in sources for corroboration of name. Location listed below is inferred based on current location of Edward E. Taylor Elementary, constructed in 1954, which could have replaced the original school. Since the original school was for black children in segregated Columbia, and the Census tract surrounding the current site of Taylor Elementary was 92% black in 1970, the location is plausible.

The superintendent's house for the Hurricane School complex was constructed 1938 by the National Youth Administration as project W. P. 5206, Application 921. The stone veneer house used stone from the NYA quarry in Pontotoc County and shingles from the NYA sawmill. Superintendent of construction was B. McGraw. The house is no longer extant.

One of two teacherages constructed for the Hickory Flat school district, this building is no longer extant. It was probably demolished to allow the construction of the new gymnasium, as its former location was where the gymnasium parking lot is currently located.

This teacherage (meant to house teachers for the town school) was one of two constructed by the National Youth Administration in 1939 for the Hickory Flat school. It remains in use by the school.

The teachers house at Clara Consolidated School was constructed 1938 by the National Youth Administration. It is extant on the school grounds, but current use is unknown.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) executed the “construction of a house for teachers at Diamond School.” The cost was $2,497.87.

Teaneck High School had been completed in 1928, but the PWA funded the addition of the school's 'junior wing' in 1936.

The WPA demolished and reconstructed the building and improved the grounds and facilities of a school in the Temple Unified School District. Exact location and current status unknown.

Bristol's Tennessee High School was constructed between 1937 and 1939 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the Great Depression. The building is an exemplary example of Colonial Revival school architecture.

The former Thackerville School in Thackerville, Oklahoma was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Today, three buildings exist on the campus; however, none of them bear resemblance to other WPA school buildings in southern Oklahoma (although at least one source asserts otherwise). A modest 'memorial' to the old school building, which features its shield-shaped WPA plaque, can be found in front of the current high school on U.S. 77.

"The Theodore Judah School was constructed in the 1930s as two separate Public Works Administration (PWA) projects. It consists of two small school buildings both built in the Streamlined Moderne style which reached its pinnacle in the 1930s. This moderne style was characterized by flat roofs, smooth wall textures and minimal surface decoration. The school buildings are one story and finished with a stucco faade. Architect Charles Dean of the firm Dean and Dean, designed this school. At the time, Charles Dean was one of Sacramentos premiere architectural designers. The only major alteration are the windows, originally of wood construction...

There is evidence that Civil Works Administration (CWA) workers were hired to do painting on Theodore Roosevelt High School in fm 1933-1934. The school itself was built from 1930-1932, before the New Deal. Also at the site are two recently discovered Nathan Rosenberg murals that are currently being restored.

The old Thermopolis City School was constructed during the 1930s with the assistance of funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA Docket No. WY 1058-DS). The school was located on Springview Street, between Big Horn and Mondell streets, and faced west. An auditorium/gymnasium extended eastward. Were it still standing, the building would occupy the space that is currently between the Hot Springs County School District and the Ralph Witters School. A new high school was constructed around the corner during the late 1950s (along Park St.); an even newer high school is located a few hundred feet further down the...

Thomas A. Edison Middle School (formerly Junior High School), which opened in 1926, 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...

This Art Deco School Building at 411 N Mound St, Nacogdoches, TX 75961 is a two-story facility with basement. A plaque identifies the building as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

Thomas Jefferson High School was one of many schools in Los Angeles, CA, that benefited from refurbishment funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. 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. Jefferson High School's 45-unit Streamline Moderne campus, designed by architect Stiles O. Clement, was completed in 1935. According the Los...

The Works Progress Administration repaired and painted the Thomas Jefferson High School in Charleston. The school is located at the corner of Quarrier and Morris Streets. When a new Charleston High was built about three blocks away, the old one was renamed Thomas Jefferson Junior High School. Like many schools in the area, the Thomas Jefferson High might have operated initially as a high school and later became a junior high or middle school. In 1998 the Virginia State Legislature authorized the sale of the land and the three-story brick structure that was the former Thomas Jefferson High School. The featured historic photographs of Thomas Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson are...

The Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory survey of 1985 describes this WPA school built in 1935-1936 as a "single-story, rectangular (31' x 74') structure constructed of coursed and rusticated native stone of buff color... Building this school provided job opportunities to laborers at a time when jobs were scarce in this rural area. Completion of the school improved educational possibilities within this rural area of McIntosh County." At the time of the report, the building was listed as being in private hands. Satellite images from google maps clearly show that the building is now in ruins and overgrown with trees and other vegetation.

 Timpanogos Elementary School in Provo, Utah is now on its third incarnation. The original school on the site was built in 1892.  That school was demolished in 1938 and replaced by a New Deal school constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1938.  The New Deal version of the school was demolished in 2007 and replaced with a third version of the school at the same location (photo below).

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) sponsored a large school construction project in Tioga Center, New York during the Great Depression. The PWA provided a $129,766 grant for the project, whose total cost was $245,216. Construction occurred between Dec. 1938 and Nov. 1939. PWA Docket No. NY X1803.

Torrance 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...

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Later in 1938, the PWA funded the construction of a new moderne-style auditorium designed by Wesley Eager. The new auditorium would seat more than 700 people. Due to it's large capacity, it would be used by the high school and other community groups for concerts and performances. According to the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Torrance High School, "Until the 1950's, the high school auditorium was the only hall in Torrance with a large enough space and properly...

In 1936-1937, Anna Katharine Skeele painted mural titled "Home Life in Old Taos" which was commissioned by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Skeele was a Monrovia, California based artist known for her portraits and focus on Native Americans in the Southwest. "Home in Old Taos" was her first mural painting. She made several trips to Taos, New Mexico to research and develop ideas for the painting. "Home Life in Old Taos" is 8' x 30'  and is oil on canvas. It "depicts Pueblo Indian men and women working on daily tasks, such as grinding corn and collecting water from a river near...

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, 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 me...

Formerly Tottenville High School, Totten Intermediate School was constructed during the mid-1930s as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.

The City of Orchard Town Center was originally constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as the Orchard School between 1940 and 1941 under the official project number 65-1-66-2586. Designed by architect Ernest L. Schult, the building had thirteen rooms and a combination auditorium and gymnasium. The WPA employed an average of 78 workers and spent $37,705.08. The Orchard Independent School District provided $64,566.79. As part of the same project, the WPA demolished the two-story 1924 Orchard High School and reused some of the materials in the new school.

Old Saybrook, Connecticut's Town Hall was originally constructed as the town's Main Street School; its construction was enabled by the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the 1930s. According to historicbuildingsct.com, a referendum approved the conversion of the historic school building into the town hall in 1999. The PWA gave the community a grant of $71,511, and the school project cost a total of $159,896. PWA completion documents declare that construction on the building began December 1935; the building was completed the following year. PWA Docket No. CT 1076.

Ipswich's historic town hall building was originally constructed as the community's high school between 1935 and 1937. The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) supplied a $105,075 grant for the school's construction, whose total cost was $265,575. Construction occurred between Dec. 1935 and Feb. 1937. PWA Docket No. MA W1068

The historic Wayland Town Hall building was constructed as the town's high school during the Great Depression. It was built as a New Deal project, undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. supplied a $30,025 grant for the project, whose total cost was $105,871. Construction occurred between Nov. 1934 and Nov. 1935. The school, designed in Colonial Revival style, was occupied in Sept. 1936. Our primary photo, on display at Wayland Town Hall, shows the building amid extraordinary flooding of the Sudbury River after a historic hurricane in Sept. 1938. (The W.P.A. conducted extensive work helping this region...

The former high school in Northborough, Massachusetts, received a large addition as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. Construction occurred in 1935. "Without the Public Works Administration's contribution of 45% of the cost, Northborough had little chance of replacing the high-school building destroyed by the 1938 fire." (Northborough website) The former school now houses Northborough Town Hall. PWA Docket No. MA 1412 D S

The historic one-room Roosevelt School in Hamlin, Maine—now the community's town hall—was constructed in 1933. Sources suggest that the building was affiliated with the New Deal. It was likely constructed with federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) labor. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"During the 1930s and 1940s the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built, owned, and administered the community of Norris for fifteen years... New urban theorists are hard at work designing the town of the future. But Norris, Tennessee, built by TVA nearly 70 years ago, beat them all to the punch... The immediate purpose of the town was to house the workers building Norris Dam four miles away on the Clinch River. The second purpose, which may have been even more important to Morgan, was to show America that cooperative living works. The houses would be built on a modest and tasteful scale,...

Townsend Hall, originally called the Practice Building, is the home of the MU education department and when built, included the practice school and University High school. It was built with PWA funding in 1935-36.

A rock gym built as a WPA project. This was to be the gym for Snyder High School. Eventually a new high school was built and this became Travis Junior High. The building is in very good shape for an 80 year old structure. The hard maple basketball court floor remains as do four sets of folding bleachers. It remains in use for occasional Little Dribblers basketball and indoor golf practice.

Twenty boys of the federal National Youth Administration (NYA) worked on the athletic field and in a machine shop at Trenton Central High School.

Now the Community Arts Center, the 1936 Truckee Grammar School was constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. The P.W.A. supplied an $18,000 loan and $14,727 grant for the project, whose total cost was $35,632. P.W.A. Docket No. 1001

Kirk Memorial was built as the campus museum at the southern end of the north quad.  It has a design reminiscent of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

This building addition currently houses the University Art Museum. Originally, it was a junior high in the college’s lab school.

Around 1938, the PWA extended Tubman Hall through the addition of two east and west wings, thus creating an H-shaped plan. "Harriet Tubman Hall opened in 1921 and is the oldest building on the campus of Bowie State University. Named after the leader of the Underground Railroad and heroine to the African American race, this residence hall is known for having a strong sense of community. It currently houses approximately 162 female students. Tubman is very cozy and personal and it cultivates an environment that fosters the development of healthy, well-rounded young women."   (https://www.bowiestate.edu) The PWA also enlarged Banneker Hall around the...

"'...a two-unit reinforced concrete high school builidng at Tulare... School bonds and a PWA grant will finance the project.'"