Schools Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the following: Playing field, north and south seating. Former Pittsburg High School is currently (2014) Pittsburg Middle School.

"The kidney-shaped lake is surrounded by a grassy lawn dotted with mature trees and shrubs. A gravel path encircles the lake. Two modern bridges with metal railings cross the lake near its center... The current bridge is a modern addition to the lake as is the picnic shelter. Research suggests that this was a CWA project completed in 1934."

The original structure (Circleville Elementary) dates to 1921 - 22 (Pope & Burton, architects). High school attendance in this very rural area grew dramatically during the 1920s due to a new state law requiring compulsory school attendance until age 18. Thus in 1926, high school students were moved to the Pope & Burton structure and it was renamed Piute High School. In 1946 a WPA-funded addition was built for high school industrial arts and home economics as well as the Circleville town board office. The addition was to the right of the Pope & Burton structure, and comparatively large. The doors...

On May 15, 1937, the Placer Herald noted: "Trustees of the Placer Union High School and Junior College District have accepted the new $85,000 gymnasium, completed under direction of W.E. Coffman, architect, by J.C. Meyers, contractor. The new edifice is declared by experts to be the finest of its type west of Berkeley, where the University of California has its multi-million dollar plant." "The gym, an art deco classic like nearby city hall in Auburn, was constructed as a public works project in 1937 along with the original cinder track at what is now the Ralph LeFebvre Stadium. It was...

Two murals facing each other across the gymnasium plaza.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Placitas Elementary School in Placitas NM. This building was the elementary school for the unincorporated village of Placitas under the Bernalillo Public School System. There was a land swap of this site with Bernalillo Public Schools for a Gymnasium at Our Lady of Sorrows in the Town of Bernalillo. This land swap resulted in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe owning the building. The building is next door to the San Antonio Mission and the property was needed for the parking. It is now a place for parishioners to gather after the once a week...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Plain City School gymnasium in Plain City, Weber School District. Docket # 1011-R (Utah). The architect of record was H. Piers and the contractor was Campion & Co. The condition of this structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

In 1933/4 the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) furnished the labor for redecoration / painting of the auditorium of the now-former Plant Junior High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. In 1934 the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) repainted the exterior of the school

Plattsburg High School was completed in 1937 with funds and labor provided by the federal government, after a design by the architectural firm of Felt & Kriehn.  The funding almost surely came from the Public Works Administration (PWA), but Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor may well have been involved; this needs further confirmation.  

According to the Georgetown Times in 1937, "An $80,000 Pleasant Hill School was nearing completion as a WPA project." However, further confirmation of this is needed; according to the school's National Register of Historic Places nomination form, "there is no record that Pleasant Hill Consolidated School was constructed with Federal monies, the Georgetown County School District did receive significant amounts of Federal aid from 1935 to 1939."

"Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, the Pleasant Valley School presents an important visual record of the federal relief programs administered in Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression. Though the dire economic conditions of the Depression affected all of Colorado, drought and dust storms hit the agricultural-based economy of the Eastern Plains especially hard. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda to rescue the United States from the Great Depression included the creation of an unprecedented number of policies, programs, and agencies to provide relief, employment, conserve natural resources, and assist in construction of public works—all with...

A special election to decide the question of passing a bond for a new school in Pleasanton was held on October 15, 1935. Although the project had not been given any preliminary approvals by the Public Works Administration (PWA), the community thought that a show of community support would positively influence government officials. The bond issue passed. Contracts for the Pleasanton School were awarded on March 30, 1936, and the community was delighted that the bids for the work came in well under the $36,345.00 estimate. The $2,400 difference was planned to be used to purchase new equipment, according to architects...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Plymouth Grade School in Plymouth, Box Elder County. Docket # 1018-R (Utah). The architect of record was J. Nelson.

The Madison Township ("Poasttown Elementary") school building in Middletown, Ohio was built as a New Deal project in 1937, with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA provided a $39,272 grant for the project, whose total cost was $95,167. The building is now privately owned. PWA Docket No. OH 1495

"Throughout rural Oklahoma, the school becomes more than a place of education—it becomes a community center, a place to gather for events and share a common experience. In Oklahoma, nothing brings a community together more than sports and the school gymnasium becomes the place to be on game night. Designed by architect Walter T. Vahlberg, the Pocasset Gymnasium was constructed from local materials and completed in 1941. The construction of the building itself brought the citizens of the area together. Constructed as part of the Works Progress Administration, the project provided relief to the people of Grady County dealing with the...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) financed additions and renovations to Pocatello High School (docket #1096-DS).  The school added two new classroom wings and a new gymnasium, reportedly later known as "The Pit." Pocatello High is a beautiful example of brick Moderne architecture.  The original central portion of the building shows more decorative flair, typical of the 1920s.  The New Deal wings were added perpendicularly on the north and south ends of the original structure; they are more sober than the 1920s original.  The New Deal gymnasium stands to the south of the modern glass entrance.  More additions have been made farther...

Point Fermin Marine Science STEAM Magnet (formerly Point Fermin Elementary School), which opened in 1912, 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...

Point Loma High School opened in 1925. The WPA improved the school grounds in the 1930s.

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!

Long Beach Polytechnic High School, which opened in 1895, was rebuilt with New Deal funding in 1935 after incurring extensive damage during the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. Buildings 100, 300, 400, 600, and the auditorium were designed by architect Hugh Davies in the WPA/PWA Moderne style. Polytechnic High's auditorium is of particular note. "During the repairs, the building was transformed from a Mediterranean Revival auditorium to a building that strongly evoked the WPA Moderne style. While the corner towers retained the look of three windows near the base of the structures, the domes as well as any arching was removed,...

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.

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 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.

"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...

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.

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

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.

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

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.

According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Poynor Junior High School in Florence, South Carolina: "A two-story brick wing was built onto the south elevation ca. 1935 by the Works Progress Administration ..." The building is located on the west side of S. Dargan St. south of W. Palmetto St. in Florence.

Prairie Creek, Texas "was a farming community north of State Highway 64 and nineteen miles southeast of Canton." (TSHA) The community possessed "a tiny country school of the Prairie Creek Common School District in Van Zandt County, Texas, costing $2,695" (Ickes); this school was constructed with the aid of Public Works Administration funds.

The grade school in Prairie Village was constructed during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. An article at the Johnson County Museum described the Prairie School dedication ceremony, which was attended by the local PWA chairman. The PWA building has since been largely demolished, though Prairie Elementary School operates in a new building on the same site. The city of Prairie Village did not exist in the 1930s. (Prairie School was considered a rural schoolhouse.) Prairie Village grew up around the school and incorporated in the 1950s. So while Prairie School would be considered...

The Work Projects Administration constructed a new school for Prairie Hill, Texas and improved the grounds after their school burned in 1939. Work started in 1940 and was completed in 1941. The school was consolidated with the Coolidge School district fall of 1962. A map from 1957 suggests that the facility was located on the north side of Farm-to-Market Road 73, east of its intersection with U.S. 84, and that the facility is no longer extant.

This single story multi-room school was built in 1936, financed through the Public Works Administration with confirmatory cornerstone. The school is still in use and has been added to rather extensively, though the original part of the school retains its prominence.

The former Prater school in Haysi, Dickenson County, Virginia, was constructed as a New Deal project. Satellite and Google Street View imagery suggest the building is still extant, if largely abandoned. In 1940, W.E. French, who directed the Federal work programs in Dickenson County, reported that from December 1, 1933 to January 27, 1940, that $129,167.00 were spent on school projects in Dickenson County. Of this amount, the Federal government spent $162,968.00 and the county put up $56,699.00 of 25.8% of the cost. Among the jobs done were: ... new buildings at ... Prater.