Schools Sites

Prattsburg, New York's original Central School was made possible by federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. NY 1255 thus enabled the centralization of schools in the area. The town's website states: "We proudly began the 1936 school year as Central School District No. 1 of the Towns of Prattsburgh, Pulteney, Wheeler and Urbana, Steuben Co., and Italy and Jerusalem, Yates Co." Photos of the original construction show a 1936 cornerstone. The fate of the PWA-funded building is unknown, though it is similar in architectural detail to parts of the Prattsburgh Central School complex as it exists today.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of a new high school in Preston, Idaho in 1939. The school building is a long, two-story structure with two wings flanking a central entrance, and what appears to be a gymnasium and second entry at the east end. The design is Brick Moderne with bas-relief columns capped by white stone and a slightly projecting central entrance with modest carved stone decorations and the date 1939 above the doorway. The school is in good condition and still in use.

Priest River Junior High School (originally High School) is an Art Moderne-style building designed and built by the Work Projects Administration in 1940.

Pittsburgh's historic Prospect Junior High and Elementary School building dates to 1931. However, an addition to the building was built in 1936-8 as a New Deal project: the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $154,980 grant for the project, whose total cost was $390,249. According to the Pittsburgh Press: "The addition will be three stories with a basement and sub-basement, and will provide gymnasiums, swimming pool, auditorium, filter rooms, locker rooms, fan room, social rooms and other facilities." Regarding the school, Wikipedia states: "It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The school closed in 2006, and the building has since...

Th PWA granted $320,000 for the construction of a new dormitory at the Montana School of Mines, now known as the Montana Technical campus of the University of Montana. The residence is now known as Prospector Hall. The school's website explains: "Construction of the Residence Hall began in 1935 with an appropriation grant from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration of Public Works. It was open for use during the 1935-1936 academic year. The main structure has four floors each with a student lounge. In addition, there are two wings, each with one floor. It was originally designed to house 110 students."

Improvements were made to the Millbury, Massachusetts's old Providence Street School building and grounds with the assistance of federal New Deal funds. The old school is now privately owned. The Civil Works Administration provided labor for a grounds grading project begun in 1933 as well as a roof shingling project begun and completed that year. At the same time Federal Emergency Relief Act funds enabled other improvements at the school, such as the installation of concrete steps. The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) redecorated the interior of the building in 1936 and constructed a fence and sidewalk "on the Pearl Street side...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) repaired 69 public buildings in Parkersburg, Wood County. The projects were sponsored jointly by the City of Parkersburg and the Board of Education, and were backed by local organizations. The WPA provided the labor and part of the materials and equipment. The projects included the modernization of schools and city fire stations.

WPA grant was obtained in 1939 to build a school. Three low-water dams on the Paluxy River, several local school buildings, and a canning plant were built with Work Projects Administration money.

The Commissioner's court minutes of 1939 show that the Kendalia RCSD#14 was authorized to issue $2500.00 of school bonds to build a new school building. In 1940 the old frame school house was replace with a 3 room native rock school constructed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) for $2500.00 and classes were held in the new building starting in the fall of 1940. The Kendalia Mother's Club was responsible for the fund raising and construction of a small cafeteria that served the students of the new rock school building. The new Kendalia school was a modern school building and over...

School and landscaping around the school done with PWA funding in 1940. Abilene Reporter-News 1940: "Working orders for the PWA project for the Rule Public schools was issued Thursday. The contract calls for the building of an eight room grade school building, a bus shed, bleachers stand on football ground and landscaping of the school grounds. The grade building will face highway 16. The project will cost approximately $45,000.00."

The completed project, including the local funds and Works Progress Administration money, totals around $37,000. The structure is built of native stone, it contains eight class rooms, study hall, library, office, text book room and auditorium. Hardwood floors were used throughout. Class rooms included a Home Economics equipped with cabinets, work tales, stoves and machines and a Vocational Agricultural room with a trophy cabinet. Heating provided by seventeen new butane heaters, and a 1,000 gal butane storage tank. The auditorium has a seating capacity of 500, with room for still more seats. A large stage with dressing rooms, inclined floor and good...

The Public Works administration funded the construction of the public school in Trent TX. There is a metal plate with 1937 mounted on the facade, but it only mentions the Board of Trustees. Metal walls have been added to the building. Excerpt from the Abilene Reporter-News, 01 Dec 1937: "TRENT. Dec. 1. (Spl) -Contract for construction of Trent's new- school plant--a $26,000 project with half of that amount a Public Works administration grant--was awarded here yesterday to the Balfanz Construction company of Abilene. The contract went to the Sun Electric company, also of Abilene, and the heating contract to the Don Lacv Heating company...

The Brooklyn school P.S. 253, presently The Magnet School of Multicultural Humanities, was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building possesses a 1933 cornerstone.

According to the Suffolk County News the federal government granted $750,909 toward the construction of a new high school building in Riverhead in 1935. While the article cites the WPA as the source of the funds, this school was a Public Works Administration project (PWA Docket No. NY 1226 R). Now, this former high school serves as Riverhead's fifth- and sixth-grade Pulaski Street School.

This horseshoe-shaped stadium was built by the New Deal Public Works Administration in 1937 for the Ashland Public Schools at a cost of $6,500.00. The stadium was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day that same year. The building remains in good condition and continues to serve the Ashland Public Schools and the community of Paul Blazer High School. In 1996, the district added a new entrance gate to augment the original structure.    

The no-longer-existent town of Pyron received a $20,316 in PWA grants toward construction of a new school. Consolidated in 1948, the school and its gymnasium are presently abandoned.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers conducted substantial improvement work to Quinsigamond Elementary School in Worcester, Mass. WPA Bulletin: Quinsigamond Grade School, which has accommodated four generations of Worcester children, has been renovated by WPA. Typical of WPA school repair and improvement projects conducted in all sections of the state, Quinsigamond School's woodwork, walls and floors have been repaired, refinished and painted, sanitary conditions have been improved, new lockers have been built, a new chimney was erected and a modern heating system installed.

Constructed in 1938 by the National Youth Administration, and currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Constructed in 1938 by the National Youth Administration.

Quogue School was constructed during the 1930s; the project aided by federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. NY 4042). The building is still in use today.

R. J. Delano High School was completed in 1939 with funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA), after a design by the architectural firm of Keen & Simpson. It is dominated by a tall tower with rock or concrete accents adjacent to the entry hallway. Above the entry is an inscription: “Let naught but happiness and contentment dwell within these portals”. Designed as a school for “handicapped” children, it had most recently been utilized as an alternative school, but recently closed and is for sale.  

The WPA reconstructed the Doran School for almost $100,000 in federal funds. Given location and architectural style this is almost certainly what is now known as the R. D. White Elementary School at the above address.

"Rainier School is a habilitation center for individuals with developmental disabilities located within the city limits of Buckley, Washington about a mile-and-a-half from downtown. The campus is situated in a peaceful country setting with a unique and prominent view of Mount Rainier." (www.dshs.wa.gov) "This structure illustrated on this page is the administration building on the left connected to the hospital by a covered arcade. The institution has several other buildings which were built under this docket, all of which are grouped more or less around a quadrangle and will ultimately be tied together by walks, terraces, and planting. The hospital is one...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) beautified the grounds of what was then known as Jordan High School, now Ramsdell Middle School. "The redeveloped and newly landscaped grounds are on the Old Erie Canal site."

The monumental Ramsey High School was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $270,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was $600,106. Construction occurred between Jan. 1936 and Apr. 1937. PWA Docket No. NJ 1047-R. RamseyHistory.org: “The first high school class (2 students) graduated in 1909 from the school that is now Ramsey’s Borough Hall (There were schools before that in Ramsey, but this was the first full four year High School course approved by State authorities). After that, starting in 1912, the Dater School building (recently torn down) was the high...

The vocational building was constructed in Randolph during an expansion of the school in the 1930s. A teacher's house was also added, and is located behind the vocational building. A plaque on the vocational building shows it was constructed by the NYA in 1939. The school itself was demolished in 2009, but the vocational building remains in use as a community center and the site of annual community reunions.

The Atlas of Historic New Mexico Maps, produced with assistance from the New Mexico Humanities Council and the New Mexico Chapter of the National New Deal Preservation Association, lists a number of New Deal schools in Raton Kearny Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, Columbian School, and Raton Junior-Senior High School are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Many school districts believe WPA buildings are still valuable. In Rattan, an old building built by WPA workers was refurbished in 2000 for additional classrooms for the growing school system. The Rattan WPA building is a native stone building. Some of the stone buildings were made of cut stone blocks. Other stones were laid by WPA stonemasons, with varying sizes and colors in the Rattan building are so large one has to wonder how the blocks were hoisted to the positions they are in." --Leaning on a Legacy

This WPA athletic field was originally built for Herington High School, now Herington Elementary School. "Rising from a concrete slab the field house building has random-range, quarry-faced ashlar limestone walls and a composition shingle roof. The end gables are parapeted above the rooflines. The entrance passage from Hawley Street to the field is marked by parapeted pointed arches on both sides of the building. Small 3-light metal windows with cast stone sills are placed high on the exterior walls and tucked directly below the eave line. The passage ceiling is beadboard... A handful of windows and doors have been sympathetically in-filled with...

Los Lunas's Raymond Gabaldon Elementary School was constructed using federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor. The building is still in service.

A school building built on land donated by Mary and Catherine Raymond at the end of Royalston Town Common, Raymond School bears a plaque stating: "Built by Work Projects Administration 1938-1940". The date of the land deed is 8/6/1938; however, town records in 1936, 1937 and 1938 show payments made to the WPA for administrative expenses, supplies and materials, labor, teams and trucks. The town made payments in 1937 for the storage of WPA commodities.

This red brick school building was constructed by the WPA in 1939, complete with 8 class rooms, an auditorium with stage, a cafeteria, and what was once the headmaster's living quarters and has since turned into a science lab. The building retains much of its original form except for upgraded heating and air. The roof of the school and gym is in need of repair. The school served as the Redfield Middle School until May 2013, when the school closed and its students were sent to White Hall 20 miles away. A non-profit organization Keep Redfield Middle School purchased the school facility...

'The new building contains 15,867 square feet of usable floor area. The gymnasium is 70 - 100 feet. It has a gallery along the wide side which will accommodate a large percentage of the student body for viewing the many types of competitive athletic sports and games. In addition to the gymnasium, the building contains a corrective relaxation room, a large locker room, a room for individual showers, and another for open showers, a kitchen with adjoining classroom, three rooms for toilets, two offices and examination room, and a room for storage of equipment. Consideration was given in the design to...

The science building at Union High School, Redondo Beach, California, was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). It was built in 1939 and dedicated in November.  The building's style is Moderne with lovely Art Deco decorations in bas-relief around the entrances (nicely highlighted by paint colors in the 2014 photos). The science building is still in use. The PWA  also paid for a reconstruction of the Union High School auditorium (presumably damaged in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake).  That building was recently replaced. Connolly and Farman's 1939 report prematurely attributed these projects to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), but that did not come...

On September 11, 1935, the Grant County Board of Education submitted a WPA proposal to build a new school at Redrock, a farming hamlet on the Gila River, approximately 70 miles southwest of the county seat in Silver City. The board had been busy the summer and into the fall, preparing similar project proposals for far-flung rural school districts. Redrock, separated by a mountain from Silver City, was a remote, thinly populated area closer to Lordsburg (32 miles), the county seat of neighboring Hidalgo County. The Board justified the need for a new school at Redrock, stating in the application that the existing...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded construction of the former Sierra Vista Elementary School in Visalia CA.  That building serves today as the fine arts and foreign language classrooms for Redwood High School (formerly known as Visalia High School). The old central building of the high school burned in 1965 and was replaced by the structure show here. The former elementary school building is part of the Sierra Vista campus of Redwood HS, which is connected to the main campus via a pedestrian bridge  across the street, built in 1996. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) appears to have worked on the completion of a...

This lovely example of Public Works Administration (PWA) Art Deco stands as a source of pride for this small farming community in the Central Valley. Both the PWA and Works Progress Administration (WPA) was involved in construction work on the campus. The High School campus was originally established in 1918. Separately, the Reedley Junior College was established in 1928. "In 1936, a separate building on the Reedley High School campus was built to house the junior college administration and provide additional classrooms." This building later became the main building for the high school when the Junior College was established on...

The Reeds Spring High School was completed by the WPA in 1936. The high school has since moved and the city recently gave the building to the Boys and Girls Club and Ozarks Heritage Foundation who agreed to refurbish the site and convert it into multi-use community center.

The small town (1,400 population, per 1930 census) of Lunenburg, Vermont received assistance from multiple New Deal relief agencies. 1933 “Several Federal Aid projects are at present under way in the district, including an Adult Education group, a Kinderarten group, School Nurses, and Noon Lunch projects. The real value of these will depend largely on the length of time they are maintained, and at CWA Projects. When I submitted my last report several Federal Aid projects were under way in the district. A Kindergarten school was established at Gilman. This school was maintained through the summer and is being conducted through the present...

The 1933 - 1934 town report mentions an Emergency C.W.A. project costing the town $173.22 as their share and 4 men employed which was probably a road project. The school superintendent reported that "Several of the unweight children are receiving a half pint of milk daily from funds received from the C. W. A. This seems to be one of the most worthy projects and a great deal of credit is due the authorities, who have made these funds available." The 1934 - 1935 town report mentions Emergency C.W.A. Work costing the town $19.73 and employing 2 people. The School Superintendent reported...