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  • Alameda Electric Power Plant (demolished) - Alameda CA
    This sub-station of the Municipal Power and Light System of the City of Alameda was constructed with the aid of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The exact date is unknown to us. The old power plant has been demolished and replaced by a housing complex (c. 1970s).  Two auxiliary buildings remain, which appear to be empty and unused.  One can be seen to the left of the former power plant in the photos from the 1930s.
  • Bankhead Lock and Dam (Lock 17) - Black Warrior River AL
    The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Bankhead Lock and Dam (Lock 17) on the Black Warrior River in the vicinity of Birmingham. “Dam no. 17 on the Warrior River has improved the navigability of the river. This dam is being constructed by PWA.”
  • Bonneville Dam - Bonneville OR
    Dams on the Columbia River for hydropower, navigation and irrigation had been eyed by Northwestern industrial, shipping and agricultural interests well before the New Deal.  The Army Corps of Engineers published a report in 1929 that recommended ten dams on the river and the Bureau of Reclamation also had plans for irrigation development upstream, called the Columbia Basin Project.  The Roosevelt Administration supported both agencies in their pursuits; with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) the two anchor dams, Bonneville and Grand Coulee, were begun in 1934. Bonneville lock and dam were built by the Army Corps of Engineers and completed...
  • Boston Army Base (former) - Boston MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted drastic improvement work at the South Boston Army Base in Boston, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: At the Army Base, South Boston, WPA employed more than 1000 men repairing and altering buildings, warehouses, wharves, roads, grounds and water and electric systems. The site of the old army base is now part of Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park. Per the DoD Heritage Assessment cited below: W.P.A. project information: "Boston Army Base" "Improve U.S. Maritime Commission buildings" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐155 Total project cost: $163,750.00 Sponsor: War Department "Improve and rehabilitate buildings and utilities" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐177 Total project cost: $96,755.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Boston Army Base, U.S....
  • Boysen Reservoir Pumping Plant - Shoshoni WY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed the construction of a pumping plant at the Boysen Reservoir in the vicinity of Shoshoni, Fremont County. The facility provided water supply. The exact location and condition of the pumping plant is unknown to the Living New Deal. The Boysen Dam & Power Plant was rebuilt in 1946-1948 through a joint program of the Bureau of Reclamation and the US Army Corps of Engineers, and is still in service today.    
  • Brown-Atchison Electric Cooperative - Horton KS
    First Rural Electrification Administration (REA) program in Kansas is remembered today with a state highway marker in Horton, KS. "First REA Project in Kansas At this site the first power pole for the Brown-Atchison Electric Cooperative was dedicated in special ceremony on November 10, 1937. Brown-Atchison was the first rural electric project to energize in Kansas financed by loans from the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). On April 1, 1938, central-station electricity generated at the Horton Power Plant was sent into the first section of lines to farms in Brown and Atchison counties, signaling an end to darkness and drudgery for rural people....
  • Burt County Rural Public Power Co. Transmission Lines - Bertha NE
    In February 1937, officers and directors of the Burt County Rural Public Power Company met in the Burt County Courthouse to sign a loan contract with the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) for $275,000.00 to build 263 miles of transmission lines. Bids for the construction of the lines would be advertised within weeks, and it was expected that nine months of construction would be required to finish the project. Still, as soon as sections of the electric line were built and farm homes were wired, the current would be turned on for their use. Power was obtained from the Elkhorn Valley...
  • Camp Edwards - Cape Cod MA
    "Between 1935 and 1940, Massachusetts and the federal government, primarily using Works Project Administration funds, constructed 63 buildings (all but Buildings 102 and the old Williams Hospital have since been demolished) and two, 500-foot (150 m) wide turf runways at Otis Field. The project was the largest WPA project in state history, employing over 600 workmen. In 1938, Governor Charles F. Hurley dedicated Camp Edwards, named after the former commander of the 26th Infantry Division, Major General Clarence Edwards." (Wikipedia) WPA Bulletin: The Bourne WPA Notional Guard Camp Project is the largest undertaking of this kind in the country. It is twenty-three square...
  • Carite Hydroelectric Plant No. 3 - Guayama PR
    Between 1936-1937, the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) built the Carite hydroelectric plant no. 3, located North of Guayama.
  • Central Electrical Substation (former) - Alameda CA
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the central electric substation for the City of Alameda, which has its own municipal electric power system.  It cost over $200,000, a considerable sum at the time.  It also served as the central fire alarm switching center for the city. It is a steel-reinforced concrete building in Moderne style, rather narrow and high.  It has two large plaques on the front, one honoring the city's board of public works and one the PWA (which was originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works).   Short & Stanley-Brown (1939) provide more detail about what the building...
  • Central Valley Project - Northern California CA
    The Central Valley Project (CVP) was originally conceived of in the 19th century, but took shape as the "State Water Project" in 1919.  The federal government turned it down in the 1920s, after which it gained approval from the state legislature in 1933.  The Great Depression made it impossible for the state to sell the bonds to finance the system, however, so the federal government stepped back in. Initial financing was provided under the Emergency Appropriations Act of 1935 with the Army Corps of Engineers in charge, but control and construction passed to the US Bureau of Reclamation in water project legislation by Congress in 1937. The...
  • Chandler Power Station - Los Angeles CA
    The photo below shows power pumps at a PWA station in Chandler. Exact location and current status of the station not known.
  • Chickamauga Dam - Chattanooga TN
    Chickamauga Dam is located on the Tennessee River in south-central Tennessee just east of downtown Chattanooga. Construction began in 1936 as a part of Tennessee Valley Authority’s area improvements and was completed in 1940. Before the dam’s construction, the city of Chattanooga often experienced major flooding. The dam provides hydroelectric power to the area and creates Chickamauga Lake, which is used for recreation and a wildlife reserve. Two segregated recreation areas- Booker T. Washington State Park and Harrison Bay State Park- were also created with the construction of the dam and lake. "When the Tennessee Valley Authority was formed in the...
  • Colorado-Big Thompson Water Project - Grand Lake CO
    The Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BTP) is a massive water storage and transfer project for agriculture, cities and power generation. It involves dams and reservoirs on the west side of the Rocky Mountains' Front Range to collect water from the upper Colorado River system; a tunnel through the mountains under Rocky Mountain National Park; and a series of storage reservoirs, power plants and distribution aqueducts on the eastern side of the Rockies. The project extends over a large area of Grand, Larimer, and Weld counties, and portions of four others.  The C-BTP was built and is still managed by the US Bureau of...
  • Denali National Park and Mount McKinley National Park Headquarters District - Healy AK
    The CCC worked at what is now Denali National Park for two summers in 1938 and 1939. "The Mount McKinley National Park Headquarters District in what is now called Denali National Park was the original administrative center of the park. It contains an extensive collection of National Park Service Rustic structures, primarily designed by the National Park Service's Branch of Plans and Designs in the 1930s... As the hub of park administrative and management, the headquarters area expanded according to detailed plans provided by the Branch of Plans and Design. As in many of the national parks during the Depression, the Civilian...
  • Devils Tower National Monument - Devils Tower WY
    Devils Tower is a dramatic igneous rock formation rising 1,267 feet above the surrounding area. It and the surrounding area were declared a national monument in 1906. "From 1935-1938 a CCC camp was located there. Practically all the improvements on the area at the present time are the results of their efforts. New roads were built, modern water and electrical systems installed, footpaths were laid out, picnic areas were established with tables and comfortable benches, and trailer and overnight camping areas were provided the visitors. Residences for employees, workshops and machine shops were erected. In 1938 a museum of sturdy log...
  • Douglas Dam - Sevierville TN
    "Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in record time in the early 1940s to meet emergency energy demands at the height of World War II. Douglas Dam is a straight reinforced concrete gravity-type dam 1705 feet long and 202 feet high, impounding the 28,420-acre Douglas Lake. The dam was named for Douglas Bluff, a cliff overlooking the dam site prior to construction." (Wikipedia)
  • Electric Distribution Improvements - Okolona MS
    Okolona obtained electric power in 1935 through the Tennessee Valley Authority power plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Funding to extend the municipal power system into the surrounding rural area was approved by PWA 9/25/1935. Project 1139 for a loan of $21,000 and grant of $17,042 was begun 3/9/1936 and completed 2/25/1937 for a total of $38,860.
  • Electric Power Plant and Distribution - Aberdeen MS
    Public Works Administration (PWA) 1203 approved a loan of $66,000 and grant of $54,000 for a new electric power plant. The project was approved 11/14/1935. Construction began 10/10/1938 and was completed 10/4/1939. The delay between approval and construction was due to the Mississippi Power Company attempting to prevent Aberdeen from securing the money from PWA to construct the plant and connect with Tennessee Valley Authority's power lines. It was dismissed in lower court and then upheld in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in April 1938. By July 1938, Aberdeen City Council offered Mississippi Power $60,000 to purchase their existing...
  • Electrical Grid Improvements - Cushing OK
    An electrical grid / distribution construction project was undertaken in Cushing, Oklahoma during the Great Depression with the assistance of a federal Public Work Administration (PWA) grant. Construction occurred between 1938 and 1939. PWA Docket No. OK 1345.
  • Electrical Light Improvements - Torrington WY
    In Torrington, Wyoming "the electric light system for the community was repaired by workers."
  • Electrical System Development - Upton WY
    In Upton, Wyoming the Civil Works Administration (CWA) "built a power plant and installed electric lines."
  • Electrical System Improvements - Lingle WY
    In Lingle, Wyoming, a Civil Works Administration (CWA) "project repaired and rebuilt the municipal electrical distribution system. The final report for that project noted, “This project is a great improvement to the town of Lingle, as the light system has long been in need of repair, and could not have been without CWA funds”" (Cassity).
  • Finns Point National Cemetery Improvements - Pennsville NJ
    The WPA worked to improve the conditions at Finns Point National Cemetery near the former Fort Mott, southwest of Pennsville, New Jersey. Project description: "A non‐construction project to improve and rehabilitate buildings, install plumbing, heating, and electrical facilities, realign headstones, landscape, grade, and drain grounds including improvements to roads and walks at the Finns Point National Cemetery" Official Project Number: 713‐2‐202 Total project cost: $150,000.00 Sponsor: War Department
  • Fontana Dam - Fontana Dam NC
    "Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain and Graham counties, North Carolina, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to accommodate the skyrocketing electricity demands in the Tennessee Valley at the height of World War II. At 480 feet high, Fontana is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, and at the time of its construction, it was the fourth tallest dam in the world." (Wikipedia)
  • Fort Hancock (former) Development - Highlands NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted substantial development work at the former Fort Hancock. Numerous projects undertaken by the New Deal agency, totaling more than two million dollars , included utility and infrastructure overhauls, building new military facilities, reconstructing docks, erecting a training camp, and even building tennis courts.
  • Fort Indiantown Gap Development - PA
    The Work Projects Administration (WPA) worked to develop and improve Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania. Work, approved in the fall of 1940, included "improvements to the landing field, construction and improvement of buildings and installation of sewer and electric lines."
  • Fort Monmouth (former) Development - NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted millions of dollars (not even adjusted for inflation) of improvement and development work at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. No aspects of the installation were left untouched: improvement and construction work involved developing "an auxiliary flying field," roads, sidewalks, electrical, heading, plumbing and sewer systems, and erosion control. All manners of facilities were built, refurbished, improved, or expanded. A captioned image in "The Dawn," a WPA publication, states that conducted "extensive repair work" at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey ca. 1936. Here is one typical project description, Official Project #765‐22‐2‐14: Improve buildings, including general overhauling of plumbing, heating, and...
  • Fort Peck Dam - Fort Peck MT
    "The Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River in northeastern Montana, approximately 20 miles southeast of Glasgow and near the town of Fort Peck, is being constructed by the Army Engineers under the supervision of the District Engineer. The primary purpose of the project is to improve navigation on the river below Sioux City, Iowa, to its junction with the Mississippi, a distance of 764 miles. Secondary and resulting purposes are flood control, prevention of bank erosion, hydroelectric power, and irrigation. In addition, the project was undertaken at a time when it was imperative to provide-work for the unemployed and 47,000,000...
  • Fort Scott (former) Improvements - Fort Scott KS
    The Work projects Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at the military installation at Fort Scott in Kansas. Description: "Improve and rehabilitate buildings, install plumbing, heating, and electrical facilities." WPA Project No. 213-2-158. Cost: $3,000. Sponsor: War Department, Commanding General
  • Friant Dam - Friant CA
    The Friant Dam is one of three major dams in the giant Central Valley Project in Northern California, along with Shasta and Folsom, built by the federal Bureau of Reclamation. Initial funding for the CVP came through the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. Friant was aided by funds from the Public Works Administratin (PWA).  The concrete dam, which impounds the San Joaquin River, is 320 feet high and 3,500 feet long at the crest.  The reservoir, Millerton Lake, holds about one-half million acre-feet of water at capacity. The chief purpose of the dam is irrigation water supply.  Water from Millerton Reservoir is shipped...
  • Grand Coulee Dam - Grand Coulee WA
    The idea for the dam was originally proposed by William M. Clapp in 1917. Feasibility studies were performed in the 1920s, and a final report in favor of the dam was presented to Congress in 1931, but work on the dam did not begin until President Franklin D. Roosevelt promised federal support in 1933. The Public Works Administration began work on the dam in 1934. "Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power...
  • Hiwassee Dam - Murphy NC
    "Hiwassee Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is one of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s to bring flood control and electricity to the region. The dam impounds the Hiwassee Lake of 6,000 acres, and its tailwaters are part of Apalachia Lake. At 307 feet, Hiwassee Dam is the third highest dam in the TVA system, behind only Fontana and Watauga." (Wikipedia)
  • Hoover Dam - Boulder City NV
    Hoover Dam, originally called "Boulder Dam", is the anchor of the entire Colorado River water storage and management system.  It lies in Black Canyon (not Boulder Canyon) at the southern tip of Nevada, on the Arizona border, and creates the massive Lake Meade reservoir, the largest in the United States.  It was the first high-arch concrete dam in history, becoming the model for thousands of dams built round the world.  It was constructed under the US Bureau of Reclamation by a joint venture of 8 construction companies (called "The Six Companies"), led by Henry Kaiser and including Bechtel Corporation, Utah...
  • Hydro-electric Plant - Seward AK
    Public Works Administration project 6279 for an electric plant at Seward was approved 6/20/1934 for a $96,000 loan and a $30,000 grant. Construction finally began 8/6/1937 and was completed 8/7/1939 for a total cost of $136,170. The project proposed a dam and three-mile pipe line from Lost Creek to near the city and the construction of an electric plant "designed to supply practically unlimited power" (Seward will ask $148,000 PWA funds, Jan 9, 1935, p. 1). Stratton and Beers of Juneau placed the PWA bonds. Bennett and Taylor of Los Angles was awarded the contract for the construction of the...
  • Lake Moultrie Dam and Power Plant - Pinopolis SC
    The dam impounding Lake Moultrie was constructed as part of the massive Santee Cooper Project enabled by a $31 million grant-loan by the Public Works Administration (PWA). South Carolina Encyclopedia: "In 1941 President Roosevelt declared the Santee Cooper a defense project, and one year later the power plant in Pinopolis began generating power. Within two decades it was providing electricity to the majority of the state’s farms as well as industries in surrounding counties."
  • Letchworth State Park - Castile NY
    A site devoted to the history of the park (www.letchworthparkhistory.com) has compiled an extensive list of CCC work done in the park: During the Great Depression, Letchworth Park was the site of several Civilian Conservation Camps. (See the Glimpse of the CCC) The information highlights the work done by the CCC "boys" in the Park, and is taken from Annual Reports of the Genesee State Park Commission during the time period. Great Bend Camp SP-5 (in operation for 30 months) constructed the camp built 6 miles of 18 ft wide gravel road installed 400 ft of 6" under drain constructed 15 concrete...
  • Light Plant Improvements - Cherokee OK
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed new equipment and conducted repairs at the light plant in Cherokee, Oklahoma. They also improved city electrical lines. The status and location of this $54,733.08 project is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Metropolitan Park - Tucumcari NM
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) developed Tucumcari Metropolitan Park, a.k.a. Five Mile Park, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. "At one time Tucumcari Metropolitan Park had the largest outdoor pool in the entire state of New Mexico, a playground with lots of equipment, a fully landscaped drive through park with bridges, creeks, a pistol and rifle range, a skeet and trap shooting range, and off-road course, horseback riding and was home to the then annual Founder’s Day Picnics." NRHP nomination form: "Referred to as Metropolitan Park, the park became known as Five Mile Park in the 1950s. The completed project marked a five year process...
  • Municipal Light Plant - Chambersburg PA
    Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds enabled construction of the "Municipal Light Plant at Chambersburg" The exact location and building status is presently unknown to Living New Deal.
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