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  • Sutter Bypass - Nicolaus CA
    "An average of 118 men on WPA Project No. 5416 were engaged during the month in clearing the overflow channel of the Feather River north of Marysville and near Nicolaus. SRA Transient Camp No. 7 in the Sutter Basin furnished an average of 48 men for work on the east levee of Sutter By-pass, at Pumping Plant No.1 and No.2 and at the Sutter maintenance headquarters. It was impossible to work, in the Tisdale By-pass during this period on account of overflow."
  • Ten Mile River - North Attleborough MA
    Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted substantial improvement work along Ten Mile River in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Ten Mile River at North Attleboro Construction work that is eliminating a serious health menace, reclaiming hundreds of acres of swampland, safeguarding scores of homes against flood damage, and transforming an unsightly and malodorous watercourse into a source of civic pride, is going steadily forward under WPA on the Ten Mile River in North Attleboro. The pitch of the river bed, in the two-and-one-half miles between Whiting's Pond at the north end of the town and Falls Pond at the south end, was little more...
  • Ten Mile River Flood Control - Attleboro MA
    "Still-visible stone walls enclosing the banks of the Ten Mile River in parts of Attleboro and North Attleboro attest to the CCC's flood control efforts." Some stone walls are visible, for example, from West Street in Attleboro.
  • Texas City Dike Improvements - Texas City TX
    Authorized by the River and Harbor Act of 1913, the Texas City Dike was to divert the flow of silt from the Texas City Ship Channel by steering the waters of Galveston Bay out to the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District constructed the first version of the dike in 1915 using timber pile construction. Dredging material from the Texas City Ship Channel was deposited on top of the timber pile, but the material eventually washed away. The Corps added a rubble-mound formation to the supplement the existing dike in 1931-1932 to stop the erosion. Around...
  • Timpanogos Cave National Monument: Improvements - Mount Timpanogos UT
    Timpanogos Cave was designated a national monument on October 14, 1922 and was initially developed and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.  The National Park Service took over from the Forest Service in 1933 as part of the Roosevelt Administration's reorganization of national parks and monuments. Timpanogos NM was administered from Zion NP until 1955. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sent the first New Deal workforce into the monument for the summer of 1933.  The Company 940 established a camp at the site now occupied by the Granite Flat campground. Mostly notably, CCC enrollees built a new trail to provide better access...
  • Timpanogos Cave National Monument: Stone Bridge and River Walls - Mount Timpanogos UT
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in making improvements to Timpanogos Cave National Monument in the 1930s. They worked under the supervision of the National Park Service (NPS). A notable contribution of the WPA was to build a lovely stone arch bridge over the American Fork river in 1935.  The bridge gives access to the Superintendent's Residence, built by the WPA in 1941.  The WPA relief workers also faced both sides of the river with 6-10 foot high stone walls for a distance of about 100 feet on each side of the bridge. The stonework is...
  • Toby Creek Improvements - Luzerne PA
    "Thomas Domboski stands near the Toby Creek ponding area just off Union Street in Luzerne, a WPA project from the 1930s that his brothers worked on."
  • Trumansburg Creek Improvements - Trumansburg NY
    The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Trumansburg Creek and surrounding land in Trumansburg, New York during the 1930s. One project, which cost $26,306 (of which the WPA contributed $17,466) was described by the WPA in its project rolls: "Improve Trumansburg Creek and surrounding park ... "including constructing retaining walls and wading pools, landscaping." Work occurred on both public and private property. On private lands the WPA improved "the creek bed and banks of creek."
  • Tucson Mountain Park: Improvements - Tucson AZ
    Tucson Mountain Park, created in 1929, was opened to general recreation use in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working with the Pima County parks agency.  The northern half of the original park was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961, which became a national park in 1994, and this portion of the park was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD). (See also Saguaro NP (TMD) project pages) The CCC 'boys' set up Camp Pima, SP6A, in December 1933 at the northwest corner of what was is now Saguaro NP.  Working from there, they carried out extensive...
  • Union County Park System - Mountainside NJ
    From the Morristown Daily Record: "TRENTON—Construction work of the Civilian Conservation Corps has been so successfully demonstrated by Camp No. 3, near Springfield, one of 22 such camps in New Jersey, that Union County Park Commission, under whose jurisdiction the work is being carried on, is receiving many unsolicited letters of commendation of the work, especially that of flood control, according to State Forester Charles P. Wilber….Channel clearing and flood control on Rahway River is but one project….The workers are making rapid progress in the improvement of the 3,000-acre section of Union County Park System, which includes Watchung Reservation, Briant...
  • Upper Gila River Valley Erosion Control Project - Greenlee County AZ
    "The Black Hills Back Country Byway offers both outstanding scenery in the Peloncillo Mountains and some great examples of erosion control devices constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Gila River area was identified in 1934 as a Soil Conservation Service demonstration site. The Public Works Administration provided funding for 6,000 young laborers supervised by Soil Conservation Service and Department of Grazing advisers. Cemented rock dams, like the one found on the east side of the byway at mile post 13.4, stop waters from flowing across the land and destroying the roadway. Rock spreader dikes, loose lines of stone laid...
  • Van Buren Street and Georgia Avenue NW Sewers - Washington DC
    In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed sewers at Van Buren Street and Georgia Avenue in the district's northwest quadrant. This work was part of a massive New Deal era program for Washington of sewer construction, separation of sanitary and storm sewers, and sewage treatment at the new Blue Plains facility in order to clean up the badly polluted Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
  • Van Cortlandt Park Retaining Wall - Bronx NY
    The New Deal Network Website explains that the retaining wall pictured here was constructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) National Youth Administration (NYA) in Van Cortlandt Park. The photo's caption notes that "The bridle path is cindered; the complete length, which was constructed entirely by the boys, is 8,000 linear feet." This was one of three retaining walls in the park. The retaining wall shown in the photo encircled the entire area (NDN).
  • Verdugo Wash - Glendale CA
    The Army Corp. of Engineers was central to New Deal flood control efforts all over the country. The Verdugo Wash in Los Angeles County was one such project. "Verdugo Wash is a 9.4-mile-long (15.1 km) tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the Glendale area of Los Angeles County, California. The stream begins just south of Interstate 210 in the Crescenta Valley. It flows southeast along the eastern edge of the Verdugo Mountains, then south through a pass between those mountains and the San Rafael Hills, and finally west to ultimately join the Los Angeles River just northeast of Griffith Park....
  • Verdugo Wash, Canada Blvd Bridge - Glendale CA
    A concrete bridge over the Verdugo Wash constructed by the Army Corp. of Engineers in 1938.
  • Verdugo Wash, Concord St. Bridge - Glendale CA
    A 100 ft riveted, 5-panel Pratt through truss bridge over the Verdugo Wash.
  • Verdugo Wash, Geneva St Bridge - Glendale CA
    98 ft. Vierendeel pony truss bridge over the Verdugo wash constructed by the Army Corp. of Engineers.
  • Verdugo Wash, Glenoaks Blvd. Bridge - Glendale CA
    1 of 3 Vierendeel pony truss design bridges in the US. Built by the Army Corps. of Engineers in 1937. The bridge crosses the Verdugo Wash at Glenoaks Blvd.
  • Verdugo Wash, North Kenilworth Avenue - Glendale CA
    A very rare Vierendeel pony truss bridge over Verdugo Wash on Kenilworth Avenue in Glendale Ca. built by the Army Corp. of Engineers.
  • Verdugo Wash, San Fernando Rd. Bridge - Glendale CA
    The Verdugo Wash Bridge is the first significant bridge on US 99 north of downtown Los Angeles. It is a steel girder structure built in 1939 by the US Army Corp of Engineers. The Verdugo Wash was lined with concrete at that time and the bridge was built to accommodate the new channel.
  • Vicksburg National Military Park - Vicksburg MS
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop Vicksburg National Military park during the 1930s. Among other improvements they planted hundreds of trees and other vegetation in the park to to combat erosion.
  • Victor Crowell Park - Middlesex NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed what was then known as Willow Park (now Victor Crowell Park) in Middlesex, New Jersey. Work began in December 1935. Among other work, Ambrose Brook was dammed "by a concrete-cored earth fill into a seven-and-a-half acre lake with an average depth of seven feet. A sluice gate was constructed for drainage and flood control." Shrubs and trees were planted, and picnic tables and benches constructed. The WPA installed swing sets as well. Roads on the north and south shores of the lake were paved, and "an attractive stone grotto" was erected "at the entrance...
  • Victory-Vanowen Park - North Hollywood CA
    The Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners records extensive federal aid in developing the park: "Victory Vanowen Park is one of the largest parks in the San Fernando Valley, with an area of a little over ninety acres. This park is bounded by Whitsett Avenue, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and Calvert Street. An enormous amount of improvement work was done here with the help of the R.F.C. and County Welfare labor. New roads, a length of 6,110 feet, were constructed, which required the grading of 4,072 cubic yards of dirt, and installing 8,850 feet of redwood...
  • Village Creek Widening - Birmingham AL
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) widened and straightened Village Creek in Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Vine Brook Project - Lexington MA
    "In the 1930s, as part of a WPA project, the Brook was widened and deepened from its original shallow, narrow bed from Hayes Lane to Emerson Road, all in Lexington. This was to better use it for irrigation purposes. (Today, much of the brook bed is reverting to its natural size, gradually filling back in with silt.) In addition, it was culverted from Hayes Lane back upstream to Vine Brook Road in Lexington." Some materials for the project came from excavation and grading work conducted at the recently completed (and P.W.A.-financed) school in Burlington, Mass.
  • Virginia Lake Park - Reno NV
    Virginia Lake Park south of Reno was constructed by the WPA in 1936-1938. The park is both a recreational site and serves as a detention reservoir for flood control and irrigation. "Thanks in part to night work crews, the WPA quickly created what became known as Virginia Lake Park south of Reno. The lake was designed for swimming and wading with an average depth of five and a half feet. It was one of many Nevada parks created."   (https://www.newsreview.com)
  • Warren Flood Control - Bisbee AZ
    The Bisbee suburb of Warren is located approximately three miles southeast of Bisbee. The community was conceived by the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company in 1905 and designed in 1906 by landscape architect and city planner Warren Henry Manning based on the City Beautiful Movement. Warren would be a sanitary and modern community for families—symmetrically aligned streets, electricity, underground plumbing, churches, schools, and a large park which ran through the middle of the development. In 1959 the town of Warren was annexed into the Bisbee city limits. The WPA constructed numerous water diversion channels in Warren in beginning in October 1935...
  • Wash Area Stone Wall - Sierra Madre CA
    A stone wall along the north side of an overflow catchment field that typifies CCC water projects constructed in the area.
  • Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment - Washington DC
    The Washington Channel is a two-mile long body of water that sits between East Potomac Park and the Southwest Waterfront. There had been a decades-long attempt to improve and modernize the area, but little had been done before the New Deal redeveloped the entire place from 1935 to 1943. Several pieces of New Deal legislation were needed for this massive project, including the River and Harbor Act of 1935 and the War Department Civil Appropriations Act of 1939.  These granted approval and provided initial and supplemental funding for a grand modernization and beautification of the Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront. This...
  • Washington Monument Grounds Reconstruction - Washington DC
    The Washington Monument grounds – the core area of the National Mall – was substantially altered and improved, including a major reconfiguration of the streets. The work was paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA) from a fund of over $1 million provided for an overhaul of the entire National Mall.  Labor was mostly provided by Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) relief workers. First, the Washington Monument grounds were raised and reconditioned with new topsoil, followed by reseeding of the lawns. Second, the circular roadway on the north side of Monument was eliminated and a highway in the line of...
  • Water and Sewer Authority Seawall - Washington DC
    In 1936 Work: A Journal of Progress reported that in 1933-34 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers constructed 245 feet of seawall at the Sewer Division property yard and a cable shed at the garage. The exact site was not specified. Nevertheless, the Water and Sewer Authority (then known as the Sewer Division) owns a large waterside property at the foot of First Street on the Anacostia River that would be a likely place for such a seawall.  This is further confirmed by a later report in Work: A Journal of Progress that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was soon...
  • Water Diversion Channels - Bisbee AZ
    In October 1935, a flood control project began in Bisbee, directed by A.O. Grant of the federal soil conservation service. According to the Arizona Daily Star, January 18, 1936, the project included the construction of “hundreds of check dams in canyons, erection of miles of rubble masonry walls and repairing the Tombstone Canyon subway.” It was reported that in Moon Canyon, 500 check dams were built, and hundreds of feet of rubble masonry walls were constructed on OK Street and Brewery Gulch. The newspaper reported 220 men will have worked on the project from October 1935 to January 1936.
  • Water Street Sea Wall - Plymouth MA
    Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted the following work in Plymouth, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Additional Parking Space for the thousands of visitors who annually visit historical Plymouth Rock will be provided with the completion of this WPA Water Street stone sea-wall.
  • Waterbury Dam - Waterbury VT
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) combined efforts to construct the Waterbury Dam in Waterbury, Vermont during the Great Depression. On November 3 and 4, 1927, torrential rains created a disastrous flood that paralyzed Vermont. Little River’s rising waters drove the valley residents to their roofs and isolated the hillside farmers. Fifty-five people in the Winooski Valley lost their lives, and property damage was estimated at $13,500,000. A second flood occurred in 1934. These events spurred a plan by the US Army Corps of Engineers to built a set of four dams in central Vermont from...
  • Waterfront Park: Harbor Wall - Portland OR
    Portland’s morning newspaper, The Oregonian, announced in late January 1936 that the city’s Seawall Railing was nearing completion, bringing with it a harbor line that was “beautified and protect(ed).” The ornamental, reinforced concrete railings added 3 ½ feet to the harbor wall along a stretch of the Willamette River from Jefferson Street to the Steel Bridge.  Approximately every 100 feet, heavy bases had been added to allow for ornamental light standards along the wall. Federal relief funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $60,000 for the completion, employing approximately 100 Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. Planning for the harbor...
  • Waterways Experiment Station Expansion - Vicksburg MS
    A number of buildings were constructed at the Vicksburg Waterways Experiment Station following its initial construction in 1930. Buildings constructed under the expansion of the US Army Corps of Engineers from 1933-1941 included Soils Laboratory Bldg. 1077 (1934), Tools and Equipment House Bldg. 7071 (1934), Booster Pump Station Bldg. 3065 (1935), Hydraulics Office Bldg. 3067 (1935), Warehouse Stockroom Bldg., 2059 (1935), EPD offices-Soils Division Bldg. 2099 (1937), Equipment Storage Building # 1 2053 (1939 and # 2 Bldg. 2055 (1939), and Paint Shop/Storage Bldg. 2021 (1941). "The work of the Waterways Experiment Station at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Army engineers build model...
  • Watts Branch Flood Control - Washington DC
    In 1933-34, Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers did flood mitigation work on the Watts Branch of the Anacostia River,  “lowering the stream bed in some sections, straightening out bends and clearing away debris to increase the rapidity of the run off of water.” (Work 1936) Several years later, in 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) returned to the site for additional improvements: “The District WPA has resumed work on the storm water flood elimination project at Watts Branch, near Minnesota Avenue and Hunt place northeast…" (Washington Post, May 10, 1940). Not all such channelization of the time was wise.  Work is...
  • Wepawaug River Flood Control - Milford CT
    "Financed by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, work started May 24, 1935, on a project of grading Prospect Park, removing mud and silt from the Wepawaug River, and building riprap walls on the river bank. This work, completed October 31, 1935, stood the severe test imposed by the flood waters that rushed down the little river during the excessive rainfall which preceded the hurricane of September 21, 1938."
  • West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls: Retaining Walls - Salem WV
    The Works Progress Administration built retaining walls for the West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls in the vicinity of Salem, Harrison County.  
  • Westfield River Dike - West Springfield MA
    W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "ew projects will build two huge dikes in Springfield and its sister community, West Springfield, at a cost to the government of $304,000. At its peak, next spring, the projects will employ about 500. ... The West Springfield project will begin near the Eastern States Exposition grounds (inundated during the '36 flood) and extend in a southeast direction to the Agawam bridge embankment. It will include 6000 tons of rip-rap."
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