The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) completed a project in 1937 that involved “building of a new wharf bridging and steps at the Baker’s Island lighthouse,” a project intended to improve safety at the lighthouse for both visitors and the keeper…. read more
In the 1937 the Works Progress Administration undertook construction on the Battery Landing Platform which was used as a landing pier for excursion boats (WPA).
The WPA allocated $612,800 in 1935 toward the renovation of the “pier building [at the] foot of Whitehall & South Sts.” The building in question is most likely what was then known as the Municipal Ferry Pier (built 1906-1909), now… read more
Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers conducted erosion control and other improvement work along Beach Street in Manchester, Mass. WPA Bulletin: Protection from damaging tides is given by this Manchester WPA riprap wall constructed along Beach Street where commercial fishermen and… read more
The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts. First constructed in the early 20th century, the canal was widened during the New Deal. That work was part… read more
As part of a group of 8 public works projects in the LA area South Bay, according to an article in the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News reported: “No. 7 – New cargo terminals in Wilmington, $831,000; will employ 210… read more
Commercial Pier No. 5 was part of a large-scale New Deal redevelopment program for the Washington Channel and Southwest Waterfront area. Construction of the pier began in 1940, by the Penker Construction Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was completed in… read more
The district wharf on the Potomac River near Maine Avenue on the southwest waterfront, as well as the original “engine building” (white structure ), was built under the New Deal. The wharf is the site of the rebuilt Maine Avenue… read more
“This light and fog-signal tower is typical of many of the smaller structures which have been erected on the coast line and rivers of the United States. The tower and housing for the equipment operating the fog horn is of… read more
“This building was designed and carried out by the Public Buildings Branch of the Procurement Division for the Immigration Service of the Department of Labor and constitutes one unit of a large project to improve ferry facilities at Ellis Island…. read more
Bartlett, Texas’s Tribune and News in mid-1939 noted an “unusual” PWA-financed project under construction in Avoca, Louisiana: a ferry boat.
WPA project description: “Badly handicapped by the ravages of last September’s hurricane and gigantic tide,” fishing, “Cuttyhunk’s only industry, is being aided by WPA which is repairing the Fish Wharf and fish houses. Without houses to receive the day’s catch… read more
"This lighthouse stands on an island approximately 750 by 190 feet in size and Is midway between Stephens Passage and Frederick Sound. The tower, surmounted by a lantern, rises from a rectangular base which contains a combination living room and… read more
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 [not adjusted for inflation], included utility and infrastructure overhauls, building new military facilities, reconstructing docks, erecting… read more
“The Harbor Construction and Maintenance Yard at Berth 161 has been at its current location at the corner of Pier A Street and Fries Avenue since 1920. In this year, several buildings were moved from an unknown location to the… read more
The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor for the improvements of the harbor in Jenner, California. “Beginning in the early 1930s, a series of private companies built a jetty at the mouth of the Russian River with the goal… read more
A Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of $92,224 funded new construction and improvement work on a harbor fuel oil line system for the Honolulu Harbor, under the direction of the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the Territory of Hawaii. The… read more
The Army Corps of Engineers, the Public Works Administration, and the National Industrial Recovery Administration funded and conducted improvement operations in the Honolulu Harbor between 1934 and 1935. The work consisted of the enlargement of the “entrance channel to 40 feet… read more
The Houston Ship Channel officially opened in 1914 after the 52-mile long waterway that runs from the Gulf of Mexico to a tuning basin at the Port of Houston was dredged to a depth of 25 feet. The depth of… read more
In 1930, the first major industry, Southern Alkali Corporation, came to Corpus Christi. The company needed a deep water channel to the plant site it chose. The Port of Corpus Christi Board of Navigation and Canal Commissioners agreed to provide… read more
The facility now known as Jodrey State Fish Pier was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the Great Depression. The PWA supplied a grant of $522,046 for the project, whose total cost was $1,137,311…. read more
The Army Corps of Engineers, the Public Works Administration, and the National Industrial Recovery Administration funded and conducted improvement operations in the Kaunakakai Harbor on Molokai, between 1933 and 1934. The work consisted of the “dredging of a harbor basin about 1,500… read more
In 1939 the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a 2300-foot long, L-shaped breakwater in jutting out from the coast at Redondo Beach, California. It was constructed of rocks ferried over on barges from Catalina Island. The Redondo Beach breakwater was… read more
This small lighthouse bears a plaque showing it was built by the WPA in 1935-36. It no longer functions as a light house. Another more recent inscription shows it was “Relocated and Reconstructed” to its current location in Peter Francisco… read more
The Public Works Administration (PWA) carried out the construction of a pier “at Lindbergh Bay on Government-owned property.” The cost of the PWA work—which included a beach house—was $3,230.85.
“Built in 1941, this Public Works Administration [PWA] “Streamlined Moderne” building was the base for an auto ferry which crossed the channel at regular intervals from San Pedro to a sister building on Terminal Island. It served navy personnel, fishing… read more
The W.P.A. conducted improvement work at Marblehead Light. Project details: “Make repairs at lighthouse” Official Project Number: 165‐15‐2008 Total project cost: $4,345.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Harbor Defense (1st Corps Area USA) “Replace fence” Official Project Number: 365‐14‐8001 Total project cost: $845.00… read more
This is the second lighthouse at this site, the first was the WPA built lighthouse, but unfortunately it blew down in a windstorm in 1960. It was rebuilt in 1963 with the same exterior appearance as the original.
The Army Corps of Engineers, with funds from the National Industrial Recovery Act, carried out improvements in the Mayagüez Harbor.
This late 18th century lighthouse in Montauk Point State Park was repaired by the WPA in the 1930s.
An article in the Illustrated Daily News noted that as part of a group of 8 federally funded projects in the early period of the New Deal was “No. 3 – Construction of a municipal fish market in San Pedro…. read more
In 1937, the District of Columbia government contracted with the Fred Drew Co. to reconstruct the Municipal Fish Market Pier (also called Pier No. 1). The cost of the project was $20,000 (about $366,000 in 2020 dollars) and funds were… read more
The Atlantic Highlands municipal harbor was constructed 1939-1941. Of its nearly $1,000,000 cost, the WPA paid most of it. The Army Corps of Engineers built a 4,000 foot breakwater to protect the harbor.
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a wharf in Southport, North Carolina. The exact location and current status of the structure is presently unknown to Living New Deal.
What was then known as the Municipal Yacht Basin was constructed as a New Deal project, undertaken by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). As part of the broader development: “The City of Charleston continued to… read more
RETAINING WALL CONSTRUCTION, W.P. 7225, sponsored by the City of Long Beach, provides for the replacement of the wooden sheet piling retaining walls along the above canal with reinforced concrete sheet piling. The old wooden sheet piling retaining walls faced… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the New London Municipal Docks in New London CT. The exact location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.
'The passenger terminal at the port of Los Angeles consists of a reinfoced concrete wharf and a transit shed, 120 by 440 feet, providing 26,000 feet of roofed cargo area. The passengers are separated from the cargo handling and trucking… read more
“Location.— Petersburg Harbor is situated inside the northern entrance to Wrangell Narrows, on the northwesterly end of Mitkof Island, 779 miles northwesterly from Seattle, and 107 miles south westerly from Juneau. (SeeU.S.CoastandGeodeticSurvevChart No. 8170.) Existing project.— This provides for dredging… read more
