Sanitation and Water Disposal Sites

The Works Progress Administration built a highway culvert in Gotebo, OK. Contributor note: "This culvert crosses Highway 9 in front of the Gotebo Post Office.  This is a concrete culvert which runs north-south across Highway 9, just west of Highway 54. The opening is about 4 ft. wide and 2 ft. deep, and the date 1938 is shown on the WPA stamp on the curbing."

Montpelier's 40th Annual Report details many roadwork projects undertaken in 1934 with Vermont Emergency Relief Administration (VERA) funds, including: "Hill Street entire length, rock excavation, extensive grading, stone base and graveling". Street improvement and sewer construction efforts were continued here in subsequent years by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers constructed sanitary sewers along Hillcrest Pkwy., Fells Road, and Euclid Ave. in one section of Winchester, Mass. This letter was submitted to the WPA by a local official: "Dear Sir: "We have completed the installation of sanitary sewers in Euclid Avenue, Fells Road, and Hillcrest Parkway. "The work performed by the WPA men has been veiy satisfactory. The total cost of the work including the material, tools, etc. furnished by the Town and the labor furnished by the WPA compares very favorably with the construction costs performed by hand' labor employed by the Town. "The installation of these...

This culvert was one of 2500 culvert constructed in Oklahoma by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). A WPA stamp on the concrete curbing shows the year 1936. The culvert is a reinforced concrete tunnel approximately 4 ft. high and 6 feet wide. It carries water under Hiwassee Road at the location of an unnamed creek. It is about one mile north of Route 66.

In February 1935, "16 FERA workers complete a storm water sewer project on Hubbell Avenue in Ansonia. They will now join 18 other FERA workers doing a similar project on Dwight Street."

In the early 1930s, at a meeting of the Huntsville-Walker County Chamber of Commerce, it was suggested that a park be built around Huntsville. The Chamber of Commerce took the proposal to the Texas State Parks Board. The board required that the community provide the land for the park. Twenty thousand dollars in bonds would have to be sold by Walker County to pay for the land needed. In early 1936, the bond issue passed with more than four to one in favor of selling the bonds. From 1937 to 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823(CV), an experienced company of...

An incinerator in Newton, MA was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in 1934-5. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. MA 2127

Greenwich, Connecticut's town incinerator was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds during the 1930s. The structure, which served from 1938 to 1977, has since been demolished. The land now constitutes part of Christiano Park. PWA Docket No. CT 1278 provided a grant of $72,192 to the town for the incinerator's construction, which covered much of the project's $169,914 final cost. Construction started in March 1938 and was completed in November of that year.

The federal Civil Works Administration worked to improve the incinerator plant in Greenville, Pennsylvania between 1933 and 1934. The location and current status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

A 1936 news story references WPA repairs to a "fire-gutted Town of Huntington incinerator." The location and status of this site is unknown to Living New Deal.

Several New Deal programs involved the development of sewer and water systems across the United States. The Cincinnati Indian Creek Water Waste Treatment Plant is one such example of New Deal-funded infrastructure upgrade. It was completed by the Works Progress Administration. The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) reports that the WPA constructed the plant in 1935, and that it remains operational today. Today the Cincinnati Indian Creek Water Waste Treatment Plant removes pollutants from industrial waste and processes more than 1 million gallons of water a day in the Cincinnati area.  

Indian Island is an island in the Penobscot River in Penobscot County that is the main reservation for the Penobscot Indian tribe. The WPA was involved in bringing electricity to the island under the Rural Electrification Administration, paving some roads, installing a few street lights, and building a sewer system and water mains that were connected to the neighboring town of Old Town. 30 local men were employed in the work.

"In Attleboro, crews labored to install curbings, dig trenches for sewer and water lines and drained a wet area near the current Willett School ..."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted miles of street improvement work as well as constructing and improving curbs and sidewalks in Grant and Elsie, Nebraska. The WPA also installed new water mains and sewers in the communities.

A street improvement project in Grant, Nebraska was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a grant of $17,775 for the project, whose total cost was $68,151. PWA Docket No. 1044 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted miles of street improvement work as well as constructing and improving curbs and sidewalks in Grant and Elsie, Nebraska. The WPA also installed new water mains and sewers in the communities.

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "These are only a few of the many WPA projects in Winthrop which have given material benefits to the town in addition to providing unemployed men and women with work. Winthrop also has had its share of street, sewer and water main projects. Space does not permit mention of the many projects which have been completed and are in progress at Fort Banks."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor for the improvement of Beacon's waterworks, roads, and sewers.

The Public Works Administration contributed approximately $220,000 toward the construction of sewers, paving, sidewalks, and school additions between 1939 and 1940 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

"Federal Employment Office was established in Roseville in October 1934, and between May 1935-May 1936, some 2,036 people were put to work.Unskilled laborers were paid an hourly rate of 45 cents while skilled workers earned 60 cents an hour and supervisors and overseers were paid $1.10 per hour. During the next few years, Works Project Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) appropriations were used to pave miles of city streets and provide curbs, gutters, storm sewers and other municipal improvements...Public acceptance of New Deal policies resulted in sweeping local victories for FDR in the 1936, 1940 and 1944 elections."

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was the "repair of laterals roads and drainage ditches damaged by floods in Fabens area. $34,976.47."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) furnished the labor for the construction of two 500-foot stone-walled drains at Ironstone Street in Millville, Massachusetts.

Multiple projects were "planned, staked out and supervised" by West Hartford's Engineering Department in 1935-6 utilizing Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor. One such project involved storm sewer construction along Isham Road.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) graded Janvier Rd. from Sykesville Rd. to the township line "to a width of 33 feet and surfeced with gravel to a width of 20 feet in Franklin Township. Cross drains will be places and a washout condition now prevalent will be eliminated."

"ERA BUILDS A SEWER SYSTEM by Frank Gibson The City of Lewiston has been confronted with a serious situation caused by a stagnant and disease-ridden brook which flowed through the sub-urban section of the city. Valuable land was going to waste as people did not care to build in this section on account of the oder that arose from this brook during the summer months. Money was appropriated by the city officials to put in a drainage system, but due to the fact that only small amounts could be appropriated yearly it would have taken twenty years to complete this sewer...

A water disposal plant was constructed in Danbury, Connecticut as a result of multiple federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.)-sponsored projects. First, the P.W.A. supplied a $53,000 grant for a project whose total cost was $217,250. Construction occurred between Dec. 1934 and Oct. 1935. (P.W.A. Docket No. CT 2690.) Second, the P.W.A. supplied a $82,251 grant for a project whose total cost was $183,573. Construction occurred between Dec. 1935 and Dec. 1936. (P.W.A. Docket No. CT 1061.) Historic maps suggest that the plant was built at the same location as it exists today, albeit with a modified footprint. Notably, the plant was renamed...

The PWA extended the existing Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in 1934.

Kabetogama Lake CCC Camp number S-81, Company 724 was active in the Kabetogama State Forest from 1933-37. A marker at the site today describes CCC activity in the forest: "In 1934 a CCC camp of 400 men was established a mile south of Lake Kabetogama. This most northerly camp in the US had all its facilities under one roof and the lowest sickness rate.The CCC boys worked on forest and building projects in Kabetogama State Forest. In 1936 they fought and 18,100 acre forest fire saving the Kettle Falls Hotel from destruction. A few structures remain to memorialize this depression era program....

The Klingle Valley Divorcement Sewer, over two miles long, was constructed in 1938-39 with a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant.  The location is not exact in the newspaper report, but it appears to run down Wisconsin avenue from Van Ness street to the Washington Cathedral and laterally along Klingle Road (and other smaller streets) to Rock Creek near the National Zoo (Evening Star, 1938). The Evening Star described the project in great detail in July 17, 1939: “This sewer for which allotment of $96,855 was made, serves the Cleveland Park area. Formerly a combined sewer system served the area and during...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a sewer and resurfaced the pavement of Lafayette Avenue in Passaic, New Jersey between what was then the Erie Railroad tracks and River Drive. "The present conditions there," reported the city's Director of Streets and Public Improvements Nicholas Martini, "have been an annoyance for many years and the construction ... will prove invaluable to the City." The project, his report continued, would bear no additional expense to the City, and would provide employment for approximately 30 men for a period of four months. Project No. 1-16-380.

The Laguna Beach Sewage Disposal Plant was funded by both local bonds and the Public Works Administration (PWA).  Construction started in 1934 with the help of relief labor from the Civil Works Administration (CWA).  The sewage treatment plant used a distinctive architecture that sets it apart. Laguna Beach considers the buildings to have local historical significance.   Although the plant is no longer used, the distinctive tower of the 'digester' remains. As the following 2006 archaeological report documents: “Little remains of the original immediate landscape of the sewage treatment plant, since its adjacent filtration and settling ponds have been removed .... However, the adjacent...

A Paterson landmark dating back to 1892, Lambert's Castle was originally home to the Lamberts, a wealthy family that owned area silk mills. The building fell into disrepair in the early twentieth century, was purchased by the city of Paterson for $125,000 in 1925 and in 1928 transferred the title to the Passaic County Parks Commission. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped to expand and build up the grounds in 1940.  According to a WPA press release, “A picnic area developed by WPA which adjoins the tower is one of the most popular improvements at Garret Mountain. The tower itself was...

Birmingham's Lane Park was the site of substantial work relief efforts on the part of multiple New Deal agencies: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Historical marker: "The land was also used for the Allen Gray Fish Hatchery (fed by Pullen Springs), a stone quarry, a complete baseball diamond, and a golf driving range. Several of the stone structures were erected by the WPA. Two hundred acres are now the home of the Birmingham Zoo (est. 1954) and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (est. 1962)." A CWA/Alabama Relief Administration project was soon after launched to fully develop the...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers undertook sewer construction work along Laurel Street in Fitchburg in 1937.

The Portland Department of Public Works rebuilt the sewer on Leland Street in Portland as part of a C.W.A Project No. 10-GG.

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...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) conducted major work in and around Ley Creek during the 1930s. A 1940 WPA report described its efforts: "Ley Creek was the largest WPA project in upstate New York. Ley Creek was formerly a sewage filled drainage ditch twisting five and a half miles through the northern section of Syracuse, where some 30,000 persons lived. A constant menace to health and the development of the city, the creek has been enclosed in a monolithic sewer and a sewage treatment plant erected. There are seven lateral sewers totalling three miles in length and forming the basis...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed a water main and a storm water sewer along Liberty Street in Middletown, New York.

Among a series of paving projects undertaken by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Irvington, New Jersey was the 3,000-foot stretch of Linden Avenue from Clinton Ave. to Silkman Pl. The WPA also constructed storm sewers along Linden Ave.

"The largest Public Works Administration (PWA) project in Wisconsin was construction of the City of Milwaukee Linwood water filtration plant, which employed 1,700 men for a year." (www4.uwm.edu) "Due to increasing pollution of Lake Michigan the amount of chemicals required to make the water safe for use had become excessive. The city constructed this new plant on 'made land' on the shore and it has a capacity of 200,000,000 gallons daily. It consists of a low-lift pumping station, mixing and coagulating basins, filters, a clear-water reservoir, and appurtenances. The buildings are fireproof, the exterior walls being of quarry-faced random ashlar native stone. The...

From the WPA photo below: "With the completion of WPA's Lomita Storm Drain Project, the first unit of which will be finished next month, flood conditions of last spring and winter, which closed the western end of Vermont Avenue, will be relieved. Sponsored by Los Angeles County this project represents one unit of the #3,750,000 county-wide WPA program for the construction and improvement of flood control and drainage facilities. The unit now nearing completion Will cost an estimated $430,000." The project took 481 workers 3 months to finish.