Sanitation and Water Disposal Sites

The CCC built temporary drainage outlets at Long Bay, Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas.

The federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) played a crucial role in the development of Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. NPS.gov: "By June 1939, the cemetery employed 480 men through WPA projects. A final narrative report of the WPA projects completed at the cemetery listed: construction of the shelter house and comfort station, including its sewer line and septic tank; clearing 76 acres of scrub trees and underbrush, and a 60’ fire break along boundary lines; construction of a rostrum; construction of 2,363’ of sidewalks, 5,472’ of curb and gutters; and completion of woven-wire and barbed-wire fences on the...

The utilities building in Lyons, Nebraska located at the northeast corner of Main St. and 1st St. was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. It was originally built as a water treatment facility. The structure is currently still used as a utility shed for the City of Lyons.

In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) allotted $47,870 for the Macomb Street Divorcement Sewers project. Two new sewer lines were installed in the area of Macomb Street and 38th Street NW, running southwest in the direction of Massachusetts Avenue for a length of about 5,000 linear feet (nearly one mile). These divorcement sewers separated domestic sewage from storm water run-off (two products that had previously collected in a combined sewer line), allowing the sewage to be treated at the new Blue Plains facility and reducing pollution caused by periodic overflow during rain storms. The divorcement sewer project was completed in early-to-mid...

A WPA-sponsored project improved sewers in the Magnolia Bluff neighborhood of Seattle. The project, which received $2,135 in WPA funds, provided work for 16 men for two months.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed drains on Main St. and Esty St. Ashland, Mass.

The Greenwood underpass, or railway bridge cross #300721D, was "built to allow traffic on Main Street to pass under the railroad tracks of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad" ( Greenwood Underpass, 2011). The project also re-routed US 49 and US 82 into Greenwood, with concrete and brick highway to replace the gravel roads (Darden, 2008-2009). Engineered by Eli Abbot along with his two sons, Charles G. and Fred Abbott, the underpass cost $400,000 and was built by the Mississippi State Highway Department, using Works Progress Administration funds. An Art Deco style pumphouse was constructed next to the railroad tracks...

The  Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) furnished the cost of labor for the construction of multiple storm sewers in Hatfield, Massachusetts. One sewer collected runoff from Main Street and poured it into the Connecticut River nearby. The 25-man project cost the Town of Hatfield supplied only the price of materials for the project. Work occurred between Oct. 13 and Nov. 15, 1934.

The W.P.A. developed a sewer line along Main Street in Middletown, Connecticut. Work was likely in conjunction with a P.W.A. disposal plant and sewer construction project. W.P.A. Project No. 65-15-1144

The Works Progress Administration built concrete and riprap, malaria control drainage ditches within the Brewton city limits. The project built approximately 110,000 liner feet of drainage throughout Escambia County. Along Burnt Corn Creek, adjacent to the Brewton city limit, the WPA built 1,500 linear feet of drainage (pictured). The approximate cost of the entire program was $47,000.00.

Montpelier's 40th Annual Report details many roadwork projects undertaken in 1934 with Vermont Emergency Relief Administration (VERA) funds, including: "Marvin Street, grading and putting in stone base". Street improvement and sewer construction efforts were continued here in subsequent years by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1939 Marvin St. was "rebuilt from Hubbard to Bingham Street, with tar surfaces."

An inventory of WPA project photographs compiled by Becky Jordan at Iowa State University includes reference to numerous public works projects undertaken by the agency in Iowa between 1935 and 1940. The collection of 1,271 photographs documents the variety and extent of New Deal related efforts undertaken in the Hawkeye State. The Mason City sewage disposal plant in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa (Project 1293) is included among the many WPA projects described in the collection.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "North Adams — Two shifts of expert workers, totaling 70 men, are rushing work on a WPA storm sewer project on Massachusetts Avenue."

The restrooms are classified as Parks Rustic Style. The Restrooms were completed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) laborers in 1935.

Redbud Restroom was completed in 1940 by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) laborers. The style of the structure is classified as Parks Rustic.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the improvement work around McLean Reservoir in Holyoke, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: At High McLean Reservoir, Holyoke, WPA is improving the travel-way. Work includes widening and eliminating curves, extending culverts, grading gutters for surface drainage and constructing a stone wall.  

The Middlesex Fells Reservation spans multiple towns north of Boston. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Civil Works Administration (CWA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) were each active in developing the area. Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission annual reports detail the work of the New Deal over time. 1934 report: "During the first eleven weeks of this year about 2,800 men were employed on Federal Civil Works Administration projects. Most of these men were employed in the Blue Hills and Middlesex Fells Reservations. A large amount of necessary work was accomplished in the various divisions, which consisted mainly of cutting and burning brush, removing dead and...

The Middlesex Fells Reservation spans multiple towns north of Boston. Here is a description of a couple of the projects undertaken by the W.P.A. in the park: "Middlesex Fells Reservation; four miles of bridle trails in the Lawrence Woods section of the reservation were reconstructed. The trails were widened and graded and new cross drains and culverts were installed where necessary. The work was started in 1936 and completed in 1937."

Description of a W.P.A. project undertaken in 1938: "Middlesex Fells Reservation, Winchester Section; to widen, drain and grade three miles of bridle trails. The trails to be for equestrian, police patrol, fire control and maintenance use." The Winchester section is the far western portion of the park.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo (pictured) is dated to 1938. It describes significant work on a Syracuse sewer line beneath Midland Avenue: "WPA workmen excavated 23 feet underground through the highly residential section of Midland Avenue to replace a sanitary sewer line that was in serious danger of collapse."

In 1940, in a retrospective on four years of public works improvements in the city, the Washington Post reported that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had installed a sewer on Minnesota Avenue at Blaine Street in northeast DC. This was part of the massive New Deal era upgrade in the city's sewage system, with many new sewer lines, separation of storm and sanitary sewers and building the first sewage treatment plant at Blue Plains.  

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in an El Paso Times article from June 7, 1936 was "Montana Street widening and storm ditch improvement, $5376."

Both the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out projects at the Mount Diablo State Park from 1933 to 1942.  The CCC work is well-known, and it is acknowledged by the State Parks on their website and in signage at the Summit Building. Less recognized is the WPA work in the park, which was mostly on roads.  There is also extensive drainage work alongside and under the roads that features lovely rustic stonework.  The State Parks website attributes drainage works to the CCC but they may well have been done by WPA workers, too. WPA job cards in...

As attested to by multiple plaques on-site, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed drainage channels with culverts for walking trails at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island, and potentially made other improvements.

"The newly established Department of Conservation and Development...immediately requested a CCC work camp for Mount Mitchell... ...the upper reaches of the East's highest mountain underwent a remarkable transformation. Fire prevention crews fanned out along the trails and parking areas, clearing away brush and standing dead timber. Other workers took charge of trail maintenance, refurbishing all the footpaths, including the well-worn and badly eroded trail to the summit. The CCC briefly revived reforestation in the park, planting addition Fraser fir and Norway spruce. Just below the summit workers cut and hewed red spruce logs for a new concession stand, a rain shelter,...

"East Mountain Run is the name applied to a previously unnamed tributary to Roaring Brook. It rises from springs on the Ridge of East Mountain near Robinson Park and Mountain Lake Estates. The Mountain Lake Estates Stormwater detention pond and nearby wetlands are also integral features supporting a perennial flow in this Run. There are some WPA era knapped rock channel works uphill of East Mountain Road." "Historic WPA stone masonry walls and culverts at Mattes Community Center: Hopkins Falls circa 1938."

The September 16, 1938 edition of the Daily Pacific Builder reported that PWA-funded work on a municipal sewer system for Mt. Shasta was to begin on October 8, for a cost of $38,870.

Among a set of 26 WPA projects approved for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in Sept. 1935 was "electrical rewiring of municipal building" in Turtle Creek. Additional work in the town involved "surveys for flood control and sewage disposal." The Federal government allocated $55,244 for the project and local sponsors contributed $11,062.

Municipal sewers and drains were installed in Millbury, Massachusetts with Federal Emergency Relief Act funds in 1933. 282 Millbury locals were given employment in 1933 as a result of the federal E.R.A. E.R.A.-sponsored drains were installed on West St., Massasoit Rd., Greenwood and McCracken, and Sycamore St.

The annual municipal report from 1935 reported on extensive E.R.A. activity in Ashland: "Since May 1, 1934 the Town of Ashland has received approximately $10,000.00 in the form of Federal Emergency Relief Funds. This money has enabled the town to work between fifteen and twenty-five men on a part time basis. Efforts have consistently been made to get approval for worth while projects. A few of the things accomplished with these funds are listed below: 1. Construction of approximately one mile of rock drain. 2. Cleaning up town dumps at Ashland and Sheridan. 3. Assisting park commission in cleaning up Community park. 4. Provide labor...

SELECTMEN'S REPORT To the Citizens of Boscawen: That the people of Boscawen, may more fully comprehend the financial assistance the town has received for W. P. A. Projects and what was accomplished by obtaining such projects, we submit the following report: When allotments were available, every effort was made to get our town's share, and the town's resources, such as the gravel bank and power shovel, were carefully utilized with the money raised for W. P. A., to make the Sponsor's Contributions, necessary to obtain such allotments. The town of Boscawen received for the Projects, the sum of $23,032.18. Local private employment in...

The Civil Works Administration conducted a municipal improvement project in Brookside, Alabama. Work began Nov. 24, 1933. CWA Project No. 37-C-370: completed; "streets, sidewalks & drains".

According to an index of WPA projects in the National Archives, the WPA rebuilt dairy barns and developed a botanic garden in College Park. These may have been on land owned by the University of Maryland. The WPA also installed water mains in the area, all in 1935.

The WPA did extensive work in Colmar Manor in 1935, including constructing concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutter improvements. The WPA also made alterations to Town Hall and improvements to City Park and a local playground. It is not known whether the current town hall is the one referred to in 1935 or which playground and park were improved.

1933 - WPA road relief construction contributes $1,954.00 to Deering. 1934 - PWA loan of $5000 for power line construction. 1935 - Emergency Relief to Unemployed gives Deering $4,401. Federal Government gives Deering 4,658 for various public works projects. 1936 - PWA gives Deering 5,240.52 for Town Hall renovation, flood control and building of town sheds. Additional WPA funds for blister rust control and road projects. 1937 - More federal funds to Deering, Electricity comes to East Deering. 1938 - Great Hurricane, Red Cross helps local farmers rebuild.

The WPA installed water mains in East Riverdale in 1935.

The WPA installed water mains in Edmonston in 1935.

A municipal report from 1934 describes early New Deal work in Houlton: R.F.C. work included a High School lot project: "Mr. Brown approved the High School lot project for Houlton, and an allowance of $3,000 per month to carry on the work, the work to begin May 1st, 1933... The labor for filling, grading, landscaping, tree cutting and tree surgery on the High School lot kept some 100 men in two crews per week on half time employment for nine weeks. Besides the High School lot, the Chairman personally supervised the building of six small houses which were occupied when built by those unable...

WPA records in the National Archives indicate that the WPA installed various water mains in Hyattsville in 1935. The WPA also improved what was listed as "University Park" in Hyattsville. It is not known whether this referred to a specific municipal park or instead to the incorporated community bordering Hyattsville and known as University Park.

Only 1933 and 1934 town reports are available. 1933 Local residents Chas. Vane, Lee Roberts, Daniel Morang, Bertram Bowker, Frank Ames leave for a C.C.C. Camp with the town covering their transportation. C. W. A. SEWER PROJECT $237.70 7 men employed. 1934 Expenditures Burnham Hardware Co., C. W. & E. R. A. $527.01 Chapman Lumber Co., Brick Tile & Lumber C. W. A. $236.12 Orrin Marston, truck on C. W. A. $99.54 Eugene Bowers, Labor at Rawson School yard, C. W. A. $73.52 Bert Stanhope, truck C. W. A. and E. R. A. $72.25 R. N. Hiatt, Labor on Drills for C. W. A. and E. R. A....