Sidewalks and Stairs Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks, curbs and gutters on Clifton Street, from Boyd to Manila Street, in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland, California.   There are several WPA date stamps in the gutters and driveways on this stretch of Clifton.  Stamps indicating the paving company were common practice in the first half of the 20th century. This work was part of a much larger WPA program of street and sidewalk improvements all over Oakland in those years.

NRHP nomination form: "Other federal agencies active in Amarillo during the Depression included the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which built concrete sidewalks along Sixth Street and paved sections of Route 66 elsewhere in the Panhandle region." "Surviving WPA curb stamps at the following locations indicate half-block lengths  of sidewalk classified as single contributing structure: 2700 block: 1 south side 2800 block: 1 north side 2900 block: 2 north side 3000 block: 1 north side, 2 south side 3100 block: 2 north side, 1 south side 3200 block: 2 north side, 1 south side 3300 block: 1 north side, 1 south side 3400 block: 1 south side" Keystone Lonestar: "The year 1942 brought many improvements to Sixth...

In November 1935 the WPA approved the provision of labor for the construction of curbs and gutters, as well for as a sidewalk, along Smithtown Avenue in Bohemia, NY.

In 1934 the Emergency Relief Administration (E.R.A.) conducted the following improvement work along a part of South Main St. in the City of Barre: The street was widened, curbings and gutters built, gravel sidewalks constructed and all banks carefully were carefully sloped and sodded. This is perhaps the best finished road work in the City. The W.P.A. removed disused street car rails in 1939.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked on a land reclamation and shore beautification project on the south shore of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. "The Dawn," a WPA publication, Oct. 1936: "Road construction and other operations by Works Progress Administration men of District 4 have transformed a mile and a half of Perth Amboy's South Shore so that the area's reclamation and development soon will be accomplished facts. The waterfront project from Second Street to Lewis Street, along Raritan River and Raritan Bay, has engaged the services of an average of 200 men for a year. The Federal Government allotted 85 per cent of...

A sizable retaining wall and pedestrian staircase were constructed by the W.P.A. on the north side of Union Street, between S. 10th St. and S. Poplar St.. An inscription on the Union Street retaining wall west of the staircase entrance declares: "Constructed by the Works Progress Administration and the City of Allentown, 1937."

"The stone steps that run from Union Street down to Martin Luther King Boulevard in Allentown were built by WPA." mcall.com, 2011: "he stairway from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, once Lawrence Street, stretches from Fountain Park to the Union Street retaining wall, which is 50 feet high and two blocks long. Homes clung to the hillside at Lawrence Street, just steps from the barbed-wire factories that once occupied the open field. "For them, it was very difficult to get up and down that hillside," Whelan said. So the WPA built stairs." The staircase features one entrance on Martin Luther King Boulevard (at S 10th St.),...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed curbs and sidewalks along what was then State Highway Route 4-N (now State Route 71) from Church St. to Wreck Pond. The sidewalks were four feet wide and curbs were six inches wide and 20 inches deep.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked on a land reclamation and shore beautification project on the south shore of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. As part of the project State Street was widened five feet on either side from Lewis Street to the shore.

The Works Progress Administration contributed $12,714 toward improvements to a storage dam and several streets in Wrangell, Alaska, between 1939 and 1940.

"The 1913 Wyandanch Grade School was purchased by the Wyandanch Post 2912 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and used as the Post headquarters. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) financed the laying of sidewalks on the east side of Straight Path so school children could walk safely to school."

"The streets and sidewalks of Lloyd were repaired and dead trees were removed from the town in September 1935."

The federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) undertook the following project in Jackson County, Kentucky: "Const. of Sidewalks, Grading, Draining, and Surfacing Of All Streets In McKee, 1 Mile Of Streets, 1 Bridge, 4 Sidewalks, 200 Lin. Ft. Stonewall"

The Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) each conducted road repair / improvement projects in Boone, North Carolina. As of June 1939 three miles of streets and sidewalks has been "finished in Boone" by the WPA. The News and Observer quoted Boone's mayor, W. H. Gragg: "We decided to start a project to improve the streets in the residential section, which were in very bad condition. Many of them could not be traveled in winter-time and all very dusty. The project included surfacing one and one-fourth miles, building culverts, grading and building other streets....

The Works Progress Administration completed improvements for several streets in Grantsville, Calhoun County. The work consisted of building retaining walls, curbs, and sidewalks.  

The Works Progress Administration contributed $593 toward street improvements in Hydaburg, Alaska, between 1939 and 1940.

A street improvement project in Lincoln, Nebraska was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. 2886

These projects involved street improvements, curb, gutter, and sidewalk construction. They resulted in 8,875 ft of streets, 20,122 ft of curbs and gutters, and 15,792 sq ft of sidewalks. The only streets actually identified in the WPA records are Mendocino Ave from College Ave to the north city limit, and also Fourth St from E. St to the east city limit. The photo here shows that a short section of WPA sidewalk also survives on the south side of Spencer Avenue, just east of its intersection with Monroe Street. It is a standard 4’ residential walk made of parallel 24” x...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo taken by Dan Nero and dated May 12, 1938, describes WPA improvements to East Stole Street in Wellsville, New York: "East Stole Street improved by WPA for 3500 feet. Work includes installing storm sewers, retaining walls, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and laying bituminous pavement, heavy gravel, and field stone base" (WPA). More information is needed to determine the present status and exact location of this project.

The WPA furnished labor for the paving of streets and construction of sidewalks in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Greenville's Record-Argus reported that some such work occurred during 1940.

A substantial street improvement and paving project was undertaken in Flagstaff, Arizona during the Great Depression with the assistance of federal Public Work Administration (PWA) funds.  It covered 86 blocks in the central area, now the historic district of the city, and included curbs and gutters.  The start date for the project is uncertain but the major work was done in 1938-39. "A major improvement that would have been long delayed without federal assistance was installing curbs and gutters and paving streets. The project began with a $30,600 PWA grant matching a city 10-year, 3 percent bond issue of $22,000 for curbs and...

The Civil Works Administration conducted a street repair project and a sidewalk construction project in Warrior, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-161: completed; "misc. street repairs". Work began Nov. 20, 1933. CWA Project No. 37-C-1857: 40% completed as of Mar. 31, 1934; "highway walkway". Work began Jan. 20, 1934.

Juneau’s streets, sidewalks and sewers were improved with the aid of New Deal federal funds during the Great Depression. A newspaper report in 1938 said that the Public Works Administration (PWA)  had allotted $170,000 for these purposes, but the 1940 Annual Report of the Governor of Alaska to the Secretary of the Interior puts the PWA contribution at approximately $75,000. The latter 1940 report also indicated that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) also contributed $5,790 to pay relief laborers to work on street improvements and $4,891 in relief labor toward the construction of the sewer system in 1939 and 1940. The locations of these improvements...

Numerous street construction projects in Watertown, South Dakota were undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $56,000 loan and $37,535 grant for a curb construction project; the total cost of the project was $56,327. Work occurred between May and August 1935. (PWA Docket No. SD 2077) The PWA supplied a $87,000 loan and $8,279 grant for a street construction project; the total cost of the project was $129,513. Work occurred between October 1934 and November 1935. (PWA Docket No. SD 2100) The PWA supplied a $6,136 grant for a second street...

The Civil Works Administration conducted a street improvement project and a sidewalk repair project in Fairfield, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-369: "streets". Work began Nov. 20, 1933; 95% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934. CWA Project No. 37-C-1606: sidewalk repairs". Work began Mar. 1, 1934; 80% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted numerous sidewalk, curb, road, and other infrastructure projects in West St. Paul, Minnesota. Among the evidence for such projects: A two block stretch of Stryker Avenue has a total of seven WPA stamps from 1938. A map as part of the source, The WPA in West St. Paul presents the locations and images of the seven stamps on Stryker Ave., between Annapolis St. W and Bernard St. W.

The 285,000 gallon concrete pool was started August 25, 1936 and completed a year later. It was officially dedicated in 1938. Total cost of construction for the pool, walkways, rock house for living quarters for the caretakers, showers, concession room, filtration plan, and smaller rock clubhouse for the golf course was $36,000, of which the city funded $5,000.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed several miles of sidewalk in Lordsburg during the Great Depression. By 1936, they were building on average 4,000’ of sidewalk per month, with the goal of completing 40 blocks. Adhering to WPA rules, only property owners who paid for materials and incidentals benefited from the program. The work was declared by the Lordsburg Liberal on August 16, 1936 “as something that will be of a lasting benefit to the community.” Third Street sidewalk work was conducted in 1938.

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration completed the tunnel and stonework entrance into the Todd County Courthouse.

Multiple New Deal agencies: the Civil Works Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and Works Progress Administration, helped to develop Canonsburg, Pennsylvania's Town Park in 1934—1936. In addition to constructing its pool and Park Drive, work relief workers—according to a local the submitter met during a visit in 2017—constructed paths and staircases, stone pillars at park entrances, walls, and picnic facilities. It is unclear exactly to what extent the original Depression-era structures have been preserved. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), "approved an appropriation of more than $10,000 to complete the bath house. Another $20,000 was approved for general improvement of the park...

Multiple New Deal agencies: the CWA, FERA, and WPA, worked to restore the historic Trent House in Trenton, New Jersey between 1934 and 1936. "The WPA work consisted of cleaning and pointing the brick on the Trent House and caretaker's home, painting work, building a wall surrounding the property, laying walks on the grounds, installing shutters inside the Trent House, and grading the grounds. WPA funds for the work were $9,081.89. The late J. Osborn Hunt was the architect of the work until his death, and he was succeeded by Samuel Mountford.

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on several streets in Kingwood. Work on Tunnelton Street started in 1936.Kingwood National Register of Historic Places Nomination: (www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/preston/94000723.pdf), accessed January 17, 2018.

A WPA imprint stamp marks the curb along the Walnut Street side of the Hertzstein Memorial Museum.

W.P.A. project description: "The three projects, which were approved and on which work was started late in the year, provide for the reconstruction of: first, Wampatuck Road from Furnace Brook Parkway to Chickatawbut Road, Quincy, a distance of 4,800 feet ... All these roads will have a width of 30 feet and have a 5-inch bituminous concrete surface on a 12-inch gravel base. Also, an 8-ft. wide, 2-inch bituminous surfaced walk will be constructed adjacent to and for the whole length of each road. Work will include excavation of earth, rock and ledge, installation of drainage systems, filling and grading, loaming...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded the labor to construct a sidewalk along an unknown distance of Wareham St. in Middleborough, Mass. in 1937.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked on a land reclamation and shore beautification project on the south shore of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. As part of the project Water Street was widened by 12 feet and paved with macadam. Sidewalks and curbs were installed and 300 feet of hedges were transplanted.

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with penetrated macadam. Roads improved included street and sidewalk repairs on West 231st Street from Corlear Avenue to Riverdale Avenue.

Then known as West Texas State Teachers College, the campus of what is now West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) was greatly impacted by the New Deal. Notably, multiple sizable construction projects were accomplished with the aid of Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. Many students were involved with various New Deal agencies: In the 1930s, "Frustrated by the parsimony of the Texas Legislature, WTSTC leaders turned to the federal government for help. By conservative estimates, approximately 25 percent of the student body worked for such New Deal agencies as the National Youth Administration (headed in Texas by Lyndon B. Johnson), the Civil Works Administration and...

The Western Promenade is an historic promenade, 18.5 acres (7.5 ha) public park and recreation area in Portland, Maine's West End neighborhood. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes a number of historic properties, including the Adam P. Leighton House. The WPA was involved in constructing retaining walls.

The WPA built sidewalks in the town of Stoughton, Mass. "The sidewalk project is expected to be completed about October 1 . The sidewalk crew has 14 men and as soon as the Sumer Street sidewalk is finished they will build a new sidewalk on the southerly side of Winter Street from Summer to Water Streets, a distance of 840 feet. From Winter Street they will go to Prospect Street, where they will put in a new sidewalk on the westerly side of the street from Boylston to Seaver Streets, a distance of 1,930 feet."