• Adjutant General's House, Camp Withycombe - Clackamas OR
    The Colonial Revival style Adjutant General's house at Camp Withycombe was constructed by Works Progress Administration workers in 1938. Although a military facility since 1909 when it was developed as a rifle range, Camp Withycombe had few permanent structures before the Depression era. During World War I, the camp received inductees who were housed in tents. When it became a supply depot in the 1930s, additional structures were required. Salem based architect Lyle Bartholomew designed the Adjutant General's house using details that have been referred to as the Oregon Rustic style. These include a coursed stone chimney and stone landscaping decoration. The...
  • Fort Baker Improvements - Sausalito CA
    From 1936 to 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did renovations and upgrades to Fort Baker, an Army base on the north side of the Golden Gate dating from the early 1900s. One project included renewal of the storm water drainage system, repair of the electric and water distribution system, and three new fire hydrants. It also included installation of a steam heating system in Barracks No. 1 (structure no. 602), which had been heated by fireplaces. (Thompson, p. 59) Most of the buildings got a new coat of paint, inside and out. Latrines, kitchens, and mess halls received two coats of paint.  Later,...
  • Fort Ethan Allen (former) Development - Colchester and Essex VT
    The former Fort Ethan Allen, which occupied land in the towns of Colchester and Essex, Vermont, was a military installation that operated between 1894 and 1944. The base, as well as associated encampments, underwent massive efforts by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Projects included: Improve and reconstruct buildings, transportation facilities, utilities, systems, and other appurtenant work. Cost: $293,531. Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Ethan Allen, U.S Army. WPA Project No. 765-12-2-1 Improve Machine Gun School and Officer's Training Corps Camps. Cost: $55,211. Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Ethan Allen, U.S Army. WPA Project Nos. 785-12-3-5, 765-12-2-6 A non-construction project to improve buildings, public...
  • Fort Leavenworth Development - Fort Leavenworth KS
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted development efforts at Fort Leavenworth as part of multiple projects totaling more than $1 million. Projects included: Construct and improve buildings, structures, and facilities. Cost: $150,000. Sponsor: War Department ‐Q.M.C. WPA Project No. 113‐3‐82‐7 Construct and rehabilitate barracks and quarters and utilities. Cost: $355,045. Sponsor: War Department ‐Q.M.C. WPA Project No. 13‐3‐82‐7 Improve buildings and grounds. Cost: $424,649. Sponsor: War Department. WPA Project No. 165‐2‐82‐23 Improve roads and streets. Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Leavenworth, U.S. Army. WPA Project No. 365‐82‐1‐1 Make general improvements to buildings, utilities, walks, and grounds. Cost: $45,230. Sponsor: Commanding...
  • Fort Scott (former) Improvements - Fort Scott KS
    The Work projects Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work at the military installation at Fort Scott in Kansas. Description: "Improve and rehabilitate buildings, install plumbing, heating, and electrical facilities." WPA Project No. 213-2-158. Cost: $3,000. Sponsor: War Department, Commanding General
  • Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling: Bolling Field (former) Improvements - Washington DC
    The present Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is the site of the former Anacostia US Naval Air Station and the former Bolling Air Field, both founded in 1918.  Bolling Field was absorbed into the Naval Air Station in the 1940s and a new Bolling Air Force Base constructed just to the south in 1948.  Those facilities were merged again in 2010, and the joint base is currently home to several functions, including a naval facility, a large heliport and a Secret Service base.   From 1933 to 1942, New Deal agencies were busy at the two older facilities, making improvements of various kinds....
  • Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling: Naval Air Station (former) Improvements - Washington DC
    The present Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling is the site of the former Anacostia US Naval Air Station and the former Bolling Air Field, both founded in 1918.  Bolling Field was absorbed into the Naval Air Station in the 1940s and a new Bolling Air Force Base constructed just to the south in 1948.  Those facilities were merged again in 2010, and the joint base is currently home to several functions, including a naval facility, a large heliport and a Secret Service base.   From 1933 to 1942, New Deal agencies were busy at the two older facilities, making improvements of various kinds....
  • Naval Ammunition Depot Development (former)- Hingham MA
    The W.P.A. conducted substantial development work at the former Naval Ammunition Depot in Hingham, Mass. Project details: "Improvements at Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐426 Total project cost: $176,352.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Naval Ammunition Depot" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐61 Total project cost: $15,712.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Make general improvements to buildings, facilities, and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐868 Total project cost: $214,954.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 1st Naval District, U.S. Navy "Make general improvements to buildings, grounds, and facilities" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐148 Total project cost: $236,585.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 1st Naval District, U.S. Navy "Improve ammunition depot" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐504 Total project cost: $376,234.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 1st Naval District, U.S....
  • Oakland Airport (North Field): Naval Reserve Air Base - Oakland CA
    The Works Projects Administration (WPA) built the first hanger, runway and road for the Navy Reserve Air Base at the Oakland Municipal Airport (now the North Field of the Oakland International Airport). Then, in 1940 the WPA authorized $237,000 for construction of a new hangar for the Naval Reserve Air Base.  The Port of Oakland only had to contribute $17,000 in materials (Tribune, 1940).  This was clearly part of the military buildup toward World War II, with Oakland airport only one of 24 in Northern California being funded by the federal government in 1941 (Tribune, April 1941). In mid-1941, a further grant...
  • Remount Area Headquarters (former), Fort Mackenzie - Sheridan WY
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Remount Area Headquarters at Fort Mackenzie outside Sheridan, Wyoming—now the Sheridan VA Medical Center. The status and location of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal. WPA Project No. 265-3-83-19. Cost: $75,793. Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Mackenzie, U.S. Army.
  • US Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay - Samoa CA
    The US Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay at the end of the Samoa Peninsula across from Eureka, Calif0rnia was built in 1936-37 as a federal military project, with the aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its relief workforce. (HABS, p. 17) The structure replaced a considerably smaller station built in 1878, known as the Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station. This was part of a nationwide effort to upgrade Coast Guard facilities during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt (as ardent sailor and Undersecretary of the Navy in the early 1920s). (The Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service had been merged to...
  • Washington Navy Yard Improvements - Washington DC
    Many improvements were made to the U.S Navy Yard and Naval Ammunition Depot (now called the Washington Navy Yard) throughout the New Deal, from 1934 to 1941. In 1933, the Washington Post reported that $325,000 had been allotted by the Public Works Administration (PWA) to improvements at the Navy Yard; the funds were dispensed in 1934 for the modernization of the heating plant.  A 1937 Navy report provides specifics on that work: “new concrete foundations, structural steel boiler supports, air-cooled boiler settings, stoker-fired furnaces, smoke breeching, coal chutes, forced-draft fans, operating platforms and walkways, boiler plant accessories, piping and electric wiring;...