In 1933, the Washington Post reported the allocation of just over $30,000 to the Public Works Administration (PWA) for repairs to the Navy and Munitions Buildings, which were temporary troop quarters constructed during World War I on the western portion… read more
The National Training School for Boys was a federal juvenile detention center for boys under seventeen, located in the Fort Lincoln area of Washington, DC. In 1935-37, Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief labor was used to make various improvements around… read more
The Works Progress Administration built several agricultural buildings, which included a chicken farm and hennery, at the National Training School for Boys in Washington DC, circa 1937.
The Works Progress Administration built a road leading to the annex facilities at the National Training School for Boys in Washington DC, circa 1937.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) renovated several buildings at the National Training School for Girls in Washington DC, located at Conduit (now MacArthur Blvd) and Little Falls Road, NW. The National Training School was a reform school administered at the time by… read more
From the Naval Academy’s website: “Through the efforts of the Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, the Naval School was established without Congressional funding, at a 10-acre Army post named Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 10, 1845, with… read more
The W.P.A. conducted substantial development work at Key West NAS. Project details: “Construct a rifle range” Official Project Number: 165‐1‐35‐122 Total project cost: $16,364.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, Key West Naval Station, U.S. Navy “Construct facilities and improve grounds” Official… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. WPA project details: “Construct and rehabilitate buildings and facilities” Official Project Number: 109‐3‐22‐13 Total project cost: $10,000.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy… read more
The former Squantum Naval Reserve Aviation Base / Naval Air Station was improved and expanded in part during the 1930s with federal Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) funds and labor. W.P.A. project details: “Install telephone systems” Official Project Number: 165‐14‐4005 Total… read more
Now the Hawthorne Army Depot, what was then the Naval Ammunition Depot was developed and improved by multiple New Deal agencies during the Great Depression. noehill.com: “By 1930, Hawthorne’s population had grown to 757, with the Depot contributing 72 military… read more
The W.P.A. developed the former Naval Ammunition Depot Annex, in Hingham / Cohasset / Scituate, Mass. Project details: “Construct and improve naval facilities” Official Project Number: 265‐3‐14‐196 Total project cost: $1,742,856.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 1st Naval District, U.S. Navy
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”… read more
The W.P.A. conducted improvement work at the former Naval Hospital Boston / Chelsea Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Mass. The area “is located along the Mystic River, west of the Northeast Expressway, in Chelsea. While the buildings are now privately owned, they… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed additions to the drill hall at the Naval Militia Armory in Whitestone, New York. “The only active, federally-recognized Naval Militia with continuous, unbroken service to the Country and State for more than a century… read more
Works Progress Administration (WPA) project cards for 1938 at the National Archives indicate that the WPA was charged with making improvements to the grounds, buildings, and distribution systems at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Photograph cards on file at the archives show… read more
The Naval Research Laboratory has been a major research facility for the US Navy and military since it was founded at the instigation of Thomas Edison in 1923. It is located along the Potomac River at the southern tip of the… read more
From the National Register of Historic Places nomination file: “Built on the eve of World War II, on the southwest shore of Seattle’s Lake Union, the Naval Reserve Armory is a historically and architecturally significant structure closely associated with the… read more
The W.P.A. conducted numerous improvement and development projects at the New London Submarine Base. Project details: “Construct and improve buildings, utilities, and grounds” Official Project Number: 165‐1‐91‐105 Total project cost: $49,805.00 Sponsor: Commandant, Naval Submarine Base, U.S. Navy “Make improvements… read more
The Carderock Division of the NSWC us a center for research, development and testing of Navy ships and technology. Newspaper clippings in the National Archives report that in 1938-39, new construction on the site in the amount of $3,500,000 was… read more
The Public Works Administration reconditioned the Navy Headquarters building in Charlotte Amalie. The cost of the project was $7,499.71.
“The Charleston Naval Base provided defense for the United States from its formation in 1901 to its closure in 1996. Originally designated as the Navy Yard and later as the Naval Base it had a large impact upon the local… read more
The Works Progress Administration had an active presence in New Bedford, providing funds for massive construction and city improvement efforts. Suggestions for an airfield near New Bedford first appear in documents from 1936, proposing a route “via Fall River and… read more
The New Jersey National Guard Armory located near McGinley Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, was constructed during the Great Depression with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building is still in use and also serves as a recreational… read more
“New Mexico Military Institute had many projects that were built partially with WPA funds, among them horse stables for the cavalry.” -Phyllis Eileen Banks
Located on the campus of the New Mexico Department of Transportation is the former New Mexico State Police District 1 office. Constructed as three separate WPA projects between 1935 and 1940, the former State Police campus consists of an administrative… read more
Improvements at the former New York City Reformatory in New Hampton, New York were undertaken as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project.
The New Deal made substantial improvements to the Newport News Shipyard in the 1930s. Several federal agencies were probably involved, including the National Industrial Recovery Administration, Public Works Administration (itself created by the NIRA), Civil Works Administration, and Works Progress Administration…. read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) added a jail to the existing Newton County courthouse in Decatur, Mississippi during the Great Depression as a part of a temporary job creation program under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). It was demolished… read more
The W.P.A. conducted repair and improvement work on numerous civic facilities in Newton, Massachusetts, including at the former Nonantum fire station.
One of 6 airports considered very important by the State Military Commission in 1940 for use as a military base. A 1940 Maine State Legislature report records that construction of the base was done by the W.P.A. Under FERA/MERA (Maine Emergency… read more
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… read more
The WPA constructed this brick municipal building in 1941. The building now houses the city police and other offices.
“Armory construction was the first major thrust of the WPA Building Program in Oklahoma. By mid-1937, 126 armories had been constructed throughout the United States, with 51 of these projects located in Oklahoma. When the WPA ended its program in… read more
“The Oklahoma National Guard Armory located west of the Capitol at 200 N. E. 23rd Street, is an armory constructed in 1938 by the WPA. In the Depression torn 1930s, the federal government’s WPA project kept food on many an… read more
The “Old Arsenal,” as it is known, was built in 1809, and remodeled by the WPA. From Waymarking.com: “‘It was repaired and remodeled in 1936, partly as a project of the Works Progress Administration and leased (1937) to the Unemployment… read more
The Old Fire Station in Chester, Illinois was constructed in 1935 and served as a firehouse until 1961. The decommissioned building is presently used for storage. While some documents are unable to distinguish the particular New Deal agency responsible for… read more
This old jail served Somervell County for 50 years, before it was closed by the state for not meeting modern jail standards. Built in 1934, funded as a WPA government project during the Depression, as a replacement for the first… read more
The historic Olympia [National Guard] Armory in Columbia, South Carolina was constructed in 1936-7 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This WPA project replaced a much smaller airport to the west of the present airport. It was a $350,000 project and was met with much fanfare, completed just after the start of WW II.
Fire Station #6 built was built with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds by the City of Oshkosh. A WPA funded project to dismantle the old Winnebago County Courthouse and old Oshkosh Post Office buildings were done in 1939. Materials from… read more