Military and Public Safety Sites

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 the school.  The WPA work card on the project has these details:  "Landscape and improve grounds at National Training School for Boys; Enlarge and improve athletic fields at National Training School for Boys; Improve grounds at the National Training School for Boys, including terracing, sloping banks, cutting, filling, and grading, seeding, constructing structures for gully control, and performing appurtenant work; for erosion...

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 the DC Board of Public Welfare (and not to be confused with the Nannie Burroughs National Training School for Women and Girls). In 1936-37 the WPA did extensive work at the school, including: "Painting and major repairs; improvements to buildings and grounds... Work includes flooring, painting, erecting a building for a chicken house, barn, implement shed, and quarters; installing equipment, electrical...

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 a class of 50 midshipmen and seven professors…In 1850 the Naval School became the United States Naval Academy…Congress authorized the Naval Academy to begin awarding bachelor of science degrees in 1933…In just a few decades, the Navy moved from a fleet of sail and steam-powered ships to a high-tech fleet with nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships and supersonic aircraft. The academy...

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 Project Number: 165‐3‐35‐135 Total project cost: $44,338.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, Key West Naval Station, U.S. Navy "Improve grounds" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐35‐75 Total project cost: $32,158.00 Sponsor: Commandant, Naval Air Station, Key West, U.S. Navy "Improve municipal airport" Official Project Number: 665‐91‐2‐146 Total project cost: $125,028.00 Sponsor: War Department "Construct curbs, manhole covers, and rebuild roadways" Official Project Number: 265‐35‐1001 Total project cost: $8,358.00 Sponsor: Officer in Charge, U.S. Naval Station "Improve buildings, structures,...

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 Department "Make improvements at Naval Air Station" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐22‐391 Total project cost: $22,758.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Excavate, clear, and level grounds, and provide bridges, roads, and fences" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐22‐40 Total project cost: $153,464.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project Number: 709‐2‐44 Total project cost: $16,107.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a massive improvement and development project at what was then Naval Air Station Quonset—now Quonset State Airport—in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Description: "Clear land, grade, excavate, install pipe drains, set railroad tracks, gravel roads, demolish buildings at U.S. Naval Operating Base at Quonset Point." WPA Project No. 265‐2‐16‐26; $701,042. Sponsor: Commandant, Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy

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 project cost: $16,633.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Erect building" Official Project Number: 265‐14‐4004 Total project cost: $14,027.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Demolish building and salvage material, and rough grade area" Official Project Number: 265‐14‐4010 Total project cost: $82,161.00 Sponsor: U.S. Naval Reserve, Mayor, City of Quincy "Enlarge flying field and improve drainage" Official Project Number: 265‐14‐4013 Total project cost: $132,165.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Aviation Base, U.S. Naval Reserve "Construct ditches and grade field" Official...

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 personnel and 90 civilian employees to the total. The presence of the Depot helped Hawthorne through the Great Depression, but a number of President Roosevelt's New Deal programs were undertaken there to further help ameliorate joblessness. In October 1935, the first Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects were initiated, consisting mostly of road construction and repair. Other projects included courthouse repair and improvement,...

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" 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....

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 can be viewed from the street. The Commanding Officer's Quarters, Naval Hospital building and ordnance buildings are all located on Commandant's Way, and the Marine Hospital building is located on Captains Row." W.P.A. project details: "Improvements at Chelsea Naval Hospital" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐110 Total project cost: $119,913.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Chelsea Naval Hospital" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐266 Total project cost: $34,278.00 Sponsor: U.S....

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 and a history stretching back to the Revolution, housed in the former club house of the Whitestone Yacht Club." "The New York Naval Militia's heritage spans over two centuries, dating back to the American Revolution. The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought on Lake Champlain in 1776 by New York Militiamen manning the ships of a small American squadron."

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 a storage shed overhauled by the WPA and that WPA workers also led tours of the observatory at the time. The Navy's Bulletin #38 notes that, "At the Naval Observatory only limited funds have been available and they have been expended for repairs to buildings including the modernization of dangerous electric wiring. The available funds have also been used for the...

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 District of Columbia. In 1937, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out repairs and made additions to the US Naval Research Laboratory.  Principle among these was a large addition to the field house.  The WPA teams also added roads, sewers and storm drains, and landscaping. Navy Bulletin No. 38 provides more specifics: “At the Naval Research Laboratory, Bellevue, D. C., the major...

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 history of the Navy in the Pacific Northwest, with Depression-era public works programs, with military mobilization during World War II, and with the role of the armed services in Seattle in the 20th century. Completed in 1942 using WPA funding, the Armory was a community-based project that the federal government eventually designated as an official National Defense Project at the...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at what was referred to as the "Newport Naval Base" and "Newport Naval Training Station" in Newport, Rhode Island. The projects included road construction, water and sewer system development, and grounds and buildings improvements.

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 at airport" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐15‐71 Total project cost: $7,894.00 Sponsor: U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer, Providence "Erect cyclone fencing, clearing and grubbing, install storm sewer, and construct storehouse, walks, and, pavements" Official Project Number: 265‐3‐15‐1 Total project cost: $66,358.00 Sponsor: Commander, Naval Submarine Base, U.S. Navy "Improve Naval facilities and construct storm sewers" Official Project Number: 265‐3‐15‐21 Total project cost: $96,204.00 Sponsor: Commander, Naval Submarine Base, U.S. Navy "Improve submarine...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted massive development projects at the "U.S. Naval Storage Area," now known as Naval Support Activity, Crane, outside Burns City, Indiana. Projects included: Improve grounds. Cost: $1,026,945. Sponsor: Commandant, 9th Naval District, U.S. Navy. WPA Project No. 113‐3‐82‐7 Improve grounds, utilities, and facilities. Cost: $6,368,481. Sponsor: Commandant, 9th Naval District, U.S. Navy. WPA Project No. 165‐2‐52‐238

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 done with a mix of "New Deal spending" and "private construction." The funds appear to have been largely spent on the large new headquarters building which can be viewed hear:

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at what was then the Naval Torpedo Station, located on Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island. The projects included construction of a hospital wing, new barracks, the improvement of a power plant, and construction of retaining walls. Goat Island no longer houses military operations.

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 community, the tri-county area and the entire State of South Carolina. Hundreds of thousands of people were employed, two hundred fifty-six vessels built, thousands of others supported and millions of dollars poured into the area’s economy." "The first dry dock, the largest on the east coast, was completed in 1907. In 1909, the powerhouse to supply electricity to the dry dock...

The Works Progress Administration built the Ness City Public Library in Ness City KS. This building originally housed the Ness City Fire Department, the Ness City city office, and the Ness City Public Library. It now is the location of the Ness City Public Library only. The city office and the fire department have moved to other locations. 

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 New Bedford to some centrally located point on Cape Cod. This route would be used mainly for summer traffic.” However, formal discussions do not appear until March of 1939, where it was proposed as a Works Project Administration project. Work on the New Bedford airfields officially began on April 9, 1940. It was dedicated a little over two years later,...

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 facility. "This armory provides quarters for one battalion of infantry, one battalion of engineers, two medical units, and one division of the naval militia. The large drill hall is on the street level and has banks of seats on two sides. Under these seats are eight company rooms and equipment storage rooms, and on two mezzanine floors are four more company...

"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 building (1935) and a later annex (1939). Both were designed in the regional Pueblo Revival style by Willard C. Krueger, the WPA’s chief architect in New Mexico, who would later design structures for the Manhattan Project. The State Police started humbly in 1905 as the New Mexico Mounted Police, a small division of equestrian officers appointed by the Governor under single...

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. The Public Works Administration (PWA) also financed the construction of two aircraft carriers at the Newport News Shipyard: tjhe Yorktown and the Enterprise. Indeed, Newport News Shipyard was one of the top warship producers at the time. As for improvements to the shipyard itself, we know from the Department of the Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks history website that U.S. shipyards,...

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 in 1972, along with the courthouse, in order to build a new courthouse on the same site.

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 Relief Administration) there were constructed a 2100 x 100 graded sod runway and a 2000 x 100 graded sod runway. "In 1941 the federal government appropriated the local airport, establishing Presque Isle Army Airfield for planes bound to and from Great Britain. Activated as an Army Air Corps military airfield on 15 September... the airfield was de-activated on 20 September 1945...

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...

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 1943, 54 armories had been built and 53 others 'reconstructed' in the state. The new construction infused $3.5 million into local Oklahoma economies. Groundbreaking for the Okemah Amory took place in October of 1935, and construction proceeded through the rest of the year, through 1936, and into 1937. Due to labor shortages, material shortages, and weather-related shutdowns, a short project expanded...

"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 Oklahoma table. Unlike so many of the native sandstone armories, this one is constructed of light colored brick. Its Art Deco features are classic. A two-story office area projects from the north and west of the main drill hall. The windows have six-over-six double-hung sashes. A panel of vertically set bricks decorates the area between all the first and second story...

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 Compensation Commission of Delaware' . The building was later used by the National Youth Administration.  During World War II the building was used as offices for the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation which was building aircraft for the war effort.  In the late 1940s the building was again used as a school building.  By 1950 the building was owned by the State of Delaware...

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 the construction—Public Works Administration (PWA) vs. Works Progress Administration (WPA)—PWA records make no mention of such a project, and the documentation is consistent with WPA specifications. NRHP nomination: "The two-story rough-cut stone building has a footprint of about 28 by 36 feet and was constructed using recycled stone from a razed building that was located on a street near the Mississippi River.......