Military and Public Safety Sites

The Pentagon is America’s Department of Defense headquarters and the largest office building in the world.  It was constructed from August 1941 to January 1943 in order to centralize the administration of the U.S. armed services during World War II.   The site of the Pentagon had previously been a barren area, so the Public Roads Administration, a division of the New Deal’s Federal Works Agency (FWA), supervised a “$7 million network of highways to serve the and adjacent areas” (Sunday Star, 1942). While it may not appear to be a typical New Deal public works project, the Pentagon was built...

The Throckmorton Fire Department was built with locally quarried limestone.

This PWA building was used as a fire station until the 1960s, when Company 19 moved into a new fire station on the same block. The original building still seems to be standing next door to the new station, and may be what is now the Olde Friends Antique Show. According to the Bowie Fire Department's history page: "In 1936, after much discussion, site searching and deliberating, Mr. Isaac Kimmel sold his vegetable garden plot on 9th Street, adjoining his store to the Fire Department for $700.00. Again progress and plans were under way to get financing for the construction of...

The Scotland Neck Historic District contains multiple buildings constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "A one-and-one-half-story brick Colonial Revival-style building was constructed in 1939 on East Eleventh Street through the cooperative efforts of the Town of Scotland Neck and the WPA to serve as the town hall and fire station (#198). The building was utilized in this capacity until the early 1980s."

Built through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1938 and 1939, this two story building is constructed of native limestone rock, with metal bars on the windows and doors. Has some cement ornamentation between the windows. Has a flat roof. Nice rounded entrance with rock benches on either side.

The present Harry S. Truman Federal Building consists of two monumental halves. The first was built under the New Deal for the War Department in 1940-41 (and is still commonly referred to as the War Department building).  When the War Department (now Department of Defense) moved across the Potomac to the Pentagon in 1943, the State Department moved in and has remained ever since. The State Department building was renamed the Harry S. Truman Building in 2000. Consolidating the War Department had become a priority in the lead-up to the Second World War.  A second building was envisioned, but not built until...

"In Tularosa, the Police Station remains the same inside and out, except for being painted periodically. It is another Pueblo Revival style blending perfectly with the New Mexico landscape." -Phyllis Eileen Banks

The concrete, one-story building was constructed in 1934 at a then-cost of $11,000, of which the county furnished $4,000 and the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) furnished the remainder. The structure was designed by A. H. Town and N. W. Overstreet. The building features typical Art Deco massing and vertical architectural ornamentation. It was designated a Mississippi landmark status in 2004.

This art deco building was constructed in 1936 with New Deal funding. It houses the Veterans meeting room, a full basketball court, a theatrical stage and a kitchen.

According to WPA records in the National Archives, in 1941 WPA labor was used to "Improve grounds at the U.S. Coast Guard Monitoring Station, including constructing fences; clearing trees, brush, and undergrowth; appurtenant and incidental work." Exact location and current status of this coast guard station unknown.

Construction of new additions to the 1884 US Marine Hospital in Memphis began in 1933, although the majority of the work was completed by WPA crews after 1935 (Van West, 2001, p. 94). Buildings added by WPA were the 3-story neoclassical hospital building, a nurses dormitory, and junior officers quarters (Metal Museum). The hospital closed in 1965 and currently houses the Metal Museum.

The W.P.A. worked to improve the former U.S. Naval Direction Finder Station, by Schoodic Point, south of Winter Harbor, Maine. W.P.A. project information: “Construct garage, tennis courts, and roadways” Official Project Number: 109‐3‐11‐24 Total project cost: $17,673.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 1st Naval District, U.S. Navy

The index to WPA projects at the National Archives includes the following description of WPA efforts at the magazine and torpedo factory: "Rehabilitate buildings, roads, and walks at the Naval Magazine and Naval Torpedo Factory of the Navy Yard; Rehabilitate the Naval Torpedo Factory in the city of Alexandria, including painting, removing, reconstructing, raising and relaying floors, placing tile, overhauling and installing plumbing, heating and electrical facilities, installing foundations and resetting machinery, installing refrigeration facilities, constructing partitions."

The Soldiers' Home was established in 1851, as an "asylum for old and disabled veterans." Four of the original buildings still stand and are listed as national historic landmarks.  The U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home remains a thriving community of military retirees and veterans in the heart of Washington DC. In 1934, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) reconstructed and repaired buildings and machinery at the site, did general landscaping and painting, built two storehouses, tiled the milk house and built roads, according to records at the National Archives In 1938-39, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) did extensive work at the facility. WPA records...

The Union City Armory was undertaken in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The rare PWA funded Armory was constructed in "restrained Art Deco" (Van West, p. 87) style for a total cost of $30,000. The armory fulfilled both military and local community functions, serving as the base of Company K, 117th Infantry Regiment of the National Guard during World War II as well as hosting community events. The armory became private property in 1980.

A new county jail and improvements to the existing county courthouse were approved as PWA project 1272 July 23, 1938. E. L. Malvaney was architect for the two-story concrete Art Deco jail. Construction began 10/10/1938 and was completed 3/29/1939. PWA supplied a grant of $20,454 toward total cost of $45,577. Bonds were issued in the amount of $25,000 to contribute toward the cost of new jail construction and repair of the courthouse.

The Destroyer USS Cummings DD-365 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York City, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Cummings was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941 it was docked at Pearl Harbor during the attack, suffered only minor damage, and immediately went on patrol searching for the enemy strike force without success. After that it served as a convoy escort in the Pacific for several years. In 1944,...

The Destroyer USS Mahan DD-364 was built at the United Dry Docks shipyard in Staten Island, New York, between 1934 and 1935. Funding for the construction of the ship came from the Public Works Administration (PWA) project (see Kermit Project, New York City New Deal Navy Ships). The Mahan was the lead ship of the US Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. In 1941, it was at sea in the Pacific when Pearl Harbor was attacked; it searched for the enemy strike force without success. It was sunk in 1944 as a result of kamikaze attacks. The Mahan won five battle stars. The United Dry Docks...

United States Penitentiary Terre Haute was built between 1938 and 1940. The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce raised $50,000 to buy the land. The Public Works Administration largely funded the $3,000,000 cost for the facility. It took 125,000 person-days to build the main complex and another 25,000 person-days for the utilities and grounds.

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...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement on the training ship USS Illinois (later USS Prairie State), stationed off 135th Street on the Hudson River. The boat was sold for scrap in 1956. WPA project details: “Alter and rehabilitate U.S. Naval Training Ship "Illinois" at 135th Street and North River, including installing water lines, heating lines, ventilating ducts, and electrical work, replacing toilet and other partitions, tile floors and roofing, painting boat and superstructures” Official Project Number: 765‐97‐2‐8 Total project cost: $63,300.00 Sponsor: Commandant, 3rd Naval District, U.S. Navy

USS Lamson (DD-367), Destroyer, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II, and sank during the atomic tests on Bikini Atoll in 1946. Today, it is popular diving location.

This is an unusual entry. The PWA assisted in the construction of the USS Mohawk, a Coast Guard cutter launched at Wilmington, Delaware. After World War II, the ship was sold to various parties, and served briefly as a museum at Staten Island before being sunk off the coast of Florida in 2012 as an artificial reef. It is now the USS Mohawk CGC Veterans Memorial Reef, a popular diving destination.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement on the training ship USS Newton, stationed in Jersey City, NJ. The boat sank in the Hudson River in 1946, and "her hulk was later sold." WPA project details: "Improve training ship" Official Project Number: 765‐22‐2‐58 Total project cost: $7,446.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Training Ship, U.S.S. Newton, U.S. Navy

The USS Potomac served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945.  FDR was a great yachtsman in his youth and loved being aboard the Potomac, which he used for  political meetings and fishing trips to get away from the White House. The Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Public Works Administration (PWA) assisted with the funding of the construction. It was originally the USCGC Electra, and renamed the USS Potomac in 1936. The Potomac is now preserved in Oakland, California as a National Historic Landmark and is...

U.S.S. Tucker (DD 374), Destroyer, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and was lost in the waters of the Republic of Vanuatu, 1944. The shipwreck is currently turning to reef.

USS Vincennes (CA-44), was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and sunk at the Battle of Savo, 1942.  It was re-discovered by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

The USS Yorktown (CV 5) Aircraft Carrier, commissioned by the U.S. Navy, was built with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The vessel served during World War II and was lost in the Battle of Midway, 1942. Her wreckage was discovered by Robert Ballard in 1998, located in the North Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,300 miles W/NW of Hawaii.

"Uncle Sam's fighting men, stationed at the Army barracks at Vancouver, Wash., will have special cause for celebration next Fourth of July , for the day before is expected to see completion of WPA repairing and general improvement work scheduled to start November 4 , with the aid of $37,631 in WPA funds and labor, it was announced today at the office of Don G. Abel, state Works Progress Administrator. A WPA crew will be busy for eight months replacing foundations, roofs, chimneys, porches, gutters and downspcots, painting, calcimining, plastering and performing incidental work in all parts of the fort, says...

This handsome brick building was constructed by the WPA in 1934 in Centinela Park (otherwise known as Vincent Park). Centinela Park also contains WPA tennis courts.

"Financed by State bond money the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building was located at the SE corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and First Street and constructed during the period 1938-1939 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Much of the interior finish labor was provided by Lafayette American Legion Post 517 and the building was dedicated by Post 517 in mid-1939." The building was used for a variety of purposes over the years, but the veterans function eventually moved to a new building: "Once the new building was complete the veterans moved during the winter of 2005-2006. Once the move was completed...

The Armory, now part of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, was originally constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in 1936. The PWA supplied an $18,000 grant for the then-National Guard armory, whose total cost was $42,544. Primary construction began in January and was completed in December 1936. The project is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including on a historic information board outside the building's entrance. Once it had fulfilled its original purpose the facility served as an auditorium for what was then the nearby Blacksburg High School. Per VT.edu, the Armory was...

The historic Jay Volunteer Fire Department building was, Living New Deal believes, originally one of several similarly designed school buildings built in the area as part of a New Deal project. Their construction was enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA), which provided a $178,140 loan and $56,289 grant, effectively covering the entire $230,491 total project cost. PWA Docket No. NY 2624

The Volunteer Fire Department building in Winnemucca, Nevada, was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1938-39. The building, located on South Bridge St. in central Winnemucca, is still in use today. The structure contains four bays for fire trucks and a residential space upstairs. The stucco facade is a good example of Art Deco style of the 1930s and has been well maintained.  The PWA contributed a grant covering roughly half the cost of the project.

The W.P.A. conducted repair and improvement work on numerous civic facilities in Newton, Massachusetts, including at the former Waban / Lower Falls fire station.

The Works Progress Administration built a new county jail in Jasper, Walker County, circa 1937. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and its successor, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), both engaged in improvement projects at the old Walter Reed General Hospital (as it was then known).  The entire army medical complex, covering around 80 acres, was closed down in 2011 and Walter Reed Army Medical Center  (as it came to be known) moved out to Bethesda MD.    The former site has been repurposed as the Children's National Hospital and a huge mixed commercial and residential development, The Parks at Walter Reed. CWA crews painted buildings, planted trees, and helped build an elevator shaft at the center...

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center began life as the National Naval Medical Center under the New Deal. Congress appropriated the funds in 1937 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt selected the site in Bethesda, Maryland.   Architect Paul Cret designed a magnificent Moderne building with a tower that still delights (though much obscured by subsequent additions to the complex).  Construction began in 1939.  FDR laid the cornerstone of the famous tower on Armistice Day 1940, and the center opened soon thereafter (probably some time in 1941, not 1940 as most sources say). According to the official Center website, "The President’s vision was to...

The New Deal funded a fire station at the corner of 8th and F Streets in Wasco. The city fire department moved to a new building in 1984, however, the adobe, red-roofed building at 8th and F is most likely the original New Deal structure.