Military and Public Safety Sites

Washakie County's Courthouse and Jail in Worland, Wyoming was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration funds (PWA Docket No. WY 1006-D). The PWA contributed $51,750 in grant money for the $129,657 project. Construction began November 14, 1936 and the building was completed Nov. 4, 1937. The building was designed by J. G. Link of Billings.

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;...

The Works Progress Administration built the Washita County Jail in Cordell OK. Contributor note: "The former Washita County Jail is a one and two-story stucco building constructed as a WPA project in 1940 with an appropriation of $21,000. The two-story center section has a four-step staircase with masonry sidewalls, leading to a single metal door. Windows are metal casement. To the east and west are one-story stucco wings, with metal framed windows covered with metal bars. A bronze WPA shield is mounted to the right of the door. The building is currently painted a light cream with rust-colored trim. The window framing and...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers constructed a water-storage hole for fire-fighting protection purposes, with respect 25 farms in outlying Billerica, Mass.

The W.P.A. conducted extensive improvement and development projects at the former Watertown Arsenal. Project details: "Rehabilitate and make general improvements to buildings, utilities, facilities, and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐363 Total project cost: $641,063.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Watertown Arsenal, U.S. Army "Make general repairs and improvements to buildings and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐24‐2005 Total project cost: $107,860.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer and Board of Selection "Construct additions to buildings at Watertown Arsenal" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐263 Total project cost: $67,884.00 Sponsor: War Department "Construct additions to existing buildings, rehabilitate and modernize buildings, utilities, and facilities, and improve grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐265 Total project cost: $111,100.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Watertown Arsenal, U.S. Army "Recondition...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted defense improvement work at the Watervliet Arsenal during the 1930s.

The historic Waynesboro Armory "was built in 1938, and is a one-story, "I"-plan brick building in the Moderne style. It consists of three sections: administration building, drill hall, and stable. Its construction was funded in part by the Public Works Administration." The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $30,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was $93,485. PWA Docket No. 1821.

"The Webster Hose, Hook and Ladder Company No. 3 is a unit of the fire department of Ansonia. Its new building is located in a residential area of the city. The first floor houses the apparatus and the second floor a recreation room, cardroom, and lounge. The building is two stories and a basement in height, 36 by 46 feet in plan, and is built of red brick with limestone trim and wood floor construction. It was completed in May 1937 at a construction cost of $25,830 and a project cost of $29,780."

The WPA provided assistance in repairing and otherwise improving the Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The building is no longer extant. "The (22nd) Twenty-Second Regiment / 14th Street Armory (1863) building was replaced with the (9th) Ninth Regiment / West 14th Street Armory (1894-1896) building, which was later replaced by (42nd) Forty-Second Division / West 14th Street Armory (1971) building, which in turn was replaced by a mix use structure, all on the same site." (Wikipedia)

The West End Fire Station, West End Fire Company #3, was built in 1937 with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding. The building is currently used as a fire station museum.

"The Old West Palm Beach National Guard Armory (also known as the Palm Beach County Armory) is a historic site in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It is located at 1703 South Lake Avenue. On June 11, 1992, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Armory building was constructed in 1939 in Art Deco style by architect William Manley King with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds. It was occupied by the National Guard Armory from 1939-1982."

This structure was built by the PWA in 1934-5 as the Post Exchange and Utility Building. It now houses the Academy's Directorate of Public Works. A 1939 PWA publication described the building as follows: "This structure is one of several provided for the Military Academy by the Quartermaster Corps of the Army with P.W.A. allotments. It is 291 by 137 feet in over-all dimensions and four stories in height. It contains the post exchange, a commissary department, five offices, a file room; and six storage, receiving, and issuing rooms. The foundations, columns, and floors are concrete, exterior walls above grade are...

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor worked to develop what is now Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, then Westfield Air Base. Project details: "Make improvements at airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐14‐237 Total project cost: $1,178,513.00 Sponsor: Mayor, City of Westfield "Improve field by clearing, grubbing, and landscaping" Official Project Number: 265‐3‐14‐78 Total project cost: $1,140,506.00 Sponsor: War Department, Corps of Engineers, District Engineer, Providence

"President Roosevelt signed a $750,000 Works Progress Administration (WPA) project bill for the air base's construction in November 1939. Fourteen hundred WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers cleared the land, and actual construction was started in February 1940." W.P.A. project information: "Construct and improve facilities and grounds" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐23 Total project cost: $4,197,055.00 Sponsor: War Department, District Engineer, Corps of Engineers "Construct telephone system" Official Project Number: 165‐3‐14‐340 Total project cost: $98,526.00 Sponsor: Commanding General, 1st Corps Area, U.S. Army "Construct and improve facilities and grounds" Official Project Number: 65‐3‐14‐715 Total project cost: $1,497,384.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Northeast Air Base, Constructing Quartermaster, Westover Field, U.S. Army

The historic former police station for Weymouth, Massachusetts—now the Weymouth Teen Center—was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1936. The building housed law enforcement operations until 1996. The PWA provided a $12,735 grant for the project, whose total cost was $38,769. PWA Docket No. MA W1236

WPA crews built the Wheeler Street fire hall in Tonawanda in 1938 for Niagara Hose Company #3.

The Work Projects Administration worked to "improve and alter" the old U.S. Army Building, located at 39 Whitehall Street, during the early 1940s. The building was demolished in 1983.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on the grounds of the Whittier State School for Boys (renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in 1941). "The March 11, 1889 Act of the California Legislature authorized the establishment of a school for juvenile offenders. Dedication and laying of cornerstone was done by Governor R. W. Waterman on February 12, 1890. Officially opened as 'Whittier State School' for boys and girls on July 1, 1891. Girls were transferred in 1916 and only boys were in residence from then until the school's closure in 2004. Renamed 'Fred C. Nelles School for...

The WPA was involved in construction work in Wildcat Canyon. "State of California, National Guard - Construct new rifle range on Wildcat Canyon in Contra Costa County, near Berkeley, by excavating; clearing and grading site; surfacing roads; erecting pit timbers, target frames and rifle racks; constructing superintendent's house; reconstructing buildings; fencing; and performing appurtenant and incidental work. Project also includes dismantling existing rifle range at Leona Heights in Alameda County, near Oakland and moving to new location. Project will operate on East Bay Municipal Utility District owned property under lease to the State of California until 1947. In addition to projects...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the former Windsor County Jail in Woodstock. The structure was finished in 1936 and it contains the courthouse, cell blocks, and the living quarters of the sheriff. The architect of record was Charles H Crandall of Randolph, Vermont. Docket No. Vt. 1024-R.

The city of Tupelo abandoned the old city jail following the 1936 tornado. The National Youth Administration remodeled the building the following year and established a woodworking and auto body shop for students in the building. It was destroyed by July, 2008.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted extensive improvement work at the former Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins, Wyoming. Located along W Walnut Street, it now houses a museum.

In 1939-1940, the City of Yuma secured New Deal funding through the National Youth Administration to put unemployed youth to work. The City of Yuma ran the former Yuma Territorial Prison as a museum from 1940-1961.