Elementary School (former) Improvements – Santa Marguerita CA

City:
Santa Marguerita, CA

Site Type:
Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Education and Health, Infrastructure and Utilities, Schools

New Deal Agencies:
Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs

Started:
1936

Completed:
1939

Quality of Information:
Minimal

Marked:
No

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to Santa Marguerita Elementary School – then part of the Park Hill School District and now in the Atascadero Unified School District.  Only traces of the WPA work remain at the site.

The work included repairing brick chimneys, moving a garage, and repairing school desks. The main improvements were to the site:  build a concrete retaining wall & backfill, level the ground around ‘the teacherage’ (school building?), and grade and level the playground, as well as build and repair play equipment.

WPA project cards in the National Archives show that this work was originally approved in March 1936 for $1,093, then reapproved  in April 1936 (with detailed specs) but downsized to $463.   It was signed off on in 1939, which presumably means the work was only completed in that year.

WPA project cards are only indicative; they show which projects were planned, funded and approved by President Franklin Roosevelt, but they do not guarantee that the work was done, since the WPA usually proposed more projects than it could carry out. The fact that this card was signed off on is strong evidence the work was done.

In addition, traces of stone walls and leveling of the play field are still there, even though the school building has been replaced in recent years.

Source notes

WPA Project cards #1041-323 and #1041-383 for San Luis Obispo county (see photo)

Site originally submitted by Richard A Walker on April 26, 2021.

Location Info


22070 H Street
Santa Margarita, CA 93453
San Luis Obispo County

Coordinates: 35.393813, -120.6018

Site Details

Federal Cost
$463

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