A 1937 municipal report describes the usefulness of WPA projects to the city: “We have had several employed on W.P.A. projects in nearby towns which has been much help to all. As we locally can not furnish from our relief… read more
Town reports from 1936, 1937, & 1938 mention minor W.P.A. work relief efforts in the small town of 400 people. A WPA Blister Rust control program employed 10 people in 1936 and 4 people in 1937. The WPA spent $41.00… read more
“A special town meeting in 1933 was devoted mainly to motions aimed at making applications for public-works projects to the State Civilian Works Administration (CWA), a Depression-inspired program to find work for the unemployed… Women were urged to file with… read more
From 1938 to 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) operated a sewing project in Hillsborough, NH, to making clothing for the needy while providing work for the unemployed.
The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) commissioned, constructed, and cut the historic World War Memorial at Draper Memorial Park in Milford, Mass. It was dedicated Nov. 11, 1939.
The Art Deco auditorium, also known as Memorial Hall, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and and dedicated on September 30, 1937. The structure has been used for community events and also houses city and police offices, the… read more
The World War Memorial Building was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Construction largely occurred during 1935 though the building was completed in 1936. The PWA provided a grant of $33,086 for the building’s construction,… read more
The World War Memorial Building, which houses the Alabama Department of Archives and History, “was completed in 1940 with the aid of WPA funds”. The Greek Revival-style building, designed by Warren, Knight, and Davis of Birmingham, is still in service.
By the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated president in 1933, the United States was suffering the worst economic collapse in its history. In order to stimulate the economy and lessen unemployment, Roosevelt started the Public Works Administration (PWA) and,… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a “seventy-five-acre parking field … for the city north of the World’s Fair grounds.” 1,950 men worked on the parking lot project, which occupied land north of Roosevelt Ave. The site was on what is now the parking lot… read more
On June 19, 1939, the Department of Parks announced the opening of two playgrounds in Flushing Meadows Park, one along the Grand Central Parkway, just south of Horace Harding Boulevard. This is most likely what is now known as the… read more
One of two buildings constructed by the WPA in the African American community of Oak Grove, the gymnasium is “…an example of a simple but handsomely balanced design which reveals the skill of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers” (Story,… read more
This collection of WPA art is now housed in the Octavia Fellin Public Library in Gallup, New Mexico The collection consists of 29 listed items including furniture, oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, etchings and sculpture. All items were obtained from the… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) operated a “bathing beach,” including swimming instruction classes, at the southeast corner of Mirror Lake in Browns Mills, New Jersey.
WPA bridge in rural Oklahoma. “This bridge represents hundreds of similar bridges throughout Oklahoma, spanning the many creeks that meander throughout the countryside. This bridge is 5 miles south of Garber in Garfield County. It is just north of County… read more
“This is one of the non-descript WPA-constructed bridges throughout Oklahoma that are a surprise to find. Driving north on Broadway from Edmond, you cross Waterloo Road which is the boundary between Oklahoma and Logan Counties… On the southeast side of… read more
The Works Progress Administration was a Federal program during the Great Depression designed to provide jobs and make public improvements. A concrete bridge south of Ashbury St between the Middlesboro Intermediate School and 17th Street has the inscription “W.P.A. 1938.”
Carrollton, Georgie’s historic City Gym building, now known as WPA Center, is a stone building located at the corner of North Cliff and Chandler Streets, overlooking Park (US 27). The building was constructed with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor in… read more
This prominently displayed 1940 WPA marker stands in the grass at the edge of a small park in Alma, and most likely refers to WPA construction of the park itself. It does also border the town’s high school, and could… read more
The building was originally constructed as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) District Offices In Tallahassee, the WPA or PWA funded numerous civic projects, including the Leon County Jail, Leon High School, the Leon County Health Unit, the Leon County Armory,… read more
The Bandon Fire, which burned the majority of the town on September 26, 1936, displaced a number of the city’s residents from their destroyed houses. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) promptly responded to a request for emergency housing by using… read more
“On Mackinac Island, several WPA engravers created incredibly detailed, two-sided oak signs showing scenes of the island’s heritage.” Hand-carved, many were created for placement outside the island’s historic buildings. After decades of decay, Carpenter Dale Gensman rescued seven signs from disposal… read more
“The WPA worked at malaria prevention … [A] swampy mosquito breeding area near the center of Southington, Connecticut … was converted to a free-flowing canal by the WPA.”
Behind the Rio Medina Store in Rio Medina, Texas is a wooden Works Progress Administration (WPA) outhouse. The base of the structure is marked.
This Works Progress Administration outhouse was relocated to the county historical society property. It was built in a shop, moved to the original site, and installed by WPA. WPA programs like the Indiana Community Sanitation Program directly affected an astounding… read more
The Works Progress Administration improved and managed the oyster dredge in Apalachicola FL.
The Work Projects Administration constructed a bridge over Long Creek outside Alpena, Arkansas, on what is known as WPA Road, in 1942.
The WPA allocated $6,105 toward street improvements for the town of Dutton, Montana in August 1938.
The WPA allocated $29,514 toward street improvements for Laurel, Montana in August 1938.
The WPA allocated $10,807 for the improvement of “roads and alleys” in Miles City, MT in July 1938.
The WPA allocated $8,891 for the improvement of “roads and alleys” in Red Lodge, MT in July 1938.
The WPA allocated $3,830 for the improvement of “streets, alleys, and sidewalks” in Valier, MT during July 1938.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a school, a wall, and other annex facilities in Cache OK. Contributor note: “Originally, this 1938 WPA Project included not only the remaining wall, but a Home Ec building, Tennis courts, a School, and… read more
“An old school building in the northern Idaho town of Worley is slated for demolition, but a newly formed historical society is scrambling to have the structure saved. Catherine Morris told the Coeur d’Alene Press the Worley Historical Society formed… read more
The WPA sewing room project at the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Washington, DC was located at the southwest corner of C Street NW and John Marshall Place (John Marshall Place no longer seems to exist, but most likely ran north… read more
The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on Baldwin Avenue in front of Komoda Store and Bakery.
The curb and gutter in front of the PWA former William Travis Elementary School still have a WPA concrete stamp.
The WPA built the sidewalks and gutters along 41st Street between Broadway and Telegraph in North Oakland.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks all over the city of Oakland, including here at 51st Avenue and East 12th Street. Two sidewalk stamps at this location, one in the street next to the curb and one on the… read more
The WPA built the sidewalk in front of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland in North Oakland.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built long stretches of sidewalk, as well as curbs, gutters and driveway aprons along 62nd Avenue in East Oakland near Mills College.
This WPA sidewalk stamp is in the gutter at the southwest corner of Clay and 9th Streets.
A Works Progress Administration (WPA) allotment of $118,232 was approved in July 1939 for street improvements and additional sidewalks and gutter construction. A large sidewalk was constructed to access the Weatherford Municipal Power and Light plant, completed in 1940. The… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed several sidewalks in Albany CA, which can be identified by distinctive WPA ‘sidewalk stamps’. Such markers were commonly impressed into wet concrete to show the name of sidewalk contractors in the first half of… read more
Sayville’s Suffolk County News reported in 1936: “The men of the WPA are at work laying a cement sidewalk along the north side of Merrick road** [in Bayport, N.Y.] between Sylvan and Snedecor avenues. This is a much needed improvement,… read more
A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 states: “a project scheduled to begin December 20 calls for construction of sidewalks and curbs along public thoroughfares throughout the city. A WPA allotment of $9,049 augmented by $5,952 in city funds will… read more
This WPA stamp in Broadmoor, a small region within Daly City, shows that the WPA worked on sidewalks in the area in 1940.
The WPA worked extensively on curbs, gutters and sidewalks in Davis. "SERA also denied (for being a piecemeal approach that wouldnt improve drainage) the citys application for installing widely-scattered curbs & gutters, although the WPA in 1937 approved $26,000 for… read more
The concrete sidewalks that surround and lead up to the historic Denton County Courthouse are considered to be contributing structures in this historic district, and they were built by the Works Progress Administration between 1934 and 1935. The registration form… read more
Sayville’s Suffolk County News reported that the construction of “approximately two miles of sidewalks at East Moriches,” New York, was a town-sponsored WPA project. The Federal government was expected to contribute about $18,000 toward the project. The project included sidewalk… read more