- City:
- Wilmington, DE
- Site Type:
- Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Civil Works Administration (CWA), Work Relief Programs
- Completed:
- 1934
Description
Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along a road connecting Richardson Park to Wilmington. Living New Deal believes this to be what is now known as Delaware Route 4. Wikipedia notes that this “originally a county road that was paved in the 1930s.”
According to Delaware’s Annual Report of the Chief Engineer State Highway Department, 1934:
The work was carried on throughout the State, and consisted largely of clearing and grubbing, ditching, grading, sodding, construction of sidewalks, building of masonry culverts and bridges and the re pairing of dikes along the banks of the Delaware and Christian Rivers.
An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of these efforts.
Source notes
Annual Report of the Chief Engineer State Highway Department, 1934 (pg. 43-53): https://www.deldot.gov/archaeology/historic_pres/annual_reports/pdf/1934/annual_1934_chief.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Route_4Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on June 5, 2016.
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