- City:
- Boone, NC
- Site Type:
- Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Infrastructure and Utilities, Sidewalks and Stairs
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Description
The Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA) each conducted road repair / improvement projects in Boone, North Carolina. As of June 1939 three miles of streets and sidewalks has been “finished in Boone” by the WPA.
The News and Observer quoted Boone’s mayor, W. H. Gragg:
“We decided to start a project to improve the streets in the residential section, which were in very bad condition. Many of them could not be traveled in winter-time and all very dusty. The project included surfacing one and one-fourth miles, building culverts, grading and building other streets. The work was done speedily and we have a really good job and good streets, which would not have been built had it not been for WPA. After mature thought and talking with a large number of people here, we are highly pleased with this project. WPA officials have been very cooperative in helping a town that needed help.”
Source notes
Emergency Relief in North Carolina. A Record of the Development and the Activities of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, 1932-1935. North Carolina Emergency Relief Commission, State administrator, Mrs. Thomas O'Berry (pp. 531-2): https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/emergencyrelief/emergencyrelief.html (accessed Jun. 22, 2022)
"Boondoggling Boomerangs and Blesses," The News and Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 04, 1939 (pg. 11): https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/651562494/
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on June 22, 2022.
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