- City:
- Westport, MN
- Site Type:
- Education and Health, Schools
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Works Progress Administration built the Westport School in Westport MN.
The structure has a simple, Moderne exterior. Most windows have since been bricked up.
Minnesota Historical Society has a photo from initial construction [2056-A (Negative Number)] from the Works Progress Administration Collection. That collection “provides numerous views of WPA projects around the state of Minnesota” along with very old photographs (clearly not the case for the relevant imafge here).
The town peaked in population in 1940 (104) and since declined to half that amount by 2010, with its post office shutting down in 1966.
Source notes
An intern for my organization, Docomomo US MN (state chapter of an international non-profit dedicated to documenting and preserving modernism), spotted the building on a recon drive last summer. I've been catching up with the photos and this building was striking for both being from the pre-WW2 era but also mostly unknown.
Minnesota Historical Society: (https://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display?irn=10822791), accessed December 2020.
Here's his photo from 7/28/2020 (we are going to add it to our own MN Modern Registry Map later today):
https://i.imgur.com/XVgxMZf.jpg (by Aaron J. Person)
Site originally submitted by Bobak Ha'Eri on December 27, 2020.
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