- City:
- St. Paul, MN
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Fairgrounds
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1935
- Completed:
- 1940
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The WPA built several structures for the Minnesota State Fair from 1935-1940, including the art deco Horticulture building, the horse barn and decorative friezes, the sheep and poultry barn, the swine barn, the commissary building and the 4-H building.
From a 2011 Finance & Commerce article: “If the Fair had a great architectural era, said [Steve] Granger [the State Fair archivist], it would have been the years before and during World War II, when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed some of the most beloved Art Deco-influenced buildings, among them the Horse Barn, 4-H, Sheep & Poultry, Swine and Commissary.”
Source notes
Cathy Wurzer and Jeffrey Thompson, "Architecture at the Minnesota State Fair," Minnesota Public Radio, August 25, 2010, accessed July 11, 2015. Minnesota State Fair website Frank Jossi, “Real estate on a stick: Our property guide to the Minnesota State Fair,” Finance & Commerce, August 25, 2011, accessed July 11, 2015.Site originally submitted by Brent McKee - wpatoday.org on May 16, 2015.
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