The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of this magnificent city hall in Lindsay CA in 1936. The building style is Mission Revival, designed by local architect Fred L. Schwartz. It has been little altered and stands today as a… read more
As part of the New Deal reconstruction of Mission La Purisima, Helen Seegert created a concrete fountain at the east end of the complex in 1936. It was paid for by the Federal Arts Project (FAP) of the Works Progress… read more
Taft Union High School’s main building was constructed with federal help under the New Deal. It is an elegant Art Moderne (Art Deco) facility with lovely decorative elements, particularly the colored bas-reliefs (probably terra cotta). The original Taft Union HS… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed to the $20,000 Putah Creek Dam project in Winters between 1936 and 1938. The dam has since been removed and the natural floodplain restored.
The Tilden Park golf course was constructed by the the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) with aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) relief labor in 1936-37. WPA workers first uprooted 20,000 eucalyptus from former plantations of the… read more
Although initial applications for WPA help were rejected in 1935, this WPA project replaced the old Mariposa High School in 1937. A page from the 1937 yearbook described the new school: “Our move into the new school has been a… read more
Anthony Chabot Elementary School was originally built as the Claremont Annex School in 1927, but it was renamed in 1930 for Anthony Chabot, an early settler in Oakland who built the first city water works by damming nearby Temescal Creek…. read more
Kagel Canyon is a “populated place” located within the boundaries of Angeles National Forest. In 1934, the Canyon acquired the land for Dexter Park. Between 1936 and 1939, the WPA helped install a water system in the canyon including two… read more
The Prairie Creek Fish Hatchery near Orick was one of the first local hatcheries developed in California to improve sport and commercial fishing. It was constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) on the 62-acre site of a… read more
The “mural by A. Katherine Skeele (Dann) entitled “Home Life in Old Taos” was originally in the school library. In the mid 1970s it was cleaned and restored and moved to the PWA auditorium of Torrance High School. It was… read more