Start Year: 1936

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt allotted $2,000,000 in emergency rural rehabilitation funds to the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs (OIA). Out of this sum, OIA sent $32,000 (about $607,000 in 2020 dollars) to the Swinomish Indian Reservation for an 18-house homestead community. The community was completed in the late summer of 1936 and helped relocate families away from nearby (and less stable) floating houses. The cluster of homes still exists today and is known as the “Swinomish Model Village.” In a special 1936 edition of Indians at Work (a publication of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs), Martin J. Sampson,...

A Public Works Administration grant helped fund the construction of Mount Greenwood Elementary School at 108th Street and South Homan Avenue in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood. The new school was designed by Board of Education architect John Charles Christensen. The two-story, brick structure included fifteen classrooms, a gymnasium, and an assembly hall. The architectural style of the building, characterized by a low horizontal profile, wide window openings, and geometric brickwork patterns, is similar to that of many other neighborhood schools designed by Christensen during the 1930s. Construction work on the new school began in March 1936 and was completed in...

The Clark Creek Organization Camp is a group campground constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps with the US Forest Service in the late 1930s. As noted on the onsite commemorative plaque: "Clark Creek Organization Camp was built by Company 965 of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 and 1937. Company 965 was organized in 1933 and located about ten miles west on Fall Creek. One of only four organizaiton camps in the Pacific Northwest, Clark Creek was designed by William Parke, Forest Service Recreation planner, in the "Rustic Design" them of CCC era architecture." The National Association of CCC Alumni, Chapter...

A Public Works Administration grant helped fund the construction of an addition to O’Keeffe Elementary School at 70th Street and South Merrill Avenue in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. The two-story, nearly 10,000-square-foot addition was designed by Board of Education architect John Charles Christensen and provided eight new classrooms. The architectural style of the new addition was patterned after that of the existing school building and formed a short wing at the northern end of the original school building, which opened in 1925. Construction work on the addition began in April 1936 and was completed in time for the start of...

1 of 26 bridges that were rebuilt by the New Deal following a 500 year flood in March 1936. The bridge is a Concrete slab structure over the West Branch of the Cousins River. From the design of the guard rails, it looks as if the New Deal bridge was replaced recently. The abutments however look to be of an older design utilizing cut granite, possibly from 1917 when the state replaced an "extremely dangerous" bridge. According to a 2004 Maine DOT Historic Bridge Survey, Phase II Final Report & Historic Context, the "March 1936 flood was one of the most...

Currently serving as the National Park Service's administrative office for the Fort Vancouver - McLoughlin House Unit, the Dr. Forbes Barclay House shares more than proximity with its better-known neighbor (the McLoughlin House). The two structures not only housed important figures of the Hudson Bay Company, who then retired to Oregon City and contributed to the development of the town, their preservation and restoration are linked in several efforts of the New Deal era as well. Built in 1849, the Barclay House is one of Oregon's oldest examples of Classical Revival architecture. As such, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) funded local...

The Public Works Administration project 1408 provided a grant of $20,250 for disposal plant for the city of Corinth. The project was approved 10/2/1936, construction started 1/18/1937, and was completed 6/12/1937 for a total cost of $46,505. WPA provided an additional $1,104 for a sludge bed and grading on site in September 1937 following the June completion of the sewage plant. The Corinth treatment plant was abandoned when the city built a new one in 1972.

One of the 26 bridges in Maine that were destroyed or damaged by the 1936 flood and rebuilt by the US Works Program Flood Relief projects and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, US Dept. of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936. In some cases, labor was provided by the Works Progress Administration. Work was completed in 1937 By Builder/Contractor: Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania The bridge is a metal 8 Panel Rivet-Connected Polygonal Warren Through Truss. Length is 723 feet. Formerly known as the South Bridge, it was re-named for Lewiston son...

Somesville Bridge is a 340 ft long 5 span continuous steel girder bridge that spans the northerly branch of the Saco River between the cities of Saco and Biddeford in York County. This was one of 26 bridges that were badly damaged or destroyed by the 1936 flood. A state highway commission report notes that the reconstruction of these bridges were U.S. Works Program Flood Relief projects and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936 and the Somesville Bridge was completed in 1937 utilizing...

One of the 26 bridges that were destroyed or damaged by the 1936 flood. A Maine Highway report notes that the reconstruction of these bridges was a U.S. Works Program Flood Relief project and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936. Labor was provided on some by the Works Progress Administration. Before the flood, the Bullseye bridge was a wooden covered bridge that was noted for its circular windows which is where it got its name. The 1936 town report notes in the forward that...