Start Year: 1936

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use. The state parks commission acquired the land in 1933, but had no funds for development.  The CCC worked in the park from 1933 to 1941, but the sources do not always specify exact dates for each improvement.  Probably the most impressive structure built by the CCC enrollees is the road bridge across the Big Sur river to Weyland campground. It consists of two huge stone piers and a deck of redwood logs supported by steel cables....

Richard R. Lyman was a civil engineer and the vice-chairman of the Utah State Road Commission from 1908-1919. During the 1930s he was a member of an American Society of Civil Engineers commission that developed a grid system for street numbering to make it possible for any traveler to find an address in any city without the help of a map. In June 1936, Salt Lake County adopted the "Lyman System" of designating street names. Instead of the then-current system of designating a street with a name such as "Thirty-third South," the new signs bore the inscription "3300 S". The work...

In 1937, artist Peter David Edstrom made a stone sculpture of Florence Nightingale for Lincoln Park in Los Angeles, CA. The park is located a block away from the county hospital. Nightingale is depicted in a nurse's dress and hat. Her hands—which were broken and badly reformed—hold a candle. A matching statue by Edstrom is located at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, CA.

The US Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay at the end of the Samoa Peninsula across from Eureka, Calif0rnia was built in 1936-37 as a federal military project, with the aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its relief workforce. (HABS, p. 17) The structure replaced a considerably smaller station built in 1878, known as the Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station. This was part of a nationwide effort to upgrade Coast Guard facilities during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt (as ardent sailor and Undersecretary of the Navy in the early 1920s). (The Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service had been merged to...

In December 1936, the Los Angeles Public Library opened an outdoor reading room in the heart of the city. Located in Pershing Square, the reading room was staffed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. The library circulated 24,000 books in its first six months of operation. The 1939 WPA guide to Los Angeles alludes to the Pershing Square Reading Room: "The character of the city is also reflected in the facilities for open-air living. Angelenos...patronize outdoor libraries—'parasol stations'—three of which are maintained by the Public Library in downtown plazas and parks" (Kipen, p. 8). The WPA assigned over one hundred men and...

Gardner Commons is a low income housing apartment subsidized by the federal governments HUD (Housing and Urban Development Division) that utilizes the former Bucksport High School/Jr High, a PWA project. The Bangor Daily News reported in 2009 that $250,000 was spent to convert the Junior High school building into elderly apartments. It's located at 67 Elm St. A June 8, 1936 article in the Bangor Daily News reported that Bucksport was considering voting on a $25,000 gift for a new High School combined with the issue of bonds worth at least $26,500 to sell to the Federal Emergency administration. A June 11...

As noted on the sign for the Northern Great Basin Experimental Range today, the research station was "established in 1936, (and) dedicated to research on the ecology and management of rangelands." At its inception, the research facility was known as the Squaw Butte Federal Range Experiment Station. The project was a joint effort of the Grazing Service of the Department of Interior and researchers from Oregon State University to address issues of range and livestock management. The federal Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 had brought Western public domain lands together in an effort to stabilize the livestock industry and improve range...

The Works Progress Administration built the Shorewood River Club in Shorewood WI. It was originally built to hold community events, and today it serves the same function. WPA crews also graded the land, built pathways and a spring-fed pool and fountain.  According to one history, "Hubbard Park saw a lull in activity until the 1930s when Shorewood secured about $2,650,000 for public works projects in the village, primarily through the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) intended to work the country out of depression." "This is when Hubbard Park Lodge was built, as a cabin for boy and girl scouts. There was also a...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Hubbard Park Lodge in Shorewood WI. the structure was built for use by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. WPA crews also graded the land, built pathways and a spring-fed pool and fountain.  The records indicate that two buildings in Hubbard Park in Shorewood, WI, were built by the WPA in 1936: Hubbard Park Lodge (originally called Scout Craft Cabin) and Shorewood River Club (originally called Hubbard Park Community Lodge). The two venues, at present, are under the same management. According to one history, "Hubbard Park saw a lull in activity until the 1930s when Shorewood secured...

Built in 1936-37, occupied for school use on September 7, 1937. In 1875, the school district built a wood frame schoolhouse near the center of town. In 1903, the board built a masonry building to replace the frame school. In 1935, a fire destroyed the school. The building was insured for $35,000, but the estimated loss was $100.000. The new school served the entire township, since Indiana officials had been encouraging public school consolidation since the 1890s. Public Works Administration awarded a grant for $57, 348 to fill the gap. Additionally, the town sold bonds to fund the school. The...