Start Year: 1937

The Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BTP) is a massive water storage and transfer project for agriculture, cities and power generation. It involves dams and reservoirs on the west side of the Rocky Mountains' Front Range to collect water from the upper Colorado River system; a tunnel through the mountains under Rocky Mountain National Park; and a series of storage reservoirs, power plants and distribution aqueducts on the eastern side of the Rockies. The project extends over a large area of Grand, Larimer, and Weld counties, and portions of four others.  The C-BTP was built and is still managed by the US Bureau of...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant of $49,090 for a new high school for the town of Idaho Springs, Colorado. Total cost of the school, which was constructed in 1937,  was $109,885. The school is a 2-story brick Moderne building, with two wings and distinctive horizontal window lines on the central portion of the building.  Near the entrance are glass bricks of the kind popular in the late 1930s and 1940s. The cornerstone gives no information on who built the school, just the name and date.  A cornerstone from a previous high school is laid against the wall below the...

The Geneva High School Vocational and Home Economics Building was the first building built at Geneva High School during the 1937-1938 school year. The City of Geneva purchased the land from P.C. Black, Jim Johnson, Jr., and D.H. Morris. The building was built by the Works Progress Administration. Today the building is still used as History and Fine Arts classrooms.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) lent Grand County $33,750 to help build a new county courthouse in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, in 1937-38—now the Grant County Administration Building. The project's total cost was $75,733. (PWA Docket No. CO 1060-R.) The Grand County Courthouse, designed by Robert Fuller, is a good example of the Classical Moderne style popular at the time. The exterior of the two-story structure is clad in yellow brick. The central section is slightly elevated and projected forward, with suggestions of flanking columns, and the two wings have four rows of windows. An annex was added to the courthouse in...

The stately Ransom County Courthouse in Lisbon, North Dakota was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project (though it is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA). The PWA supplied a $49,090 grant for the project, whose total cost was $109,220. Primary construction occurred between Dec. 1937 and Nov. 1938. This "project, along with a construction boom helped lift the county out of depression." PWA Docket No. N.D. 1050-R

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided financial support for the revamping of the "power plant and heating systems" of what was then known as Appalachian State Teachers College in Boone, North Carolina. The PWA provided a grant of $14,178 for the project, whose total cost was $33,860. Work occurred between Dec. 1937 and Jun. 1938. Per The Charlotte Observer, the contract for the work was awarded to Bagwell Plumbing and Heating of Durham. Living New Deal believes the (most likely-demolished) facility to be located at the south end of campus, on University Drive, by what is now the site of the...

CCC Camp Four Mile, also known as the CCC Bandon Side Camp, served as a base for Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers from its founding in spring 1937 through 1941. Today the site is occupied by a Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) patrol district, and a CCC building houses the administration office for the CFPA's Four Mile Guard Station. Thus, it continues its association with firefighting and fire prevention services for the area south of Bandon, Oregon. CCC Camp Four Mile offers one example of many "side camps" that provided firefighting services in the Coos Forest Protection Association District. During the...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) began to pursue improvements at San Jose’s St. James Park in 1937. While the two-square block city park had long been central to public and political life in the city, project leaders hoped that the New Deal initiative would make it “more attractive than ever.” Specific improvements such as “revamping” the park’s landscape and constructing an underground sprinkler system were estimated to cost $35,000. Another $150,000 were initially penciled in for the construction of new facilities and more general improvements in and around the park, but only restrooms were built. It appears.   An historical evaluation of...

Panorama of Military History - Painted by T.L. Johnson and funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Covering the south wall is a tremendous mural, in brilliant colors, which features a panorama of military history. The drawing covers an area of 2450 square feet. It measures 70ft. in length, and 35ft. in height. The mural pictures 20 great historical battles most decisive and important in charting the course of civilization. Both the military dress and weapons portrayed are authentic. It includes famous military leaders in these engagements and in other brilliant campaigns. The arms history begins with the bow and arrow...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted substantial improvement work at the Ten Sleep Fish Hatchery in 1937. "The collaborative project got underway in May 1937 after an appropriation of $16,000 was approved. The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission supplied the materials while the WPA paid for the labor. Most of the construction was completed during the summer of 1937. After an additional appropriation was granted in November, work remaining on the residence was completed. The hatchery would be the largest and most complete hatchery in the state at the time. It was officially designated as the Ten Sleep State Fish Hatchery of...