Start Year: 1938

Built in 1938 to act as a long-lasting bridge for County Road 31 over the Redwood River. Many other bridges had preceded it near the location, however all were washed away or significantly destroyed in prior storms and floods. The swayback design was to allow water to pass over the top in times of flooding. The bridge still serves its original purpose in the present day, and carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic to and from the Eastern and Western sides of Alexander Ramsey Park.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Thompson Stone Hall in Otsego Park in Tontogany OH. Otsego Park, near Tontogany, Ohio, was a privately owned park with a dance hall and home field of a prominent local baseball team in the early 1930’s. The Wood County Park Commission purchased the property in 1937 and WPA started work on October 10, 1938. Demolition of then-existing structures appears to have been contracted outside WPA. The WPA built the shelter house using stone from West Millgrove and Weston after finding that stone from the Maumee River at the park shattered. Unfortunately, construction appears to...

The Hansen Dam in Los Angeles, CA was constructed in 1938-40 as part of an enormous flood control project in Los Angeles County. Located at the confluence of Big and Little Tujunga washes in the San Fernando Valley’s Lake View Terrace neighborhood, the $11,000,000 project was completed under a contract between the Army Corps of Engineers, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD), and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). $2,300,000 came from the Emergency Relief Agency (ERA). The project was overseen by Lieut. Col. Edwin C. Kelton of the Corps. The project hired WPA workers and contracted the Guy...

Prado Dam outside Corona, CA was constructed between 1938-41 by the Army Corps of Engineers. The dam is located at the confluence of the Santa Ana River, Chico Creek, Cucamonga Creek, and Temescal Wash. Following devastating floods in the Los Angeles Area in the 1930s, initiatives for flood control projects were put forward. Although not in Los Angeles County, one of these project proposals was for Prado Dam, situated in Riverside County near the city of Corona. The Prado Dam project became of extreme importance after a devastating flood on March 3rd, 1938 when the Santa Ana River broke its...

The middle school built in 1982 incorporates the gymnasium and other portions of the Brownstown Junior-Senior High school built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-1940. WPA project superintendents were Earl Mings of Shelbyville, Indiana, until December 1938, followed by Virgil Crockett of Vallonia, Indiana. Mings resigned to take a position with the Public Works Administration in Chicago. Most sources name the WPA as the source of labor and/or grants. One article from a nearby city in the county indicates that the construction grant is from PWA. The cornerstone names only the WPA.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed seven craftsmen to create miniatures of classic American furniture for schools, museums, and libraries. The work was performed in the old Crescent Furniture Factory in Evansville under the supervision of Rheinhard Schmitt. The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (EVPL) has a large collection of the pieces that are rotated through display in the Indiana Room at EVPL Central. The Princeton, Indiana Public Library has some of the miniatures from its own collection on display. The Ball State University Library reportedly also has some of the pieces.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Warsaw Village Swimming Pool in Warsaw NY. The pool has been in continuous use as a public swimming pool since 1939. PWA Project no. N.Y. 1747-F.

In 1938-40, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made substantial improvements to Shoshone Falls Park. They built the road down to the park, paths and steps, and almost surely all the stone walls and handrails along the cliff overlooking the falls. They may have constructed the viewing platform lower down, as well. Shoshone Park came into existence through a donation of land (~300 acres) to the city of Twin Falls by Frederick and Martha Adams in 1932. A plaque on site commenorates that donation. Civic organizations made small improvements to the park from 1933 to 1938, at which time the city announced...

According to the Public Works Administration report “Status of Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects”, the state prison at Thomaston received a grant of $54,000 for improvements. The project was designated X1169, total estimated cost was $120,000, it was approved July 1938, construction began December 1938 and work was completed November 16, 1939 at a cost of $109,424.

The stately historic former post office in Fort Lee, New Jersey was built with Treasury Department funds in 1938-9. The building was home to New Deal artwork as well. The building bore a 1938 cornerstone and was "completed in late June and early July of 1939 at a cost around $47,728." Unfortunately, the building was demolished at the end of 2022 as part of a redevelopment effort by the borough's mayor, which led to the relocation of the post office to a modern civic center as well as the relocation of the artwork. The building had been listed as "one of...