Start Year: 1938

East Potomac Park rests on an artificial peninsula created with dredge spoils from the Potomac River by the Corps of Engineers.  The park opened to the public in 1912 and was largely developed in the 1920s. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) both made improvements in East Potomac Park.  CCC work at the park featured the construction of twelve tennis courts surrounded by a 10-foot chain link fence. A HABS report provides the details: "The CCC constructed the tennis courts, and by extension the chain link fence, between 1938 and 1942.  Fieldwork conducted in 2004 found an extant, though...

The Grand Rapids Public Museum was built by the Works Progress Administration and opened in 1940. The corner stone bears the date of 1938. The Art Deco Structure at 54 Jefferson was designed by Grand Rapids architect Roger Allen. The structure now houses the Museum as integral part of the Community Archives and Research Center. "The exterior is faced on the south and west sides with broad and smooth surfaced limestone above a base of polished black granite. The main entrance has paired projecting bays on either side of the symmetrically balanced façade. There are two glass display units framed by the polished black...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a community hall, 1938-40, for use by farm families relocated from the Dust Bowl to a Resettlement Community in Fruita and Loma, Colorado. It is a tall, single-story, wood frame building, with plank siding painted white.  The high-ceiling interior is fitted out with hardwood floors, a basketball court, a stage and riser seating. Two ticket windows flank the entrance.  The basement has a full kitchen, which was used by WPA service workers to make hot lunches for the nearby elementary school. We have no corroborating evidence that the elementary school was built by the WPA, despite...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a small museum for the town of Fruita, Colorado, in 1938-39. It is constructed in rustic style using large stones and timber gathered from the surrounding area. The building housed the Fruita Times in 1945 to 1948, then served as the Fruita Library from 1948 to 1996.  It is now home to the town's Chamber of Commerce. The Fruita Museum building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

"A 1938 project supported by the school district, town leaders and a PWA grant resulted in a building used for school and sports functions as well as an auditorium for public gatherings. It is the largest auditorium in the San Luis Valley that continues to serve in the same capacity for which it was built. It is the only Monte Vista example of the work of prominent architect Charles E. Thomas incorporating Mission, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Romanesque elements. The PWA grant provided 45 percent of the building’s cost and WPA workers were involved in some aspects of the project."

What is now the High School of Fashion Industries began in the 1920s as a vocational program in a garment center loft on West 31 Street. It was intended to train a work force for New York's large garment industry, and most early students were first or second generation immigrants. In 1938, the WPA helped build a new campus for the what was then called the Central High School of Needle Trades. The school was completed in 1941. The school's current website explains that "It’s curriculum was almost entirely vocational, stressing sewing, machine work, and fashion design. It had many ties...

"Nichols Park is a municipal park developed between 1938 and 1941 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the National Park Service (NPS). The park is located two miles south of downtown Henryetta in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma... Beginning in October 1938, the CCC constructed a handful of buildings, as well as a number of smaller resources including culverts, picnic tables, water faucets and fire pits in the park. With the 1910 dam on the west side, the CCC concentrated their construction efforts on the long sides of the lake with development occurring on nearly opposite sides of the lake... The...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a new county courthouse for Ada County, Idaho, located near the state capitol building in Boise.  The building went up in 1938-39. The building's Moderne design is by prominent local architectural firms of Tourtellotte & Hummel and Wayland & Fennell.  The 9 story, reinforced concrete structure has three levels: a wide and deep 4-story base topped by a massive 5-story square tower, itself capped by a smaller tower.  The exterior is clad in white Indiana limestone.  It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The building originally housed courtrooms,...

The historic post office in Vinita, Oklahoma was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses New Deal artwork inside, was completed in 1939 and is still in use today.

The National Guard Armory in Columbia was one of many such facilities constructed with New Deal labor. This armory was constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building served as the home of the home of the Missouri National Guard until the last of the 20th century. It presently houses the Ash Street Sports complex for the Columbia Parks and Recreation Dept.