Start Year: 1938

Lou Henry Hoover School in Whittier was built in 1938 by the New Deal.  It has recently been renamed the Lou Henry Hoover School of Fine Arts.  Lou Henry Hoover was the wife of President Herbert Hoover and a played a role in California architectural history by her support of early Modernists. Construction was most likely paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA), which funded schools throughout Southern California.  A local history claims it was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, but that is unlikely that an outside architect would have been hired from outside by the WPA. The building's style...

In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funds for the construction of a new city hall in Yuba City CA.  The building is single-story, stucco-covered with wood detailing, and a tile roof – a good example of the Mission Revival style popular in California between the wars. The building was sold after a new city hall was built in c. 2008.  The interior has been reworked for professional offices and -- It is still called "Old City Hall" and the inscription "City Hall" remains over the front entrance, but evidently a plaque by the door  has been removed.   

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Later in 1938, the PWA funded the construction of a new moderne-style auditorium designed by Wesley Eager. The new auditorium would seat more than 700 people. Due to it's large capacity, it would be used by the high school and other community groups for concerts and performances. According to the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Torrance High School, "Until the 1950's, the high school auditorium was the only hall in Torrance with a large enough space and properly...

The historic post office building in Pacific Grove, California was constructed in 1938 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses a New Deal mural in its lobby, is still in use today. The design is "Monterey style" with tile roof(s) and stucco walls, but the bas-relief columns on the front give a classical touch.  

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its relief workers built the Angler's Lodge and Casting Pools in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, for the benefit of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. In return, Club members agreed to help train anyone who asked, a pledge they still honor.  The club had previously used nearby Stow Lake, which could only accommodate a few casters at a time, so the club encouraged the Golden Gate Park directors to ask the WPA to new facilities. The project was done in 1938 and the facility opened in March 1939. The first national casting tournament was...

Oakland's Fremont High School was destroyed by arson in 1930 and rebuilt in 1931. A new gymnasium for the school was financed with a 45% Public Works Administration (PWA) grant in 1938 and completed in 1939. The total cost was $192,000. The 1939 gym was built in a rather stern Moderne style.  It had collapsable bleachers so that it could serve both for sporting events and as an auditorium.  Carl N. Swenson Company was the builder. No trace of the old gym remains, as Fremont High is undergoing a complete renovation in 2020.    

One of the oldest freeways in the United States, the Arroyo Seco Parkway (today’s Pasadena Freeway) is an 8.2-mile road connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, CA. It was built by the California State Division of Highways (today’s Caltrans) in three stages between 1938 and 1953, with the first two stages completed during the New Deal. The first 6-mile stage was built between 1938 and 1941; the second 2.2-mile stage (also known as the "Southerly Extension") was built between 1940 and 1943. There is some dispute about the sources of funding, but we know the federal government contributed via the U.S....

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center Building was originally constructed for the federal Farm Credit Administration, an agency created by the early New Deal to provide credit to farmers in difficulty and to stimulate investment in the farm sector. It was built between 1938 and 194o, hence started by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department (which handled federal buildings at the time) and completed by the Public Buildings Administration in the reorganized Federal Works Administration (most of the same staff transferred over to the new administration in the 1939 federal reorganization). The six-story Moderne-style building was designed by noted Berkeley architect,...

What is now known as the Challenger Station Post Office in Canoga Park, CA was built in 1938 with U.S. Treasury Department funds. It is a single-story Moderne style building, typical of New Deal post offices in Southern California. The post office is home to an example of New Deal artwork (see linked project page).

The Bidwell Bowl amphitheater sits along Big Chico Creek on the California State University, Chico campus.  It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, no doubt in conjunction with improvements the WPA was making in Bidwell Park at the time (just upstream). The campus website provides the following information: "Built as a WPA project in 1938, the amphitheater known as the Bidwell Bowl was one of many ventures in Chico that created work for people during the depression. Located on the bank of the creek, next to the Physical Science building, the Bidwell Bowl had been used for various...