Start Year: 1939

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Bernal Recreation Center in San Francisco in 1939-1940.  It sits just behind and below the Bernal Heights Public Library. Work consisted of excavating and grading 1,492 cubic yards of rock and soil, building 75 feet of rubble wall (18 inches by 4 feet), and paving 16,000 square feet of playgr0und area. Notably, the report on WPA work in San Francisco made a point that the combination of the library and playground on the same property was ."... combining the benefits of physical and mental recreation.(Healy, p. 64). The WPA built rock walls are still visible above...

As part of extensive improvements around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco CA, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built modern stables for the city's mounted police force.  The date of construction was almost certainly 1939, the same as the nearby Public Stables. The stables were built of concrete in the popular Mission Revival style of the time, with a red tile roof. The interiors are made of wood. Both the police stables and public stables, located close to the park's Polo Field, are still in use.  

As part of extensive improvements around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco CA, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built horse stables for public use in 1939. The four stables are built of wood and arranged in a U around what is now a parking lot. They were renovated around the turn of the millennium and are still in active use. The public stables, like the nearby police stables, are located close to the park's Polo Field.  

The beautiful Bernal Heights Library on Cortland Avenue in San Francisco was built in 1940 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA), after it had become part of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in 1939. The library is built of reinforced concrete and finished in Mission Revival style with stucco exterior and tile roof.  The interior features lofty ceilings, large windows, and lovely hanging light fixtures. The floors, entrance and bathrooms are all tiled and the ceiling beams are hand-painted in abstract designs.   The shelving and furniture appear to be the original, made of solid oak, and the layout looks to be...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the club house at the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course in 1939-40, in conjunction with the City of Oakland Parks Department. The Mission Revival style building is still intact, including most of the interior.  It has a lovely main hall with a bar and behind that, the Chabot Cafe.  The entrance hall has a closed-off fireplace and original tile work.  In front, there is a Mission-style breezeway with tiled floor. Decorative stone walls line the road, both entry paths, and the practice putting green next to the clubhouse. In 1939, the WPA was brought under the umbrella...

Carmel's Forest Theater was established in 1910, when Carmel-by-the-Sea was founded as an artists' colony (and real estate speculation).  Since then, it has been a fixture of the Carmel scene and the life of the city.   The was deeded to the town of Carmel in 1937, which soon applied to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for help in renovating and improving it. The WPA renovation took place in 1939-40 and included a reinforced concrete floor, new seating, a new stage and dressing rooms underneath, and a new surrounding stone wall and entry stairs. There is a WPA plaque on the...

Grevillea park is graced by an gargantuan mosaic mural, called "History of Transportation."  This extraordinary mural is 8 feet high and 240 feet long, composed of 60 panels. It is made of cast concrete and terrazzo paneled walls.  It is the largest petrachrome mural in the world and one of the last examples of petrachrome mosaic art (that is, made up of tiny stones). The mural was created by artist Helen Lundeberg with the support of the New Deal Federal Art Project in 1939-42.  (The FAP was part of the Works Progress Administration, or WPA). Originally installed in the nearby Centinela Park,...

The Old Fullerton City Hall (now the Fullerton Police Department) was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. It was completed over a 3 year span and cost over $130,000.  The building was built in a Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. Key characteristics include its central 3-story tower and cupola. Decoratively, it has beautiful terra cotta and ceramic tile work throughout the building and extensive iron wrought elements. It’s a stunning example of New Deal architecture. Additionally, the former Fullerton City Hall houses a large 3-wall mural named the “History of Southern California” by Helen Lundeberg.  A new city hall was...

The Commonwealth Post Office in Fullerton, California was funded by the Department of the Treasury and constructed in 1939 in only 7 months. This New Deal project provided work for 40 men.  At the time, it was the City of Fullerton’s first and only post office until 1962. It was also the first building in the city that was federally owned.  The post office was designed by the Office of the Supervising Architecture. It is a beautiful Spanish Colonial Revival building. The Post Office still exists today and still houses a mural called “Orange Pickers” by Paul Julian.  The Commonwealth Post Office is...

The Oxnard Post Office was built by the Treasury Department Bureau of Public Buildings in 1939.  It is a two story building in Italian Renaissance Revival style.  It is still in active use and the original lobby is intact.