Start Year: 1943

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Anthony Bowen Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 86 living units was built for African American national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Benning Road Houses in Washington, DC in 1943. This development of 138 living units was built for white national defense workers (Washington, DC was highly segregated at the time). It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the structures still exist, but it is not likely since these homes were classified as “demountable,” i.e., intended to be taken down and salvaged sometime after the war. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Lily Ponds Houses in Washington, DC, in 1943. It consisted of 500 living units and was built for national defense workers. In 2006, researcher Joe Lapp described the Lily Ponds Houses in a history brochure about the surrounding Kenilworth neighborhood: “The Alley Dwelling Authority noticed a large plot of unused farmland (once the David Miller farm) in the Kenilworth area, right next to the new national park, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. In 1943 they built the Lily Ponds Houses, a complex of one-story red tile and cement...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the Federal Works Agency (FWA) funded the construction of the Nichols Avenue Houses in Washington, DC, in 1943. These houses were called “Standard Temporary Dwellings Units,” or “TDU’s.” They were built for African American national defense workers, and were intended to be taken down after the war. It is unlikely that any part of the Nichols Avenue Houses still remains. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from...

The Alley Dwelling Authority (ADA) and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) funded the construction of the Lincoln Height Dwellings in Washington, DC, 1943-1946. Today, the DC Housing Authority manages “Lincoln Heights,” which is probably located on the same area as the original Lincoln Heights Dwellings. It is unknown to the Living New Deal if any of the original structures still exist. The ADA was one of the earliest New Deal initiatives to provide better housing for low-income Americans. It replaced unsafe alley dwellings in Washington, DC with more modern and affordable houses and apartments. The ADA existed from 1934-1943 as a federally...

The FWA constructed two sewers as part of the work done in Fairfax County. From the Washington Post: “The biggest sewer job in this area is the 20-mile Fairfax County trunk sewer costing approximately $1,500,000. There are two branches of the sewer. One starts at Lee Highway near Falls Church, and the other at Lee Highway a few miles beyond Falls Church which follows Tripps and Holmes Runs joining below the Barcroft Reservoir of the Alexandria Water Company. From that point the sewer follows Holmes and Cameron Runs to the lower part of the county and discharges into the Potomac...

In 1943, the Washington Post reported the planned construction of the former Birney Elementary School by the Federal Works Agency (FWA) with appropriations under the Lanham Act. The building is now the Excel Academy Public Charter School.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) paid for the construction of the Stanton Elementary School, on Naylor Road SE, in 1943, at the very end of the New Deal (New Deal programs wound down as the country went to war). Stanton is still in use as a public elementary school.

The Suitland Parkway is a 9-mile long, landscaped roadway running from Anacostia Park in Washington D.C. east through Prince George's County, MD.   It was conceived in 1937 and finally constructed in 1943-44 by the Public Roads Administration, a branch of the Federal Works Agency (FWA).  It can fairly be classified as a project from the tail end of the New Deal. A description from the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties explains that the Public Roads Administration, "Created the highway from scratch, via federal funding and private contractors, similar to PWA-type arrangements." The Parkway is still in use and maintained by the National...

The Brookland Education Campus at Bunker Hill, NE, encompasses the former Bunker Hill Elementary School, which was built during the New Deal era.  The new facility includes middle school. Initial plans were made in 1938 for a full, two-story building for the Bunker Hill Elementary School to replace an earlier school building, but it ended up being built in stages. A grant of $111,200 from the Public Works Administration (PWA) allowed the construction of the basement and six rooms on a single floor, which became the west wing of the school. All but some finish work was completed in 1939 and the...