The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the 138th Infantry Regiment Armory in St. Louis MO. Completed in 1937, the armory building has been converted to office space. Excerpt from Missouri Armories: The Guard’s Home in Architecture and… read more
Seventy-Fifth Street Elementary, which opened in 1922, was rebuilt with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The work was done sometime in 1934-35. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for… read more
Ackerman Island was an island in the middle of the Arkansas River. In the early 1900s the land had been developed as an amusement park, but by the late 1920s it had fallen into disuse. Works Progress Administration workers widened… read more
A public swimming pool in Adel IA was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1935. One of the earliest municipal pools constructed in Iowa, the facility was around for a good share of historical events – war, environmental disasters,… read more
From 1933 to 1937, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created a canoe route from east to west across Admiralty Island with multiple shelters, trails and a bear-watching tower at Pack Creek. The CCC Canoe Route is on the National Trust… read more
PWA approved project X1373 for a college dormitory for the HBCU Alcorn State University 9/16/1938. Construction began 12/18/1938 and was completed 8/19/1939. The Colonial Revival brick building is extant and remains in use. Architects Carl L. Olschner and Edgar Lucian… read more
On October 14, 1938, the Daily Pacific Builder reported that a PWA contract of $63,840 had been awarded for the construction of a boys’ gym at Alhambra City High School. The plans had been prepared by architect John Walker Smart,… read more
The science building at Alhambra High School was renovated in 1935 with New Deal funding, including from the Los Angeles County Relief Administration. Twenty-five laborers and 12 skilled tradesmen were employed on the project.
Anacostia Park is one of Washington DC’s two largest parks and recreation areas, along with Rock Creek Park. It covers over 1200 acres along the Anacostia River from South Capitol Street SE to the Maryland boundary in NE. The New… read more
In 1936, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $69,036 for the construction of a swimming pool in Anacostia Park (about $1.3 million in 2020 dollars). The pool was built by the BZ Contracting Company of New York and completed in… read more
Andrew Jackson Elementary School was rebuilt by the Public Works Administration in 1935. It was one of 27 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District to be either rebuilt, demolished, or reinforced by the PWA or the Works Progress Administration… read more
Artist Adrien Machefert painted a mural, “Pilgrim’s Harvest Festival,” at Ann Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA. He was funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). “Adrien Machefert, a man past fifty, was born in San Jose, California, and… read more
The Arkport Central School in Arkport NY is a K-12 public school that is still in use. The Public Works Administration made two grants, of $63,000 and $9,654, against a planned cost of approximately $192,000.
Built 1938-39 under the Flood Control Act of 1936, following catastrophic local floods in 1935, and still in use. Federal cost was $1,910,000. C.C.C. built a camp nearby for the construction workers,
The W.P.A. constructed an armory in Chinook, Montana. Official Project Number 65-91-1602. According to local newspaper articles, the new armory was initial used as a civic center for various community events, as well as a jail, and office space for… read more
The city of Columbus approved a bond issue to construct the city’s portion of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) financed armory. The architect was R. T. Smith. Columbus purchased a site for the new armory and civic center in the… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) allotted $30,379 to construct a new National Guard Armory in 1938. N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town were architects for the two-story, reinforced concrete Art Deco style building. The lower floor was devoted to… read more
In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an auditorium for Central School in Baldwin Park, CA. With over 600 seats, the auditorium was used for both school and civic activities. The Moderne (Art Deco) structure is simple and unadorned,… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to the Attica Armory in Attica IN. The armory is presently vacant. The structure is designed in the Art Deco style that is characteristic of New Deal era projects. The DOD WPA Inventory lists… read more
We often think of New Projects as going smoothly, but Avalon School is an exception. The educational situation in the Ouray Valley had stuggled: schools and boarding schools had been built beginning in 1885 for the Uncompahgre Ute people but… read more
Works Progress Administration (WPA) project No. 3544 started 10/05/1935 included 3 additional fire stations. WPA funding supplied $13,495.01 and the sponsor $9,513.78 for payroll, materials, and equipment. Ground was broken for the new Back Bay fire station on the north… read more
With funding from the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and, later, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the City of New Haven CT was able to construct a parkway from West Rock Park to a location… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and provided labor for an improvement and beautification program in Norfolk’s Ballentine Park in 1937. The WPA allocated $12, 836 for the project with the city adding an additional $4,884. “The project call[ed] for… read more
Built by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, Barnett Field hosted the Fargo-Morehead Twins minor league baseball team until 1960. Barnett Field was demolished in 1963.
A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established west of the Baker-Barry tunnel on the Marin Headlands, probably in 1934. Enrollees from this camp built the Baker-Barry Tunnel, a single-lane passage under the Marin Headlands, in 1935. The CCC camp… read more
This school was built as an elementary school with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938. It later became a junior high school and was named for William Pitt Bartlett, a Porterville benefactor. The building is single-story and… read more
The Rock Valley Baseball Park was built in 1937, and the Works Progress Administration built the grandstand several years later.
The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Bath V.A. Hospital in Bath NY. Created as the hospital for Bath V.A., replacing the 1870s facility at what had been the New York State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. The oldest resident… read more
Built in 1936-37, occupied for school use on September 7, 1937. In 1875, the school district built a wood frame schoolhouse near the center of town. In 1903, the board built a masonry building to replace the frame school. In… read more
Bear Creek Canyon Scenic Mountain Drive is a 2-mile stretch of Colorado Highway 74 between the towns of Morrison and Idledale, just west of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. The route is noted for its enclosing granite cliffs and diverse… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was very active in Rocky Mountain National Park during the 1930s. The Bear Lake Comfort Station, located on the Bear Lake trail, is one of the many structures in the park built by CCC enrollees…. read more
Artist Jason Herron sculpted “Modern Youth” for Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA, with Federal Arts Project (FAP) funds. Located on the school’s front lawn, the sculpture “represents the scholastic interests as well as the athletic accomplishments of… read more
In 1937, Raymond Noble painted a mural for Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP).
Artist Stanley Spohn designed a tile mosaic for a drinking fountain at Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Spohn described the mosaic as being “handled in a manner reminiscent of… read more
The old Nashville City Market was constructed in 1936-1937 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The chief contractor for the project was Foster & Creighton Construction Company. Project cost was “almost a half a million dollars” (Van West, 2000,… read more
“Kilkenny Camp 2117, 155th Company CCC, Berlin, New Hampshire, was established May 29, 1933, as one of the camps of the White Mountain National Forest Service.” Once the Dolly Copp Camp Ground was established, the camp focussed on the Berlin… read more
In 1937, artist P. G. Napolitano painted a fresco panel for Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, CA. The fresco, located in the school’s music room, was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP). “Mr. Napolitano’s main interest has… read more
The National Youth Administration constructed a school gymnasium in Big Flat, Arkansas in 1938-1941. The structure is a single story stone masonry building “designed in the Plain Traditional style with Craftsman influences.” (NRHP) The interior of the gymnasium has been… read more
Big Pool opened in Garden City KS in 1922. The Works Progress Administration added a bath house and a children’s wading pool.
