Unknown Sites

In January 1935, California Highway and Public Works magazine reported that 3.2 miles of street had been resurfaced from Figueroa St to Hillhurst Avenue by a Federal Public Works project costing $65,000.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped build the Sunset Playground in 1937-1940, working with the San Francisco Recreation Department.  The playground included a field house plus volleyball, basketball and tennis courts. "In 1937, the three-acre site at 29th Avenue and Lawton Street was bought for $50,676 and began as a playground. Built by the Recreation Department and the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration), Sunset Playground opened in 1940 with a small field house, volleyball, basketball and tennis courts." (ParkScan) We believe that the WPA relief workers developed the entire playground and not just the grading of the site, as indicated by Healy.  "Like...

The Works Progress Administration built the Swampton School in Swampton KY circa 1938.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a swimming pool in Wilber, Nebraska. The pool was dedicated on June 12, 1937. Norfolk Daily News: Wilber, Neb., June 12 —(P)— Wilber's new $22,000 WPA financed swimming pool was dedicated Thursday with appropriate ceremony. Steve Pospisil will be manager of the pool and Gilbert Aron and Alice Mae Shimonek will be life guards. The exact location and current status of the Depression-era pool is unknown to Living New Deal. Wilber's current municipal pool, which appears to be a much newer facility, is located at 500 S Wilson St, Wilber, NE 68465.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt allotted $2,000,000 in emergency rural rehabilitation funds to the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs (OIA). Out of this sum, OIA sent $32,000 (about $607,000 in 2020 dollars) to the Swinomish Indian Reservation for an 18-house homestead community. The community was completed in the late summer of 1936 and helped relocate families away from nearby (and less stable) floating houses. The cluster of homes still exists today and is known as the “Swinomish Model Village.” In a special 1936 edition of Indians at Work (a publication of the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs), Martin J. Sampson,...

When the school for African American students burned in 1935, Belton sought a federal grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) to replace the school and repair and renovate three other schools. PWA project 1431 for a grant of $13,590 was awarded 9/25/1935. Newspaper items used the terms PWA and WPA in referencing the new T. B. Harris School and repairs to the other city schools, but total amounts equal the cited costs and dates in the Texas region PWA records and it seems evident that the funds were provided by the Public Works Administration. Funds were secured in the...

The superintendent's house for the Hurricane School complex was constructed 1938 by the National Youth Administration as project W. P. 5206, Application 921. The stone veneer house used stone from the NYA quarry in Pontotoc County and shingles from the NYA sawmill. Superintendent of construction was B. McGraw. The house is no longer extant.

The WPA demolished and reconstructed the building and improved the grounds and facilities of a school in the Temple Unified School District. Exact location and current status unknown.

This cast-metal portrait bust of Admiral Albert Gleaves by Belle Kinney was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was originally installed in the old Nashville U.S. Courthouse & Post Office building, but now resides at the Tennessee State Capitol.

The mural entitled "Scenes from Tennessee History," made up of 11 panels, was painted by Jihayr Zorthian.  It can be found in the Governor's Reception Hall in the Tennessee State Capitol.  The Federal Art Project (FAP) commissioned the work.

Tennessee State University was established in 1909 as Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College, a land-grant college.  It is the only state-funded historically Black college or university in Tennessee. The New Deal helped a great deal to  build up the Tennessee A & I College campus in the 1930s. Early in 1935, the college announced the opening of six new buildings on campus: Practice Hall, Administration and Health, Men’s Hall (East), Hale Hall, Wilson Hall, and Science Hall (Harned). These were almost certainly funded by the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA).  It is hard to imagine the college having the...

Tenth Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA was rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided partial funding for remodeling the original 1922 school building at the corner of Olympic Blvd and Grattan St, as well as for the construction of a new classroom building on Valencia St. While the remodeled structure survives, the Valencia St building—which was designed by architect Edward Cray Taylor and built by contractors Harman & Company for a total of $72,877—has since been replaced. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake...

Built in 1936, as a Worker’s Progress Administration (WPA) building project under President Roosevelt, the Municipal Field House is located in the Wessington Springs City Park approximately one block off of Dakota Avenue. Used yet today, it is the center to the beautiful city park, trees, a ball field, and swimming pool. The Field House is an excellent example of a WPA era project that still functions for its original intent. The Field House was added to the National Registry of Historical Places in 2000.

Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, CA was remodeled with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936-37. The school's main building was designed by architectural firm Hibbard, Gerity, & Herton and rebuilt by contractor R. E. Campbell for $197,670; a new two-story, 18-room classroom building was designed by architect Sumner Spaulding and built by the Theodore A. Beyer Corporation for $125,670. Both structures were demolished in 2019 as part of a modernization project. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country,...

Thomas A. Edison Middle School in Los Angeles, CA was rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Construction between 1934 and 1936 totaled $300,073 and was partially funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). All seven of the PWA Moderne style buildings on campus survive with few exterior modifications. In 1934-35, Atlas Construction Company reconstructed the shop, home economics, and cafeteria buildings. The single-story cafeteria is located at the corner of Hooper Ave and E 64th St. The other two buildings appear to be located behind the cafeteria on E 64th St, where they now house classrooms. In 1935-36, a new main...

Stanton Macdonald-Wright designed the mosaic "Early (Spanish) California" for the Edison Middle School in 1937. It was funded by the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP) and hangs in the foyer of the school auditorium. Albert King likely executed the tile work. The mosaic depicts vaqueros wrangling cows, miners panning for gold, and workers building a railroad. A “Californio” couple stands in the center of the image. Tiles of different shapes give the mosaic a variety of textures. Macdonald-Wright was the Supervisor of the Southern California division of the FAP from 1935 to 1943. He is considered “an important proponent of the nonrepresentational styles of...

Thomas Jefferson High School was one of many schools in Los Angeles, CA that benefited from refurbishment funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Jefferson High School's Streamline Moderne campus, designed by the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls & Clements, was completed in 1936 at an approximate cost of $457,760. In 1935, Weymouth Crowell Company built two classroom buildings and a cafeteria. The two-story Streamline Moderne classroom buildings are extant on Compton Ave and E 41st St. Behind them is the single-story cafeteria building. All three structures are connected by passageways, including one at the...

In 1937, Ross Dickinson painted "History of the Recorded Word" in the Thomas Jefferson High School library (Los Angeles, CA) with Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Project funding. The mural is comprised of four panels, each 10' by 5.5'. The panels depict the history of printing, with subjects including hieroglyphs, manuscripts, and modern printing. After six months of research, Dickinson painted the mural in five weeks. According to the Los Angeles Sentinel (one of the most influential African-American newspapers in the Western United States), "Dickinson was employed as an art teacher at the Art Center School of Los Angeles and needed...

In 1937, a gym was built at Thomas Starr King Middle School (formerly Junior High School) in Los Angeles, CA with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The two-story, 24-room PWA Moderne style building was designed by architect Paul R. Williams and built by contractor William J. Shirley for $93,789. It survives as the smaller of the campus's two gyms; it is visible from Bates Ave. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country, totaling ~$34.7 million (LA Times, May 23, 1937).  It...

Artist Ross Dickinson designed two tile mosaics for Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). The mosaics "give glimpses of Indian pueblo life, one showing the influence of the crafts taught by the mission fathers" (Wells, p. 23). According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "The greatest single patron of Federal art among the schools of the Los Angeles system is Thomas Start King Junior High School, whose principal is Dr. Alice Ball Struthers. The possessions of that school could well serve as a model and be...

This sculpture by Djey el Djey, entitled "The Vanquished Race" (or "The Vanishing Race"), was commissioned by the WPA's Federal Arts Project (FAP) in 1936. It is located at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. The sculpture is 6' high and is made of cast concrete. "Mr. Djey el Djey is an earnest young man, justly proud of this, his first real successful piece," noted a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal. "'Vanquished Race' was of such merit that it was featured as the cover picture of an issue of the New York magazine Art Digest....

Artist P. G. Napolitano painted a pair of murals, titled "Spirit of the Fiesta," at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. The two 9' by 12' panels—featuring a male and female figure—are located above the north court balcony. Napolitano received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Mr. Napolitano's main interest has always been in murals, which he executes in tempra (egg white), in frescoes, and in Sgraffito which he introduced here in creative work. Much of his work is marked by the omission of pretty detail and mere decorativeness until only the essential stand out; economy...

Artist James Redmond painted a small mural, titled "California Horsemen," at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Redmond reportedly preferred "California Horsemen" to the large mural he painted at Banning High School in Los Angeles, CA (Wells, p. 21). His other New Deal–funded works in the region include a post office mural in Compton, CA. According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "The greatest single patron of Federal art among the schools of the Los Angeles system is Thomas Start King Junior High School, whose principal...

The Farm Security Administration established a resettlement project called the Ladelta Co-operative Association at Thomastown, Louisiana in 1938. The project was for African American families who had been sharecroppers. The project included 147 individual farmsteads, with five-room house, barn, smokehouse, and poultry shed. The project also included the school building, and cotton gin. The project encompassed 21,876 acres in East Carroll (Transylvania) and Madison (Thomastown) parishes. Bids were solicited for the community center construction in May 1939. The high school at Thomastown graduated its first class in 1944. The building was destroyed by fire in 1972, but the elementary school...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) landscaped the picnic grounds below Phoenix Lake Dam and built this picnic shelter, which has recently been restored. Three Bear Hut was in poor condition as of 2016.

Timpanogos Cave was designated a national monument on October 14, 1922 and was initially developed and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service and volunteer organizations.  The National Park Service took over responsibility for the monument in 1933 but did not undertake full management until 1954. (Wadsworth 2018) The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up camp F-5 in the National Monument, at Granite Flat, in the summer of 1933 and worked on trails and other improvements for public use of the monument. The most important trail work by the CCC enrollees of Company 940 was to extend the original trail up the sheer cliff...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the following structures still extant within the park: Scout cabin, grill, creek wall, bandshell, fountain. The fountain and the bandshell have recently been restored and upgraded, and the other WPA structures are in line for similar treatment.

Topeka High School has three examples of David Hicks Overmyer’s work, two carried out under the WPA’s Federal Art Project. The first is the large painting “Pageant of Old England” which was commissioned by the Topeka School Board in 1936, completed in 1937, and funded by the FAP. It was created for the English Room, an oversized classroom that includes a fireplace, Tudor-style woodwork, and a gothic-arched stage. The painting shows a group of medieval figures passing through an English village with a large castle in the background. “Pageant of Old England” currently still hangs in the English Room. In 1938,...

The former Torrance Elementary School—today's Torrance High School Annex—in Torrance, CA was rebuilt in 1935 by R. J. Daum. Reconstruction of the two-story building in PWA Moderne style totaled $85,951 and was partially funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The Elementary School relocated to its current campus on Lincoln Ave in 1963. In 2022, the High School Annex appeared to be undergoing renovations; its present status is unknown. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country, totaling ~$34.7 million (LA Times, May 23,...

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...

Torrance High School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with me...

The Works Progress Administration built the Tourist Building in Grand Rapids MI in 1935. From the GR History website: Tourist Building GRHC – February 29th, 2012 The original tenant of the one story Georgian style building at the west edge of Fulton St. Park, now Veteran’s Park, was the Michigan Tourist and Resort Association, which had maintained it headquarters in Grand Rapids since its founding in 1917. Transcript Have you ever wondered about the origins and purpose of the small building at the west edge of Fulton Street Park? The one-story structure was designed to be in harmony with the park environment, the public library, and other...

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) approved a request to help fund a concrete town hall. The federal government was to contribute $2885 for labor and materials, while the local residents were to contribute $825. The building is still extant but its current use is unknown.

The Civil Works Administration funded municipal improvements in Acton ME between 1933 and 1940.  Acton is a rural town (1930 population 449) in York County situated next to the New Hampshire border.   

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Nicodemus, Kanas, Township Hall from 1937 to 1939. This handsome limestone community center was built to support the local population of Nicodemus, which was settled by African-American Exodusters after the Civil War. At the time of construction the building was one place that the African-American community could gather without interference. It is now part of the Nicodemus National Historic Site. The National Park Service says this about the site: "Township Hall is a magnificent limestone building that was completed in 1939. Construction on the building started in 1937 as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project,...

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built and improved trails throughout Rocky Mountain National Park, working on such things as rock wall construction and trail alignment.  The CCC was active in the park for the entire life of the program, 1933 to 1942.   The CCC 'boys' built around 100 miles of trails – one-third of the total. It is uncertain exactly which trails the CCC enrollees improved, but "the enrollees were largely the driving force behind creating, maintaining, and reconstructing many popular trails."  (Brock, p 40)   Several trails are included in the National Historic Registry listings for Rocky Mountain...

In 1934, the sewer system on Trinity street between Sixteenth and Thirty-sixth streets was improved by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in Los Angeles, CA. 

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge on Chandler Blvd. over the Tujunga Wash in Los Angeles, CA. The WPA funded the labor, and the city provided the equipment and materials.

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge on Magnolia Blvd. over the Tujunga Wash in Los Angeles, CA. The WPA funds covered labor, and the city provided the equipment and materials.

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of a bridge on San Fernando Road over the Middle Tujunga Wash in Sun Valley, CA.