Unknown Sites

Believed to be presently abandoned, this historic rural school is located at the intersection of County roads 191 and 30, southwest of Kim, Colorado. "Built in 1921 and expanded in 1936 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the school exemplifies oneroom schools constructed in eastern Las Animas County during the homesteading boom of the 1910s and 1920s. The school addition and its adjacent WPA-constructed barn, intended to store coal and shelter student’s horses, reflect Depression era New Deal efforts to improve rural education facilities in eastern Las Animas County. The WPA constructed new schools and barns for several rural school districts...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Whitestone Playground in New York. The playground was dedicated in April 1940. The construction of Whitestone Playground was one of many recreation projects pursued by the WPA in New York. “Two thirds of this new twenty-one acre playground was formerly property of the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity, and was known as the Whitestone Pumping Station…Here recreation facilities have been provided for all age groups.” Whitestone Playground, “designed by the Park Department and Built by the Works Progress Administration,” contributed to “a total of 323 new or reconstructed playgrounds completed by the New...

In 1939, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge on Whitsett Ave. over the Los Angeles River in Studio City, CA. The WPA funded labor, and the city provided funding for equipment, materials, and inspection.

Whittier Elementary School was built in 1935, likely with New Deal funding. The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building materials were salvaged from damaged buildings, some schools were rehabilitated, and new schools were constructed with basic amenities without cafeterias, libraries, auditoriums, swimming pools, or...

Between 1934-1940, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for improvements to Whittier High School in Whittier, CA. Following the 1933 Long Beach which caused significant damage to the campus, a science building was rebuilt in 1934, a boy's gym in 1935, and a cafeteria in 1936. In 1940, a new administration, girl's gym, and auditorium were completed. At the time it was one of the few school auditoriums in the county which had stereophonic public address system.

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of a reinforced-concrete reservoir in Whittier, CA. The reservoir is approximately 38 feet in diameter and 50 feet in height. Underneath the reservoir are booster pumps, pipe lines, and other appurtenances for the distribution of the water. The reservoir pictured here appears to be still extant and located off of Side Fire Road.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on the grounds of the Whittier State School for Boys (renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in 1941), in Whittier, CA. The school opened in 1891 as an institution for juvenile offenders. From 1916 until its closure in 2004 the only boys were in residence. In 1983, the site was designated California State Historical Landmark Number 947. Three of the most important school buildings from the Nelles-era campus improvements are preserved from the historic period: the Administration Building, the Superintendent’s Residence, and the Assistant Superintendent’s Residence. In 1937, Frederick Potter completed a mural...

The Wichita State University President's Residence in Wichita KS serves as the living quarters and entertainment facilities for the university president. The original cost was $21,000, of which $9000 was paid by the PWA (balance from university funds). The building is still in use.

Originally called the Auditorium and Commons Building, this 553-seat auditorium was built in 1938 with Public Works Administration funding. It's named for George Wilner, the first head of Wichita State's speech and theater department. It is still in use.

Originally constructed in 1926, Willard Elementary School was rehabilitated in 1935 with New Deal funding following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. The style is WPA/PWA Moderne. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building materials were salvaged from damaged buildings, some schools were rehabilitated, and new schools were constructed with basic amenities without cafeterias, libraries, auditoriums, swimming...

The Paterson Courts is a 158 unit housing complex that was one of 50 slum clearance and low income housing projects the PWA was tasked with in the 1935-36 period. Its one and two story group houses, covers 7 acres, and cost $472,000. Its named after William Burns Paterson, a Scottish immigrant that spent 45 years from 1870 in efforts at negro education. The sponsor of the project was the Montgomery Advisory Committee on Housing. It was launched to replace an "objectionable slum area" and was designed with 14 two room, 89 three room, 40 four room, and 15 5 room...

The Treasury Department funded the construction of the Seattle federal courthouse, which was the first single-purpose federal courthouse on the west coast.  The project was originated in 1936 by the department's Procurement Division and completed in 1940, by which time responsibility for federal facilities had been transferred to the Federal Works Administration, where the old Procurement Division had morphed into the Public Buildings Administration. The design of the courthouse is Moderne, a stripped-down and flattened version of Neoclassical, that was common for public buildings at the time.  The Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department was Louis Simon and Consulting Architect was...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Civic Auditorium, now known as William L. White Auditorium, in Emporia KS. The structure's current usage is mostly as a basketball arena, but it also houses graduations, shows, concerts, etc.

William Mead Homes was the eighth development in Los Angeles, CA completed under the city’s New Deal–era public housing program. In 1941-43, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) constructed 10 public housing developments for $16 million, funded 10% by city bonds and 90% by federal loans from the United States Housing Authority (USHA).  Located in Downtown Los Angeles, CA, William Mead Homes was completed in 1942. Originally the Ann Street Project, the development was a source of lengthy and heated dispute between the Los Angeles City Council and HACLA due to the high estimated cost of purchasing...

A Public Works Administration grant, along with local tax revenues, funded the construction of Sherman Elementary School at West 51st Place and South Morgan Street in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. It replaced the former Sherman School, built in 1884, that was located on the same site. Construction work on the new school began in May 1937 and was completed by January 1938. Two additions to the school were completed in 1960 and 1972. The new, two-story, brick structure cost approximately $125,000 and included ten classrooms and a gymnasium. It was designed by Chicago Board of Education architect John Charles...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the original ranger station at Williams AZ.  A new main ranger station building and other structures have been added, but two CCC residences and barn/garage are still there (we are uncertain about the status of the shed and small garage). "Williams Ranger Station contains five historic buildings: two residences, horse barn/garage and corral, shed, and small garage that were constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees in the Bungalow/Craftsman style in 1934. The well-preserved buildings and their setting offer an excellent example of depression-era architecture and Forest Service design. Bungalows in the Craftsman style were usually...

The school at Williamsburg was destroyed by fire and a new building was erected. Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects approved in the amount of $13,604 in July 1935 included construction of a gymnasium and improvements to the teacher’s house. Fifty-eight men were employed on the project, which included grading and graveling the road to the school. The school building is still extant and has been in use as a furniture company since 1959 after the school closed. The status of the teacher's house and gymnasium are unknown.

Willow Creek dam and reservoir were constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding in 1938-39.  Willow Lake is now the centerpiece of Willow Lake Park and there is a 6-mile trail around the lake.  It sits in an area called the Granite Dells, with impressive rock hills all around and prehistoric indigenous sites and petroglyphs. Willow Creek Dam is constructed of concrete that tapers fro 6 feet thick at the base to 2 1/2 feet thick at the top and it is 85 feet high.  It created a reservoir of about 400 acres, with a storage capacity of 8,000 acre-feet. The...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the domestic science building at Willowbrook Middle School in Compton, CA.

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed four bridges as a part of a wider flood control project on Compton Creek. The bridges are located on Wilmington Ave., Compton Blvd., Olive St., and Rosecrans Ave. The bridge projects employed 750 workers.

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded improvements made to Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA from S Figueroa St. to S Park View St. This portion of Wilshire Blvd. cuts through MacArthur Park, formerly Westlake Park.

Improvements were made to Wilton Place Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1937. The two-story PWA Moderne building at the corner of S Wilton Pl and Leeward Ave was remodeled by the J & B Construction Company for $47,288; the architect was Theodore R. Jacobs. 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 was overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and proceeded in...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made a host of improvements to Wind Cave National Park, which had been established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The improvements made in the 1930s included a new administration building, a new operator's building, two new residences, and a large garage/storage facility.  Three other buildings were remodeled as residences. Other projects at the park included the construction of a reservoir and water system,  elevator housing and concrete stairs within the cave, game fences around the park, and new signs at the park's entrance. In addition, the CCC built bridges in the...

Wingfield park was built on an island in the Truckee River that was donated by George Wingfield, a Nevada banker and miner. During the late 1930s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to the park, especially building retaining walls to support the island banks.  We do not know what other facilities the WPA built at the park. Today the park is a center for some of the city’s most popular events. One of the main features of Wingfield Park is the amphitheater where various plays and concerts take place during the summer months.  The park was being renovated in 2025...

The Winooski River Local Protection Project is located along a 6.5-mile stretch of the Winooski River which flows through Montpelier, Berlin, Moretown, and Middlesex. The Winooski River Local Protection Project protects several thousand acres of farmland and reduces flood damage in downstream communities, including Montpelier, Middlesex, Waterbury, and Duxbury.   The project consisted of replacing an old timber dam at Montpelier by a small concrete dam (now called Bailey Dam); clearing and grading one mile of river bank above the dam, enlarging the channel, and adding rip-rap; and removing projecting ledges and points that restricted river flows at five spots between...

The Union Creek Historic District on the upper Rogue River in Union Creek, Oregon, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places because it is a fine representative of a type of rustic resort popular in the early 20th century and has been little altered since the 1930s.   There are almost one hundred buildings and other facilities in the Union Creek Historic District, almost all of which conform to the Forest Service plans of the 1920s and 30s.  Roughly a third were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1942. CCC enrollees worked during summer...

Public Works Administration 1307 provided a loan of $400,000 and grant of $161,149 to complete gravel roads throughout the county. Bids were advertised in September 1934 for construction of grading, drainage structures and bridges and gravel surfacing on 5.533 miles of the Winterville-Priscilla Highway. George Vinzant was chief engineer of the Washington County Highway Commission. B. G. Coggins of Nettleton, MS was awarded the contract for construction. The project was approved 2/21/1934 and construction began 10/17/1934. All roads were completed by 8/31/1937.

The Wisconsin State Game Farm is a 500-acre game farm located next to the MacKenzie Center, approximately three miles west of Poynette, WI. In 1934, the state of Wisconsin purchased land for the raising and studying of pheasants and other animals and named the new site the Wisconsin State Experimental Game and Fur Farm. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) began renovating existing structures and adding new facilities to the Farm. Some of these facilities included much-needed storage facilities like a 75-foot barn, refrigeration facilities, slaughterhouses, and new pens for animals like raccoons. WPA carpenters also constructed a sawmill for...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Wolf School in Bowlegs OK. This is a red brick country school located four miles south of Bowlegs on Old Highway 99.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did extensive work at Denali National Park for two summers in 1938 and 1939.   At that time, the park was smaller and called Mount McKinley National Park.   As at other national parks, the Civilian Conservation Corps had an important role in the development of park infrastructure, administrative and recreation facilities.  Two hundred CCC enrollees lived in a  camp (NP-1) near the site of the present main visitors center at the east entrance to the park. They worked under the direction of the National Park Service. In the summer of 1939, CCC enrollees built "a ranger...

The auditorium at Woodcrest Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA was remodeled with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936. Located in the school's PWA Moderne annex building, the auditorium was designed by architect Heth Wharton and built by California Gunite Construction Company for $17,084. 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 was overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and proceeded in two cycles, 1934-35 and 1935-37. The first cycle...

Woodlawn Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1926, was rebuilt 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...

Improvements were made to Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, CA between 1934 and 1936 under the Civil Works Administration (CWA), State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA), and Works Progress Administration (WPA). The cemetery was refurbished with surfaced streets, brick curbings, and low ground fillings. There were also plans to install a sprinkler system and finish constructing the adjoining stone chapel, or “castle,” with additional WPA funding, but the project was eventually discontinued. In 1934, the Santa Monica City Council proposed that SERA complete twelve municipal projects started under the CWA in 1933-34. Six of the proposals were accepted by SERA, including improvements...

In the early years of the New Deal, 1934-1935, Congress funded the construction of the Woodrow Wilson High School through one or more appropriations of around $1 million to the DC Commissioners. At the time, funding and control of the local government in DC was firmly under the control of the federal government. Municipal architects Albert Harris and Nathan Wyeth were in charge of the design, which is a large Federal style, multi-story, brick building around a central courtyard, with a tower above the main entrance and minimal decoration. The firm of McCloskey & Co. was hired to do construction. The project was...

Carlos Dyer, an alumnus of Woodrow Wilson High School, painted this WPA mural, "Democratic Education," on the asbestos fire curtain in the school's auditorium (also a WPA project) in 1940. The mural is 22 high x 44 feet wide. It depicts a multiracial group of students engaged in academic and extracurricular activities--including art, music, and sport—against a beach backdrop. In a nod to the city's aerospace industry, a plane flies overhead. "At its present state it is raised so that only the bottom few inches are exposed revealing the words 'Let us seek here truth in the name of liberty...

Woodrow Wilson High School, originally built in 1924, was rehabilitated by W. Horace Austin following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake with $27,000 in Public Works Administration (PWA) funding. In 1937, the Works Project Administration (WPA) reconstructed the gym building. The 1933 earthquake destroyed hundreds of schools throughout Southern California. “On August 29, 1933, Long Beach citizens approved a $4,930,000 bond measure for the rebuilding of schools. Applications for approximately thirty-five schools were filed with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA); federal grants up to thirty percent of labor and material costs were obtained. To minimize costs, building...

Woodson State Fishing Lake was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps near Toronto KS.

This Art Deco auditorium, also known as Memorial Hall, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and and dedicated on September 30, 1937. The structure has been used for community events and also houses city and police offices, the American Legion, etc. The building bears a (non-original) sign crediting construction to the WPA.

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) leased the 12-story, 70,000 square-foot Furniture Mart Building for use as their headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. The site would become a hub of administrative activity and deep-seated controversy. Under the leadership of Ralph L. Dalton, WPA director for Los Angeles County, both African American men and women were initially appointed to administrative roles. However, systemic discrimination persisted, as evidenced by a 1935 incident in which Black applicants who had passed the WPA's stenographer examination were asked to report to headquarters, only to be turned away and told their assignment was a mistake. Later...

A flood in 1927 brought about plans to construct four flood control projects, made possible by the New Deal and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Wrightsville Dam is one of those. Construction began in August 1933  and was completed in October 1935. The dam is earthfill with stone slope protection. It is 1,525 feet long and 115 feet high. The dam and reservoir are located on the North Branch of the Winooski River, about  three miles north of Montpelier on Route 12.  Its main purpose is to protect Montpelier. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers: "Wrightsville Reservoir was one of four...