Unknown Sites

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, p. 81). The building's design by Henry Hibbs is "Adamesque Revival Style" with a classical temple entrance and a dome just behind.  The walls are brick over reinforced concrete. The window frames and sashes are steel and the roof is copper.  The original interior had five-foot wainscoting of glazed tile and terrazzo flooring.  It included stalls, restaurants, and rest rooms.  The market's construction...

In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a storm drain system along Benedict Canyon in Beverly Hills, CA. It was one of the ten largest public works projects completed during that year in Los Angeles County.

Berendo Middle School (formerly Junior High School) in Los Angeles, CA was remodeled with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936-37. Architects Edward Cray Taylor and Ellis Wing Taylor designed an administration building, auditorium, gym, and cafeteria; all were built by contractor W. W. Petley for $319,950. The main entrance features two bas-reliefs that were likely completed under the Works Progress Administration Federal Arts Project (WPA-FAP). They depict students walking with teachers. The artist 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...

"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 hatchery. "A power house, canals, control dykes, and breeding ponds built at the York Pond Fish Hatchery making it one of the largest hatcheries of its kind in the country." "Berlin National Fish Hatchery in Coos County, New Hampshire, will be operated and funded by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under a memorandum of agreement signed October 19,...

In 1935, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of banana, freight, and passenger terminals at Berth 147 in Wilmington, CA. The work on the terminals began under the direction of Merritt, Chapman, and Scott Corporation in May, 1936. The banana terminal included an open wharf, loading dock, eight lines of loading tracks, and four Gantry cranes to carry the fruit to the loading areas. In the passenger terminal, a highway and ramp was constructed which led to the passenger and baggage shed, designed in a Mission style. The terminals were designed by E. Clinton Earle, who...

In 1936, the Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the demolition of the docks at Berth 155 in Wilmington, CA. Berth 155 was rebuilt to include cargo and passenger terminals, also with PWA funding. It is unknown if the buildings still exist due to constant development of the port.

In 1938, the Public Works Administration provided funding for the improvements to Berth 176 in Wilmington, CA. It is unknown if the improvements made by the PWA still exist due to constant development of the harbor.

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 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 of line, rhythm, and strength are the three uppermost qualities” (Wells, p. 22). Napolitano's other FAP...

With Proclamation 2175, June 15, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Bienville National Forest in Mississippi.  This proclamation was part of FDR’s overall effort to create more national forests in the eastern United States. As with other national forests, the goal of Bienville was “to produce the greatest amount of good for the most people… Fire protection gives the timber a chance to grow so as to produce a merchantable crop; trees are being planted where former logging practise (sic) did not leave the land in a condition to re-seed itself; grazing will be regulated so as to coordinate...

In 1940, the Works Projects Administration (WPA) began a flood control improvement project on the Bag Dalton Wash in Glendora, CA. The project included clearing, filling, backfilling, excavating, and constructing walls and channels. The work done on the Big Dalton Wash was located 300 ft. below Alosta Ave. and 600 ft. above Foothill Blvd. This project was part of a broader $60,000 County wide project to improve flood control infrastructure in 1940.

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 significantly altered.

Big Pool opened in Garden City KS in 1922. The Works Progress Administration added a bath house and a children's wading pool.

In 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) began a flood control project on the Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland, CA. between Foothill Blvd. and Wheatland Ave. The project included constructing revetments, filling and backfilling, sloping, and performing appurtenant. 71 men were employed to work on this flood control project for 2 months. Unskilled laborers were paid .44 cents an hour, and skilled laborers were paid .69 cents. This project was part of a broader $60,000 County wide project to improve flood control infrastructure in 1940. 

Established in 1931, the airport now known as Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport was the site of substantial work relief efforts on the part of multiple New Deal agencies: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). A 1931 documents said that the airport had 2 asphalt runways 3,600 by 100 feet N/S and 3,700 by 100 feet NE/SW runways. According to the CWA of Jefferson County, the cost as approved Feb. 15, 1934, of the Municipal Airport Project 37-C-381 Grounds - Local Contribution $385.38 Labor $7,362.29 Material $1,080.00 37-C-825 Bldg.& Add - Local Contribution $2,080.00 Labor $141,742.00 Material $91,426.08 In addition from Feb. 15-Mar...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for construction of Bismarck High School in Bismarck, North Dakota. The New Deal facility was a replacement for a 1912 high school structure. The building is still presently used as Bismarck High School, with major additions in 1962-63, 1987, and 2018-19; this said, the exterior (along N 7th Street) and main lobby still retain the original character. Construction was partially funded as a federal New Deal project through the Public Works Administration (PWA), which allotted $308,700 of the $404,000 cost. It was the largest PWA project in North Dakota at the time of completion...

The Works Progress Administration built a grade school in Bison KS. The school in no longer in use.

"The Black Belt Substation, now expanded to become the Black Belt Research and Extension Center, was established in 1929 as one of the original "substations" of the Main Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn University. Most of the research projects conducted at the Center emphasize beef cattle and forage production--a vital industry in the 12-county Blackbelt region containing 349,000 head of cattle. Research on cotton, soybeans, and small grains also provide equally valuable research proven information for Blackbelt farmers and cattlemen." The Works Progress Administration was involved in "Improve Black Belt Experiment Station near Marion Junction, Dallas County, including clearing, grubbing, and...

The Works Progress Administration built the Blaine Stadium and Fieldhouse in Ponca City OK in 1936-1937. The stadium is built with rusticated stone. It is still used by Ponca City High School football. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. According to the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination for the Blaine Stadium, the stadium project created "wages for 32,000 man-hours of labor into the local economy, helping to revitalize the mainstreet hit hard by the decline of the oil industry and of the value of agricultural products."

Blenheim Park was founded in 1922. In the late 1930s, Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers made improvements to the park.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration completed improvements at the Bloomingdale Playground in Washington DC, between 1933 and 1934. The work consisted of the following improvements: “Graded, completed drainage and water service system; fencing and 3-story recreation building 25 percent complete.”

The Civil Works Administration built the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington KY. According to the town budget report for 1933, the city share for the airport under CWA was $1,362 as part of a total budget of $22,427 spent in the City by the CWA. In 1946 the first commercial aircraft serve the region via a Delta Air Lines flight on a 21-passenger Douglas DC-3. "Blue Grass Airport is a public airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 6 miles west of downtown Lexington. Located among world-renowned horse farms and situated directly across from Keeneland Race Course, Blue Grass Airport is the primary...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) pursued a number of improvements at Blue Mounds State Park in Minnesota in 1938. Initial improvement plans called for the “construction of a bathhouse, facilities for picnicking and camping and general recreation.” The WPA also built dams and other structures.  In what was then called Mounds Springs Recreational Reserve, “workers in the WPA (Works Progress Administration) built five structures: a latrine and the upper and lower dams on Mound Creek, which created Upper and Lower Mound Lakes. The rustic style of the structures features native materials such as locally quarried quartzite. Rustic-style architecture, as defined by...

Aurel Joel Leitner and Helen Lundeberg each painted murals at Los Angeles's Patriotic Hall (the Bob Hope was added in 2004) in 1942, under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project. Leitner's 1942 mural "Soldiers and Sailors" is located in the vestibule. It depicts members of the US military between 1776 and 1941. Lundeberg's set of three murals, also created in 1942, was removed from Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in the early 1970s and has since been lost. According to the Public Art Archive, Lundberg was "originally hired to create nine murals for Patriotic Hall's lobby, that number was reduced...

Bobbie Smith Elementary School (formerly Burnett Elementary School) was reconstructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding in 1934/35. The original structure was demolished by the State Emergency Relief Administration (SERA) after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. The new one-story, steel frame structure was divided into classrooms and equipped with modern facilities. 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...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created the Bogus Basin Road  in 1938-39 (possibly with the assistance of the WPA) that leads from Boise up to the ski area in the mountains north of the city.  The road extends 16 miles from Boise city limits in Ada County to the Bogus Basin ski resort located in Boise County The road spurred the development of the recreation area. The Bogus Basin ski resort website has this to say: It all started in 1938 when a 24-month WPA road project started the development of Bogus Basin as a recreation site.  A handful of Forest Service...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a new gymnasium for Boise High School, built in 1936.  The architects were Tourtellotte & Hummell, who designed other New Deal era schools in Boise, and the builders were the firm of Jordan-Wilcomb construction, who regularly worked with the architects. The design of the large, 3-story high gym is brick Moderne (Deco).  The window bays are separated by low-relief columns all around the building. The central portion of the facade has three double columns and the wings are flanked by double-width columns.  The main, 3-door entrance is set off by short striped columns. Double columns...

In 1937, a bottleneck on the Los Angeles River located at the crossing point of Long Beach Boulevard was removed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at the request of and under the supervision of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Most of the federal funds went towards labor costs with 233 workers being hired. 

The Bourne Bridge across the Cape Cod canal was built for the US Army Corps of Engineers, with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It was part of a very large project to improve the canal and add three bridges across it; the PWA allotment was $6,138,000 for the entire project.  (Short & Stanley-Brown 1939) The project began in 1933 and the bridge opened in 1935. The contractor was American Bridge Company of New York, New York and the engineering was done by Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike of Boston, Massachusetts (historicbridges.com) The Bourne Bridge won the American Institute of Steel Construction's Class "A" Award...

Bradbury Mountain State Park is a public recreation area in the town of Pownal, Cumberland County, Maine, managed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The state park covers 730 acres. The park was created in the 1940s as one of Maine's original five state parks after the land was acquired from the Federal government in 1939. This Park land was acquired by the Government under the Soil Conservation Land Utilization Program. Purchased from the owners in 1936 to 1938, it was developed by WPA labor in 1939. It is leased to the Maine State Park Commission and administrated by...

Breed Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA was remodeled with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936. The two-story PWA Moderne main building was designed by architect Joseph Kaiser and built by contractor R. E. Campbell for $89,474. 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 began in Spring 1934, lasted 21...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Bremer County Courthouse in Waverly IA in 1935.  The project received $60,750 from the PWA. 

The concrete bridge constructed by the Works Progress Administration over the Hobolichitto Creek (also spelled Hobolochitto) was 100 feet wide and part of the county's farm to market road program. It was constructed 5 miles from McNeill for a cost of $6,304. It has since been replaced.

Bridge Street Elementary School, which opened in 1907, 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 with...

The Bridge to Nowhere in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Azusa, CA, did originally lead somewhere. It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 as an alternate route to Wrightwood through the Angeles National Forest. However, the East Fork Road was still under construction when it was washed out by flooding in March 1938, leaving only the bridge standing. The Bridge to Nowhere, now accessible only by foot or horseback, is a popular site for bungee jumping.

A three runway airport that existed for about 30 years. The current Mt. Abraham Union High School now uses the property. According to the Burlington Free Press, it says that the PWA was the initial agency that financed the construction but incorrectly says that it was shut down in April of 1935 replaced by the WPA. Until town reports can be viewed to confirm it, it is more likely that either the CWA, FERA, or VERA (Vermont Emergency Relief Administration) was the agency involved. I cross referenced with the PWA list of completed projects and Bristol is not listed. "In early January...

In 1936-37, improvements were made to Broadway Elementary School in Venice, CA with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). A new one-story classroom building was constructed on Lincoln Blvd, while the north and south wings on Broadway St and California Ave, respectively, were remodeled. The project totaled $113,756. Designed by architect William H. Harrison and built by contractors Hansen & Izer, the schools buildings combine elements of PWA Moderne and Mission Revival styles. 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...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed improvements in Brookdale Park NJ (Essex County) in 1937. Initial construction of the park began in 1928 following an Olmstead Brothers’ design. “The basic work was in place by 1930,” suggests the Essex County Parks Department. But hen the Depression hit, the work that was originally estimated to take only a few years was extended to many years. Construction became dependent upon labor available from the WPA and ERA agencies, who completed the major work by 1937. The result is one of the County's most beautiful parks.” The WPA provided most of the funds and labor...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the grounds of Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena, CA, employing 67 men/month for three months between 1935 and 1936 under the auspices of Project 9624. According to a 1939 WPA report, work included "enlarging and improving the clubhouse, placing of 60,000 cubic yards of fill and 20,000 cubic yards of top soil." In addition, "Three large concrete pedestrian bridges were relocated after the flood and three additional steel bridges were constructed over the new channel." This channel over the Arroyo Seco was also built by the WPA as part of their improvement work at...

The former Brunswick County courthouse, established in 1854, served the county for over 140 years before being replaced by a new courthouse on the opposite side of Courthouse Square in 1998. Since then, the historic structure has been repurposed as a municipal building. The former courthouse is a Greek Revival-style brick building with a gable roof, and recieved major renovations in 1977. In 1939, a two-story office wing was added to the rear of the courthouse. This expansion was driven by the increased federal involvment required to manage New Deal programs in Brunswick County, as identified by the William and Mary...

Designed by Raymond A. Sites, Bryant Elementary School (Building A) was built in 1934 with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding. The style is PWA Moderne. 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...