Unknown Sites

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp along Berry Creek in eastern Nevada during the 1930s. Berry Creek drains South Schell Mountain in the Schell Creek mountain range,, about 30 miles northeast of Ely, Nevada. From Camp Berry, CCC enrollees worked on projects all around the area, both for the US Forest Service (Toyaibe National Forest) and the National Park Service. “Within six months, the men of Camp Berry Creek developed new campgrounds in the Duck Creek area, and improved existing facilities at East Creek, Bird Creek, Berry Creek, and Steptoe Creek. The men improved the recreational area...

In 1933, Company 832 of the Civilian Conservation Corps built CCC Camp F-17-W at Chimney Park in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest. CCC enrollees at the Chimney Park camp worked on ranger stations, trails, and roads in addition to establishing and measuring timber research plots. Some of the CCC enrollees went on to study forestry in college following their service. One sent a letter to the U.S. Senate that was cited in government discussions of deforestation in 1971 (“Statement of Hon. Teno Roncalio”).   Camp F-17-W operated continuously until July 20, 1942 and was one of the last CCC camps to close...

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established Camp McKinley as a summer and winter camp in the Oregon & California Land Grant areas of Coos County, Oregon. Working in an area described at the time as "an unbroken stretch of timber land . . . (containing) the largest block of virgin timber in the United States," the CCC enrollees constructed miles of truck trail to provide access for forest management purposes. The camp operated for the majority of the CCC's existence, closing in late August 1941. Companies assigned to the land trust forest included: #1649, #3873, #3881, #3558. The first...

Camp NA-1 was located in the National Arboretum, Washington, DC, and was home to Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1360, an all African-American unit. Many of the enrollees in Company 1360 were young men from the city itself. Company 1360 formed on June 7, 1933 at Fort George Meade, Maryland and, after initial work assignments in Chester, Virginia (Camp P-61) and Williamsburg, Virginia (Camp SP-9), the men settled into Camp NA-1 in November 1934. From then until 1941 these young African American men made the earliest significant developments to the National Arboretum – a project of the Bureau of Plant Industry...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-2 was created at Yorktown VA for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-2 housed CCC Company 323, which had been formed in Fort Washington, Maryland, in Spring 1933, before moving to Virginia. Company 323, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over the job of...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-4 was created at Yorktown, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Colonial National Historical Park (Jamestown Settlement, Yorktown Battlefield, Colonial Parkway). Camp NHP-4 housed CCC Company 1351, a World War I veterans company that had been formed at Langley Field, Virginia, on May 26, 1933. Company 1351, along with four other African American CCC companies, developed Colonial National Historical Park. This work would continue until at least the end of 1941 – essentially, the entire life of the CCC program. The CCC enrollees worked under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), which had just taken over...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NHP-5 was created at Williamsburg, Virginia, for the purpose of developing the Lake Matoaka area, part of the College of William & Mary campus. Beginning in 1934, Camp NHP-5 housed CCC Company 2303, an African American unit. 2303’s work at Matoaka State Park included “trails and bridges, a boat house, picnic shelters, and an amphitheatre seating 500 persons” (Dist. 4, Third Corps Area history, 1937). Today, it seems this area is no longer called “Matoaka State Park,” but is simply viewed as part of the overall campus and holdings of the college.    Company 2303 also helped four...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built CCC Camp Rangeley Lake Co. 144 P-55 in Sandy River, Maine. Excerpt  from Official annual, 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps: "The 144th Company, CCC, is located about three miles south of Rangeley, Maine on Route No. 4. This camp was established on June 5th, 1933. The location of this camp is but a few rods from the edge of the famous Rangleley Lake. The elevation at the camp site is 1650 feet above sea level. The camp is located in a small open valley nestling at the foot of the foothills of the Blue Mountain range. The majority of...

Two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) companies were established at Big Bear Lake, CA in 1933: Company 522 (Project P-152) on the north bank and Company 530 (Project F-151) on the south bank. Their efforts included building stone guard walls along dangerous curves to reduce reckless driving, clearing fire hazards, and creating picnic areas along highways. They installed camp stoves and tables, drinking fountains, birdbaths, and water buckets for radiator refills. Civil Works Administration (CWA) relief workers also made improvements at Big Bear Lake in the winter of 1933-34. In 1934, nine Black enrollees in one of Big Bear’s CCC companies protested a...

The 159th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) under the command of Lieutenant Leon Jeffers had a camp at Hay Lake outside Patten, Maine from June 1933 to September 1937. The camp's main function was fire protection.  In a tribute to his father, a member of the 159th, on the Maine State Archives website, Michael Earl Williams writes: On October 16, 1936, Mac was assigned to the 159th Company at Fort Williams, Maine and into Hay Lake Camp, about twenty miles north & west of the town of Patten. Very remote and rugged, these wooded, mountainous forests were where work began...

To support the Civilian Conservation Corps' (CCC) work program in the Wallowa National Forest, administrative buildings were built at the end of the county's railroad line in Enterprise. In 1933, the solution to the administrative and logistical needs of the US Forest Service's CCC projects in the Wallowa National Forest (WNF) involved securing land of almost a city block near the Enterprise train depot. The land was donated by Wallowa County, the City of Wallowa and some of the leading local businessmen. On that site, they constructed warehousing, storage and shop facilities for the CCC projects. The following year, April 1934,...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Centennial Building in Port St. Joe FL. Past Use: Auditorium/Gymnasium. Present Use: Civic Center. The 1996 National Register documentation notes that the Centennial Building has been the site of centennial celebration of the signing of Florida's first constitution, which ran from December 7th to December 10th, 1938. The building was dedicated on December 7, 1938. It was also used for other political events and civic functions. Also fund raising events, such as the Fireman's Ball and the March of Dimes President's Ball, have been held in the building. It has sometimes been used for community Fourth of July and...

In 1939, the city, Chamber of Commerce, and private donations funded the purchase of a $2500 fountain from Bremer Electric in St. Louis. It was installed with labor from the National Youth Administration. Centennial Fountain features spectacular colored lights and commemorates Washington's first one hundred years. It remains a focal point for the town and is part of the business district's inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally constructed as a junior high school, what is now Central Elementary School in Franklin, Pennsylvania—a gorgeous structure bearing Art Deco motifs—was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA supplied a $116,182 grant for the project, whose total cost was $258,556. The allotment was approved in November 1935. Construction started in March 1936 and was finished Jun. 1937. PWA Docket No. 1073.

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. Hook & Ladder, adjacent to L & N Depot, on Main Street. The Central Fire Station construction was begun 04/20/1937 with an expected cost of about $10,000. The formal opening of the new fire station was July 1 when the old Hook and Ladder Company hall was vacated with the final departure of a parade of equipment and personnel to the new station on Main Street. The new station was 46 x 71 feet,...

“Music”, a large mural commissioned by the Works Progress Administration and painted by Emerson Burkhart, once hung in Central High School in Columbus, Ohio. The mural was removed from Central High when the building was renovated to become the science center. In conjunction with McKay Lodge (an art restoration company) and Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, the panels were moved to Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, which is a visual art focused high school & career center. There the panels were cleaned and inpainted by the students (including the contributor). Per McKay Lodge: "The mural Music (1934) by Emerson Burkhart,...

Central Junior High School in Los Angeles, CA was built with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936-37. Designed by architect A. C. Zimmerman and built by the Weymouth Crowell Company, the campus included two-story main and home economics buildings; the former included an auditorium. The school was later incorporated into the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) administrative headquarters. It was demolished in 2003 and in 2006 construction began on the site's current occupant: the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach...

In 1933 a group of women organized the Sunshine Club in Chapel Hill, a community near Utica in Hinds county. They secured the donation of land for a clubhouse, helped clear the grounds area and cut trees for the logs with which to construct the facility. In 1934, a work relief project of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration was approved which included construction of the club room. The club was active in rural health work including sanitary disposal, protecting water supplies, prenatal clinic, and infant/pre-school education conferences through collaboration of the Hinds county health department. The facility was a log...

The Public Works Administration contributed $35,000 for the construction of a new auditorium and gymnasium for David Anderson High School. Ground was broken for the project on December 9th 1937 and the structure was dedicated on October 3rd 1938. The total cost of the project was $70,000. The general construction contract went to the George H. Whike Construction Company of Canton Ohio. The building has since been renamed and currently serves as a juvenile court.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved the Charles H. Lee Elementary School building(s) and graded/leveled the grounds in Azusa, CA.

Following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, two buildings at 97th Street Elementary School—today's Charles W. Barrett Elementary School—in Los Angeles, CA were rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Construction lasted 1935-36 and totaled $114,854. In 1935, the original school building was reconstructed by Fred F. Greenfield. The following year, a 1926 addition was reconstructed by Harvey A. Nichols according to designs by architect Paul C. Pape. Both buildings were constructed in the PWA Moderne style. Although the school plant has been modified extensively since the New Deal, it appears the original building survives in the center of campus...

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) allotted funds for a 3 runway airport in Charlotte. Charlotte's major airport was built between 1935 and 1937. The WPA also built the Douglas Airport Hangar is located at 4108 Airport Drive in Charlotte, N.C. According to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, "This airport was the W.P.A.’s largest project, in allotment of funds, at the time in North Carolina."

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a campground and picnic area at Charlton Flat in the Angeles National Forest, CA. The same CCC Company was responsible for building the campground, ranger station, and maintenance facilities at nearby Chilao, as well as the fire lookout on Mount Vetter.

Following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, Chatsworth Park Elementary School in Chatsworth, CA was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Construction lasted 1935-36 and totaled $61,982. Since 2019, the school has been an Urban Planning Magnet. In 1935, a single-story, 10-room main building was constructed by George Mittry. It housed six classrooms, offices, and student restrooms. The frame and stucco structure, which combines elements of the Mission Revival and PWA Moderne styles, is located at the corner of Devonshire St and Topanga Canyon Blvd. A one-story, six-room auditorium building designed by architect Frank P. Allen Jr was built in...

Cheremoya Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA was remodeled with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936. Additions and improvements to the 1922-24 sections of the main building were designed by architect Arthur L. Acker and built by contractor William J. Shirley for $62,743. 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...

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a three-story lifeguard station in Long Beach, CA. Originally located at the foot of Linden Avenue, it was moved to Cherry Avenue in 1961.

In addition to the 45' x 75' schoolhouse, the Works Progress Administration built a 205' wall along the east side of the premises. In 1985, Christie School was still in operation, having had additions built onto both sides during the intervening decades. This is no longer the case. The school is currently closed. The building is still standing, but Living New Deal does not know what, if any, purpose it is serving at present.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the fire lookout tower on Cinnamon Butte in 1934.   Cinnamon Butte lies 5 miles north of Diamond Lake, east of highway 138, and west of the Mt Theilsen Wilderness Area. The lookout tower is 35 feet high with a 14x14 foot observation cabin, all built entirely of wood. This was a standard form and size of lookout tower.  It still stands. The CCC built several fire lookouts for the US Forest Service in Umpqua National Forest, dozens around Oregon and hundreds across the country.    

The Works Progress Administration built the City Hall in Bird City, Kansas. The park buildings were constructed with stone from Beaver Creek and the Kuhrt Ranch quarry.    

The Works Projects Administration (WPA) funded the construction of City Hall in Burbank, CA. Completed in 1943, the Moderne-style, reinforced concrete building was designed by architects William Allen and George Lutzi. "Outside, ornate sculpted panels depicting themes of peace, social order and technological progress soften the utilitarian concrete walls of two-story wings flanking a tower. Brass handrailings draw visitors up the steps and into an airy rotunda, brightly illuminated through a cast-concrete grill that forms a decorative facade for the tower. Inside, sound bounces readily across the marble floors and walls, but visitors talk and tread softly, as if in...

Art Deco City Hall built for $340,000 with Works Progress Administration workers in 1939. The building was designed by architect J. Chris Jensen. An article published in the Daily Nonpareil in 1939 stated that, “Actual work leading to the construction of the proposed $340,000 city hall at the old Merriam Block site started Monday with 40 WPA men assigned to remove piling from the basement excavation and to pave the way for pile driving equipment J. Chris Jensen, architect, said the pile driving equipment will be moved in on the job within the next few days. Workmen, after taking the 500 pilling...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the City Hall in Jennings KS. The building has undergone several alterations and now houses the Jennings Public Library. According to the Decatur County - Kansas History Book, "In 1936 and 1937 the City Council voted a total of $17,000 in bonds for the construction of the city hall. WPA workers began construction in 1938 under the supervision of Joseph S. Flaska This project was completed in 1939. The North East section of the City Hall houses the Jennings City Library.”

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided matching funds for the construction of a new City Hall for Mill Valley in 1935-36. The city had already decided to replace an older city hall built on the same site in 1908 and had raised $30,000 through a bond issue in 1935. The new City Hall housed city offices and council chambers, as well as the fire station and city police. The building was designed by architects D.E. Jaekle and Walter Falch in the Neo-Tudor style, which was one of many period revival architectures popular in the interwar period.   City Hall's was heavily remodeled...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided about half the funds for construction of the original city hall in San Leandro CA – which had only recently incorporated as a city in 1933.  City Hall was built in 1938-39 and dedicated on June 22, 1939. Available sources disagree on the cost of construction and PWA funding. In late 1938, the Daily Pacific Builder reported that construction was to begin on the San Leandro City Hall the following month for a cost of $105,877.  By contrast, a 1940 city brochure declared that, "In August of 1938, the voters bonded the city for $185,000 for...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the City Hall and Auditorium in Leoti KS. According to Kansas Historical Society, "The Municipal Auditorium & City Hall located at 201 N 4th Street in Leoti was constructed as a WPA project using local labor between the years 1939 and 1942. This rectangular, one-story limestone building is significant locally for housing city government offices, the Leoti fire department and auditorium. It is also significant socially in providing meeting spaces for civic organizations such as the American Legion, Girl Scouts, Brownies, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts."

City Hall in Santa Monica, CA is home to an untitled bust of a woman created by artist Eugenia Everett under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, “Eugenia Everett is a wistful young lady, working in her aunt’s studio on Manhattan Place” (Wells, p. 25). Everett also created sculptures for Brockton Avenue School and Fries Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA.

The jail annex and repairs to the city hall including beautifying and landscaping of city streets in addition to the construction of a 35 x 35 one-story jail annex. W. P. No. 1046 was started 02/01/1936 and completed 07/04/1937 for a total cost of $25,913.19 including payroll, material, and equipment. The federal funds provided$22,105.97 and the City of Biloxi as sponsor provided $3,807.22. The city hall repairs included modernization of offices. The landscaping included West Beach improvement and Central Beach Promenade. The building is no longer extant.

Artist Hugo Ballin painted two murals for City Hall in Burbank, CA. Ballin likely received some funding from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) Art Project prior to its termination in 1943. Both murals were fully restored in 2001. "Burbank Industry" (8' x 24') is located in the City Hall rotunda. It is "a painting with multiple planes that marked the passage of time, each layer representing a phase in Burbank’s transformation from a small community of farmers to a center of film production to the capitol of the aviation industry. Although Burbank’s indigenous and Mexican past is notably absent from Ballin’s...

A power plant built in 1937 to serve the City Hospital complex was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA).  The Power Building is 3-stories tall with high ceilings on all floors. It is rectangular and covered with red brick, and has a tall brick smokestack. The building has been repurposed and currently houses a climbing gym, an elegant restaurant, and other businesses.

Philip Guston (at that time Philip Goldstein) and Reuben Kadish collaborated on a large mural entitled "Physical Growth of Man." The mural was funded by the Federal Art Project (FAP) and painted in the years 1935-36. The mural was painted for the Los Angeles Tubercular Sanatorium in Duarte, CA, which in 1940 changed its name to City of Hope. The mural can be seen in the Visitor Services Center. "This T-shaped painting surrounding a doorway includes more than 30 nude and semi-nude figures depicting the sweeping progression of human life. To the left is the energy and hopefulness of youth, while on...