Marked Sites

The WPA constructed a rock retaining wall in the parking lot at the James Marshall Monument, located within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma, California.

This stone park shelter in the small town of Hubbard, Iowa, was built by the WPA in 1939.

Located in Veterans Memorial Campground, Shelter #1 was a combined effort between La Crosse County and the WPA. It's 1937 stone structure is in amazing shape as it is maintained by the county. It sits across the campground drive from a static tank display and a memorial sign. The shingled roof is in fine condition as well.

The Park Street Bridge across the Oakland Estuary was built to connect the cities of Alameda and Oakland.  The Park Street approach is on the Alameda side; from Oakland the approach is from 29th Street. The bridge was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) when it was still called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works and completed in 1935. It is a bascule-type drawbridge to allow ships to pass beneath (rarely used today); the operator sat in the small tower on the east end of the bridge.   The construction is riveted steel girder, cantilever style, done by MacDonald and...

Two buildings were constructed by the PWA on the campus of what was then the Patti Welder High School in 1936 and 1939 to serve as the town's junior high. This part of the campus was originally known as the Victoria Junior High School, but the whole campus was later renamed the Patti Welder Junior High School, and eventually, the Patti Welder Middle School. The 1936 building housed the administration, a library and four classrooms. The 1939 building provided a needed addition. The campus was already well established at that time and the new buildings were needed to accommodate the rapid...

In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) set up camp at Pattison State Park in Superior, Wisconsin. Pattison State Park was named for Martin Pattison, a wealthy Superiorite who had purchased the land in 1918 and gave it to the state in order to preserve its resources. The land became a state park in 1920. At Camp Pattison, the Corpsmen of Company 3663 would improve the park from a miniscule natural area to the expansive work of conservation it is today. During its construction, the men of Camp Pattison transformed the park by clearing out and building trails and bridges, renovating...

Located within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument area of the Deschutes National Forest (approximately 36 miles southeast of Bend), the Paulina Lake Guard Station was built by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) employees in 1938 to house a seasonal ranger responsible for patrolling the campground and surrounding forest during wildfire season.  It currently houses the Paulina Visitors Center, the interpretive center for the Newberry Caldera. Finished in horizontal clapboard, with vertical board and batten on its gable ends, the one-story wooden structure with an interior stone chimney reflects the rustic-style developed by the Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest during the early...

Located at the intersection of Route 66 (N 4th St) and W Elm St is a pedestrian underpass that acted as a walkway to provide safety from Route 66 traffic in addition to acting as a severe weather shelter. The underpass appears to still be in use based off the photos. A WPA plaque located inside the entrance to the east shelter notes its New Deal connection.

"Pere Marquette Lodge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933-1939, opening for business in 1940 at a cost $352,912.00. The massive poles, as much as 3 feet in diameter, are douglas fir, western and pecky cypress. Limestone, which was taken from the Grafton rock quarry, was used in the construction of the cabins, the floor in the lodge, and the 700-ton stone fireplace, which dominates the Great Room and Restaurant. Illinois inmates constructed the furniture in the Lodge. The Civilian Conservation Corps did all of the metal work, such as the chandeliers, door handles, window locks, etc."  ...

"In the 1930s, with the advent of the Great Depression and with the nation’s natural resources in jeopardy due to poor environmental practices, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created. At Pere Marquette, the CCC built many buildings and shelters, fences, bridges, water reservoirs, foot and horse trails, riprap and streambank protection. Work was also done to create parking areas, campgrounds, and the clearing of overlooks and vistas. In addition, archeological and other types of surveying activities were conducted. Many of these CCC structures are still standing."   (https://www.greatriverroad.com) The heart of the park is the massive, CCC built Pere Marquette Lodge...

The Works Progress Administration built the Perrine Community House in Palmetto Bay FL in 1935. Used by Perrine Women's Club, South Dade Chamber of Commerce, Village of Palmetto Bay.

Also called CCC Park, Perry Lake Park was built by the CCC during the Great Depression. The lake, dock and picnic shelters remain.   A plaque at the park provides a history of this site: "The creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 gave promise to many communities affected by the Great Depression of the 30's. Through the cooperative efforts of the Chamber of Commerce, city officials and interested citizens, 170 acres of land referred to as 'The Perry City Farm' was designated as the site for a CCC Camp. Will Rogers, at the time Oklahoma's...

The Pershing School District Office was constructed with the help of the National Youth Administration (Nevada state office) in 1941, according to a plaque on the building, which still stands.   The building is a modest one-story structure in Moderne Style, with decorative indentations above the windows and a handsome design around the entrance.  It has recently (c. 2020) been repainted from beige to brown and the office name over the entrance is gone or has yet to be reinstalled.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the water tower at Mather's Lodge in Petit Jean State Park from native stone.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use. The state parks commission acquired the land in 1933, but had no funds for development.  The CCC worked in the park from 1933 to 1941, but the sources do not specify exact dates for each improvement.  CCC enrollees built a campfire center, or amphitheater, close to the entrance to the park and accessed from day-use parking lot #1.  It features split-log bench seating, a wooden stage, a stone fire circle and two stone drinking fountains.   The...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made extensive improvements to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park on the central California coast, developing it for public recreational use after the state parks commission acquired the land in 1933.  The enrollees worked out of Camp Big Sur from 1933 to 1941.  We believe Camp Big Sur was located either at the present Main Campground or at the Group Picnic Area. The CCC built campgrounds, picnic areas, a campfire center, and several stone restrooms (comfort stations). They also constructed the main lodge with a post office and cabins.  To this, they added a park headquarters and administration...

Two stone arch bridges were built by the Works Progress Administration in Phillipsburg City Park. One is a pedestrian bridge and the other bridge is used for automotive traffic. Built in 1936, these historic stone stone bridges are located on U.S. Hwy 36.

Single story school with a brick façade that currently houses the elementary school for North Nodaway R-VI school district.

Built by the Works Progress Administration as a picnic shelter in 1937, still used for that purpose.

In 1939, the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, i.e., the Public Works Administration (PWA), funded the construction of a bridge connecting Ocean and Colorado Avenues with the famous Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, CA. "The bridge was constructed to alleviate traffic congestion that occurred as a result of economic development of the City, the local building boom and subsequent local population boom, and the ongoing popularity of the attractions on the Pier" (see Santa Monica Pier Bridge Replacement Project, pp. 2.7-15, 16). The Pier Bridge is a simple reinforced concrete roadway, supported by multiple pediments, spanning the Pacific Coast Highway...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for Pierce HS in the Pierce Joint Unified School District in Colusa County CA.  Both the High School and the District still exist. Pierce High School was completed in 1937 and provides a fine example of Moderne (Art Deco) architecture, which was popular from 1925 to 1945.   The Works Progress Administration (WPA) did additional work on the school grounds, building handball and tennis courts and adding fencing and a sidewalk.

The Pierre Van Cortlandt School was completed and opened in January 1940. The school was built as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project, a New Deal progream established under Franklin Roosevelt. The building has some beautiful artwork, including a stone relief on the grand staircase, sculptures on the gymnasium walls, and a stunning stained glass window. The stained glass window depicts a sailboat that appears to be floating on the actual Hudson river. The artwork was done under the auspices of the Federal Art Project.

The beautiful Pinecrest Municipal Golf Course in Idaho Falls, Idaho was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1936-37. The clubhouse at Pinecrest, completed in 1937, is intact. It was built in a classic park rustic style much in favor in the first half of the 20th century, with stone pillars, log walls and wooden interior. There is a WPA plaque on the exterior wall of the clubhouse by the entrance.

The Pioneer Museum in Provo UT was built with substantial aid from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935-37.  It was started as a project of the Sons and Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, who ran out of funds by 1935.  The City Commission of Provo applied to the federal government and received a WPA grant of $11, 735.  The WPA provide the labor and the city the materials for the building, and the Sons & Daughters of the Pioneers raised money for the interior furnishings. The Pioneer Museum sits in the middle of North Park in Provo.  The building is...

Pioneer Park, located at 421 Nimrod Street, Nevada City, is a city-owned community park constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Pioneer Park Historic District, a National Register eligible park, is set in a designed landscape that is tiered on a north-south axis by masonry stone retaining walls centered around a community swimming pool. Ornamental trees are planted throughout the landscape, and has a riparian natural vegetation, which follows Little Deer Creek with reinforced stonewalls.. The landscape elements create "rooms" for various uses from recreational sports, commemorative memorials, and historic sites. Of the 40 resources in the park, there...

Garfield School, a public school located on upper Tombstone Canyon at the intersection of Pace Avenue, was completed in 1917. In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) enlarged the playground and tennis courts, and built retaining walls that contain multiple WPA stamps set in the concrete. A bronze WPA plaque can be found on the road on Pace Avenue, in front of the playground. Today, the former school serves as a bed and breakfast. Official Bulletin of the Works Progress in Arizona Volume I, No. 2: February 1936, p. 8: “Complete tennis court at Lowell School, Bisbee: Construction of a concrete doubles tennis...

The Orange Post Office in downtown Orange, California was constructed with federal Treasury Department funding and was completed in 1935. It served as the main post office until 1971 and then was renamed the Plaza Station Post Office when a new post office was built to serve as the central post office for the City of Orange.  

The large stone amphitheater located in Riverside Park was constructed in 1934 as a Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) project. Sources conflict as to which agency built the structure. A stone marker erected at the site in 1990 claims it was built in 1934 by the WPA, but this is questionable as the Works Progress Administration wasn’t officially established until 1935. Several articles in the Record-Argus mention the “Relief Works Division” in connection to the project, in all likelihood referring to FERA.

The St. Landry Parish Courthouse annex and jail project was undertaken in New Roads, Louisiana during the Great Depression with the assistance of funds provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The facilities were part of the largest wave of courthouse construction and improvement in Louisiana history, with eleven total courthouses erected in the period of  1936-1940. The annex and jail was added to the north side of the existing courthouse in the parish at a cost of $185,971.  

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp at Pokagon State Park in order to work on developing the park. The camp was there from 1933 to 1942, when the CCC program closed down.  The camp was dismantled afterward. Camp SP-7 housed Company 556 and consisted of officers quarters, six barracks, headquarters building, recreational hall, bath house/laundry, mess hall, latrine, motor pool shed, blacksmith/tool storage, educational/shop building, pumphouse and water tower, and ham radio shed.   The site is marked by a sign on a stone pedestal, built by one of the former CCC boys some 40 years after the camp closed. More...

The former gatehouse at the entrance to Pokagon State Park was completed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees in 1937 and used until the mid-1980s. The style of the former gatehouse is classified as Park Rustic.  Using a variety of native materials, the CCC built gatehouses designed to appeal to the eye and draw in visitors with hints of the delights of nature within the park. In 2016, the little building was dedicated as a CCC Pocket Museum, featurng exhibits about the CCC's work in the park and beyond.  There is also a permanent exhibit in the Nature Center (not a CCC building)...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a shelter house at Pokagon State Park, Angola, Indiana, in 1935.  It was originally known as the Combination Shelter (for a concession stand and picnic shelter) and is now popularly known as the CCC Shelter House.   The two-story, stone-and-timber structure is built into the hillside overlooking the main beach. It contains two massive stone fireplaces, the one on the north with openings on two levels. The style of the CCC shelter house is classified as Parks Rustic.   In 1975, a commemorative plaque on a stone pedestal was dedicated to CCC Company 556, which did the construction....

This structure, which carries State Route 2016 across Pond Creek, is a 12-foot stone arch bridge constructed by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways with funding and labor from the WPA. From the notes: This structure is an excellent example of a WPA-sponsored project because of its well-preserved condition and undisturbed setting, where it spans Pond Creek on a rural road just outside of Lackawanna State Forest. The parapet walls of this skew stone arch bridge display careful rustic craftsmanship and an interesting mix of identifying marks. Designed by a state highway department, constructed with local labor, and paid for by...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed improvements to Poplar and Broad St. in Schenectady NY. Pictured WPA curb stamp was originally located near the intersection of Broad and Poplar Streets.

Between 1935 and 1941, the WPA contributed $127,000 towards work at Port Allen Airport, mostly runway expansion and improvement (“clearing, grading, and paving,” Port Allen Airport History). At its peak, in 1947, the airport served 37,000 passengers and provided a landing area for 1,100 tons of cargo. Today, Port Allen Airport is “used primarily by helicopter companies for scenic tours” (Port Allen Airport History).

Portage Park is located between West Irving Park Road to the South, West Berteau Avenue to the North, North Long Avenue to the East, and North Central Avenue to the West; it occupies four city blocks and has an area of 37 acres . It was established in 1913, as a means to increase property values for the neighboring homes and provide residents with space for recreational and cultural activities. Originally, the park was essentially its own park district, one of 22 individual “districts” existing in Chicago at the time. In 1934, William Martin was elected as head of the Southwest...

The Porterville City Hall was built in 1939 with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  It is a one-story Moderne (Deco) building with horizontal window opening and elaborate design elements between the windows. According to some long-term residents of Porterville, the City Hall building was constructed in stages because it took two city bond measures to complete the project; so the date on which construction began is unknown to us.  Porterville city records say it was completed on September 13, 1939 and this is confirmed by a truly unique PWA plaque (pictured below).  A new north wing was added to the City...

This New Deal post office was built in 1935 and boasts the usual Henry Morgenthau Jr. cornerstone. John W. Smart was the architect, Louis A. Simon the supervising architect, and Neal A. Melick the supervising engineer.

This post office was constructed in 1936 with Treasury Department funds. Consolidation of Goose Creek, Pelly and Baytown, took place on February 15, 1947 and the new city was called Baytown. The Post Office department designated the Goose Creek Office as the main Post Office and the Baytown and Pelly offices were made substations. This, the original Baytown post office, became substation A. The building is one story buff brick with white cement accents around the doors and front windows. Spanish tile roof. Cornerstone: Henry Morgenthau Jr. Secretary of the Treasury James A. Farley Postmaster General Louis A. Simon Supervising Architect Neal A. Meleck Supervising Engineer 1936

The post office in Berwyn was constructed in 1940 with funds and labor provided by the Federal Works Agency (FWA). It was constructed under the supervision of architect Louis A. Simon and engineer Neal A. Melick.