Marked Sites

The Union City High School was erected in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA Moderne, one-story brick school included an auditorium and football field and replaced a three story brick school demolished as part of the construction of the Central Elementary School project. The school grounds were quickly used as the grounds for a federal Office of Education pilot program, "Home and Family Life," which expanded upon an earlier Works Progress Administration (WPA) adult education program. The PWA high school is currently used as Union City Middle School.

A new county jail and improvements to the existing county courthouse were approved as PWA project 1272 July 23, 1938. E. L. Malvaney was architect for the two-story concrete Art Deco jail. Construction began 10/10/1938 and was completed 3/29/1939. PWA supplied a grant of $20,454 toward total cost of $45,577. Bonds were issued in the amount of $25,000 to contribute toward the cost of new jail construction and repair of the courthouse.

Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Union High School in Junction City OR. Excerpt from "A History of Junction City High School": "In 1934 because the Federal Government was offering Public Works Administration (PWA) grants for consolidation of school districts, the timing was good to merge. In Junction City’s circumstance, the PWA grant would pay for 45% of the $50,000 needed for a new high school. The board organized a bond election on August 10, 1936 to raise funds for the remaining money needed to build and equip the high school. In the fall of 1937, Junction City...

In 1936, the Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built an underpass to separate the grade of Wayside Drive and the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad (now Union Pacific).

In February 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) granted Los Angeles, CA, $304,000 to begin street realignment and improvements necessary for the construction of a new railroad station. The project in its entirety was expected to employ 350 to 400 men. In 1926, Los Angeles voters were given the opportunity to choose between the construction of a network of elevated railways or a new railroad station. They chose the latter by a 61.3 to 38.7 percent margin. Union Station—which would consolidate the city's existing Central and La Grande Stations—was to be located at the historic Los Angeles Plaza. However, preservationist Christine...

The United States Post Office in Sheridan, Indiana was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds.

T. M. Strider and Company was in charge of construction for the four-lane steel-reinforced concrete bridge replacement for the old two-lane wooden bridge across the Hilgard Cut, connecting the University with Oxford. The original cut was hand dug by enslaved Africans in 1857 in order to enable the Illinois Central Railroad to provide service to Oxford-University, and was the deepest cut in the ICRR system. The rails were laid along the cut, which is now the Gertrude Ford Boulevard. University Avenue was scheduled for closure for six months in order to construct the new bridge with an estimated cost of...

The University of Alabama's Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library was built in 1939 with the aid of funding provided by the Public Works Administration (PWA). It is located on the site of the first library on campus. The first university library, known as the Rotunda, was destroyed during the Civil War and its ruins can be found underneath the semi-circular plaza in front of the building. Gorgas Library supports teaching and research needs in humanities, social sciences, and government information as the campus’ main library. Among the research libraries in the state of Alabama, Gorgas Library provides the latest technology-driven services...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding toward the construction of the University of Alabama's Foster Auditorium. Originally built in 1939, Foster Auditorium was named in 1942 for Richard Clarke Foster, president of the University of Alabama from 1937-41. In its original capacity, Foster served as home for intramural sports, graduations, concerts, lectures and campus meetings. It also served as the home of several varsity athletic programs over the years, including men's basketball from 1939-68, women's volleyball from 1974-81 and 1989-95, women's basketball, which played selected games in Foster, from 1975-81, and gymnastics from 1975-84. Additionally, the women's athletic program, including...

These two Byzantine-style mosaic murals by Helen Bruton and F. Alston Swift were installed in 1936, two years after the Art Gallery opened. They are located on the eastern facade, flanking the building's double entrance. Each mural measures 18' by 10'. "The left (Swift) panel is said to allegorically depict music and painting. There is a woman with a violin, and a woman with an easel. The right (Bruton) panel is said to depict Sculpture and Dance (a man seated behind a partially carved stone block, and three woman dancers)." - https://www.wpamurals.org/berkel2.htm   Plaque info: worked into mosaic: W.P.A Federal Art Project 1936-1937   This small brick building northeast of...

The PWA constructed this gymnasium in a style and native rock façade that echoed existing buildings on the UCMO campus. It is now known as Morrow Hall, and is still actively used for the gymnasium and Physical Education department.

The PWA funded the construction of the library on the University of Central Missouri campus. The building, now the Dockery building, is no longer the library, but is actively used for classrooms and offices. It is on the north side of the north quadrangle adjacent to the administration building.

The library of the University of Colorado was built with financial aid from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1939.  It is still actively in use.

Albert A. Murphree Hall was undertaken during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Federal Administration of Public Works. The building is a residence hall on the northern side of the University of Florida. Designed by architect Rudolph Weaver in Collegiate Gothic style. The building was named in honor of Dr. Albert A. Murphree, the second president of the University of Florida. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The UMN Cloquet Forestry Center (CFC) is the primary research and demonstration forest for the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, currently a research and outreach center (ROC) for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. The Cloquet Forestry Center was called the Cloquet Forest Experiment Station when the CCC was active in providing skilled labor to the University. Projects completed at the CFC by some of the men stationed at Big Lake Camp S79 from July 1933 to June 1937 include: - the construction of five and a half miles of fire break and truck trails. - brushing and improvement of 15...

The student union at the University of Minnesota, now known as Coffman Memorial Union, was likely a New Deal project (probably PWA), though substantially later than the other New Deal buildings on campus. From contributor Charles Swaney: "I've been impressed with the 'foresight, lucky or not' of these constructions on college campuses that anticipated the huge influx of students after WWII with the GI bill, neither of which were even thought of to any great extent at the time they were built.  They had a profound effect on education and the rebuilding of the economy in the '50s in particular...

Cooke Hall was built in 1934, probably as a PWA project like Pioneer Hall since it predates the WPA.

"The laboratory...was designed and built under the direction of a dedicated individual, Lorenz G. Straub. Straub had been a Freeman Fellow and observed several laboratories in Germany during the year of his fellowship. He came to the University in 1930 and promptly set to work to establish his own laboratory. His vision came to fruition through a WPA grant to the University of Minnesota and construction started in 1936. Straub came to be known as the "River Doctor" for his many studies at SAFL on several aspects of river engineering. The Laboratory building lies on the Falls of St. Anthony...

These three dormitories were constructed in Georgian Revival style as Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works Mississippi project 1216-DS. The buildings were dedicated October 21-22, 1938, along with three other new dorms built on the campus of the University of Mississippi with New Deal funds. They are currently unoccupied, but are slated for renovation and restoration in the coming year. They will be used as office and classroom space following renovation. They are considered "contributing buildings" due to the "considerable legacy of architecturally significant buildings" in the historic center of the campus (Master Plan 2009, University of Mississippi, p. 35).

Leavell Hall, was initially built as a men's dormitory housing 68 students. It is one of six dormitories constructed on campus with PWA funds during 1938. All six buildings remain and are in current use, or slated for renovation and resumption of use. Leavell was named for Dr. Richard Leavell, professor of philosophy and political economy from 1890-1909. "...conditions in Mississippi were worse than at any time since the Civil War (quoted in Harry Hopkins, 1936, Spending to Save: The Complete Story of Relief). With a state government in bankruptcy, Mississippi welcomed the federal funds that finally began to trickle down...

The Physics Building of the University of Mississippi campus, was built in 1939 as one of the last construction projects during the Public Works Administration. It was renamed Lewis Hall in 1977 for Dr. Arthur Lewis, a physics professor from 1939-1969. A research wing was added to the rear of the southwest corner in 1995.

Somerville was built in 1938 as a women's dormitory under Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (which later became the PWA) Mississippi Project 1216-DS. It currently houses the English faculty and the Center for Writing and Rhetoric on the University of Mississippi campus. It is identified as a "contributing building" in the historic core of the campus.

The Student Union Building was completed in 1939 on the campus of the University of Mississippi. It housed the bookstore, university post office, a grill, game room, barbershop, clothing store, and several meeting rooms (Sansing, 1999, p. 254). The Greek Revival style building was used as the student union building until 1973. It was renovated in 2004 and is currently used by the Computer Science Department and houses a student computer lab.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the Student Union building on the University of Montana campus in 1934 and the building was completed in 1936.  It is now the Fine Arts Building and houses the George & Jane Dennison Theater. According to the National Trust/ Montana Historical Society marker on the building, "Missoula architect C. J. Forbis ushered in a new campus building phase in 1935 with the construction of student union. The building’s placement and modern Art Deco façade broke ranks with the Renaissance Revival style called for in the old Carsley-Gilbert campus master plan. The old...

The building was designed by the firm of Ashton & Evans and constructed as a PWA project in 1935. In 1969, a new library was built on campus and the Thomas Building was converted into the Utah Museum of Natural History, which recently moved to a new home on the eastern flank of the university. The structure was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The former George Thomas Library is being converted to the Crocker Science Center (with major additions) as of 2016-17. Of the $20,000,000 spent in Utah by the Public Works Administration (PWA) for public works projects, the "most imposing" of...

Between 1935 and 1939 the WPA maintained, expanded, and improved Suiter Field (now Upolu Airport). Upolu still operates today as a small regional airport.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was active in Jerome, a copper mining town hit hard by the Great Depression.  The WPA hired out-of-work miners for several projects in Jerome and nearby towns, c. 1937-38.  One of those projects is "Upper Park" on the hillside between upper Main Street and Clark Street. The parks consist of two parts.  Along Main Street a spacious, curving bank of stone risers is flanked by stairways and stone walls, with a short pair of central stairs and a metal drinking fountain.  The stairways lead up to a small area with grass and trees, backed by a...

The Pontalba Buildings flank Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans.  The Upper Pontalba Building lies on the west side of the square along St. Peter Street, the Lower Pontalba Building on the east side on St. Ann Street.  Both are block-long structures, four stories in height, built of brick and graced with the ironwork typical of buildings in the French Quarter. They were originally built in the 1840s. The two building were the gift of the Baroness de Pontalba, who wished to improve the appearance of Jackson Square – then the center of the city....

The historic Uptown Station post office in Chicago, Illinois was constructed in 1939 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building is still in service and houses an example of New Deal artwork.

In 1940, the Work Projects Administration (WPA) built the Urho Saari Swim Stadium in El Segundo, CA. It was named after the world famous swimming and water polo coach. Today, the 25-yard pool—known as "the Plunge"—is administered by the El Segundo Recreation and Parks Department. It closed for extensive renovations in 2021 and is expected to re-open in 2025. There are two bas-reliefs at the entrance to the stadium, of a male and female swimmer; it is unknown whether they are New Deal art projects.

The US 190 Bridge at the Colorado River conveys U.S. Highway 190 over the Colorado River at the Lampasas and San Saba county line west of Lometa, linking the cities of Lampasas and San Saba, the county seats. The Texas Highway Department (THD) designed the bridge. The bridge was constructed by Cage Brothers & L.A. Turner between 1939 and 1940. The Colorado River bridge was constructed to replace the former bridge, known as the Red Bluff Bridge, damaged in a severe flood in July 1938. The THD district engineer believed that the damaged bridge would be too costly to rebuild. THD...

The US 281 Bridge at the Brazos River is a through truss bridge consisting of one three-span continuous unit 656 1/2 feet long and 12 steel I-beam approach spans, each 40 feet long, for an overall length of 1,138 feet.The three spans form a continuous Warren truss with top chords resembling the curve seen in suspension bridges The bridge provides a crossing over the Brazos River on U.S. Highway 281 in southeastern Palo Pinto County. By September 1938, the Brazos River bridge project had been placed on the 1939 Regular Federal Aid Program. Texas Highway Department engineers designed the bridge. The...

The USS Potomac served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945.  FDR was a great yachtsman in his youth and loved being aboard the Potomac, which he used for  political meetings and fishing trips to get away from the White House. The Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Public Works Administration (PWA) assisted with the funding of the construction. It was originally the USCGC Electra, and renamed the USS Potomac in 1936. The Potomac is now preserved in Oakland, California as a National Historic Landmark and is...

The Museum at the historic Utah State Hospital for the mentally handicapped was formerly the Superintendent's Residence, which was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936-37 as part of a general improvements to the state hospital complex.  That work included renovations to the Central Administration Building and a Recreational Center (now the Castle Amphitheater).

The historic stone amphitheater on Old Main Hill at Utah State University in Logan, Utah was constructed in 1934 with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and the USU Classes of 1925 and 1926. The amphitheater is still in use, but one can see that the original wooden seats have long since been removed, leaving traces of their metal supports.  

The Art Moderne school was completed in 1943 as W. P. A. Project No. 7233. Work began in 1941 but was stopped due to lack of money resulting from the war. WPA workers mixed concrete on site, and carried it in wheelbarrows to construct the poured monolithic concrete two and a half story U-plan school. The auditorium was restored in 2008-2009 for use as a community center.

Valentine Migratory Waterfowl Refuge was established in 1935 by an Executive Order of President Franklin Roosevelt.  Some 70,000 acres of land in the Sand Hills of Cherry County, Nebraska were purchased by the Bureau of Biological Survey “as a breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.”  The Nebraska Game Preserve and Fish Commission worked cooperatively with the Bureau of Biological Survey to bring the project to fruition. (The bureau morphed into the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1940).  Valentine NWF is part of the Fort Niobrara/Valentine NWR complex, administered from Fort Niobrara NWR, along with the John and Louise...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a six-room elementary school building in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. A plaque on the building dates the construction to 1935 to 1937. It was one of many educational facilities constructed by the WPA in Watauga County. The school has since been enlarged.

Teh Public Works Administration (PWA) built the Vasona Lake and dam in Los Gatos California. The dam is part of a local park and still part of the local water system. Built in 1934-35 as stated on the plaque at the top of the dam. PWA project 6051. 

The Veedersburg Scout Cabin is a community building constructed by the Works Progress Administration in Veedersburg IN in 1935. Further confirmation of the construction date needed.