Unmarked Sites

The construction of the Rosedale School in Bakersfield CA was funded by the Public Works Administration. The former elementary school is now a middle school.

In 1934, the Public Works Administration approved a loan of $4.2 million for a school building program in Fort Worth. Rosemont Middle School (Originally Rosemont Junior High School) was one of the schools built with the PWA funds. The E. G. Withers Architectural Company designed the mostly two-story Mediterranean-Romanesque style structure. Thomas S. Byrne Construction Company constructed the building between 1935 and 1936. The Works Progress Administration under the direction of Hare and Hare of Kansas City landscaped the school grounds.

Rosewood Park is a 13.9-acre neighborhood park in East Austin. The land for Rosewood Park was purchased by the City of Austin in 1929 and developed as the first African-American park in Austin. The Civil Works Administration helped make improvements to the park which included stone entry columns, a bandstand, and a sports field flanked by stone retaining walls.

"Rehabilitation of old Cemetery" occurred in November of 1935 thanks to $2,303 by the Works Progress Administration for this former gold rush town of 637 (1930 population). The cemetery was established in 1850 and is open and active for burials.

The old Fresno-Yosemite road (today's state highway 41) was rebuilt during the New Deal with aid from the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) to the California Division of Highways.  The old road, built for wagons in the 19th century, was notoriously bad and unsuited for the boom in automobile traffic into Yosemite National Park from southern California by the 1920s (Broesamle ms). In 1926, Congress began providing additional funds to the BPR to build roads within the national parks, in alliance with the National Park Service, and then added more funding in 1932 for access roads to the parks. The first park...

The WPA completed road work along "Route 65, Sections A & B. Widening present narrow Rd. and installing culverts." WPA Proj. No. 65-3-4920, February 18, 1936, $5,052. Route 65 in the mid 1960s was supplanted by State Route 49, The Golden Chain Highway, a state highway in California that travels 320 miles from Oakhurst to Vinton, California. According to AA Roads, "SR 49 received its designation in honor of the 49ers. The state route is frequently referred to as the Gold Country Highway, Mother Lode Highway, Golden Chain Highway, and other names that speak to its heritage as the main highway to...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) and the federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) funded a large amount of road building around Arizona during the New Deal. One of the highway projects was an underpass for Route 66 beneath the busy Santa Fe railroad line that passes through the center of Flagstaff, which greatly helped relieved traffic jams of cars and trucks waiting for trains to pass. The underpass cost $125,000, of which the city contributed only $5,000.  The PWA grant was awarded in June 1934 and the underpass was finished by Christmas (Cline, p. 308). The underpass carries two lanes of traffic...

Glassboro State Normal School, founded in 1923, trained South Jersey women and men to be elementary school teachers. In 1935, when they received federal funds, there were 330 students at the school. Today, Glassboro State Normal School is Rowan University. A rapidly growing institution with a full complement of University undergraduate subjects, two medical schools, a nursing school, and a new school of veterinary medicine, Rowan has bounded beyond its origins as a Normal School. In the summer of 1935, Dr. J. J. Savitz received approval from the Works Progress Administration of Camden County 8th District for several Improvement projects for...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built and graded roads leading to the newly created Ruby Lake Wildlife Refuge, in order  to connect with existing state highways to Wells NV, where the railroad passed.  The road up the east side of the valley was entirely new, while the west side county road was improved.   "Using a combination of heavy equipment and manual labor, the CCC built the 26-mile long ‘East Service Road.’ In all, Ruby Lake enrollees graded 52 miles of road service, including 19 miles of county road, between the refuge and the oiled highway (State Route 229) that led...

A three story Art Deco style limestone school building with auditorium and gymnasium. This building was built as the new Russell High School: "Originally built at a cost of $253,000 and with assistance from the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1938, the three-story limestone structure was constructed for high school students and continues to support and house education in the Russell community... The building was built with cooperation from the Federal Public Works Administration where workers were paid 60 cents an hour. Between 400 and 500 men built the building in 14 months."   (https://www.krsl.com)

The Western Construction News notes REA work in this small town of 903 (1930 census). "The REA has alloted $82,000 to the Big Horn Rural Electric Company, Basin WY, for construction of 85 miles of transmission lines in Big Horn County, Wyoming."

The Western Construction News reports of REA work in rural Washington state. "The REA has alloted $45,000 to the Benton Rural Electrification Association, Benton City Washington, for construction of 43 miles of transmission lines in Benton County Washington." "The Benton Rural Electric Association was incorporated on April 19, 1937, to serve the rural areas of Benton and adjacent counties. Armed with a $45,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture loan through the Rural Electrification Association for planning and construction, the Association completed 43 miles of line. Benton REA first flipped the switch in May of 1938, lighting 89 rural farms in Benton and Yakima...

The Western Construction News of June 1937 notes REA work in rural South West Oregon. " The REA has alloted $108,000 to the Blachly-Lane County Cooperative Electric Association, Blachly Oregon, for construction of 87 miles of transmission lines in Lane County Oregon." Lane county in 1930 was very sparsely populated with only 54,493 people. "In 1934, one of the first people's utility districts in Oregon was formed, Lake Creek Public Utility District. But before the state and federal governments acted on the application, the Rural Electrification Act was passed and members of the Lake Creek PUD voted to go with the Rural...

The June 1937 issue of Western Construction Magazine notes that "The R.E.A. has alloted $250,000 to the Morgan County Rural Electric Association, Fort Morgan Colorado, for construction of 248 miles of transmission lines in MORGAN and WELLS COUNTIES." "Morgan County Rural Electric Association was organized on April 27, 1937. Morgan County was the third REA to be organized in Colorado. The Charter Board of Directors included: H. W. Bigler, C. C. Daily, J. R. Henderson, O. E. Kinnaman, Ernest Rosener, W. F. Tormohlen, G. E. Trewet, N. C. Wagers and George T. White. The first official meeting of the Board of...

The Western Construction News notes electric projects in Wyoming and Idaho by the REA. "The REA has alloted $145,000 to the Lower Valley Power & Light, Inc., Freedom Wyoming for construction of 90 miles of transmission lines and a generating plant in Lincoln County Wyoming and Bonneville and Caribou Counties, Idaho. Estimated cost of generating plant is $42,000." "Lower Valley Energy began in 1937 as Lower Valley Power & Light, Inc. with just 10 members signed up for this new cooperative. In 1999 when the name changed to Lower Valley Energy there were over 13,000 members. As a result of diligent efforts of...

The Western Construction News reported of REA work in Washington State. "The REA has alloted $88,000 to the Cowlitz County Public Utility District No. 1, Kalama Wash., to finance construction of 81 miles of electric transmission lines." " Cowlitz County Public Utility District, a Depression era institution that provides electric utility services to 47,400 customers (including 42,400 residential customers and 5,200 commercial clients) in its service territory. The municipal utility also serves more than 3,800 Longview-Kelso area water utility customers. Like 27 other PUDs in Washington state, Cowlitz County Public Utility District has the authority to offer electric, water, wastewater, and wholesale...

The June 1937 issue of Western Construction News reported "The REA has alloted $164,000 to the Central Valley Rural Cooperative Electric Company, Lake Arthur New Mexico, for constructing a generating plant estimated $60,000 and to construct 84 miles of transmission lines, estimated cost $104,000 in Eddy and Chaves Counties New Mexico." The company exists today "Central Valley Electric was incorporated June 23, 1937. CVE received its first loan from the Rural Electrification Administration for $90,000. From this modest beginning CVE has expanded its plant to $86.2 million dollars, providing service to more than 4,000 members who require in excess of 15,000...

The June 1937 issue of Western Construction News notes REA work in Idaho. "The REA has alloted $75,000 to the Clearwater Valley Light and Power Association, Lewiston Idaho, for construction of a generating plant of 800 KW capacity." "The REA has alloted $400,000 to the Clearwater Valley Light & Power Association, Lewiston Idaho, for construction of 300 miles of transmission lines in Idaho and Washington." "In 1936, Kenneth Summers was manager at a farmer's co-op, the Lenore Grain and Seed Grower's Company. The machines, needed to process the grain seed, needed electricity but the nearest power line was many miles away. Despite repeated...

The Western Construction News of June 1937 reported on REA work in Wyoming. "The REA has alloted $50,000 to the Garland Power & Light Company for constructing 50 miles of transmission lines in Park County Wyoming." The company still exists to serve a small area of Northwest Wyoming as part of the The Wyoming Rural Electric Association.

The Western Construction News reported on REA work in Wyoming. "The REA has alloted $50,000 to the Washakie Rural Electric Company, Worland Wyoming, for construction of 50 miles of transmission lines in Washakie and Big Horn Counties, Wyoming." "High Plains Power, Inc. is a member owned electric cooperative serving just over 13,000 meters in central Wyoming. High Plains has over 4,800 miles of powerline covering 12,500 square miles in parts of Fremont, Hot Springs, Washakie, Natrona, Carbon, Big Horn, Johnson and Park counties. High Plains Power was formed in 1998 when the memberships of the former Riverton Valley Electric Association and Hot Springs...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) played an important role in the construction of highway 1 along the California coast during the 1930s – most famously along the Big Sur coastline. WPA crews also worked on highway 1 in Mendocino County, where they built three new bridges  — Jack Peters Creek bridge, Russian Gulch bridge and Jughandle Creek bridge.  Russian Gulch bridge, completed in 1939, is 527 feet long, with a central span of 240 feet.  It is an open-spandrel concrete arch design. It is similar in design to the more famous Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur, but its arch has no...

In the winter of 1933-34, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided relief labor for repairs to the jetty at the mouth of the Russian River at Jenner, California.  The CWA work was a minor contribution to a jetty construction project that had begun in 1929 and would continue off and on until 1948.  Funds were sought from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938, but the State of California stepped in with money, instead. In brief, a jetty was built between 1929 and 1931, but was almost immediately damaged by waves and storms, so repairs continued to be made through 1935....

In 1937, a school was built in Rylie, Texas (now Dallas) to replace the former school that burned down the year before. An article published in 1937 in the Dallas Daily Times Herald, recounts the process by which federal funds were granted for the construction of the school: "Officials Puzzled When Second Okay for School WPA Grant Comes Through The board of trustees of Rylie common school district is well fixed for federal aid on construction of a new school house, unofficial reports from Washington indicated Wednesday. Hoke Smith, architect for county school projects aided by the Works Progress Administration, was unable to understand an...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out flood control works on the Sacramento River across twenty counties in Northern California, beginning in 1939. The project was sponsored by the State of California Department of Public Works and the work was performed by WPA relief workers. The estimated labor for the project was 480,592 federal man-hours. The scope of the project was broad, including cleaning levees and channels of brush, repairing and improving levees, replacing drainage systems and reconstructing appurtenant structures like bridges, weirs and levee roads. The exact sites where this work was done cannot be determined without further research -- if ever.  

Development of Saddle Mountain State Park began with the arrival of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company #1258 in 1935. Over a five-year period, the CCC enrollees built the seven-mile access road to the base of Saddle Mountain, picnic grounds and a parking lot at the trail head, and the hiking trail to the mountain's summit. Saddle Mountain is a north coast landmark, known for its colorful wildflowers and rare plants, its basalt formations, and the impressive panoramic views from its 3290-foot summit. Access to these natural amenities still rely on the CCC-built zig-zag hiking trail that rises 1620 feet over a...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains, two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of the...

The former Salem High School (not extant) was constructed by the National Youth Administration (NYA). It served African American students. It was covered in a faux-brick design shingle, pier-and-beam construction, and had two classroom wings with a central auditorium.

The former vocational building for Salem High School for African Americans was a pier-and-beam wooden building with a pent awning over the double door entrance. It was constructed by the National Youth Administration (NYA) and contained a brick chimney, likely fitted for a wood stove vent. Historic photographs clearly indicate the NYA marker embedded in the brick chimney located next to the entrance doors. The building is no longer extant.

Originally named the Willamette Highway Tunnel, the 905 feet-long Salt Creek Tunnel completed the Oregon Forest Highway Project that ran through remote areas of the Willamette National Forest to link US Highway 99 near Eugene with US 97 on the east side of the Cascades. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) designed the tunnel and its masonry rock portals and contracted with the Portland firm Orino-Birkemeier & Saremai to construct the project in December 1937. The length of the tunnel along with the remote location and rugged terrain introduced challenges with its construction. Oregon Department of Transportation historian Robert Hadlow notes...

The Midvale Branch of the Salt Lake County library was constructed in 1940-41 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  The building housed a library in front and the County Library headquarters and book processing department in the back. An auditorium and stack addition was added in 1951. The cost was approximately $70,000, $45,000 of which was from the library budget and the remainder from the WPA.  The building design was single-story Streamline Moderne with a projecting central portion and a curved entrance.  The architects were Ashton and Evans of Salt Lake City, who were employed on several other New Deal projects in the...

Richard R. Lyman was a civil engineer and the vice-chairman of the Utah State Road Commission from 1908-1919. During the 1930s he was a member of an American Society of Civil Engineers commission that developed a grid system for street numbering to make it possible for any traveler to find an address in any city without the help of a map. In June 1936, Salt Lake County adopted the "Lyman System" of designating street names. Instead of the then-current system of designating a street with a name such as "Thirty-third South," the new signs bore the inscription "3300 S". The work...

Samuel Gompers was an American labor leader and founder of the American Federation of Labor. This sculpture by Robert Aitken was erected in 1933 and President Franklin Roosevelt made an address at the dedication ceremony for the monument on October 7th. Apparently, New Deal relief labor was used to improve the park around the memorial (now Samuel Gompers Park).  That would likely have been part of the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) million dollar program of parks improvement in 1935-36.

In 1931, the San Diego Teachers College moved to a new site on Montezuma Mesa northeast of the city. The college changed its name to San Diego State College in 1935.  The Works Progress Administration (WPA) did major development work on the site to accommodate the new college and improve the site.   WPA relief workers built a sewage disposal system, drainage facilities, roadways, walls, walkways, and gutters, and completed grading, landscaping, excavation for the college.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world and the key transportation link in the Bay Area, was built under the New Deal with funding from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC). The 8-mile long bridge (43,500 feet) consists of two parts, both anchored to Yerba Buena Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay.  The western half is an elegant suspension bridge (whose beauty has always suffered by comparison with the Golden Gate Bridge, but gained a delightful electronic light show in the 2010s). The longer  eastern half was a classic cantilever bridge, ungainly but...

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration employed workers on the San Gabriel River Levee. Project No. 9686 employed on average 328 men for 4 months. Project No. 9998 employed 458 men on average for 5 months. From a WPA report:   "Work Project No. 9686 and 9998, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, provides for the enlarging and reconstruction of the earth levees along both banks of the San Gabriel River east of the City of Azusa, and extending downstream from the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon, a distance of about 2 1/4 miles.   "San Gabriel Canyon has...

"The San Joaquin Experimental Range (SJER) was established in 1934 and was California's first range research station. It was originally conceived as a cooperative interdisciplinary research center to identify cost-effect methods of commercial livestock production in the annual grass-oak pine woodlands, while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem. More recently, research objectives have expanded and diversified to include research projects making contributions to our knowledge of the patterns and processes working in this ecosystem. Education is a secondary objective at SJER, serving as an outdoor laboratory for numerous class visits and field trips each year. Classes from California State University at...

  "The building has an area of 50,000 square feet and consists of the auditorium which seats 3,500, a small theater seating 597, a meeting hall seating 499, 2 exhibition halls, 5 committee rooms, quarters for the chamber of commerce, and the necessary service rooms. The auditorium has a large and well-equipped stage. The project was completed in April 1936 at a construction cost of $422,628 and a project cost of $530,515." (Short and Stanley-Brown) "A building which might house anything from an opera to a circus, a basketball or tennis game to a great convention, or art exhibits and flower shows"...

In early 1937, San Juan High School burned to the ground. With the insurance payment and a federal grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA), the county school district was able to erect a new school building. The large brick Moderne style school was completed in late 1938. Today, it is largely unchanged, both inside and out (a small porch roof hides the old High School name carved over the front door). The former high school now serves as the San Juan County School District administration building. (San Juan Record: 3/14/1937, 5/13/37, 1/20/1938, 7/21/38, 12/1/38)

The WPA helped with work on the Sandy River Road according to the town reports. An unspecified PWA funding for a road is mentioned. 1936 Sandy River Road, WPA ..........$1,250.00 Refund, Solon Lumber Co. 3rd Class roads, PWA ....$57.33 Refund, Horace Reed, 3rd Class roads, PWA Amount raised at town meeting....$1,250.00 Payroll: Albert Blaisdell, Bowman Hardware, Henry Desmond, W.F. French, Miller and Jones, New England Metal Culvert Co. Proctor and Bowie, Milford Tibbetts ...$1,360.20 1937 Amounts Raised at Annual Town meeting Sandy River Road (WPA) $1,250.00 1939 Fredrick Smith, use of car, time spent in WPA certification, cash paid for out of town expenses, postage, tolls, and assembling payrolls (road)...

From 1933 to 1938, the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) – in short, the work relief agencies of the New Deal – built over a thousand “sanitary privies”, or outhouses, around Arizona under the Community Sanitation Program directed by the Arizona Board of Health.  The program canvassed private property owners to see if they needed new privies and the government provided the labor if the owner paid for the materials. Over one hundred such outhouses were built in the Verde Valley of Yavapai County.  In all likelihood, every last one has disappeared...