Survival: No Longer Extant

The former Benjamin Franklin High School—which opened in 1916 at the site of today's Monte Vista Street Elementary School—was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Benjamin Franklin High School moved to its current location in the 1960s, after the original campus suffered structural damage from earthquakes and was demolished. 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...

Phineas Banning High School, which opened in 1911, was renovated 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 Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted an improvement project at the former armory building in Dover, Delaware. The building was destroyed by a hurricane in 1954 and replaced by the Haslet Armory. The location of the old armory is unknown to Living New Deal. WPA Project No. 65‐1‐24‐2079. Sponsor: War Department

In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed Camp Emigrant Springs for their use while improving the State Park at that location. Approximately twenty-five miles southeast of Pendleton near the summit of the Blue Mountains, the park marked a historical stop on the Oregon Trail when it became part of the state's park system in the mid-1920s. CCC enrollees, however, were significant in development of the park for day-use. As noted in an Oregon State Parks report, these improvements included: "constructing camp buildings, clearing away unnecessary brush, constructing park roads, trails, and car parking areas, drilling a 6-inch well 370 feet...

The Works Progress Administration built the Showboat Theatre in Seattle WA. According to the UW Magazine, the theater was, "uilt by the Works Progress Administration in 1938, the Showboat opened in September of that year with a production of “Charley’s Aunt.” For many years it was the center of Seattle’s nascent theatrical community." "For almost 10 years the University and a group of drama alumni, the Showboat Foundation, tried to save her. The cost of restoring the building—estimated at $1 million in 1984—far exceeded the cost of removing or demolishing the structure. To move it, the structure would have to be dismantled and...

The Public Works Administration contributed $7,605 towards the construction of a library in Columbiana. The building was designed by Frank Smith of Youngstown and built by J.G. Madden & Sons of East Palestine. The building has since been demolished.

In 1934, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved a $1 million loan to the Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad Company (GM&N), from the New Deal’s Public Works Administration (PWA).  Out of this money came two streamliners: Rebel trains 352 and 353.  The Rebels ran a route from Jackson, Tennessee to New Orleans, from 1935 to 1954.  They appear to have been scrapped in 1962. (Note: In 1940, GM&N was merged into the new Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (GM&O) Railroad.) The red and silver Rebels were designed by Otto Kuhler and constructed by American Car & Foundry.  The locomotives (“powercars”) had 660 horsepower Diesel...

In 1934, the New Deal’s Public Works Administration (PWA) loaned the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company—popularly known as the “Milwaukee Road”—$8.6 million (about $194 million in 2022 dollars) for infrastructure improvements and new equipment.  The latter included two streamliner passenger trains, the coaches to be built by the Milwaukee Road’s own shops and the locomotives to be built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York for $90,000 each (about $2 million each in 2022 dollars). Each train set consisted of an engine and seven cars.  The locomotives were numbered 1 and 2 (see photos) and...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Alice Whitney Park Dam on the Sauk River in St. Cloud MN in 1938.  WPA workers also built steps going down the riverbank to the dam and a path along the river.  The dam was  meant to provide a swimming hole for park users. The dam was about 4 feet tall and provided a walking path to get across the river, connecting Whitney Park and Sauk River Park.  All of the stone and wood was cut by WPA workers.  The dam’s purpose was to raise the water level of the Sauk River to create a...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the CCC Camp S-82, Company 1139, in Townsend, MA, starting on August 1st, 1935. Camp S-82 was located near an old granite quarry off Old Turnpike Road and the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks, currently still in place. According to Shary Page Berg (1999), "Much of the area that became Townsend State Forest was burned in a 1927 forest fire and subsequently logged, leaving the land in poor condition when acquired by the state in 1934. Camp S-82 (Company 1139) was established in fall 1935 and closed in 1940. Projects at Townsend included the construction of...