Montgomery Sites

In a survey of federal projects constructed with PWA funding in 1939: "The population of Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama, was 66,079 in 1930. Its city hall was destroyed by fire in 1932 and shortly thereafter a grant from the P.W.A. made possible the construction of a new building, which was placed on a site adjoining the State capitol. It is two stories in height and accommodates the water department, police department, tax collector, health department, engineering department, and the mayor and his staff. In addition, it provides an auditorium with a seating capacity of 2,300, a stage, and miscellaneous offices. The...

The Works Progress Administration built the Day Street School in Montgomery. This was one of seven schools that were upgraded with larger classrooms throughout Montgomery County. Federal cost: $42,062.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Dixie Bibb Graves Armory in Montgomery in 1935. The structure was named after Dixie Graves, the first female senator to represent Alabama, and wife of Governor Bibb Graves. A WPA grant for the armory was secured through the lobbying of Governor Bibb Graves, Mayor Bill Gunter, and Alabama Senator Hugo Black. Today the structure serves as the Armory Learning Arts Center. The armory was designed in “Streamline Modern Style” and followed a plan produced by architect Earl G. Lutz, which served as a basic plan prototype for all thirty-six armories built in Alabama.

The Public Safety Building, originally constructed as the State Highway Building, at 500 Dexter Ave. in Montgomery, Alabama, was "erected with the aid of WPA funds". The building, designed by Warren, Knight, and Davis of Birmingham, is still in service, housing offices for many agencies of the State of Alabama.  

The WPA Guide to Alabama states: "The State Judicial Building ... was completed in 1926. It is a three-story building of reinforced concrete, brick, and Indiana limestone, originally designed in the modern mode with Edyptian Mosque motif. In 1932 the Temple was sold to the State, and in 1938 it was converted into a building to house the Supreme Court and Appellate Court of Alabama, the attorney general's office, and a law library. The remodeling work, under the direction of Warren, Knight and Davis, was carried out as a joint enterprise of the State and WPA. The oriental motif has been...

The Paterson Courts is a 158 unit housing complex that was one of 50 slum clearance and low income housing projects the PWA was tasked with in the 1935-36 period. Its one and two story group houses, covers 7 acres, and cost $472,000. Its named after William Burns Paterson, a Scottish immigrant that spent 45 years from 1870 in efforts at negro education. The sponsor of the project was the Montgomery Advisory Committee on Housing. It was launched to replace an "objectionable slum area" and was designed with 14 two room, 89 three room, 40 four room, and 15 5 room...

The World War Memorial Building, which houses the Alabama Department of Archives and History, "was completed in 1940 with the aid of WPA funds". The Greek Revival-style building, designed by Warren, Knight, and Davis of Birmingham, is still in service.