Alabama Sites

The Works Progress Administration built the  Tarrant City Library in Tarrant AL.  The original construction on the Tarrant City Library began in 1936, and was completed in 1937. Today, the former library is the Tarrant Senior Citizen Center.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Third Avenue South in Birmingham, Alabama, along stretches of the road co-designated as U.S. 78.

The Works Progress Administration built a park that included a stone bridge over Town Creek.

"According to a bronze plaque located on the east side of the building, the original town hall was built from 1936-1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The two-story brick structure was one of the earliest projects in Morgan County. The building's cornerstone lists mayor E.L.Drinkard and Alsermen L.E.Brown, J.L.Rowe, D.S.Sivley, and J.W.Tomlinson. The town clerk was V.O.Clark and the town policeman was Dan P.Ryan. The first floor housed the town jail and the town's Fire Fighting equipment. Located on the second floor was the mayor's office and the police station. Currently, the building is home to the Falkville Public...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to "Improve US 11 on First Avenue from 85th Street to Cozy Corner" in Birmingham, Alabama.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to "Grade, drain, and improve US 31 from North Birmingham to Lewisburg, 1936."

This three-story example of Classical Revival architecture was designed by Edgar Love; Miller, Martin & Lewis. The building, which was constructed and completed in 1936 and which no longer houses a post office, became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. It is still in use by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

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...

Hardaway Hall is located on the University of Alabama campus on 7th Ave. It is the engineering building. "The new structure is T-shaped in plan, the front portion being 2 stories in height and the rear wing 1 story. On the first floor are hydraulic, fuel, and aviation laboratories together with instrument and storage rooms. On the second floor are 10 classrooms, offices, and an auditorium. The building is fireproof throughout. The exterior walls are faced with red brick and trimmed with limestone. The pitched roofs are covered with asbestos shingles and the flat roofs with composition. The project was completed...

Bureau of Mines is building 116 on the campus map. "Of the 11 experimental stations of the Bureau of Mines, 9 are located at State universities where they have the advantage of educational facilities and cooperation with the State agencies. This one, at Tuscaloosa, was built on a site of 2 1/2 acres donated by the university. The building is three stories in height and 50 by 159 feet in plan and provides offices, conference rooms, assembly rooms, a library, a machine shop, assay rooms, and several laboratories for many different purposes. These laboratories are so arranged that they may be expanded...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) widened and straightened Village Creek in Birmingham, Alabama.

"It was not until 1936 that the statue found a suitable home, thanks to the Works Progress Administration, which partially funded a new park in the city at the top of Red Mountain. A 126-foot pedestal was built of local sandstone, and Vulcan was hoisted into place." (Wikipedia) The pedestal was constructed with WPA funds.

The Works Progress Administration built a brick addition for the W.S. Neal High School in Brewton, Escambia County. The new addition housed a library, several classrooms, a study room, a conference room, and other school uses. The new facilities expanded the capacity of a previously overcrowded school and allowed for the enrollment of new students. The school is still in service today.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Walker County Home in Jasper. The exact location or condition of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.  

The Works Progress Administration built a new county jail in Jasper, Walker County, circa 1937. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built the Walker County Library, adjacent to the WPA-built Walker County Courthouse in Jasper.

The Works Progress Administration carried out improvement work on Washington Street in Columbia, Alabama.

The Works Progress Administration built a sewage disposal plant in Carbon Hill, circa 1937.

The Works Progress Administration built a 60” pipe, water purification and supply system in Birmingham, in 1936. The exact location and current condition of this project is unknown to the Living New Deal.  

The Works Progress Administration built the West Limestone County High School in Athens, circa 1936-1938. The exact location and condition of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"Wheeler Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River between Lauderdale County and Lawrence County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to improve navigation on the river and bring flood control and economic development to the region. The dam impounds the Wheeler Lake of 67,070 acres (27,140 ha) and its tailwaters feed into Wilson Lake... Construction work on Wheeler Dam began on November 21, 1933, the second major dam construction...

The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR) covers 35,000 acres  along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama.  The Wheeler Migratory Bird Refuge was established by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to provide habitat for wintering and migrating birds in the eastern  United States (the name was changed to the present NWR in 1940). The refuge was made possible by the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) construction of Wheeler dam (1933-1936) and the creation of Wheeler Lake.  It became the first National Wildlife Refuge associated with a multi-purpose reservoir, which provides for navigation over the Muscle Shoals area, flood control, electricity production, and...

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 Works Progress Administration built facilities at the Willow Wood Community Center. The park is still in service today under the name Willow Wood Recreation Center.

Wilson Dam was completed in 1924. It is "the largest conventional hydroelectric power-generating facility in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system... When Roosevelt inspected in January 1933, he related that he was impressed with the size of the operation and found it twice as large as he had imagined. He also stated that he wanted to put the facility to work for the good of the region, its people, and future generations. Roosevelt ended the controversy over the future use of the properties at Muscle Shoals in May 1933, when he backed Norris' plan as part of his New Deal...

This large WPA Federal Art Project mural by Richard Coe and Sidney Van Sheck was completed in 1936 and restored in 2009. The full inscription is "Gloried Be They Who Foresaking Unjust Riches Strive in Fulfillment of Humble Tasks for Peace Culture and the Equality of All Mankind."

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.