Arizona Sites

The historic Heliograph fire lookout tower in Coronado National Forest was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933. NRHP Nomination Form: "This 99 ft high steel tower lookout is an Aermotor I1C-40 with a 7 ft by 7 ft steel cab. Located on the Safford Ranger District, it was erected by a CCC crew in 1933. The log cabin, wood frame barn and privy were also constructed in 1933. A room was added to the cabin in 1978 in keeping with its rustic style. This lookout tower is the highest one on the Coronado National Forest. With the exception of...

The federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) built the Hermit Road in Grand Canyon Village in 1934-35.  The National Park Service (NPS) website says this: "Hermit Road and most of its associated overlooks and parking areas are historic, designed and constructed in 1934-1935 by the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service." Hermit Road and its overlooks have some of the best views of the Grand Canyon on the south rim.  It is commonly thought that the overlooks and wall were the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but it was the BPR and NPS. The road was modernized...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an adobe gymnasium for the former Casa Grande High School.  That gym was torn down in the 1990s when the high school was repurposed as the current City Hall and a new high school was built at a different site. The WPA also built a city hall for Casa Grande, now demolished.  It is possible that the gym was paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA), not the WPA; but we do not have definitive evidence of that.

"Hualapai Mountain Park contains both modern and historic recreational facilities. A CCC camp, SP8A, arrived at Hualapai Mountain Park in 1935. Enrollees began to reconstruct Hualapai Mountain Road, widening it, straightening curves, and improving drainage. In 1937 the enrollees began to develop the park itself. They built retaining walls, trails, roadways, and stone bridges. They also built 17 rustic cabins; some are constructed with large-sized, rubble stone, others with wooden slab siding. Each has a stone fireplace and chimney and is set off in its own portion of the park, complete with picnic table and grill. These beautiful cabins are...

The historic Hyde Mountain fire lookout tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). NRHP Nomination Form: "This 12 ft by 12 ft wood L-4 lookout house was built probably by a CCC crew in 1936 and is located on the Chino Valley Ranger District. The lookout is accessible only by a two mile trail. This L-4 type of lookout house is the only one of its style on the Prescott National Forest. Despite modification to the windows, the Hyde Mountain lookout retains much of its integrity of original design, construction, materials, workmanship, setting and location and is recommended for...

The former U.S. Inspection Station at the Mexican border south of Sasabe, Arizona (along Route 286) was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the 1930s. Completion photographs of the facility taken May 7, 1937 reside in the National Archives. The structure has since been replaced.

"The Bureau of Reclamation utilized the manpower of two Civilian Conservation Corps camps, BR13A and BR74A, to create a system of irrigation canals for the farming community of Yuma. Between 1939 and 1941 enrollees cleared 59 miles of right-of-way, constructed canals, laterals, and headgates, and performed rodent control and landscaping. Today Ferguson Lateral is a tangible example of CCC work that still enables water managers to direct water. Although the farms have moved to the outskirts of Yuma, the canals, laterals, and headgates remain. Homeowners may still access the laterals to water their yards. The canals are stocked with fish...

The former City Park and Athletic Field (now the Ken Lindley Park) originated in 1908, but major improvements were made with relief labor provided by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in the winter of 1933-34.  It is likely that after the CWA was discontinued in early 1934, the stone work was completed under the auspices of the Arizona Emergency Relief Administration and largely funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).   The main work done by the New Deal crews was to build the elegant stone walls that enclose the entire square block, and which serve as retaining walls on...

"Kinishba Ruins was constructed by the Pueblo people and occupied as early as 800 until as late as 1400 A.D. Byron Cummings, director of the Arizona State Museum, and his students began excavation and reconstruction of Kinishba in 1931. In 1934 Cummings requested funds from the Civilian Conservation Corps-Indian Division to hire 25 local Apache laborers. Between 1934 and 1937 Kinishba also served as an archaeological field school where Cummings trained more than 70 students. In 1938 and 1939 Cummings and Apache enrollees continued to excavate and restore the ruins; they also constructed a small museum and residence. Cummings hoped...

In 1939, Robert Kittredge was commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts to create artwork for the newly-completed Flagstaff post office (later known as the Federal Building). He created a wooden bas-relief, "Arizona Logging," which was installed in 1940. The sculpture speaks to the logging industry, which was a critical part of Flagstaff's economy for decades. Three loggers are depicted putting logs onto a wagon using a "cant dog" poll. When the old post office/federal building was sold in 1983, the bas-relief was moved to the stairwell of the new wing of the Coconino County Courthouse, one-half block north.  

The Kofa Refuge is named for the King of Arizona mine. It includes 666,641 acres of protected land. Kofa Refuge literature notes that the Kofa Cabin and upland water tanks for wildlife were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In 1939, a CCC side camp was set up at the Kofa Refuge. CCC enrollees, most of them of Native American descent, worked to develop high mountain waterholes for the bighorn sheep. This work was part of a statewide conservation effort to save the bighorn sheep. The refuge is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is currently used for camping and hunting.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, c 1933-37, including paths, bridges and stairways.  As they rebuilt the Rim Trail and its rock wall, they also created the stone stairway down to the Kolb Studio at the west end of the trail. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour notes that: "Crew members from the Civilian Conservation Corps completed the stairs leading up from Kolb Studio in 1936."

“To accommodate the influx of tourists, new park facilities were in demand. With CCC labor, the NPS developed beaches and outdoor facilities in three different areas of the Boulder Dam Recreational Area (later subsumed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area): Hemenway Wash near Boulder City, Overton Beach, and Pierce Ferry in Arizona. The park service’s CCC program accomplished its goals. NPS director Arno Cammerer was pleased with the ‘fine cooperation from the Civilian Conservation Corps.’ Enrollees and staff from the Boulder City and Overton camps provided the main labor force for the new recreation area. In addition to building campgrounds, other...

"This combination gymnasium-auditorium has permanent seating at the sides and will accommodate approximately 400 spectators for athletic and dramatic events. Its construction is of interest. The foundations, first-floor slab, and buttresses are concrete, exterior walls of painted brick and the roof of Lamella type, the thrust of which is taken by the buttresses. The project was completed in March 1936 at a construction cost of $28,237 and a project cost of $30,285." (Short and Brown) "Kingman High School's history dates back to the beginning of Mohave County, Arizona. When the original school was built in 1917, it...

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied funding toward the construction of a new library in Glendale, Arizona's Murphy Park during the Great Depression. Construction occurred between December 1937 and March 1938. Living New Deal believes the building to be no longer extant.

The facilities and area at the Locklin Avenue swimming pool, including access stairs from the canyon below and changing rooms were built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-39. The pool was completed in 1923, well before the advent of the New Deal, and has since been abandoned. According to the Bisbee Daily Review, “Bath house to be remodeled: New change rooms proposed at city swimming pool as WPA project. Bisbee swimming fans may soon have new changing rooms provided for them at the city swimming pool, officials revealed yesterday. Remodeling of the old wooden building at the swimming pool to...

The Lower Blue Campground was built in the mid 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It involved clearing the land, land improvements, building steps, a stone wall, and a bench for campers. While today the campground that was cleared by the CCC is no longer maintained and now an empty field with the current campground on the side the wall, steps, and bench are still there just abandoned. An interpretive sign is near these CCC sites to explain.

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on Lynwood and 15th Street in the west side of Phoenix, circa 1937.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built steps and sidewalk on Main Street in Superior AZ.   The sidewalk WPA stamps are undated.

The Civil Works Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration built the Arizona State Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Tempe, Maricopa County, in 1934. Also known as the Maricopa County Welfare Sanitarium, the facility was initially built as a 60-room sanatorium. The structure was located on the same site where today stands the Arizona State University Climatology Office, at the intersection of Curry Road and Mill Avenue. The building was designed in Moorish Revival architectural style, and it featured a dome, minarets, and arched windows. According to Jared Smith, a curator at the Tempe History Museum, the building had a large basement...

The structure originally built as the Lehi School Auditorium in northern Mesa, Arizona was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1936. Located on the east side of N Horne south of Lehi Rd., the building is now part of the Mesa Historical Museum Annex complex. Waymarking.com: "In 1936, a WPA project added an auditorium to the Lehi School on Horne and East Lehi Road. It was so well built that it was designated as the community bomb shelter during the cold war. Further, when the building was no longer needed, due to its sturdy construction, it would have...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements to the grounds at the Miller Valley Elementary School in Prescott AZ in 1936-1937.  From the WPA project card in the National Archives, it appears that these included a stone entrance to the school grounds. The school was closed in the 2010s, but the old WPA stone walls have survived at the corner of W. Iron Springs and Miller Valley Roads.

The historic Mingue Mountain fire lookout tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) working under the supervision of the US Forest Service. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The NRHP Nomination Form gives details: "Located on the Uerde Ranger District, this 59 ft steel x-brace tower with a 7 ft by 7 ft steel cab was erected in 1935, The lookout tower was designed by the Pacific Coast Steel Company. The wood frame cabin, a simple gable roofed structure with an overhanging front porch was also built in 1935. Study of historic photographs...

"Moeur Park North and South is located at the NE and SE corners of Mill Avenue and Curry Road. Moeur Park ramadas and associated structures are identified in the 1997 Tempe Multiple Resource Area Update (#255) as individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Built in U.S. Park Services style, these roadway, rest, and landscape elements are typical of the New Deal Works Administration Era (WPA). Field stone and concrete materials were used by the WPA to construct features throughout the park. These include; raised planters, stairs, planter borders, stone benches, stone tables, an automobile...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp NP-12 was established at the base of Mt Elden, near Flagstaff AZ, in 1935.  The camp continued through 1942.  Company 3345 was billeted there (and possibly others, but we have no evidence of that, as yet). The CCC enrollees at Mt Elden worked for the National Park Service (NPS) on many projects around the region, including at Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, and Sunset Crater National Monument.  They also helped build the road into the Arizona Snow Bowl in the San Francisco Peaks and Cottage City on the campus of the Teachers College in...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was very active in the Coronado National Forest during the 1930s. Coronado National Forest is discontinuous across southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico because the forested areas occur only on isolated mountain ranges called "Sky Islands" – a type of landscape similar to the Basin and Range in Nevada. CCC camp F-30 was located in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains (we are not sure exactly where or for how long).  The CCC 'boys' (enrollees) did extensive work in the canyon, including a campground, picnic area, amphitheater, trails and erosion works. The largest CCC project in...

The Works Progress Administration built the Municipal Swimming Pool in Tucson. The exact location and condition of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal. Additional contributor note, August 2018: The Tucson Municipal Pool is likely the same facility as the pool located at Himmel Park. The park was built roughly the same year as the pool. The WPA worked on other projects in the part of town where the pool is located. Many of the sidewalks in the vicinity of the pool bear the WPA stamp with 1930s dates.

The Museum of Indigenous People was constructed 1933-1935 by relief workers employed by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).  It is built of local fieldstone and flagstone in a sober, if romanticized, indigenous style. It was long known as the Smoki Museum after a local club of White businessmen who called themselves "the Smoki People" and dressed up as Hopi to perform native dances. After protests by Hopi, who disapproved of such imitations, the club stopped its dances and eventually disbanded.  The name of the museum was changed in 2020.   The museum collection evolved from native...

The Works Progress Administration built a high school serving Naco, Cochise County. The Naco School is still in service, but the exact location and condition of this structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.

"The old National Guard Arsenal is the second largest adobe building in continuous use in the United States. Funded by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, it was part of the recreation development of Papago Park, an expansive, designed landscape."

"This structure is a meeting house for the tribal council of the Navajo Indians. Its shape and construction is based on Navajo building forms. It is octagonal in form and approximately 72 feet across in each dimension with its exterior walls constructed of native rubble stone finished on the inside with adobe plaster. The upper roof is supported by unhewn logs which extend somewhat like flying buttresses into the stone piers at the corners of the octagon. Both upper and lower roofs are covered with adobe. It is one of many buildings constructed on the Navajo Reservation with P.W.A. funds....

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, 1933-37, including the rock walls and pillars at the bottom of Navajo Street. The National Park Service CCC Walking Tour adds these details: "The CCC constructed these rock pillars and walls in 1934 as a visual barrier between the public area and the residential area up Navajo Street. Historians believe that this is CCC work, although documentation is lacking. The recessed cement between the stones was a common CCC technique. Civilian Conservation Corps rock work has proven to be durable. Notice the extensive growth of lichens on the...

"The Civilian Conservation Corps camp, F41A, was established at Noon Creek in the Pinaleño Mountains in 1933. The camp operated during the winter. The enrollees built the Noon Creek picnic area located at milepost 7.2 on the Swift Trail Road. Tables and grills have been replaced since then, but the paths, steps, and retaining walls remain unaltered. The Wet Canyon stone bridge and picnic area at milepost 9.8 were constructed in 1937. Enrollees also built roads, fences, and erosion control dams in the area. During the summer time the camp was relocated to Treasure Park for high-elevation work. A pamphlet...

In 1935, the New Deal helped to extend North Beaver street two blocks to connect with the entrance of the new Flagstaff Hospital in the northern part of the city, which opened in January 1936.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) at nearby Mt. Elden camp sent a crew to help city workers with the street job. The hospital has grown from a single story stone building to the large complex now known as the Flagstaff Medical Center, but the street entrance is still in the same place – though obviously repaved and probably widened over the years.

Phoenix, Arizona's North High School was constructed with the assistance of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1939. "The North Phoenix High School was built to relieve the overcrowded Phoenix Union High School which enrolled over 5,000 students in 1939. The construction of the North Phoenix High School was financed by both PWA funds totaling more than $365,000 and money from a two million dollar bond issue. All the buildings at North Phoenix High School were completed in 1939 except for the athletic field which was built in 1940." (nps.gov)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942. Among its trail development work, according to the National Park Service (NPS), the CCC "improved the main trails into the canyon, Bright Angel and Kaibab, and added trails in the inner canyon, as well. ... At the North Rim, CCC company 818 widened and improved the North Kaibab Trail." The North Kaibab Trail descends from the North Rim to Black Bridge over the Colorado River, at which point it becomes the the South Kaibab Trail, which ascends to the South Rim.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942.  This included development work on the Grand Canyon's North Rim. CCC Walking Tour: " Company 818 worked on the ... North Rim during the summer months. Projects completed included buildings, fences, and roads. The crews also helped fight forest fires when necessary." More detailed information on these developments and their survival is needed.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave the Arizona State Teachers College a grant of $105,000 and a loan of $313,000 to build housing on the campus – today's Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City (see links to these projects at right).  The grant and loan also provided for the  installation of a new heating system for the campus and fire escapes for all buildings.   In addition, a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project in 1933-34 allowed the campus to fence the athletic field and build bleachers, add roads and curbs, and remove an old...

The New Deal provided the funds to build a large group of cottages for student housing – known as "Cottage City" – at what was then Arizona Teachers' College.   The Public Works Administration (PWA) made a grant of $57,900 and the state of Arizona added $20,000 to build 50 2-room cottages.  Construction was done in 1939 by 60 Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees (no doubt from the Mt. Elden camp).  The units were small at 25x14 feet, built with rock walls and cement floors, plus running water.  There were three additional buildings for laundry and showers. More cottages were added...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) gave the Arizona State Teachers College a grant of $105,000 and a loan of $313,000 to build housing on the campus – today's Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City. North Hall was constructed in 1935 as a women's dormitory at what was then the Arizona State Teachers' College.  It completed the "Women's Quadragle" at the north end of the college, at a time when most students at the college were women seeking careers as school teachers. The architecture of North Hall is brick Neoclassical, or Georgian, which...