Arizona Sites

In 1934 the Flagstaff school board received a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a new elementary school on the south side of town. Additional funds came from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). The South Beaver School was meant to serve the largely Mexican, Native and Black children of the neighborhood.  The school board had declared its intentions to build the school since 1918 but never came up with the funds until the New Deal stepped in. The PWA under Harold Ickes was n0ted for funding minority schools across the country. The school building was constructed with volcanic malpais,...

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 (NAU) in Flagstaff.  These were North Hall, expansion of Taylor Hall and Cottage City. Taylor Hall had been built in 1905 as a girls' dormitory and switched to men in 1908.  An earlier expansion had added a north wing to the original building (the date of the photograph in NAU library is given as 1937, but that's not possible given the car and clothing in the scene). The New Deal expansion...

The Works Progress Administration carried out street paving in Bisbee. Pictured is a finished section of Okay Street in Bisbee. The street is incorrectly referred to as “Okay Street” while the name today is “OK” Street. Historically it was never written out. Early records of Bisbee show businesses and home owners utilizing “O.K.” Street. A search of “OK Street” through the digitized newspapers of Chronicling America on March 4, 2018, produced 34 results; a search of “Okay Street” utilized no results in the Bisbee Daily Review. The Bisbee Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July...

Built in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. Moved from Clare Ln in Pinetop in 1988. Donations Made by First Interstate Bank, JTPA Youth, and The People of Pinetop-Lakeside to Preserve Pinetop's History. History: It appears that the jail of the past has been reconstructed to its current configuration, with major changes like cell bar locations, stone, etc.

The Works Progress Administration built the entrance gate to Oury Park in Tucson.

The delightful Painted Desert Inn was created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working under the National Park Service (NPS), with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  They completely rebuilt a private inn called the Stone Tree House, which had been constructed in the 1910s, which was purchased and added to the Petrified Forest National Monument in 1936 (the monument had been designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and  was elevated to Petrified Forest National Park in 1962). The design of the Desert Inn by the NPS's Lyle Bennett is Pueblo Revival style, which was popular in the Southwest...

The delightful Painted Desert Inn was created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working under the National Park Service (NPS), with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA), from 1936 to 1940. The design of the Desert Inn by the NPS's Lyle Bennett is Pueblo Revival style, which was popular in the Southwest at the time. It features a flat roof, stucco walls and rounded corners, with open beam ceilings and protruding roof timbers.   There are elegant interior decorations done by the CCC enrollees, including etched floors, wooden furniture, metal light fixtures and painted skylight glass. Walls murals were added...

The Painted Desert Inn was created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working under the National Park Service (NPS), with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA).  They completely rebuilt a private inn called the Stone Tree House, which had been constructed in the 1910s, which was purchased and added to the Petrified Forest National Monument in 1936 (the monument had been designated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 and  was elevated to Petrified Forest National Park in 1962).  The reconstruction was done in 1937-40. The Stone Tree House had no water supply, so the CCC enrollees brought running water via...

The Works Progress Administration carried out road construction on the Papago Highway, connecting Tempe with Scottsdale. This is possibly the road now known as N Galvin Parkway, not to be confused with the Interstate highway known as the Papago Freeway.

The amphitheater in the Papago Buttes at the north end of the Papago city park in Phoenix AZ was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933-34. "Civilian Conservation Corps camp SP5A constructed an amphitheater built into Papago Buttes southeast of the Arsenal between December 1933 and April 1934. The open-air amphitheater accommodates 3,500 people; it has been used for many functions, but most memorable were the Easter Sunrise Services." (content.library.arizona.edu) Maintenance of the amphitheater appears to be somewhat neglected today (2019).

The Works Progress Administration built the Peoria High School Gymnasium in Peoria, Maricopa County, circa 1937. The building construction was adobe brick masonry with reinforced concrete foundation. It measured 68 x 100 feet. The façade finish was plaster and the interior flooring was hardwood with sleepers. A vaulted, lamella truss roof covered with copper topped the structure.

This small building was constructed as a jail by the Works Progress Administration in 1939. It was restored in 2002 and is now a museum. The building bears a WPA stamp to the right of its door.

The Perkinsville Bridge over Verde River in Arizona was built with the help of the New Deal.  Perkinsville was the site of a quarry at the time that shipped lime to the cement plant at Clarksdale; it is a ghost town today. The Perkinsville Bridge was built in 1936 by the Arizona Highways Department using relief workers hired out of transient (homeless) camps along the Verde River, with the aid of Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funds (probably via the Arizona Relief Administration).  The design was done by Arizona Highways Bridge Engineer Ralph Hoffman, basically a concrete base on which the steel...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction an auditorium building at the Junior College (today Phoenix College) in Phoenix. The facade architecture features Art Deco elements and white plaster finish. The auditorium is still in service today at Phoenix College.  

"In 1939 Phoenix College moved from its old location to a new site at Thomas and 15th. The architectural firm of Lescher and Mahoney was hired with Public Works Administration funds to design the first six buildings for the new campus. The Liberal Arts and Science buildings; a gym; a combination library, auditorium and administration building; a cafeteria; and a central heating plant formed the core of the college for many years. Although some now support different activities, all six buildings are still standing. The lower level of the new library contains two paintings funded by the Federal Emergency Relief...

"In 1934 the Division of Subsistence Homesteads purchased a tract of land on what was then the outskirts of Phoenix in order to build a public housing community for low-income residents. Construction of the first half of the Phoenix Homesteads began in 1934 and was completed in 1935. These Pueblo Revival style adobe homes were built on 0.75-acre parcels to accommodate subsistence gardens and small farm animals. Fruit, nut, and olive trees added to the self-sufficiency of the community. Trees and shrubs were planted for shade and privacy. A second small-scale farming cooperative was planned in 1935 by the Resettlement...

The Works Progress Administration built the Pima County Hospital in Tucson. The 30,000-square feet facility was laid out in four distinct units. It consisted of an “administration building which included doctors’ offices, lecture room, major and minor operating rooms, sterilizing facilities, the men’s ward, women’s ward; children’s and maternity wards; therapeutic ward, nurses’ home,” among others uses. Per TOMF.org: "The hospital stood between 38th and 39th streets, east of Sixth Avenue." The facility has since been demolished.

Garfield School, a public school located on upper Tombstone Canyon at the intersection of Pace Avenue, was completed in 1917. In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) enlarged the playground and tennis courts, and built retaining walls that contain multiple WPA stamps set in the concrete. A bronze WPA plaque can be found on the road on Pace Avenue, in front of the playground. Today, the former school serves as a bed and breakfast. Official Bulletin of the Works Progress in Arizona Volume I, No. 2: February 1936, p. 8: “Complete tennis court at Lowell School, Bisbee: Construction of a concrete doubles tennis...

"The Portal Ranger Station contains three Depression-era buildings: a residence constructed sometime before 1930, an office, and a pump house. The latter two were built by Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees from the nearby Cave Creek camp, F10A, between 1934 and 1935. CCC crews also constructed the landscape, masonry walls and posts, and stone paths. The Bungalow/Craftsman style office was designed with a veneer of river rock to blend with the surrounding rock walls of the canyon. The gabled ends of the office and porch are decorated with half timbers. The porch roof is supported by cement columns on river rock...

"The Safford Post Office and Federal Building was designed in the severely simple and unadorned International style. The building was funded by the Public Works Administration and constructed in 1941." (content.library.arizona.edu)

“The Springerville Post Office is simple in its appearance. Yet it also displays an eclectic collection of architectural design styles. The flat roof with parapets and six water spouts are characteristic of Pueblo Revival. The arched windows suggest Mission Revival influence and the twisted columns and lantern at the entry way arise from Spanish Baroque architecture. Funded by the Public Works Administration and constructed in 1937, the building was designed to house multiple government agencies including the U.S. Forest Service."

The Winslow, Arizona post office was constructed with federal funds. The building, which opened for business in 1936, is still in use today.

The original funding was appropriated in 1931, before the beginning of the New Deal, but the beginning of construction was in 1933 close to the time that New Deal funds were being released to Arizona. Additionally, at the dedication, the governor's secretary "made a plea to Arizona citizens for greater unity in support of the national and state recovery programs."

This post office contains six tempera murals painted in 1942 by Seymour Fogel. Fogel painted these as the winner of one of the 48-State Competition Post Office murals. "In 1939, for example, Seymour Fogel sketched an elegant scene of Southwest Indian dancers for a post office mural in Safford, Arizona. Local Anglos harboring resentful memories of Apache raids, however, deemed Fogel's design an "abomination," and the artist substituted a stereotypical picture of wagon trains and pioneers." (muse.jhu.edu)

"The well-preserved lobby features a bas-relief sculpture by Robert Kittredge illustrating the Apache chiefs, Geronimo and Vittorio, on horseback in battle. The sculpture was funded by the Section of Fine Arts, the U.S. Treasury Department’s New Deal art program."

The Prescott Rodeo grounds at the Yavapai County Fairgrounds were constructed with the help of the New Deal in the mid-1930s. Among the improvements to what was then known as the Northern Arizona State Fairground were a large rodeo grandstand, administration buildings, an infirmary, two barracks, a bakery, a kitchen and mess hall, and two water wells.  Many of the buildings no longer exist, but the grandstand is still in use.  It is uncertain whether the stone Doc Pardee building and Danny Freeman building behind the grandstand are also New Deal in origin.  One source (World's Oldest Rodeo) is definite that they were, but...

The historic PS Knoll fire lookout tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). NRHP nomination form: "Located on the Alpine Ranger District, this 45 ft 9 in high steel tower has a steel cab, This tower is an Aermotor Company MC-40 and was probably constructed by the CCC in 1933. The PS Knoll complex also includes a wood Frame dwelling (Plan B-E6) and a wood-frame storage shed (Plan B-6001) both constructed in 1939 and a wood-frame privy (Plan U-10) constructed in 1940. Comparison with historic photographs taken in the early 1940s indicates that no remodeling has occurred on...

"In the hilly city of Bisbee the first public stairs were made of wood. They linked parallel streets and provided access to upper and lower neighborhoods. Using funds from the Works Progress Administration, the city replaced a significant number of its public stairs in 1938. The new concrete stairs were designed to a high standard and constructed with uniform treads and risers and well-finished surfaces. Most of the stairs are signed with the USA/WPA logo in the top and bottom landings." (content.library.arizona.edu)

In 1936 the Works Progress Administration built the Pumphouse in Bisbee, Arizona. A dam was built above the Pumphouse to hold water which fed underneath the Pumphouse and supplied the city’s fire hydrants. The Bisbee Daily Review, October 2, 1935, reported the city engineer, Ralph Motz, and the CCC engineer, Frank Brunel, “spent yesterday morning looking over the site of a dam to be constructed in wood canyon for flood control and to prevent erosion. ..Water impounded during rainy seasons will be pumped into the city reservoir and stored for use of the fire department.” The pumphouse bears a distinctive oval WPA...

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out from 1933 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS).  Some, if not all, was paid for by a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). A new park headquarters and visitors' center had been built in 1931 at the South Entrance to the park, but lacked sufficient housing for rangers and staff.  New Deal aid brought the addition of 4 or 5 additional...

Wupatki National Monument was established in 1924, following decades of plunder of artifacts by American settlers.  Archaeological excavation and restoration of the main pueblo began in 1933.  In 1939-42, a contingent of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees (from Mt Elden camp at Flagstaff) began development of the monument for public use, building trails, a ranger residence, a utility building, and water supply system. (NNDPA 2012) The ranger residence is located on hill above the current visitor center (it replaced a prior residence inside the main pueblo ruins).  It is an elegant stone building in mid-20th century modern style. The CCC utility...

A major upgrade of facilities at the Petrified Forest National Monument (now National Park) was undertaken by the New Deal in the 1930s.  The work was carried out in 1936--40 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), under the direction of the National Park Service (NPS), with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The most notable achievement was construction of the Painted Desert Inn in the northern portion of the park (above Route 66, now Interstate 40).  Across Petrified Forest Road from the inn are two residences built for the park staff at the same time. Both were done in...

The Works Progress Administration built a recreational center that included a club house and a municipal golf course in Winslow, Navajo County. Project #271, completed circa 1936.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was active in Jerome, a copper mining town hit hard by the Great Depression.  The WPA hired out-of-work miners for several projects in Jerome and nearby towns. In 1937, the WPA relief workers built retaining walls to prevent erosion and collapse of the hillside below the Little Daisy Hotel – which was not a hotel but a workers' residence hall built by the owners of the Little Daisy mine in 1918.  The mine failed in 1938 and the building was closed. At some later time, the top floor was removed and the next floor gutted, leaving only...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work in Grand Canyon National Park from 1933 to 1942. Among its trail development work, the CCC constructed the Ribbon Falls Trail. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour says: "More challenging projects included a number of inner canyon trails. The Ribbon Falls Trail, a half-mile (0.8 km) spur off the North Kaibab Trail, still leads hikers to a beautiful waterfall." The trail is approximately 2.7 miles south of the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim, as the crow flies.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from the Mt. Elden Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near Flagstaff worked at Walnut Canyon National Monument from 1938 to 1942. Among other work, the CCC crews almost surely built the Rim Trail, which departs from the Visitors' Center and heads east for roughly a quarter-mile along the north rim of Walnut Canyon, ending at a stone terrace observation point. All the sources omit this trail to focus on the Island Trail in discussing the work of the CCC at Walnut Canyon, but the stone work and railings at the Rim Trail and observation terrace are similar...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village,  1933-37. The National Park Service CCC Walking Tour notes that: "While the CCC crews were refurbishing the rock wall , they also constructed new log benches." Documentation is lacking as to whether the benches extant today were the original benches made by the CCC.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, 1933 to 1937, including resurfacing the Rim Trail from roughly Hermit Road to Yavapai Point. The resurfacing extended far beyond the part of the trail in front of the hotels where the CCC built the well-known rock wall. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour states that, "During the summer of 1935, the CCC resurfaced the path along the rim ... and improved the trail to the east as far as Yavapai Observation Station."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted extensive development work at Grand Canyon Village, including reconstruction of an approximately 0.4-mile stretch of wall along the central portion of the Rim Trail, roughly between Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar Hotel. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour says this: "Civilian Conservation Corps crews completely rebuilt the rock wall along the rim from Verkamps Curios to Lookout Studio in 1934–35, replacing a deteriorated, poorly constructed dry-laid wall and a section of wooden fence. Project planners standardized dimensions at 27 inches (69 cm) high and 18 inches (46 cm) wide." The most famous feature of...

In 1933-36, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the Grand Canyon's River Trail at the bottom of the canyon between the Bright Angel and Kaibab trails. The National Park Service's CCC Walking Tour, discussing various CCC trail development projects, notes: "The Colorado River Trail (also 1933-36), connecting the Bright Angel Trail and the South Kaibab Trail along the south side of the Colorado River, is only two miles (3 km) long, but has the reputation of being the most difficult and hazardous trail construction ever attempted in the canyon. Crew members blasted the trail bed into the schist and granite cliffs...