• Citizens' Cemetery Boundary Wall - Prescott AZ
    In the winter of 1933-34, the relief workers of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built a fine stone wall, 4-6 feet high, around the entire 6.5 acre Citizens' Cemetery. A metal fence has been added on top of the south side wall to discourage anyone from climbing over. Citizens' Cemetery was created in 1864, the same year as the founding of Prescott AZ.  It is now part of the Prescott Armory Historic District, which was placed on the National Register in 1994.  The latter includes Ken Lindley Park, the Museum of Indigenous People, and the former National Guard Armory (now the Grace...
  • Grace Sparkes Activity Center - Prescott AZ
    The Prescott National Guard Armory was built from 1936 to 1939 by the relief workers of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Today, it is called the Grace Sparkes Activity Center and the Prescott Parks and Recreation offices are located on the lower floor. The former armory is a large building constructed of reinforced concrete that was meant to provide a large interior hall for drills.  The exterior is sheathed with cut native stone. Sandstone lintels are used over windows set deeply into the walls. The front entrance features a medieval style gate over the double doors and different color and pattern of stone...
  • Ken Lindley Park Improvements - Prescott AZ
    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...
  • Miller Valley Elementary School Grounds (former) - Prescott AZ
    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.
  • Museum of Indigenous People - Prescott AZ
    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...
  • Prescott Rodeo Grounds - Prescott AZ
    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...
  • Sharlot Hall Museum - Prescott AZ
    In 1933-34, relief workers of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the Sharlot Hall Museum building.  They also restored a rustic ranch house on the site and helped move and restore Fort Misery cabin, moved here from its original site. Sharlot Hall museum complex occupies a square block on the west side of downtown Prescott and includes several buildings and an archive in the city library across the street.  It was begun in 1928 by local historian, politician, and activist Sharlot Hall, whose founding act was to save the historic Governor's Mansion. The New Deal then came in to help build...
  • Sidewalks on Courthouse Plaza (former) - Prescott AZ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sidewalks all over Prescott AZ, including around Courthouse Plaza.  According to the WPA stamp in the photograph, the sidewalk was part of Project No. 65-2-105 in 1936.   Unfortunately, the entire plaza has been renovated and the stamp shown here has disappeared -- despite the photographer's happiness on seeing "that such things are preserved."
  • Sidewalks on North Arizona Street - Prescott AZ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks on both sides of North Arizona Street where it runs through Ken Lindley Park and in front of the Museum of Indigenous People in what is now the Prescott Armory Historic District.  There are several WPA sidewalk stamps dating from 1936 to 1938. Curiously, these sidewalks are not mentioned in the Historic American Landscape Survey report on the historic district done in 2014.  There is also a 1937 WPA stamp on the narrow sidewalk along the north side of Ken Lindley park on E. Willis Street and another on the west side on S....
  • Sidewalks on South Washington Street - Prescott AZ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks all around Prescott AZ, including on the 300 block of South Washington Street, between 1936 and 1938. The WPA sidewalks on S. Washington are in good condition after eight decades. The contributors notes: "These WPA-marked sidewalks located in a "historical" district, and we would like to keep them. The city wants to rip them up."
  • Street Improvements - Prescott AZ
    Many street improvements were made in Prescott, Arizona during the Great Depression under a project funded by the federal Public Work Administration (PWA). It is difficult today to appreciate the importance of this kind of generic public works in a day when many city streets were still dirt or gravel. It is usually impossible to pinpoint the streets that were improved (leveling, widening, paving, gutters, storm sewers, etc.) without going into the archives of the local public works department, and most streets have been redone more than once over the last 75 years.  
  • Virginia Street Bridge - Prescott AZ
    In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a bridge on E. Willis Street across a small wash just east of N. Virginia Street in Prescott AZ.  It is a short bridge made of concrete and local stone, in typical WPA rustic style.  The downstream side (north) has a long channel, presumably to prevent erosion of the banks. The WPA project card in the National Archives is mislabeled as the Virginia Street bridge – an understandable error, given that there are two WPA bridges, one on West Willis and one on East Willis Street (the Virginia Street bridge is not actually...
  • Walnut Creek Bridge - Prescott National Forest AZ
    The Walnut Creek Bridge in northern Yavapai County AZ was built in 1936 with the help of the New Deal.  It crosses Walnut Creek on FS95 and may have been built to improve access to the Prescott National Forest ranger station further up CR125, Walnut Creek Road. The bridge was built 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 foundation on which...
  • Water System Improvements - Prescott AZ
    A waterworks-improvement project was undertaken in Prescott AZ during the Great Depression with the aid of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $60,000 loan and $20,871 grant; the total cost of the project was $20,800. Work occurred between April and July 1936. It is very difficult to determine what and where the water system work was done, without a deep diver into the archives of the local public works department. The fire hydrants shown here are near Ken Lindley Park.  
  • Willis Street Bridge - Prescott AZ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a bridge across Granite Creek on West Willis Street (at Granite St), just northwest of downtown Prescott AZ, in 1937. It is a simple concrete span with a central pillar and low railings.  It still stands. The WPA project card in the National Archives is mislabeled as the Virginia Street bridge – an understandable error, given that there are two WPA bridges, one on West Willis and one on East Willis Street (the Virginia Street bridge is not actually on Virginia Street, just next to it).
  • Willow Lake - Prescott AZ
    Willow Creek dam and reservoir were constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding in 1938-39.  Willow Lake is now the centerpiece of Willow Lake Park and there is a 6-mile trail around the lake.  It sits in an area called the Granite Dells, with impressive rock hills all around and prehistoric indigenous sites and petroglyphs. Willow Creek Dam is constructed of concrete that tapers fro 6 feet thick at the base to 2 1/2 feet thick at the top and it is 85 feet high.  It created a reservoir of about 400 acres, with a storage capacity of 8,000 acre-feet. The...