Alameda Sites

This sub-station of the Municipal Power and Light System of the City of Alameda was constructed with the aid of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The exact date is unknown to us. The old power plant has been demolished and replaced by a housing complex (c. 1970s).  Two auxiliary buildings remain, which appear to be empty and unused.  One can be seen to the left of the former power plant in the photos from the 1930s.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the central electric substation for the City of Alameda, which has its own municipal electric power system.  It cost over $200,000, a considerable sum at the time.  It also served as the central fire alarm switching center for the city. It is a steel-reinforced concrete building in Moderne style, rather narrow and high.  It has two large plaques on the front, one honoring the city's board of public works and one the PWA (which was originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works).   Short & Stanley-Brown (1939) provide more detail about what the building...

The High Street bridge crosses the Oakland Estuary to link up the cities of Oakland and Alameda near the south end of the later.  Alameda was originally a peninsula connected to Oakland, but a cut was made to extend the estuary in 1902 and improve tidal circulation. The two cities are now linked by bridges and tunnels. The High Street Bridge was built jointly by the federal government and Alameda County, with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). It is a double leaf bascule draw bridge that cost $750,000 to build and was completed in 1939.  

The Park Street Bridge across the Oakland Estuary was built to connect the cities of Alameda and Oakland.  The Park Street approach is on the Alameda side; from Oakland the approach is from 29th Street. The bridge was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA) when it was still called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works and completed in 1935. It is a bascule-type drawbridge to allow ships to pass beneath (rarely used today); the operator sat in the small tower on the east end of the bridge.   The construction is riveted steel girder, cantilever style, done by MacDonald and...

The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Free Public Library building on Santa Clara Street, near Webster, in the city of Alameda. The project cost a total of $32,826 and was completed in July 1936.  There is a cornerstone with the date 1936 but not credit to the PWA (but there may be a plaque inside). The building is reinforced concrete, designed to withstand earthquakes, and the design, by Carl Werner, is Renaissance Revival, which was quite popular in the early 20th century – though the red tile roof evokes Mission Revival architecture of the interwar period.  The interior...