Berkeley Sites

After the Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of Lake Anza  in Tilden Park by damming Wildcat Creek, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the Bath House and ancillary buildings, c 1940.   This work was part of a major New Deal effort to aid the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) in improving its four original parks and making them available for public recreation in the 1930s.  The Bath House has been demolished and replaced by a newer and larger structure.     

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) built as many as twenty picnic grounds in Tilden Park over the course of the New Deal period. These areas lie along the Loop Road, Central Park Drive and South Park Drive (see map).  They are all still in use except for one replaced by a later merry-go-round. The work normally included clearing and leveling the ground, building picnic tables and fireplaces.  Reports by the park district indicate that 28 outdoor fireplaces were built, along with 350 picnic tables.  Several picnic areas have playfields, as well.   Most of the original fixtures have been...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a number of stone comfort stations (restrooms) at picnic areas in Tilden Regional Park in 1940-42.  It is possible that some were also built earlier by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which laid out many of the picnic areas.  There are many newer wood and stone restrooms built by Tilden Park staff, but the older stonework – especially of Italian stone masons working for the WPA – is usually distinct from later stonework by the Park District.  The restrooms found at these areas are probably original WPA or CCC work: Padre, Willows, Laurel, Jewel Lake, Big...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the modern Wildcat Canyon Road, c 1939-42.  Wildcat Canyon Road runs along the west side of Tilden Park, then crosses the park and continues over the East Bay hills down to Orinda. The WPA relief workers upgraded and paved an old dirt road, building retaining walls, adding culverts and constructing the bridge over Wildcat Creek at the junction with South Park Drive. Wildcat Canyon Road is intersected by Shasta Road at the point where it turns east,  by South Park Drive at the Botanical Gardens, and by Inspiration Point Road at the east ridge line. 

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built paths and rock walls in the University of California Botanical Garden, including a rock bridge over Strawberry Creek.  The CCC enrollees worked out of a camp in Strawberry Canyon in 1933-34.

The federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) funded construction of the railroad overpass on University Avenue in Berkeley – which today leads into the Interstate 80 freeway.  At the time, it was known as an "overhead".  The overpass is still in use today. The overpass is almost 1,000 feet long and carries four lanes of traffic, two in each direction.  It was jointly designed by state highway engineers, city engineering staff and engineering officials of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The builders were Heafey-Moore Co. and Fredrickson & Watson Co., private contractors.  An article in California Highway and Public Works gives these details: "The...

Helen Bruton completed this 10' by 20' mosaic "Sculpture and Dance" in 1936 for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. It is located on the east exterior of the old University Art Building.

These two Byzantine-style mosaic murals by Helen Bruton and F. Alston Swift were installed in 1936, two years after the Art Gallery opened. They are located on the eastern facade, flanking the building's double entrance. Each mural measures 18' by 10'. "The left (Swift) panel is said to allegorically depict music and painting. There is a woman with a violin, and a woman with an easel. The right (Bruton) panel is said to depict Sculpture and Dance (a man seated behind a partially carved stone block, and three woman dancers)." - https://www.wpamurals.org/berkel2.htm   Plaque info: worked into mosaic: W.P.A Federal Art Project 1936-1937   This small brick building northeast of...

Florence Alston Swift completed this 10' by 20' mosaic  "Music and Painting" for the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project in 1936. It is located on the east exterior of old University Art Building.

'Whittier School was built as the University Elementary Demonstration School and is among Berkeley's outstanding Classic Moderne buildings. The school building was designed to incorporate the most up-to-date educational facilities for 600 students as a 'hall of health,' full of natural light and fresh air. It is a late example of 'progressive' American school architecture in the period between World War I and II.' From the City Landmark sign: "The structure is notable for its molded detailing, fluted columns, curved balconies, and rooftop sun deck. Spacious classrooms with large operable windows expressed an early 20th-century emphasis on the healthful benefits of sunlight...