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  • 109th St. Pool - Los Angeles CA
    The WPA helped in improvements at this pool that put 66 people to work in 1939. 53,300 man hours were used. $36,211 went toward labor and $3,129 to other expenses. As of Winter 2015, the facility was extant but being extensively renovated.
  • 75th Street Elementary School – Los Angeles CA
    Seventy-Fifth Street Elementary, which opened in 1922, was rebuilt with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA). The work was done sometime in 1934-35. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Seventy-Fifth Street Elementary was one of three schools in the city to receive an outright grant.  It was awarded $24,000, while Huntington Park Elementary School received $7,000...
  • Abraham Lincoln High School - Los Angeles CA
    Abraham Lincoln High School, which opened in 1878, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Architect Albert C. Martin designed the Moderne-style buildings, which feature murals and sculptures likely completed under the auspices of the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP). In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of...
  • Alexander Hamilton High School Sculpture - Los Angeles CA
    In 1941, an unknown artist created a marble sculpture of Alexander Hamilton for Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, CA. Completed under the auspices of the Work Projects Administration Arts Project (WPAAP), the 6 foot 10 inch high sculpture depicts a young Alexander Hamilton dressed in knee breeches, a vest and a long coat. It is located in the main entrance foyer.
  • Aliso Street Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    US highway 101 from Center St. to Mission Rd. Connected the Ramona Parkway (present day Interstate 10) with the proposed Hollywood Parkway (now US 101). Crosses over the LA River as well as numerous city streets and railroads. Originally the lanes of the highway were separated by Pacific Electric tracks running down the center of the bridge/viaduct. "The Aliso Street Viaduct was torn down in 1940 and replaced by the present freeway structure which entered service in mid 1943. PE participated in the cost of this mammoth structure, paying $350,000 as its share of the improvement. With the opening of the first...
  • Aliso Village (demolished) - Los Angeles CA
    In 1942, the United States Housing Authority (USHA) built the Aliso Village low-income housing project in South Central Los Angeles.  The project included over 1500 garden-style (low-rise) apartments designed by eminent L.A. architects.  Like many public housing projects around the country, Aliso Village was successful for a time as affordable working class home but was later allowed to deteriorate as it became occupied solely by the poorest of the poor.  It was demolished at the end of the 20th century and replaced by a new project, Pueblo Del Sol.  The original project as proposed was described at the time: "LOS ANGELES HOUSING...
  • Alta Loma Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Alta Loma Elementary School, which opened in 1915, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Angeles Crest Highway - Los Angeles CA
    "When Franklin D.Roosevelt was elected in 1933, his Works Progress administration (WPA) put Pasadenans to work on park, flood control,and utility projects.They improved Brookside Park for the Chicago White Sox,who set up spring training there.The most momentous WPA project was the Arroyo Seco Parkway, started in the late1930’s to link Pasadena with Los Angeles.Another noted road was the Angeles Crest Highway, which snaked into the San Gabriel Mountains and reached Chilao (beyond Mt.Wilson) by 1939."   (www.pasadena.edu)
  • Angeles Mesa Elementary School Renovation - Los Angeles CA
    Angeles Mesa Elementary School, which opened in 1917, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Ann Street Elementary School Mural – Los Angeles CA
    Artist Adrien Machefert painted a mural, "Pilgrim's Harvest Festival," at Ann Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA. He was funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). "Adrien Machefert, a man past fifty, was born in San Jose, California, and started drawing for San Francisco newspapers at the age of seventeen. Following fourteen years doing portrait and landscape painting on the Island of Majorca, Mr. Machefert returned two and a half years ago to California and has since been working for FAP most of the time" (Wells, p. 22). Machefert's other New Deal–funded murals in the region include "All Nations" at Ninth...
  • Arroyo Seco Park - Los Angeles CA
    The Annual Report of the Board of the Los Angeles Park Commissioners stated in their 1932-1933 report that the Arroyo Seco Parkway was at the time the third largest park in Los Angeles with 276.1 acres. "A new roadway was built by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation some 1800 feet long which involved the removal of 2000 cubic yards of dirt and the installation of 2600 feet of curbing. General grading consisted of widening and straightening the river channel, placing rip-rap on both banks and using the dirt to fill in areas for lawn and buildings. A group of service buildings...
  • Arroyo Seco Parkway - Los Angeles CA
    Both the WPA and the PWA along with a number of local agencies were involved in the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway which was mostly completed by 1940. It is 8.2 miles long with 18 bridges. "The Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) was the first divided-lane, high-speed, limited-access road in the urban western United States and the first stretch of road for what would become the extensive Los Angeles freeway network. The approximately six-mile initial stage of the 8.2-mile roadway, completed in 1940, was envisioned as both a scenic road traversing the Arroyo and a vital traffic conduit linking the...
  • Arroyo Seco Parkway Sidewalk and Stairs - Los Angeles CA
    This narrow concrete sidewalk and stairway connecting Solano Avenue and Academy Road was built by the WPA in 1941. Located along the Arroyo Seco Parkway near the Solano Ave. Elementary School.
  • Atlantic Avenue Park - East Los Angeles CA
    This community park in East Los Angeles was constructed by the WPA. The park and its central building are still in use and features a more recently constructed swimming pool and playground.
  • Balboa Boulevard - Los Angeles CA
    A 1939 report on the WPA's progress in Southern California described the agency's extensive involvement in a major roads project improving Balboa Avenue: "The Balboa Avenue Improvement, Work Project No. 645, was sponsored by the City of Los Angeles to provide a high speed traffic artery between San Fernando Road and Ventura Boulevard through San Fernando Valley. When completed, this street which is primarily a farm-to-market road, will serve, indirectly, a potentially enormous agricultural area by connecting these two major State Highways. The total length of this 54' roadway will be 9.8 miles, which will require 335,000 cubic yards of excavation, nearly...
  • Ballona Creek Channel - Los Angeles CA
    The US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing this important Los Angeles urban waterway.  Much of the creek was "channelized", i.e.,  lined with concrete, as part of a massive flood-control project undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District following the great Los Angeles flood of 1938. Ballona Creek is short river in southwestern Los Angeles County that drains an area exending from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, the Harbor Freeway (I-110) on the east, and the Baldwin Hills on the south. It flows through Culver City and...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Culver Blvd. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Duquesne Ave. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Higuera St. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: La Cienega Blvd. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Lincoln Blvd. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Overland Ave. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Ballona Creek Channel: Washington Blvd. Bridge - Los Angeles CA
    The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The section from the Pacific Ocean to Vista del Mar was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The Vista del Mar to La Salle Ave section was started in 1935 and completed in 1936. The La Salle Ave. to Washington Blvd. section was started 1938 and completed 1939. The Washington Blvd. to Redondo Blvd. section was started in...
  • Barham Blvd Street Improvement - Los Angeles CA
    "Work Project No. 9373, sponsored by the City of Los Angeles is a heavy travelled major traffic artery and extends northerly from Ventura Boulevard to communities in the northern section of of the San Fernando Valley. "Prior to its improvement by the W.P.A., this street was a narrow winding road with sharp curves and poorly established grades making it totally unfit to carry the heavy traffic to which it was being subjected. "To eliminate the above conditions the W.P.A. approved, and subsequently completed a project which provided modern street improvements between Ventura Boulevard and the City of Los Angeles northerly boundary,...
  • Bell High School - Los Angeles CA
    Bell High School, which opened in 1926, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with me...
  • Belmont High School: Herron Sculpture – Los Angeles CA
    Artist Jason Herron sculpted "Modern Youth" for Belmont Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA, with Federal Arts Project (FAP) funds. Originally located on the school's front lawn and currently found in the entryway, the sculpture "represents the scholastic interests as well as the athletic accomplishments of young people today" (Wells, p. 25). It depicts a boy with a book in his right hand and a globe against his left hip. He sits on a two-tiered base with the inscription "WPA/Federal Art Project/1937." According to a 1937 article in the Los Angeles School Journal, "Jason Herron is a young lady whose art...
  • Belmont High School: Noble Mural – Los Angeles CA
    In 1937, Raymond Noble painted a mural for Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP).
  • Belmont High School: Spohn Mosaic – Los Angeles CA
    Artist Stanley Spohn designed a tile mosaic for a drinking fountain at Belmont High School in Los Angeles, CA. He received funding from the Federal Arts Project (FAP). Spohn described the mosaic as being "handled in a manner reminiscent of the Persian rather than the Italian School, which conforms with Umbrian type of architecture in color and in its vertical and horizontal arrangement of the tessera method of making mosaic. "It portrays four of the intellectual achievements. Science is shown by a conventionalized microscope on the observation platform of which there is a crystal, suggestive of the polarization of light. Behind the...
  • Belvedere Community Regional Park - Los Angeles CA
    In 1942, the Works Projects Administration (WPA) constructed 60-acre Soledad Park in East Los Angeles, CA. "From the 1940s to the 1960s," the L.A. Conservancy notes, "Belvedere Park (renamed in 1949) was known for hosting the games of the local Mexican American baseball leagues in the northern field, 'El Porvenir.' The park helped to foster a sense of community that led to the baseball players' involvement in local political and labor organizations, and the teams helped sustain the players' traditional language and culture." The construction of the Pomona Freeway in the 1960s divided the park in half: 31-acre Belvedere Park to the...
  • Benjamin Franklin High School (former) Renovation - Los Angeles CA
    The former Benjamin Franklin High School—which opened in 1916 at the site of today's Monte Vista Street Elementary School—was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Benjamin Franklin High School moved to its current location in the 1960s, after the original campus suffered structural damage from earthquakes and was demolished. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed...
  • Bob Hope Patriotic Hall Mural - Los Angeles CA
    "Soldiers and Sailors is a three panel painted mural in the vestibule of Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. Created in 1942 as part of the WPA Art Project, the mural depicts the United States’ military uniforms from 1776 through 1941. Helen Lundeberg also created three WPA murals in 1942 for Patriotic Hall but those have since been lost." (LACounty Arts Commission.)    
  • Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet - Los Angeles CA
    Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet (formerly Brentwood Elementary), which opened in 1916, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the...
  • Bridge Street Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Bridge Street Elementary School, which opened in 1907, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Brockton Avenue Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Brockton Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1918, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Buchanan Street Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Buchanan Street Elementary School, which opened in 1913, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Budlong Avenue Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Budlong Avenue Elementary School, which opened in 1916, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of the board agrees with...
  • Bundy Drive - Los Angeles CA
    The WPA worked on Bundy Drive in 1941.
  • Bushnell Way Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    This school was originally built in 1910 as the American Way School, and rebuilt in the 1920's. Along with many schools in the area, the school was damaged in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. It was rebuilt by New Deal workers (likely the PWA) and looks today as it was built then.  
  • Bushnell Way Elementary School - Los Angeles CA
    Bushnell Way Elementary School (formerly Hermon Elementary School), which opened in 1912, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. In January 1934, the PWA allocated $9,380,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District for the rehabilitation of schools damaged in the severe 1933 Long Beach earthquake.  One hundred and thirty schools would benefit from the system-wide loan and grant, with 2,500 men to be employed in rehabilitation work over 21 months. Upon receiving news of the PWA allocation, Board of Education member Arthur Eckman told the Los Angeles Times, “I am sure that every member of...
  • Cahuenga Pass Freeway - Los Angeles CA
    This project involved two separate roads, 48 feet wide (four lanes each way) with Pacific Electric Tracks in the center. It included the Pilgrimage Bridge (Vine St) and adjacent frontage roads, Barham Blvd overcrossing and Barham offramps.
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