• Chandler Station Post Office - North Hollywood CA
    Now known as the Chandler Station post office, this historic former main post office building was constructed with Treasury Department funding. Note that the building is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA). "The construction of new postal facilities throughout our country was an integral part of Roosevelt's New Deal. The Democratic president's WPA (Works Progress Administration) put thousands to work, including the many artisans and laborers who built the NoHo Post Office. Take time to examine the building's interior and exterior. On the face of the building rests a handsome cornerstone, bearing the name of James A.Farley, Post Master...
  • Lankershim Elementary School - North Hollywood CA
    The WPA demolished and reconstructed Lankershim Elementary School.
  • Lankershim Elementary School - North Hollywood CA
    Lankershim Elementary School, which opened in 1910, 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...
  • North Hollywood High School Mural – North Hollywood CA
    In 1937, artist Fletcher Martin painted a mural at North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, CA. The mural, "Legends of the California Indians," was funded by the Federal Arts Project (FAP). The school "wanted a mural which related to the California scene and Indians. Mr. Martin felt that the usual themes had been overdone, so he sought out the legends of the people and chose from them the subject for his mural...." (Wells, p. 22). Martin ended up painting a Tataviam village. Located in a corner of the school auditorium, the mural was painted over in the 1950s. The Los...
  • Victory-Vanowen Park - North Hollywood CA
    The Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners records extensive federal aid in developing the park: "Victory Vanowen Park is one of the largest parks in the San Fernando Valley, with an area of a little over ninety acres. This park is bounded by Whitsett Avenue, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and Calvert Street. An enormous amount of improvement work was done here with the help of the R.F.C. and County Welfare labor. New roads, a length of 6,110 feet, were constructed, which required the grading of 4,072 cubic yards of dirt, and installing 8,850 feet of redwood...
  • Walter Reed Middle School - North Hollywood CA
    "Well-known Los Angeles architect John C. Austin designed the Renaissance-inspired buildings of North Hollywood Junior High School (which was renamed in 1957). In addition to providing the plans for numerous schools throughout the Los Angeles region, Austin, either alone or in association with other architects, is credited for the architecture of the Griffith Park Observatory, Shrine Auditorium, and Los Angeles City Hall." - https://www.laschools.org/employee/design/fs-studies-and-reports/download/LAUSD_Presentation_March_2002.pdf?version_id=1895945 An image of the school was also used, apparently accidentally, as a backdrop to one of John McCain's campaign speeches in 2008! - https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/09/mccain-and-that.html