California Sites

These projects involved street improvements, curb, gutter, and sidewalk construction. They resulted in 8,875 ft of streets, 20,122 ft of curbs and gutters, and 15,792 sq ft of sidewalks. The only streets actually identified in the WPA records are Mendocino Ave from College Ave to the north city limit, and also Fourth St from E. St to the east city limit. The photo here shows that a short section of WPA sidewalk also survives on the south side of Spencer Avenue, just east of its intersection with Monroe Street. It is a standard 4’ residential walk made of parallel 24” x...

A project to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety at 12 intersections in the city of Oakland was undertaken with the assistance of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided relief labor for the job. State funds came from a 1/4 cent gas tax.  The improvements – called "traffic channelization" at the time – involved adding median strips, boulevard dividers, corner dividers, and so on.  Some of the work is still in place, but most of the intersections have been greatly altered or have even disappeared beneath freeways since the 1940s. Frank C. Myers and John G. Marr designed the projects and City...

Federal funding (almost certainly from the Public Works Administration (PWA)) allowed for the grading and paving of Moss Avenue in Oakland in 1934. Most of Moss Avenue was later incorporated into MacArthur Boulevard, which provided upgraded access to the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, completed in 1936.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a program of planting 10,000 street trees around the City of Oakland in 1938 to 1940.  Some $113,000 was earmarked out of a large grant of over $1.5 million for parks improvements in the city made by the WPA in 1938.  The work was supervised by Edgar Sanborn, City Forester. We do not have detailed information on which streets enjoyed the benefits of this program. 

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted 10,000 street trees around Berkeley CA in 1933-34 and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) followed with 5,000 more, c. 1938-39.  (Gazette, 3/11/39) According to the city manager of Berkeley, 15,000 flowering fruit trees had been planted by April 1939 (Gazette, 4/4/1939) Street tree planting was a major, if unappreciated, aspect of the New Deal. Determining which trees were planted on which streets is impossible at this point, and most of the trees (particularly short-lived fruit trees) have passed on by this time.  Nevertheless, there are several streets, such as Hopkins Street, where elm, camphor and ash trees of...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out general improvements around the city of Arcata, California, during the late 1930s and early 1940s.  Three separate projects were approved in 1937 and 1939 for street work, new water lines and new sewers. The only location specified in the WPA project cards is a sewer line at 11th and B Streets, which probably runs alongside Gannon Slough.  Locations of the others WPA works are unknown to us and further confirmation of these improvements is needed. Evidence for these New Deal works comes from WPA project cards in the National Archives.  These projects were proposed more...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided labor to improve Stockton’s Stribley Park in 1938. The improvement project was one of several WPA efforts in the City. “It is reported that $21,903 will be spent in a city-wide improvement program of municipal playground facilities at Stockton, Calif., which is under way as a WPA project,” a contemporary journalist reported in June 1938. “Two tennis courts will be constructed at Stribley Park and two at the Municipal Baths.” The park still exists today. Facilities include baseball diamonds and picnic areas. It appears as though the tennis courts mentioned above were refurbished as handball courts.

Work has only been started to make many provisions, for educational purposes, for the exhibition of trees and shrubs from all parts of the world.--Healy, p. 59.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did major work developing the former Patrick's Point (now Sue-Meg) State Park, which had just been purchased by the new State Parks Commission in 1929. The CCC work was carried out between 1933 and 1937 by the men of Company 1903 at Camp Prairie Creek. Engbeck reports that the CCC enrollees tore out an old road and reconfigured the entry road in a more naturalized fashion; constructed a campground and day-use picnic area, with combination restrooms, washrooms and laundry rooms; rehabilitated a staff residence; and cleared a protective firebreak around the perimeter of the park  (Engbeck, p. 24). The CCC...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did major work developing the former Patrick's Point (now Sue-Meg) State Park, which had just been purchase by the new State Parks Commission in 1929. The work was carried out between 1933 and 1937 by the men of Company 1903 at Camp Prairie Creek. Joseph Engbeck (2002) reports that the CCC enrollees carried out a number of basic improvements to the park, such as a new entry road, a campground and day-use picnic area, and a protective firebreak around the perimeter of the park  (Engbeck, p. 24). Evidently, the CCC crews did more than that, as rangers at the...

New Deal reservoir in Kensington, just north of Berkeley.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) operated in Sunland Park, constructing a community center building. "Sunland Park was the first county-owned park, dedicated to public use in 1883 when Sherman Paige and F. C. Howes purchased 2,000 acres and began subdividing the area into tracts of ten acres or more. This site was occupied by a grove of Live Oaks, believed to be several hundred years old, so Paige and Howes decided to preserve this space for public use. In 1912, the Monte Vista amusement park was established across the street, increasing the popularity of this public park." "Sunland Park features include mature...

This brick Romanesque architecture building overlooking the city was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) on the property of the long-closed County Hospital. This is a former Tubercular Hospital. According to a WPA job card, the project scope was to "Construct a tubercular hospital building and do other work incidental thereto, on the County Hospital grounds in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County. In addition to projects specifically approved. County owned property." WPA Proj. No. 165-03-2104, February 6, 1937, Total sponsor and Federal funds $80,491, Months to complete 27, average employed 108. "Construct a new unit to the Tuberculosis Hospital,...

"Built in the 1940's as a means to house military personnel and their families, it was later bought by the city of San Francisco and converted to a low-income housing project." - https://wikimapia.org/1802193/Sunnydale-Housing-Projects

This WPA sculpture "Bear and Head" by Beniamino Bufano was created in 1935 and placed here in 1945. It measures 5'4" long and 3' wide, and is carved from black granite.

" group of animals of cast terrazzo (a camel, burro, grasshopper, duck, hippopotamus and elephant), each approximately 26 inches long, 24 inches high and 12 inches wide, and variously colored coral, green and gray, were placed in the Child Care Center Playground of the Sunnydale Housing Project." - https://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Sargent_Johnson_and_His_Milieu Apparently Johnson, who was a friend of Bufano's, was careful not to use the same animals that Bufano used.

The  New Deal Federal Public Works program contributed to the construction of this Los Angeles viaduct. In June 1934, California Highway and Public Works magazine reported the following: "A concrete viaduct that replaced a dilapidated 29 year old wooden and steel bridge. Difficulties were encountered due to construction taking place without interfering with the heavy traffic by vehicle and Pacific Electric trolley on Sunset in particular. In addition to the traffic interference, there were pole lines carrying a maze of trolleys cables and wires. There were conduits, sewers and gas lines. All of this service had to be maintained. The temporary...

In January 1935, California Highway and Public Works magazine reported that 3.2 miles of street had been resurfaced from Figueroa St to Hillhurst Avenue by a Federal Public Works project costing $65,000.

A WPA wall located along along the West side of Sunset Boulevard, near North Benton Way. Several WPA plaques adorn the wall, including some that have been recently incorporated into graffiti-murals.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped build the Sunset Playground in 1937-1940, working with the San Francisco Recreation Department.  The playground included a field house plus volleyball, basketball and tennis courts. "In 1937, the three-acre site at 29th Avenue and Lawton Street was bought for $50,676 and began as a playground. Built by the Recreation Department and the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration), Sunset Playground opened in 1940 with a small field house, volleyball, basketball and tennis courts." (ParkScan) We believe that the WPA relief workers developed the entire playground and not just the grading of the site, as indicated by Healy.  "Like...

The Sunset Pier was built on Venice Beach in 1921 as a typical entertainment pier with dancing hall that was very common on the beach at the time. After various bankruptcies and owners, "he city took possession of the Sunset Pier during spring 1929 after the lease was canceled with the Electric Pier Company for non-payment of rent... However, in June the Parks and Recreation Commission decided to build a 64 x 160 foot municipal bathing pavilion on the pier. The pool, costing $20,000, could accommodate 3000 people and would have large sun rooms. Construction began by the end of...

This school was originally built for children with physical disabilities. It later became a continuation high school, and currently houses the SFUSD Cal-SAFE program, the Hilltop School, and various community agencies. At the time of its construction, it housed 18 classrooms, a courtyard and a therapeutic bathing pool. It was situated near Buena Vista Elementary School, which was also designed for children with various health ailments. The first floor of the building was devoted to crippled children and provided facilities for their education and care. The patio provided a play area in which they could move about freely in their...

"n 1936, F.L. "Barney" Roberts of Surprise Valley was weary of being in the dark. He wanted electric lights in his home, convenience for his wife's work and a dependable power source for his milking machine in his dairy barn. Barney petitioned the California Public Service Company of Cedarville for a power line to the ranches of Surprise Valley. After being turned down for power by California Public Service Company of Cedarville, Barney wrote to President Roosevelt requesting a solution to the problem. The President responded to Barney's request, telling him about the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which provided federal financing...

Sacking and warehousing existing split wood, for the purpose of supplying indigent families with stove wood. Distribution to be made by the Surplus Commodities Division of S.E.R.A., also cleaning and burning certain areas previously logged.--Mooser, p. 80.

Demolished old buildings, landscaped, surfaced walks and paths. As the photographs show, this work did much to restore and enhance the beauty of the park. This was the estate of the former mayor of San Francisco, Adolph Sutro. The many statues brought from Europe were thoroughly cleaned and repaired under this project. The site commands a marvelous view.--Healy, p. 58.

"An average of 118 men on WPA Project No. 5416 were engaged during the month in clearing the overflow channel of the Feather River north of Marysville and near Nicolaus. SRA Transient Camp No. 7 in the Sutter Basin furnished an average of 48 men for work on the east levee of Sutter By-pass, at Pumping Plant No.1 and No.2 and at the Sutter maintenance headquarters. It was impossible to work, in the Tisdale By-pass during this period on account of overflow."

An Annual Report from 1932-33 of the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners described early New Deal work in the park: "This is one of the most important parks in Los Angeles to picnickers. Practically all State Societies and other large groups hold their picnics here as there are ample facilities in the way of accommodating crowds, speaker platforms, and a public address system. In the Arroyo, east of the park, 15,840 lineal feet of new roads were constructed, with the help of Reconstruction Finance corporation and County Welfare workmen, which caused the removal of 73,500 cubic yards of dirt. Rip-rap...

Sycamore Pool is a large, beautiful, outdoor swimming facility built on Big Chico Creek at the One-Mile Recreation Area of Bidwell Park in Chico California.  Hence, the pool is also known as One-Mile Pool. he creek was dammed by the city in the 1920s, but the pool was cemented and finished out by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s, as part of several WPA improvements to Bidwell Park.   There are tile depth markers every six feet or so along the pool's edge. The lifeguard chairs look original, but that is uncertain. A bridge across the dam was built later using state Land & Water...

Taft city park north of the High School and junior college complex was created by the WPA. This most likely refers to the Ford City Park at 609 Cedar St., Taft, CA.

Taft received WPA sidewalks.

Taft Union High School's main building was constructed with federal help under the New Deal.  It is an elegant Art Moderne (Art Deco) facility with lovely decorative elements, particularly the colored bas-reliefs (probably terra cotta). The original Taft Union HS had been built in 1917 with local funds, but the state declared it unsafe in 1934 – most likely because of the great Long Beach earthquake in 1933.  It was not torn down entirely, but reconstructed and expanded. The federal government offered a grant of $51,000 in 1935 – almost surely from the Public Works Administration (PWA).   The county passed a...

The Works Progress Administration completed land improvements in the Tahoe National Forest in 1936. "Forest Rd. Improvement & development - Installation of Communication System. Alder Creek to Crystal Peak, Nevada & Sierra Counties. Clear & brush 51 acres of land adjacent to highways and roads for a distance of 14 miles with a Federal cost of $3440. Clear & brush 22 acres of land through forests for future road construction for a distance of 6 miles with a Federal cost of $1556. Install a communication system for a distance of 20 miles with a Federal cost of $844. All roads are...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Calpine lookout tower in 1934. The forest fire lookout tower was in service until 1975. The three-story structure has exterior stairs, a ground floor storage room, a second floor sleeping room, and the observation cab on the top floor. The structure is one of the many CCC-built lookout towers that have been used for decades to spot wildfires fires in California's forests. According to the Forest Service: "Calpine lookout is an “L-7” or windmill style enclosed tower with a “BC-3” cab and has been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The...

These two large mosaic panels representing tragedy and comedy were features of the original stage at the High School's Mead Theater. The theater has since been replaced. As of 2008, the mosaics were under restoration, but may since have been reinstalled.

A 38' x 8' oil on canvas depicting a farm nestled in the Marin hills, "The Golden Hills of Marin" was painted by Maurice del Mue with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. The mural "was removed from the wall of the high school library in the 1960s and rolled up face-in, causing extensive damage and compression cracks." However a major restoration effort recently returned the mural to its rightful place.

Taylor Middle School was built by the PWA in 1939 as the Millbrae Elementary School. There is a PWA plaque in the west wall of the front vestibule of the school entry.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped develop the 67 acres of Tayman in Healdsburg CA and the municipal golf course in the park. We cannot be sure of what parts of the golf course were done by the WPA.  Tne rock walls around the entry gate, clubhouse and parking lot look typical of WPA relief workers' handiwork.

WPA built adobe city hall with red tile roofs. Adjacent to the WPA Veterans Memorial Hall and the old WPA firehouse.