California Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built long stretches of sidewalk, as well as curbs, gutters and driveway aprons along 62nd Avenue in East Oakland near Mills College. 

This WPA sidewalk stamp is in the gutter at the southwest corner of Clay and 9th Streets.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed several sidewalks in Albany CA, which can be identified by distinctive WPA 'sidewalk stamps'. Such markers were commonly impressed into wet concrete to show the name of sidewalk contractors in the first half of the 20th century.  A group of WPA stamps can be found at 1301 Dartmouth St., 1054 Santa Fe Ave.(corner of Francis St.), and 1159 Santa Fe Ave.(corner of Pomona), south of Marin Ave and east of the BART tracks.  Another pair of WPA sidewalks stamps can be seen at 1509 and 1511 Sonoma Ave.  One stamp on Garfield just off San...

This WPA stamp in Broadmoor, a small region within Daly City, shows that the WPA worked on sidewalks in the area in 1940.

The WPA worked extensively on curbs, gutters and sidewalks in Davis. "SERA also denied (for being a piecemeal approach that wouldnt improve drainage) the citys application for installing widely-scattered curbs & gutters, although the WPA in 1937 approved $26,000 for the more-comprehensive version of the paving project. That concrete, it was assured, was to use local gravel from Putah Creek." - https://www.yolo.net/ychs/publications/newDeal.html Many sidewalks in Davis still bear WPA stamps: "Davis still bears the stamp of these WPA projectsliterally. Perhaps you've seen the "WPA" initials imprinted in a sidewalk while strolling through old North Davis. These sidewalks were laid in the late 1930's...

"The still-vivid Works Progress Administration concrete stamps on the sidewalks around Fresno's second City Hall pay homage to the breadth of New Deal-era projects in Fresno, and the contribution the WPA made to improving city infrastructure."

The 1940 WPA stamp is located on the Northeast corner of the intersection.

This marker shows that the WPA paved sidewalks in Redlands in 1940. The exact location of this stamp is not known.

"Other notable WPA projects in Placer County include a sewage treatment plant in Auburn and sidewalks in Roseville. In fact, the WPA stamp still graces some sidewalks in Roseville. The WPA always left a marker or a stamp in fresh concrete to identify its projects. This wasnt done for pride of work alone, but was an effective marketing tool. People saw WPA as they moved through their daily lives and it assured them that the program had a measurable effect on their community."

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed sidewalks along Elsie Ave. and Bancroft Ave. in San Leandro, California: "WPA 1939" is stamped into the sidewalk in several places along Elsie Avenue. "WPA 1940" is stamped along Bancroft Avenue. Elsie Avenue may have also been paved as a WPA project; the street appears unpaved on a 1938 city map.

This WPA stamp shows that the WPA paved sidewalks in the city.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks on Genoa Street in North Oakland in 1940. WPA concrete stamps are located at the intersection of Genoa and 53d, 56th and 58th Streets.

The concrete staircase connecting Hoover Avenue and Oakview Drive was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939.

WPA Project No. 265-5-3000, App. Date 10/26/36, $8,295, Total Funds $10,733, Average Employed 56, Sponsor: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, (Forest Service), "Improve and repair public camp grounds, including the construction of a masonry dam at the outlet of Wrights Lake, building of fire places, cement bases for stoves, water and sanitation development, clearing of debris and general camp improvements. All in the El Dorado National Forest in El Dorado County. Federal owned property. Permission of proper Federal authority has been obtained. It is certified that the funds provided are sufficient for the completion of the projects. To take the place...

Twelve miles long, County Road S-3 connects Highway 78 and County Road S-22 at Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs. According to the curator at the Julian Historical Society, this was a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project.

WPA work involved "Landscaping and planting various cut slopes and excavated areas which have been opened up during the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge"--Mooser, p. 84.

YES Academy (formerly Hyde Park Elementary School), which opened in 1923, was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. The school appears to have been rebuilt yet again in the 1960s or 70s, although the PWA auditorium may remain—confirmation is needed. 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...

"Joann Larkey and Shipley Walters, in their 1987 Yolo County: Land of Changing Patterns noted (p. 84) that the WPA had been active, spending $65,000 in 1936-1937 alone in the county (for roads, sidewalks/curb/gutter, public buildings, and landscaping)... Road improvements dominated the funding, getting $33,000 (half of the $65,000 total) for excavation, draining, grading, graveling (much near Winters, Woodland, Knights Landing, and Broderick). Work worth $15,900 was expended on non-road projects including improving Woodland HS, building a Boy Scout Cabin at KL, landscaping in Davis, and upgrading other schools grounds. Tree and shrubbery planting at Dunnigan and the...

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees made many improvements at Yosemite Village and Curry Village at the east end of Yosemite Valley, in the heart of Yosemite National Park. At the time, these were known as the Old Village, New Village and Camp Curry. At Yosemite Village, the CCC teams installed log curbing, laid out new paths, and planted ferns, trees, and shrubs around the administration building, new hospital, residences, and Yosemite Museum. Some of the landscaping was done with native plants transplanted from various places outside the valley.  CCCers placed flagstones around the telescopes in front of the museum. Under the direction of...

A 102″ concrete pipe under Yosemite Drive in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles built by the CWA in response to the 1934 New Year’s Day Flood which caused the death of at least 45 people in Montrose and La Crescenta and some property damage along the former Eagle Rock creek. The sides of the channel are lined with corrugated iron and it measures about five feet wide and three feet deep.

These improvements include the creation of a recreational beach by dredging sand from the San Joaquin River, the construction of dressing room barges, the provision of lighting for the park, and the construction of 50 benches. Currently the park is used mostly for picnics and barbeques. The bathing beach no longer in use. Te park is operated by the City of Stockton.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completely reconstructed the public campgrounds at the head of Yosemite Valley, which are today known as the North, Upper and Lower Pines campgrounds. There had long been camping all over Yosemite Valley, but it had been an unrestricted free-for-all with cars driving across meadows and people camping wherever they liked. The damage to the valley's meadows and streams had been extensive before the National Park Service (NPS) brought a halt to the anarchy.   First, the NPS restricted camping to designated campgrounds at the head of the Valley in the late 1920s.  It then implemented a new...

The WPA built walks, curbs and gutters in Zamora. Cement sidewalks were laid from Union School north to US 99 and east around the block of homes.