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  • 17th St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of 17th Street between Market and Harrison.
  • 18th Street Widening - San Francisco CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved many roads in San Francisco, California, including widening a 1,655 foot stretch of 18th Street between 3rd and Missouri Streets (between Potrero Point and the crest of Potrero Hill).    
  • 25th Ave. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of 25th Ave. between Fulton St. and El Camino del Mar.
  • 3rd St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of 3rd St. between what was then Bayshore Blvd. and Burke Ave. Highway 101 now occupies that stretch of Bayshore Blvd.
  • Abraham Lincoln High School - San Francisco CA
    Academic unit; shop unit, 2 gyms, auditorium to be added later. 1 new building. The October 3, 1938 edition of the Daily Pacific Builder reported that $750,000 in PWA funds had been allotted for the first unit of the construction of the Abraham Lincoln High School. From the school's current website: "The result of a 1938 bond measure approved by San Francisco voters to address the increasing population in the Western San Francisco area, Abraham Lincoln High School was incorporated into a modern three-story building that was completed at a cost of over $750,000 in 1940 with just 50 classrooms, a cafeteria, a...
  • Adams School Annex - San Francisco CA
    Now the Ellis-Polk Police Station. Remodeled room for telatype and general complaints.--Healy, p.72. Originally the Adams School Annex, this building was then the San Francisco Ellis-Polk or "Northern" Police Station for many years. Though the inscription above the door now reads "Harvey Milk Children's Center," the building now houses the San Francisco Unified School District Student Nutrition Services Center.
  • Agassiz Elementary School - San Francisco CA
      Vocational night school. Eighteen classrooms. Near high school. 'Bids will be opened for constructing Agassiz elementary unit of twelve classrooms to be located at Bartlett and Twenty-second Streets. Masten and Hurd are the architects. The estimated cost is $179,000.'--The Architect and Engineer, Nov. 1935 (p. 60)
  • Alcatraz Prison Improvements and Guard Housing - San Francisco CA
    The Public Works Administration funded improvement work at the Alcatraz Prison on Alcatraz Island. The cost of the project was $1,100,000. The funds for the modernization were earmarked through a PWA program in 1938. The modernization plans were temporarily suspended after the Attorney General suggested the prison be moved away from San Francisco’s “doorstep.” The work restarted in 1940, when Attorney General Jackson took office, inspected the site, and approved the modernization project. James V. Bennett, the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, declared in 1940 for the Fresno Bee that he expected the construction to finish by July of 1940. He also...
  • Anza Branch Library Frieze - San Francisco CA
    This frieze on the ceilings of the library's reading rooms depicts "Flowers and Animals" and was funded by the FAP and WPA. The artist is currently unknown to the Living New Deal. The library itself was completed in 1932, but is very similar in design to what soon after became known as the WPA style.
  • Aptos Middle School - San Francisco CA
    Constructed with PWA funds.
  • Aptos Playground - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop Aptos Playground in San Francisco during the Great Depression.
  • Aztec Stairs - San Francisco CA
    The WPA built these concrete steps connecting Aztec and Shotwell Streets in 1940.
  • Balboa Park - San Francisco CA
    (100 Acres) Constructed gutters, paths, seepage pits, culverts, storm water inlets, etc. This work completed previously built park roads.--Healy, p. 55. Most of the rock for gutters is to be quarried on the property.--Mooser, p. 82.
  • Bay St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the 1.8-mile stretch of Bay Street between Fillmore St. and The Embarcadero.
  • Bay Street Reservoir - San Francisco CA
    Landscaped embankment along Bay Street. Built small recreation building.--Healy, p. 67.
  • Beach Chalet: Fresco Mural Cycle - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park, built in 1925, is home to a trove of New Deal artworks in the first floor lobby, or entrance hall. The centerpiece of the Beach Chalet's artworks is an enormous fresco mural by Lucien Labaudt, entitled "San Francisco Life."   This magnificent mural cycle is 9' high and covers all four walls of the lobby (about 1500 square feet in all). It was painted by Labaudt in 1936-37. The mural cycle has nine sections depicting San Francisco locales: the Embarcadero & Fisherman's Wharf on the north wall; Baker's Beach on the...
  • Beach Chalet: Monochrome Frescoes - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet at the western end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco contains several New Deal artworks. Lucian Labaudt painted a set of monochrome frescoes around the stairwell and in the corridor to the restrooms on the south side of the ground floor.  The stairwell is surrounded on all sides and on the ceiling by soaring gulls and sea birds. The frescoes were done in 1937 under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project (FAP). Labaudt also painted the immense mural around the entrance hall.  
  • Beach Chalet: Mosaics - San Francisco CA
    The Beach Chalet contains several New Deal artworks.  Include decorative mosaics by Primo Caredio, done in 1937.  They are located in the South Staircase and over the north and east doorways of the large first-floor lobby. All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 
  • Beach Chalet: Staircase Sculptures - San Francisco CA
    Michael von Meyer created the enameled, magnolia wood carvings, called "Sea Creatures," in the balustrade of the south stairway of the Beach Chalet.  The carvings are 36" high and run all the way up to the second floor, about 25 feet in all.  It is a marvelous fantasy piece that includes an octopus, mermaid with child, merman (Neptune?), porpoise, fish with elephantine trunk, sailing ship and a deep-sea diver, among others. All the Beach Chalet artworks were done by unemployed artists hired by the Federal Art Project (FAP), a branch of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). 
  • Belt Line Railroad - San Francisco CA
    "The San Francisco Belt Railroad was a short-line railroad along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. It began as the State Belt Railroad in 1889, and was renamed when the city bought the Port of San Francisco in 1969. The railroad ceased operation in 1993. The railroad connected the Port of San Francisco to many waterfront docks and to industries and warehouses which were adjacent to the waterfront. It had 67 miles (108 km) of trackage and its general offices were in the Ferry Building. Its function was to switch railroad cars from four major railroads to points along its system...
  • Bernal Heights Boulevard and Park - San Francisco CA
    Cost $255,547, for Alabama to Esmeralda Streets. Work consisted of building 1,890 lineal feet of sewer with catch basins and manholes, 12,890, lineal feet of redwood curb, 19,050 square feet of 6 inch concrete pavement. Placed 714 tons of 2 inch wearing surface, resloped all cuts and redressed all sidewalks. It formed a circular road around the Heights district making accessible a large number of interesting streets, difficult of approach before, and providing a fine Marine view--Healy, p. 47.
  • Bernal Heights Library - San Francisco CA
    The beautiful Bernal Heights Library on Cortland Avenue in San Francisco was built in 1940 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA), after it had become part of the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in 1939. The library is built of reinforced concrete and finished in Mission Revival style with stucco exterior and tile roof.  The interior features lofty ceilings, large windows, and lovely hanging light fixtures. The floors, entrance and bathrooms are all tiled and the ceiling beams are hand-painted in abstract designs.   The shelving and furniture appear to be the original, made of solid oak, and the layout looks to be...
  • Bernal Recreation Center - San Francisco CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Bernal Recreation Center in San Francisco in 1939-1940.  It sits just behind and below the Bernal Heights Public Library. Work consisted of excavating and grading 1,492 cubic yards of rock and soil, building 75 feet of rubble wall (18 inches by 4 feet), and paving 16,000 square feet of playgr0und area. Notably, the report on WPA work in San Francisco made a point that the combination of the library and playground on the same property was ."... combining the benefits of physical and mental recreation.(Healy, p. 64). The WPA built rock walls are still visible above...
  • Bill Graham Civic Auditorium - San Francisco CA
    Made general repairs, cleaned tile and installed new tile, replaced glass, installed new plumbing and heating fixtures, did painting and concrete work, layed new floor in main auditorium, made accomodation for new health service municipal employees, increased corridor space on 2nd floor by removing hat check rooms.--Healy, p. 69.
  • Bluxome Street Fire House - San Francisco CA
    This is now San Francisco Fire Station No. 8
  • Brannan St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the 1.6-mile stretch of Brannan St. between The Embarcadero and 10th St.
  • Broadway St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of Broadway St. (then simply Broadway) between Mason St. and Davis St.
  • Brunswick St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including Brunswick St. "Consisted of excavation and disposal of 3,550 cubic yards of earth and rock, making available for use a hitherto ungraded street from Allison to Concord Street, the same as Silver Avenue."--Healy, p. 44.
  • Bryant Elementary School - San Francisco CA
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded construction of the Buena Vista Elementary School (now Bryant Elementary) in the 1930s.  We believe that the New Deal building is still in place. A record card for the project in the National Archives states that it included, "18 classrooms. A 'health' school. 'Various ailments' 'Special type of design suitable for the status of children's houses.' Near Sunshine School and General Hospital." (NARA) More information is needed on this site. The exact cost is unknown because this was one of a group of school projects in San Francisco for which the PWA laid out almost $3 million.
  • Buena Vista Park - San Francisco CA
    '(36 Acres) Work done consisted of rocking 1,500 lineal feet of paths 8 feet wide, surfacing 132,960 square feet of foot paths, resurfacing 22,300 square feet of drives, laying 15, 455 lineal feet of rock gutters, building 6,000 square feet of log retaining walls, 72 rock steps and coping, rubble masonry wall, surfacing 21,600 square feet of tennis courts, erecting 13,590 square feet of standard chain link fence, installing 2,800 lineal feet of pipe irrigation system, grading two small playgrounds, constructing 18,900 square feet of artificial stone sidewalk, spreading 1,000 cubic yards loam, planting shrubs furnished by the Park Commission...
  • Bush St. Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of Bush St. between Fillmore St. and Presidio Ave.
  • Cabrillo Playground - San Francisco CA
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a field house (recreation hall) and athletic courts at the Cabrillo Playground in San Francisco, CA.   The exact date of this work is unknown to us. "Constructed field house for district recreation headquarters; basketball and 2 tennis courts, 1 volleyball etc. This improvement provided facilities for intensive supervised play." (Healy, p. 63). The "Hansel & Gretel" style field house, with restrooms, is still there, as are basketball and tennis courts which have been greatly modernized in recent years.
  • Calhoun Terrace - San Francisco CA
    By building abutments and retaining walls, access was made possible to properties hereto inaccessible due to precipitous slopes of the hill. this work was of a precarious nature and required skill and courage. The photographs show the little homes on the edge of the slope. Ordinarily this work would be done by a contractor specializing in underpinning and foundation work.--Healy, p. 49.
  • California Academy of Science - San Francisco CA
    Repaired roof and made ground repairs.--Healy, p. 70. WPA workmen also worked on the African wildlife exhibit.
  • California St. Sidewalks and Improvements - San Francisco CA
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of California St. from Fillmore to Presidio Ave. "Consisted of narrowing the sidewalks ten feet from Fillmore to Presidio Avenue with all work incidental thereto, such as reconstructing catch basins, moving fire hydrants, street signs, recurbing and repairing. This improvement created a wide artery providing for additional traffic to the Richmond District from downtown."--Healy, p. 43.
  • Capp and Adair Streets WPA Sidewalks - San Francisco CA
    1940 WPA stamp at Capp and Adair in San Francisco's Mission District. Apparently every corner on Capp St. used to have these stamps.
  • Castro St. - San Francisco CA
    The WPA worked on Castro St. between 17th and 19th and between 24th and 26th.
  • Children's Area improvements - San Francisco CA
    Install sewerage system including excavation and backfill, sheet piling, pipe laying and manholes. Replace paths and roads removed due to trenching.--Mooser, p. 95.
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