Santa Cruz Sites

The WPA improved Center St. and the intersecting Church St. in 1938. These streets run directly in front of the Santa Cruz City Hall, Civic Auditorium and Fire Station No. 1, all PWA projects.

The WPA improved Church St. and the intersecting Center St. in 1938. These streets run directly in front of the Santa Cruz City Hall, Civic Auditorium and Fire Station No. 1, all PWA projects.

The WPA made improvements to Empire Grade Road in Santa Cruz in 1936.

In 1937 the WPA improved Escalona Drive "in the city of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, including clearing, scrubbing widening, grading, oiling, installing culverts."

The WPA made "improvements and additions to the Division of Forestry Headquarters in Felton" in 1938. Exact location and status of this building is unknown. Current Forestry station in Felton was built in the 1940s.

The WPA improved streets in the vicinity of and running through Natural Bridges State Park in 1938.

"The various departments of the city government are housed in the new city hall around a court on one floor. This project added space to the existing building for the water department, police department, office of the mayor, and council chamber. In the basement there is a rifle range for the police department, storage space, and the heating plant. The building is semifireproof with concrete exterior walls trimmed with local stone. It is designed to resist seismic disturbances. The roof is covered with shingle tile molded to resemble redwood shakes. It was completed in September 1937....

"In 1936 the Works Progress Administration provided funds for the construction of jail designed by Albert Roller at 705 Front Street, at a cost of $190,000 and built to hold 68 men and 8 women. As completion of construction neared the jail population was "dropping away so fast the sheriff and aides are fearful there will not be enough left to make a creditable showing by the time the building is accepted" causing the Sheriff to consider staging a round-up in the "jungles," private bingo parties, or drafting prominent citizens to stand in for prospective prisoners to make for a...

"Debated for its location, its usefulness and its cost, the auditorium plan stalled and nearly died. But low interest rates and money available from the New Deal -- 80 percent funding if it was built by legitimately unemployed workers and 45 percent funding if professional builders were used -- allowed construction to begin. The Civic Auditorium was dedicated in 1939 to much fanfare (although the city had to ask for more federal funds after the builder, trying to shave costs, narrowed the stage from 29 to 20 feet -- not even big enough for the Santa Cruz...

The WPA made "alterations and construct new addition to the Santa Cruz County Hospital and improve grounds" in 1942. Exact location and current status of this hospital unknown.

WPA workers were engaged in "landscaping, building equestrian trails and installing sprinkler systems in Santa Cruz parks."

Research done by local librarians has uncovered that the WPA constructed: sewer main, laying sewer pipe and construct manholes (1935) drainage system for flood control (1936) sanitation-the elimination of insanitary devices by the construction of sanitary privies in rural areas and suburban territories where sewer systems are impracticable (1937) water mains and sanitary sewers in North Branciforte Avenue, Escalona Drive and Center Street... (1937) sanitary sewers, with manholes and other necessary appurtenances, in and near Soquel... (1938) sanitary sewers, with manholes and other necessary appurtenances, in and near Watsonville... (1938)

WPA workers in Santa Cruz engaged in a variety of roadwork in Santa Cruz County: "Construct fire trail and motorway on Coast Road (1935) Improving various roads not in the Federal Aid System (1935) Rocking roads in vicinity of Soquel (1935) Surfacing with crushed rock and fuel oil Front Gulch and Larkin Valley Road near Aptos (1935) Brushing, clearing, widening, drainage structures, and oiling Zayante Road, beginning at Lompico Creek (1935) Improving 7.45 miles of Soquel-San Jose Road (1935) Improve Empire Grade Road (1936) Improve Lockhart Gulch Road (1936) Improve Escalona Drive in the city of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz County, including clearing, scrubbing widening, grading, oiling, installing culverts...

The building was retrofitted and remodeled in 2001, but most of the original structure and appearance was preserved.

New Deal funds supplied Santa Cruz High School with a backstop for the baseball field. It is not known whether the original backstop still stands.

Phone: (831)423-0109 Access Hours: M-F 5am-7 pm; Sat 5am-6 pm Constructed by the Works Progress Administration in 1936, this building is home to Henrietta Shore's murals depicting Santa Cruz industry: "Cabbage Farming," "Limestone Quarries," "Artichoke," and "Fishing."  

Four oil on canvas murals depicting Santa Cruz's industry: "Cabbage Farming," "Limestone Quarries," "Artichoke," and "Fishing." "The vivid paintings show limestone quarry workers, men picking artichokes and fishermen at the waters edge. One painting, titled Cabbage Culture, shows three farm workers, one of them bent over as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders."

New Deal road construction in Soquel, CA.