Whittier Sites

Artist Caspar Duchow created four 4' x 6' mosaics depicting animals for the East Whittier Middle School: "Hippos," "Waterfowl," "Tropical Birds" and "Monkey." The mosaics were created in 1937 with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project.

The 1939 WPA Accomplishment Report for Southern California reported that the WPA improved the grounds at this South Whittier school. The school building itself may also be New Deal, as it shows classic PWA Moderne architecture.

Lou Henry Hoover School in Whittier was built in 1938 by the New Deal.  It has recently been renamed the Lou Henry Hoover School of Fine Arts.  Lou Henry Hoover was the wife of President Herbert Hoover and a played a role in California architectural history by her support of early Modernists. Construction was most likely paid for by the Public Works Administration (PWA), which funded schools throughout Southern California.  A local history claims it was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, but that is unlikely that an outside architect would have been hired from outside by the WPA. The building's style...

The Hoover School of Fine Arts, previously known as the Lou Henry Hoover Elementary School, is graced with beautiful bas-reliefd frieze by Bartolo Mako over the entrance. The frieze depicts a scene of the early Quakers who founded the city of Whittier more than one hundred years ago. The frieze is part of the structure, which was designed by local architect William Harrison, and paid for as part of the building construction.

The New Deal post office in Whittier, California, was constructed in 1935 with federal Treasury Department funds. It was designed by R. L. Warren, with Louis A. Simon, one of the Roosevelt Administration's chief New Deal architects, serving as Supervising Architect. Neal A. Melick served as Supervising Engineer. The building is still in service, but the New Deal mural has been painted over during renovations.  

The Whittier post office formerly held a tempera mural, "Boy with Sheep," painted by Thomas Laman in 1938 with funding from the Section of Fine Arts and the Treasury Relief Art Project. It has since been painted over.

The WPA partially demolished and reconstructed the West Whittier School in the 1930s. From the photo below: "The West Whittier Grammar School constructed by the WPA in California is a far cry from the little old 'red schoolhouse', of a few decades ago."

Whittier High School—perhaps best known as Hill Valley High School in the film Back to the Future—was rebuilt with New Deal funds after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. The funding almost surely came from the Public Works Administration (PWA), which had made school reconstruction in Southern California a priority.  This needs to be confirmed. The Wikipedia entry on the school says that, "The Science Building was rebuilt in 1934; a Boys' Gym in 1935; dressing rooms and Cafeteria in 1936. The Auditorium stood idle for almost 20 years and then was renovated into the present Library. In 1938, the District approved bonds...

In 1937, Zack Hogg completed a mural at the former Public Library in Whittier, CA. Hogg received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP). The Whittier Public Library was located at Bailey and Greenleaf from 1907 to 1959, when it relocated to it's current site at 7344 Washington Ave. The status of Hogg's mural is unknown.

"This new reinforced-concrete reservoir replaces a privately owned and outmoded 1 5.000-gallon tank which had become insanitary and which was at an insufficient elevation to serve the community at a proper water pressure. The new structure is approximately 38 feet in diameter, averages 50 feet in height, and houses the reservoir in the upper 21 feet. Underneath the reservoir are booster pumps, pipe lines, and other appurtenances for the distribution of the water. It was completed during 1934 at a construction cost of $17,849 and a project cost of $17,961." The reservoir pictured here appears to be still extant and located...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on the grounds of the Whittier State School for Boys (renamed the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in 1941). "The March 11, 1889 Act of the California Legislature authorized the establishment of a school for juvenile offenders. Dedication and laying of cornerstone was done by Governor R. W. Waterman on February 12, 1890. Officially opened as 'Whittier State School' for boys and girls on July 1, 1891. Girls were transferred in 1916 and only boys were in residence from then until the school's closure in 2004. Renamed 'Fred C. Nelles School for...

The beautiful and well-used William Penn Park in Whittier, California was built by the WPA. Some WPA stamps from 1940 remain in the sidewalks.