Denver Sites

Gladys Caldwell Fisher completed these two Indiana limestone sculptures, entitled "Rocky Mountain Sheep" and "White Ram," in 1936 with funds provided by the Treasury Relief Art Project. They are viewable on both sides of the entrance to the Byron White US Courthouse, which was originally the U.S. Post Office Building.  

In 1937 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) "completely paved and modernized" Denver's Colfax Avenue, "and built a new western route which took it over the hill and across ranch land to the entrance of Mt. Vernon Canyon, its present route. Around this time Colfax was designated U.S. Highway 40."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an exhibit for the Colorado State Museum in Denver. WPA workers built a model of the Union Pacific Stage in the Transportation series.

Monkey Island, built by the WPA in 1937, was the only notable New Deal addition to the Denver Zoo. It was rehabilitated in the 1950s.

Hugh Weller painted these murals in 1934, with funds provided by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). The murals, depicting Marco Polo's journey to China, are viewable in the library of East High School, over the main entrance.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of a dam on the Frazier River. The dam was part of the Denver water supply system.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of a hospital building for the Denver Hospital in Denver CO. The new building was named Samuel D. Nichols and was completed circa 1940. The current location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Robert W. Speer Memorial Children's Hospital in Denver CO. The building was completed in 1939. Today, the building is part of the Denver General Hospital. A cornerstone on the building reads, “Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Project No. Colo. 1349 - F”

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of a sewage disposal plant in Denver, CO.

The post office in South Denver was completed in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Department. It is also the site of Ethel Magafan's 1942 mural, "The Horse Corral," completed with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and viewable in the lobby.

Ethel Magafan painted this mural, entitled "The Horse Corral," in 1942 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

From History Colorado: "The Capitol Annex benefited from two Depression era Federal programs the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration. The former program provided part of the funding for this two building complex. Colorado artists from the Fine Arts Project of the WPA adorned the building with works of art. The 1939-41 building is an important example of Art Deco architecture typical of Denver in the late 1930s. Prominent Denver architect G. Meredith Musick served as president of the Associated Architects for the State Capitol Annex, the collaboration responsible for the design of both buildings."

The Works Progress Administration built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the pioneer towns of Denver and Auraria 1860.

The Works Progress Administration built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the First Mountain Locomotive used in the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1871.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an exhibit for the State Historical Society Museum Exhibit in Denver. The WPA workers built a model of the Wells Fargo Express Concord Coach.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to pave streets in Denver in 1934. Interestingly, as reported by The New York Times: "Many of the streets are paved with smelter slag. This slag was assayed recently and showed values running up to $1,100 a ton in gold and silver. City officials are investigating to determine whether such assays indicated general or isolated values. If the former it is possible the next CWA project here will be the prospecting of Denver streets."

"The N.P. Severin Company of Chicago erected the building in 1931 under the direction of James A. Wetmore, architectural supervisor for the Treasury Department. The walls of the Italian Renaissance Revival style building are of smooth-rubbed, course cut Colorado Yule marble. The Public Works Administration financed a large 1937 addition designed by Denver architects Temple H. Buell and G. Meredith Musick. Various government agencies housed in the building, but its primary tenant the U.S. Custom Service."   (www.historycolorado.org)

In the development of the Denver water supply system, the WPA and PWA helped with construction of tunnels. "1935 — Construction began on Moffat Water Tunnel Diversion Project, which was part of the New Deal’s Public Works Administration program; the Moffat Tunnel was enlarged and partially lined. 1936 — The first delivery of water through the Moffat Water Tunnel took place. This, during the height of the Dust Bowl drought and continuing population explosion." The January 1937 Western Construction News has a article on a PWA built tunnel "Contract awarded to Broderick & Gordon, 1900 31st St. Denver CO, $553,622, by the Manager...