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  • Colorado-Big Thompson Water Project - Grand Lake CO
    The Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BTP) is a massive water storage and transfer project for agriculture, cities and power generation. It involves dams and reservoirs on the west side of the Rocky Mountains' Front Range to collect water from the upper Colorado River system; a tunnel through the mountains under Rocky Mountain National Park; and a series of storage reservoirs, power plants and distribution aqueducts on the eastern side of the Rockies. The project extends over a large area of Grand, Larimer, and Weld counties, and portions of four others.  The C-BTP was built and is still managed by the US Bureau of...
  • Community Hall - Loma CO
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a community hall, 1938-40, for use by farm families relocated from the Dust Bowl to a Resettlement Community in Fruita and Loma, Colorado. It is a tall, single-story, wood frame building, with plank siding painted white.  The high-ceiling interior is fitted out with hardwood floors, a basketball court, a stage and riser seating. Two ticket windows flank the entrance.  The basement has a full kitchen, which was used by WPA service workers to make hot lunches for the nearby elementary school. We have no corroborating evidence that the elementary school was built by the WPA, despite...
  • Denver Zoo: Monkey Island - Denver CO
    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.
  • Dinosaur National Monument Expansion - Dinosaur CO
    In 1909, an abundance of dinosaur fossils were discovered  by a team of paleontologists collecting for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, near Jensen, Utah. It was one of the most important dinosaur excavation sites in the United States at the time. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson set aside 80 acres around the fossil discovery site as a National Monument. President Franklin Roosevelt expanded the monument to its present size of nearly 200,000 acres in 1938. About 3/4th of the enlarged monument lies in Colorado, making this one of the few bi-state national parks or monuments.  It is administered by the...
  • Douglas Crossing Bridge - Granada CO
    "Admire the craftsmanship and pristine condition of this WPA-era masonry bridge that features six fourteen-foot arches of locally quarried stone. The Douglas Crossing Bridge over Two Buttes Creek is one of the most substantial and handsome of Colorado's relief-agency bridges and continues to provide an important crossing for the agricultural community. The bridge was constructed with a crew of only eight men, at a cost of $20,000. The stone was hauled by teams from a quarry located about one mile up the creek. The WPA was particularly active in Colorado's southeastern corner, where high unemployment was endemic during the Depression."  ...
  • East High School Murals - Denver CO
    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.
  • Echo Lake Park Structures - Idaho Springs CO
    This park surrounding Echo Lake in the Colorado Rocky Mountains contains two structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): a stone pavilion and a concession stand. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, along with the Echo Lake lodge, an older building that is not from the New Deal era.
  • Edith Teter Elementary School Addition - Fairplay CO
    "The building represents, both physically and intellectually, the growth and evolution of public education in the South Park area of Park County. The original Italianate style portion was constructed in 1881, and it has remained in use as a public educational facility ever since. The 1934 Moderne style gymnasium/classroom addition, partially funded by the Public Works Administration, was designed by prominent Denver architect Frank Frewen Jr. Subsequent additions were constructed in 1947 and 1985."
  • Edler School (former) - Comanche National Grassland CO
    The Edler School was constructed in either 1937 or 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It sat amidst former farmland that had been abandoned because of the Dust Bowl. The school is constructed from blocks of Dakota sandstone. It has since been converted into a private residence.
  • Fall River Entrance Ranger Station - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed three buildings for what was then called the Bighorn Ranger Station at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park – which was the original entrance on this side of the park. The group included a ranger office with garage, a ranger residence and secondary residence/utility building. The three structures were designed by Edward Nickel of the park service in the classic National Park rustic style popular in the first half of the 20th century. "The residence building particularly reflects the design characteristics of the style with its uncoursed native stone foundation, log...
  • Fall River Road to Trail Ridge Road Connector - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    A 2.1 mile segment of road was built in 1933-34 between the Fall River Road entrance and the junction with Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, completing a key link in the park's highway system.  The work was performed by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) with financing by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in the amount of $32,000 and incidental labor by relief workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Fall River Road was the original entrance on the park's eastern boundary for access to Horseshoe Park.  Fall River Road was extended by...
  • Fish Ponds - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was active in Rocky Mountain National Park during the whole of the program's lifetime, 1933 to 1942.  There were four main camps in the park. The CCC participated in a fish-restocking program, which the National Park Service had initiated in 1931 to deal with depleted lakes and streams due to years of unregulated fishing.  The main contribution of the CCC was to build four fish-rearing ponds, at Horseshoe Park, near Endovalley campground, at Hollowell Park, and near Grand Lake. The ponds were roughly 200 x 100 feet and 10 feet deep. (Brock, p 42). Fry from the Estes...
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Bluebell-Baird Trail - Boulder CO
    The Bluebell-Baird Trail, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1933 and 1935, connects "the mouth of Gregory Canyon (Baird Park) with Bluebell Canyon and the Bluebell Shelter."  It lies within the present City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Flagstaff Mountain Road and Chapman Drive - Boulder CO
    In October 1933, Camp SP5C was set up in Boulder at what is now 6th Street and Baseline Road.  Their main purpose was to build a road up the west slope of Flagstaff Mountain.  The road opened on March 29, 1935. The CCC work continued over the summit of Flagstaff Mountain to Nederland, on what is called Chapman Drive. The road was named in honor of Oscar Chapman, then Assistant Secretary of the Interior. It was the first road into Boulder Canyon and the interior. It is still a dirt road, now closed to motor vehicles. It has some spectacular rock...
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Green Mountain Lodge - Boulder CO
    The Green Mountain Lodge, located a half-mile's hike from Flagstaff Mountain Road, was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934. The Green Mountain Lodge was built in the classic "park rustic" style of the early 20th century.  Boulder Open Space and Mountain Park's website provides more details: "The roof truss structure was constructed from West Coast heartwood pinned with oak dowels.  Paving flags for the patio terrace and the interior floor were brought from the quarries of Lyons.  The stones that form the walls are local.  The shingles are in shades of 12 colors and sizes and are arranged on the...
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Halfway House Renovation - Boulder CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) renovated the Halfway House, located halfway up the Flagstaff Mountain Road, in 1933.  It includes a room, patio, picnic area and restroom. The Halfway House was originally built in 1919 by the Lion's Club of Boulder. Exactly what work was done by the CCC is uncertain to us. Halfway House was built in the "park rustic" style of the early 20th century, with massive stones and heavy timbers.  The rock is local golden sandstone. The building belongs to the City of Boulder and is rented for wedding and other events.
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Morse Well Rock Work - Boulder CO
    The Morse Well, named for the head of the Boulder Parks, was originally built in 1929. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reinforced the well and built a set of retaining walls that set off the site. Morse Well lies near the top of Flagstaff Mountain, within the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Sunrise Circle Amphitheater - Boulder CO
    The Sunrise Circle amphitheater was built between September 1933 and March 1934. It was constructed in a “natural amphitheatre” at the top of Flagstaff Mountain, which had been cleared of debris during the spring of 1933 as part of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) work relief program. The CCC work features beautiful stone terrracing and a small stage. It remains a popular attraction used regularly for events. It lies within the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.   “The amphitheater consists of a circular central arena around which a semicircular stage and two tiers of bench seating have been constructed....
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Trail Improvements - Boulder CO
    “Between July 1933 and May 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps made a number of improvements to the summit of  mountain, including a trail between Realization Point (referred to at the time as Inspiration Point) and the Morse Well.” This area today lies within the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
  • Flagstaff Mountain: Tree Planting - Boulder CO
    In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) planted 30,000 saplings on Flagstaff Mountain, which today lies within the City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks.
  • Flatirons Golf Course - Boulder CO
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Flatirons Golf Course for the city of Boulder, from 1936 to 1938.  It was then called the Boulder Municipal Sports Center. Flatirons Golf Course began as the Boulder Country Club, located at 28th and Iris.  In 1933, course architect William H. Tucker was commissioned to design a new course, and the club and city turned to the WPA to build the new design as a municipal course at the current location at 57th and Arapahoe Streets. 
  • Fort Lewis College, Old Fort Lewis Campus - Hesperus CO
    The main campus of Fort Lewis College was moved to Durango, Colorado in 1956, but before then it was located at this site, 16 miles southwest of Durango on what was originally a military site, then a boarding school for Native Americans, then a high school, then a two-year college. Since the 1950s, this has been the site of the San Juan Basin Research Center and is currently connected to Fort Lewis College once more as an auxiliary campus used for agricultural research among other purposes. During the 1930s, New Deal programs contributed important resources to the campus: "Dean Bader faced...
  • Fort Vasquez Restoration - Platteville CO
    "Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette built an adobe fort on this site about 1835 as part of their fur trading enterprise. The two sold the fort in 1841 and it was abandoned a year later. In the late 1930s, the Works Progress Administration reconstructed the adobe fort using the small portions of the remaining walls and the limited information available regarding the size and plan of the original. The Colorado Historical Society operates the property as a museum."   (www.historycolorado.org)
  • Fort Wootton - Trinidad CO
    Fort Wootton in Trinidad, Colorado "is a giant war memorial that takes up about half a city block. It was once described as the most complete war memorial in the nation. Nine veterans’ groups teamed up with the WPA to have it built in 1936-7. It has an auditorium and meeting spaces inside." Fort Wootton was from its "inception a veterans' gathering place evocative of their military training and posts, somewhat patterned after the regional historic site Bent's Fort. Further, and fortunately, in 2018 the county deeded the property to the Las Animas County Veterans' Council, an organization now seeking to...
  • Fraser River Dam - Denver CO
    The Public Works Administration funded the construction of a dam on the Frazier River. The dam was part of the Denver water supply system.
  • Fruita Middle School - Fruita CO
    The town of Fruita, Colorado received a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of over $70,000 that covered almost half the cost of a new Fruita High School, begun in 1935 and completed in 1936.  The building is now used as the Fruita Middle School. The school building is a lovely example of Moderne architecture. It is a long, rectangular two story structure with two rows of windows separated by vertical elements suggesting columns. There is a small, single story wing joined to the main building and a rounded entrance foyer between the two.  The cladding is a light orange/earth-tone brick. There is...
  • Fruita Museum (former) - Fruita CO
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a small museum for the town of Fruita, Colorado, in 1938-39. It is constructed in rustic style using large stones and timber gathered from the surrounding area. The building housed the Fruita Times in 1945 to 1948, then served as the Fruita Library from 1948 to 1996.  It is now home to the town's Chamber of Commerce. The Fruita Museum building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
  • Gem Lake Trail Improvements - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Gem Lake Trail at Rocky Mountain National Park is on the National Register of Historic Places (2008, 5LR.11810.1), in part for New Deal improvements: "The trail is associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, particularly in its function as an equestrian route.  The trail assumed its current alignment with the completion of alterations in 1923.  During 1940 and 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) performed trail maintenance and improvements in keeping with National Park Service Naturalistic Design principles of the 1920s through the 1940s.  The property is associated with the Rocky Mountain National Park and...
  • Genesee Park - Golden CO
    Genessee is the largest park in the Denver Mountain Parks system. It was established in 1913. "During the New Deal, two Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps operated near Genesee beginning in 1935. The large stone shelter near Genesee Mountain, completed in 1939 by the CCC workers, still provides space for group picnicking and family or organization events. With a capacity of 300, it is the largest shelter in the Mountain Parks; reservations for use are available by fee."  (https://mountainparkshistory.org)
  • Glade Ranger Station - Durango CO
    "Pre-dating 1910, the station is one of the oldest U.S. Forest Service administrative sites in Colorado. Extensively remodeled by the Civilian Conservation Corps during 1935-36, the station was part of the campaign of natural resources enhancement undertaken during the New Deal era. The five wood-frame buildings comprising the station reflect the Forest Service’s ideals of simplicity, harmony with nature, and use of natural materials."   (www.historycolorado.org)
  • Golden Cemetery - Golden CO
    "The Golden Cemetery was the site of the major community effort, in concert with the Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration, to beautify, modernize and reclaim the cemetery grounds. Its transformation via federal public works projects during the 1930s was part of an important pattern of events that made a significant contribution to the development of the Golden area community that has lasted to this day. While many American communities took advantage of the aid in improvements the federal public works agencies of the Great Depression had to offer, Golden was particularly aggressive in pursuing funding for numerous projects...The...
  • Grand County Administration Building - Hot Sulphur Springs CO
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) lent Grand County $33,750 to help build a new county courthouse in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, in 1937-38—now the Grant County Administration Building. The project's total cost was $75,733. (PWA Docket No. CO 1060-R.) The Grand County Courthouse, designed by Robert Fuller, is a good example of the Classical Moderne style popular at the time. The exterior of the two-story structure is clad in yellow brick. The central section is slightly elevated and projected forward, with suggestions of flanking columns, and the two wings have four rows of windows. An annex was added to the courthouse in...
  • Gunbarrel Road Improvements - Gunbarrel CO
    The Works Progress Administration made improvements on Gunbarrel Road in Gunbarrel CO. Pictured are work crews building deep-barrow pits for the trench along Gunbarrel Rd.
  • Gymnasium - Hugo CO
    The Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium in Hugo, CO, Lincoln County. The modernist, reinforced concrete and adobe structure cost $33,452. The gymnasium was adobe construction with two inch concrete panels on the exterior. The balcony seating capacity was 1500 seats. The building was also used for public gatherings.
  • Gymnasium - Two Buttes CO
    "Two Buttes Gymnasium, constructed between 1935 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), is significant under the New Deal Resources on Colorado's Eastern Plains Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF).  The gymnasium is significant in the area of Social History for its association with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislative agenda to rescue the United States from the Great Depression.  Additionally, it is significant for Education and Entertainment/ Recreation.  This community building is a good example of the efforts of the WPA to boost morale during the Depression through the construction of buildings for the enjoyment of the entire community. ...
  • Hartman Gymnasium - Hartman CO
    "Perched on a hilltop, the Hartman Gymnasium was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project c. 1938 by local workers as an addition to the existing two-story school. Though the school was torn down, the locally quarried limestone gym was saved and given to the town when the school district consolidated. The gym was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only WPA construction in Hartman and for its local social significance in long service as a community center."   (https://www.secoloradoheritage.com)
  • High School (former) Addition - Craig CO
    During the Great Depression, the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a grant enabling the construction of a new addition to the then-high school in Craig, Colorado. Construction occurred between 1935 and 1936. The exact location and status of the building are presently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. CO 1056
  • Hoehne School and Gymnasium - Las Animas CO
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Hoehne School and Gymnasium in Hoehne, Las Animas CO. The gymnasium addition was two-stories high. Other WPA-built facilities included a shop and home economics classrooms.
  • Holly City Hall (former) - Holly CO
    "The 1938 Holly City Hall held the town's police and fire departments, library, and a multi-use community room. The Holly City Hall served effectively for over sixty years as an important center of town life. The WPA used local labor and materials to construct the hall as a town sponsored project. The building typifies the simple but dignified WPA Modernist designs used for city hall and courthouse construction." (https://www.historycolorado.org/content/prowers-county) The building presently stands vacant.
  • Hospital Building - Denver CO
    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.
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