Interstate 70 travels through Glenwood Canyon, east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The highway follows the route of the first road through the canyon, constructed under the Federal Bureau of Public Roads during the New Deal.
“Although included by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in his Mountain Park System Plan of 1914, the land was not acquired until 1935. The park served as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp from 1937 to 1941. Surviving buildings and foundations date… read more
This collection of buildings includes an elementary school, a gymnasium and a high school. The three buildings are located on a row along State St. and still serve as the primary educational facilities for the community. “Three stone buildings, a… read more
An elementary school and high school, plus a gymnasium, were constructed by the New Deal for the rural settlement of Kim, Colorado. The work was undertaken by three different New Deal agencies over a period of 8 years, 1933 to… read more
In the 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) build the stone observatory (later visitor’s center) at Land’s End on the western tip of Grand Mesa. It was built in the Rustic Style popular in… read more
The Land’s End road up the western end of Grand Mesa was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933-34. The main builders were 200 veterans enrolled in the CCC, who worked out of a CCC seasonal tent camp… read more
From History Colorado: “The library is an excellent example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style as executed by Temple Hoyne Buell, a prominent Denver architect, developer, and philanthropist. The library was constructed in 1939 on the campus of the State… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a caretaker’s cottage in Lincoln Park in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Lincoln School in Grand Junction CO. The two-story, brick building replaced a structurally-unsound school. The new Lincoln School building included fire safety features such as fire-resistsant, concrete construction corridors and stairways. The WPA… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built this octagonal stone shelter The shelter was designed by Denver architect J.J.B. Benedict in the popular parks rustic style of the time, using native stone and timber to blend with the natural setting. Little… read more
The Works Progress Administration completed improvement work for Lookout Mountain Road near Lookout Mountain, CO.
“Constructed in 1940, the Colorado Department of Highways designed the 123-foot long timber stringer bridge that includes six 20-foot long spans. As one of the largest vehicular structures built by the Great Depression era Works Progress Administration, the intact bridge… read more
The Manitou Experimental Forest (MEF) is part of the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, located in Pike National Forest. “Built between 1937 and 1939, this collection of six architecturally significant sandstone buildings represents some of the finest Depression-era… read more
“Built by Works Progress Administration volunteers in 1933, the Meadow Park Shelter House offered park-goers shady respite before the floods left it in ruins. The emergency grant allows this beloved shelter to remain and be enjoyed.” (https://www.historycolorado.org) The facility was… read more
The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) assisted in the financing of two bridges over Monument Creek in Colorado Springs’s Monument Valley Park. “The two other major construction projects in the park during the 1930s were the replacement of the Uintah Street… read more
Mesa Verde National Park was signed into existence by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. Its goal is “to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world.” Occupying roughly 80 square miles in southwestern Colorado, the park features “numerous ruins… read more
The Lake Clara bridge, boat house, band shell and retaining wall [since, at least in part, removed] were all built by WPA workers of native limestone and are still standing. The bandshell was completed in 1938.
“In 1939 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) fenced the Cemetery and installed the first rock gateway and cement markers to identify individual lots.”
Cortez, Colorado’s historic Montezuma County Courthouse was constructed during the Great Depression. The project was enabled by federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a grant of $29,235 toward the project, whose eventual total cost was $64,966. Construction… read more
The Works Progress Administration built a county jail in Montrose, CO. The two-story structure was built of store quarried locally. The federal expenditure was $18,514. Local sponsors contributed an additional $9,348. The exact location and condition of this structure are… read more
Monument Valley Park is a two mile stretch of public park land along Monument Creek. It was originally created in 1904-1907. Multiple New Deal agencies contributed to the park’s development and improvement during the 1930s. Flood control was a huge… read more
Moraine Park, a large valley in the southeastern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park, was purchased in 1931 by the National Park Service, which cleared the area of most of its former private resort structures. In 1934, the Public Works… read more
Moraine Park, a large valley in the southeastern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park, is home to the Moraine Park Museum. The building was formerly a private lodge built in 1923. Both Moraine Park (a glacial valley) and Moraine Lodge… read more
“In the midst of the Great Depression, the county commissioners took advantage of a federal construction grant from the Public Works Administration to match county funds toward the erection of a new courthouse to replace a 1907 building. The 1936… read more
Multiple New Deal agencies worked to develop and otherwise improve Pueblo, Colorado’s historic Mountain View Cemetery during the 1930s. “Major improvements to the Mountain View Cemetery began with 1933-1934, CWA Projects. The CWA crews enclosed the ornamental iron fence on… read more
The Mount Morrision Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp was constructed in 1935-36 and used until 1941. The young men stationed there were the labor force that built the magnificent Red Rocks Amphitheatre and improved Red Rocks Park. The camp is… read more
"Constructed in 1933-1934 as a Civil Works Administration project, the two-story building, of painted concrete housed the police station, fire department, and town clerk. Community dinners, school activities, and various other family gatherings took place in the building. No longer… read more
“On September 2, 1935, the Town of Hugo submitted a Works Progress Administration project proposal for the construction of a ‘concrete swimming pool together with bathhouse, landscaping and grading and other necessary work to complete a City Park.’ Actual construction… read more
The Works Progress Administration built a municipal swimming pool in Fort Morgan CO. The five-acre pool was built in a swamp area. The condition of the original, WPA-built facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.
New Deal funding helped build a nursery in the city of Pueblo, CO. The structure was 13,260 sq ft and was built of native stone. The nursery was built for working mothers and it served approximately 200 children. The federal… read more
The Overland Trail Museum was built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration to commemorate the Overland Trail, allegedly America’s “heaviest traveled road” from 1862 to 1868. The original building “was made of native rock and designed after the early… read more
The Works Progress Administration built an overpass that eliminated a grade crossing in Pueblo, Pueblo County CO.
"Palmer High School is located at 301 North Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs. The present building was built by the Works Progress Administration under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. Originally named Colorado Springs High School, Palmer High School was re-named… read more
The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant that covered about half the cost of building a new high school in Paonia CO in 1938-39. The school closed when a new high school was constructed in the neighboring town of… read more
“Constructed by the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Phillips County Courthouse represents President Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda to bring America out of the Great Depression. The courthouse is the only surviving PWA project in Phillips County and the most… read more
“Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, the Pleasant Valley School presents an important visual record of the federal relief programs administered in Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression. Though the dire economic conditions of the Depression… read more
The downtown post office and federal building was constructed by the federal Treasury Department in 1937. The style is Neoclassical Moderne, clad in sandstone-colored brick, with three central vertical elements for the entrance and windows on the facade, faced… read more
Built in 1937 with federal funding. The historic downtown post office in Englewood was completed in 1938 with funds provided by the Treasury Department. It is also the site of Boardman Robinson’s 1940 mural, “Colorado Stock Sale,” painted with funds… read more
The historic post office in Florence, Colorado was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which bears a standard cornerstone for the era, also houses an example of New Deal artwork. The facility is still in service. “Constructed in… read more