Colorado Sites

The Downtown Station post office in Golden, Colorado was constructed in 1940 with federal Treasury Department funds. The cornerstone has been hidden or obliterated during the addition of a ramp, but there is a local landmark plaque put up by the City of Golden. It is a simple single-story building in a Classical Moderne style with a green metal roof. The small tower on top is unusual, as if the architect was undecided between Moderne and Federalist styles.  There is a notable, round metal sculpture over the door and it appears that the entrance has been modified by the addition of...

The Gunnison post office was built in 1937 with federal funding.

The historic and distinctive post office in Lamar, Colorado was constructed as a New Deal project, with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. HistoryColorado.org: "Built in 1936, it is the only remaining post office of its type in Colorado. The building is an especially pleasing example illustrating the Spanish Colonial/Mediterranean influence on Neo-Classicism." The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

"The new post office was a project of the Treasury Department. Like other federal agencies during the Depression, the Treasury Department was involved in relief projects. One of the simplest ways for the Treasury Department to provide a boost to the economy was through the construction of new public buildings, mostly post offices. During the 1930s, approximately three times as many post offices were built as has been built in the previous 50 years. Though this construction was funded through various programs, including many by the PWA, all post offices were under the control of the Treasury Department."

The post office in downtown Littleton, Colorado was constructed with federal funds and opened in 1939. A mural, "North Platte Country against the Mountains" was painted by John H. Fraser for the post office in 1940 but has since been relocated to Littleton's City Hall.

Built in 1936 with Treasury funding.

Constructed by the Treasury Department in 1941.

"Constructed in 1940, the building is the most detailed and complete of the five identified, small Colonial Revival influenced post offices in Colorado. George Vander Sluis painted the mural, entitled Colorado Landscape, in 1942 as a WPA project."   (www.historycolorado.org)

"A project of the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Rocky Ford Post Office is associated with President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal legislative agenda. The federal government used the construction of new post offices to aid the economy through expenditures for materials and construction crews. The only PWA project in Rocky Ford, it provided the town with its first purpose-built post office. Designed by the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of the Supervising Architect under the direction of Louis A. Simon, the Neo-classically-inspired building is simple and restrained. It has been the only post office in Rocky Ford...

The historic post office building in Walsenburg, Colorado was constructed in 1934 with federal Treasury Department funds. The facility, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

Now privately owned, Alamosa, Colorado received a new post office during the Great Depression. The building was commissioned by the federal Treasury Department in conjunction with the Public Works Administration. AlamosaNews.com: "The federal government bought the ... property from Mrs. Frank Ruby in 1934 for $9,000 and contracted the construction to a Wichita, Kansas company, HW Underhill. The total construction cost was just under $45,000 “which would barely get us one room today,” Borders said. The cornerstone of the building was sealed on Sept. 10, 1935, and the post office opened for business on Nov. 30, 1935, under Postmaster John E. Harron. Borders said...

The former post office in Kirkwell, in the Comanche National Grasslands, 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.

Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the historic former post office at 501 5th Avenue in Longmont, Colorado was a New Deal project funded by the Treasury Department. The building presently (as of 2018) houses the Aspen Center for Child Development. This building is the most visible local symbol of the Federal Government's efforts to provide economic relief to the nation during the Great Depression. In 1933, the Roosevelt Administration initiated the National Recovery Act. One facet of this program was to stimulate industrial production by pouring money into the economic life of the nation through a program of public...

"This 1935 U.S. Post Office is associated with the Depression era federal programs designed to provide public works employment and stimulate the economy. The Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Louis A. Simon designed the building. Architecturally, the post office is a good example of the “Starved Classical” style characteristic of many Depression-era public buildings. Notable features include the variegated red and orange brick, symmetrical composition, flat roof, large multi-light double-hung sash windows with gauged brick lintels and stone keystones, and double door entrance surmounted by a fanlight."   (cityofsalida.com) The building now houses a private business.

This large decorative map painted by Jenne Magafan and Edward Chavez was funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP) for the Glenwood Springs post office in 1937. The mural remains in the original building which now houses the White River National Forest Building. (The mural is in a cramped stairwell, hence the difficulty of photographing the full map, the acute angles of the photos and the poor lighting)

"Ways of the Mail," was completed with funding from the Treasury Section of Fine Arts by Arnold Rönnebeck in 1937. It consists of three (3) terra cotta relief panels, totaling 8 feet. Its current location is unknown. Per a letter or document dated October 26, 1937, Rönnebeck stated: The three parts of the panel represent symbolically the “Ways of the Mail” in the early years of Colorado territory and today." Miraculously, the building at 501 5th Avenue, Longmont, CO, is still there and was designated a historical landmark 1988. It is assumed, but not known for sure, that when the USPS moved...

Boardman Robinson painted this mural, entitled "Colorado Stock Sale," in 1940 with funds provide by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It is viewable in the Englewood post office lobby.

The tempera mural "Antelope" was painted by Olive Rush in 1939. Funded by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the work installed in the Florence, Colorado post office lobby in 1939.

A Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Building the New Road" was painted by Kenneth Evett in 1941 for the Golden post office (now the Downtown Station post office). The mural is still in place and in good shape.  The florescent lighting on it is unfortunate, but there is a very well done display beneath it on the construction of the building.

This Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural, entitled “The Wealth of the West,” was painted for the Gunnison post office by Ila Turner McAfee in 1940.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Industries around Loveland" painted by James Russell Sherman in 1938 for the downtown Valentine Station post office in Loveland, Colorado.

Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Hunters, Red and White" painted by Archie Musick for the Manitou Springs post office in 1942. A plaque near the mural reads: "Depression-era public art programs coincided with the heyday of Colorado Springs' art school, the Broadmoor Art Academy: Its students and teachers painted murals in federal buildings nationwide. For Manitou's post office mural competition, my father, Archie Musick, depicted the legend of Manitou's springs: 'the God Manitou in a fit of rage clubbing a quarrelsome chief.' His frieze of Indian-trapper life across the bottom of the submitted sketch was so popular with 'the brass in...

Located in the post office in Rifle, Colorado.  Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Colorado Landscape" painted for the Rifle post office by George Vander Sluis in 1942.

The mural "The First Crossing at Rocky Ford" hangs in the lobby of the historic Rocky Ford post office. "With the Great Depression, fewer people could afford to patronize the arts, severely impacting the careers of artists. The Treasury Departments Section of Fine Arts provided employment by sponsoring artwork in federal buildings. Many of the post offices constructed during the Depression were decorated with murals or other artworks commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts. Funds for artwork were based on 1% of the total appropriation for the buildings construction. Victor Higgins was hired to paint a mural above the postmasters...

The historic post office building in Walsenburg, Colorado houses an example of New Deal artwork: "The Spanish Peaks," an oil-on-canvas mural painted by Earl Blumenschein in 1937.

Section of Fine Arts wooden relief entitled "Kiowa Travois" was carved and installed in 1939 by Gladys Caldwell Fisher.

The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned two plaster bas-reliefs by Mary Kittredge for the post office in Delta, Colorado.  They are entitled "Cattle" and "Fruit", and were installed in 1942. The murals are still in place and the building was placed on the National Register in 1986.

A construction project that improved the electricity infrastructure in Meeker, Colorado was undertaken during the Great Depression with the assistance of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) grant, which covered nearly half the cost of the project. Construction occurred between 1938 and 1939. PWA Docket No. CO 1306

"The Prowers Housing Welfare Housing is a complex of five buildings located on the northern edge of Lamar. The complex is located near the railroad tracks in an area that primarily light industrial. The Fairmont Cemetery, with stone walls constructed under a WPA project, is located northeast of the housing complex, on the opposite side on Maple Street. The complex consists of four 128’ x 28’ buildings and one 52’ x 25’ building. The buildings are arranged in an “H” pattern, with the smaller building in the middle. All buildings the buildings are constructed of sandstone. The single-story buildings are topped...

"The 1937 building of stuccoed cinderblock represents the successful culmination of the organizing and fundraising efforts of the Julesburg Woman's Club to establish a permanent town library and community meeting facility. The project combined local funds with a grant from the Depression era Works Progress Administration."   (www.historycolorado.org)

In 1937, the WPA constructed this golf course for the city of Pueblo. Evidence indicates that the Army Corps of Engineers may have contributed. The course is now known as the Elmwood Golf Course.

"Begun in 1919, Pueblo Mountain Park is an early municipally owned automobile oriented, mountain park designed to offer Pueblo area residents easily accessible recreational facilities outside the urban environment. Most of the park's Rustic style picnic, lodging, and sports facilities were constructed during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration." (www.historycolorado.org)

"The city of Pueblo formerly discharge its sewage into the Arkansas River, which greatly endangered the health of many communities in Colorado and Kansas and which depended upon this river for their water supply. The State board of health required this condition to be remedied and this was done with P.W.A. aid. The equipment at the new plant consists of two digestion tanks each 65 feet in diameter, seven trickling filtration units each 160 feet in diameter, two 80-foot primary clarifiers, and two 80-foot final clarifiers. The sewage volume of Pueblo is abnormally large, considering its population of...

Multiple New Deal agencies collaborated in the development of the Pueblo Zoo, a component of the City Park complex. The stunning stone structures at the zoo (and throughout the park) are still in use. "The two-and-one-half acre zoo contains an assortment of buildings and structures constructed between 1933 and 1940, utilizing native calcium sandstone quarried 25 miles west of Pueblo. The zoo exemplifies the trend toward exhibiting animals in more natural settings. The Pueblo Zoo was constructed during the Great Depression through the efforts of three New Deal agencies: the Public Works Administration; Civil Works Administration; and the Works Progress Administration."...

"Pulliam wanted to give Loveland a meeting place 'solely for community purposes.' In 1936, he and Lillian donated the land and $20,000 to build the Pulliam. The 20,000-square-foot building was built by 100 workers paid by the Works Progress Administration, a Federal jobs program. The Great Depression had hit Colorado hard. 'People were unemployed and hungry,' said Wallower. 'Men rode the train from town to town, looking for work. The construction of the Pulliam Building was great for Loveland because it gave people jobs.'"   (https://www.pulliambuilding.org/)

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915 to preserve a spectacular section of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  Several new additions to the park have been made over the years, until it reached its present size of 415 square miles. The park saw considerable recreational development in the 1920s under the National Park Service (NPS), but it benefitted enormously in the 1930s from the New Deal.  Most notable of the New Deal agencies was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but the \ park also gained funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), road work by the Bureau of...

The Red Rocks Amphitheatre is probably the greatest single project of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and one of the most memorial accomplishments of the New Deal's public works programs.  It is a magnificent outdoor theater set among the spectacular red rock formations of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, just southwest of Denver, Colorado. It seats over 9,000 people. Red Rocks was built between 1936 and 1941.  After the CCC had prepared the site by blasting and removing tons of stone, leveling the immediate surroundings and building access roads, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed funds and hundreds of relief workers...

The WPA constructed this now-abandoned bridge just west of Trinidad Lake in 1936. From History Colorado: The bridge spans Reilly Creek as part of an abandoned segment of Colo. Hwy. 12.  It includes three separate spans over the creek and a large single-span overpass for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.  Constructed in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration, the bridge with its rock-faced masonry and beaded mortar joints is characteristic of WPA construction in southeastern Colorado. 

The farmland around the town of Fruita in western Colorado was the site of a Resettlement Administration (RA) project that relocated poor farmers driven out by the Dust Bowl. Some 34 families had been relocated to Fruita by 1937. The official name was the Grand Valley Resettlement Project (also known as the Western Farms Association). (Fruita Community History page) It appears that another 32 families were relocated to neighboring Loma CO, probably as part of the same Resettlement Project (Wikipedia).  A Community Hall was built in Loma for the new settlers in the area by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in...

"Consisting of two 18-foot spans, the steel multiplate arch culvert is faced with local volcanic fieldstone. Constructed in 1936, the culvert remains intact as a good example of one of the smaller bridges built by the Works Progress Administration during the years of the Great Depression."   (www.historycolorado.org)