Atlanta Sites

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the grounds of Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, Georgia ca. 1936.

Charles R. Adams Park is a 32-acre public city park located in southwest Atlanta, Georgia. The park is surrounded by the neighborhood of Cascade Heights. Construction of the park began in the mid-1930s, and the dedication ceremony took place in 1940. The park used county funds, federal relief money and Works Progress Administration labor to construct many of the facilities and landscape features. William L. Monroe, Sr., a noted Atlanta landscaper, is credited with the design. "The property consists of a 32-acre designed landscape including passive greenspace, a lake and stream, and active recreational and community facilities. The...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a parking lot at Atlanta's City Hall in 1936. Its status is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

This structure was originally built as the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1907-09. It was thoroughly renovated with WPA assistance in 1938 and given a new facade in 1943. The building was sold to Georgia State University in 1979, and now serves as the school's Alumni Hall, also known as Dahlberg Hall.

Numerous building construction projects on the Georgia Tech campus were enabled by various federal New Deal agencies during the Great Depression. The Civil Works Administration (CWA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Public Works Administration (PWA) all contributed support to various projects, some of which are no longer extant.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an addition to Georgia Tech's Brittain Dining Hall.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed an addition to the Ceramics Building on the Georgia Tech campus. The addition "comprises the largest portion of the building. The new work doubled the floor space of the department and increased the number of rooms by ten." The exact location of the facility on the Georgia Tech campus, and the building's present status, is unknown to Living New Deal.

"Tech's development continued in the Fall of 1938 with the announcement that the Board of Regents, with Public Works Administration assistance, would spend $350,000 for the construction of four buildings and an addition to a fifth. ... The third building in this program is the Daniels Chemical Addition. Designed by Professor Galley and M. L. Jorgensen, the Addition Building faces on Third Street, and although announced in 1938, work on the building did not start until the summer of 1941. Completed in the Fall of 1942, the final cost of the building was $95,000 and contained the organic and physical...

Georgia Tech's Engineering / Mechanical Drawing Building was constructed during the Great Depression. Located on Cherry Street, the building was located north of the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics by Mechanical Engineering Building. Its current status is unknown to Living New Deal. "The Federal Government continued its support of Tech by assisting the Board of Regents in 1937 with the construction of the Civil Engineering Building and the Mechanical Engineering Drawing Building. This $275,000 project allowed three departments to move out of the Mechanical Engineering Building and the Electrical Engineering Building. It also increased Tech's research capability through a Hydraulics and Highway...

"Tech's development continued in the Fall of 1938 with the announcement that the Board of Regents, with Public Works Administration assistance, would spend $350,000 for the construction of four buildings and an addition to a fifth. Work began on the Howell and Harrison Dormitories by December of 1938."

Later known as Heisman Gym, Georgia Tech's old Auditorium / Gymnasium Building was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds.  The building "was projected to be built in two phases with the first costing $93,000 and the second $116,000. It was the "first completely reinforced concrete structure on campus, began in June of 1935," The Auditorium was completed in January 1936. "The building's second phase of construction was completed and dedicated on September 30, 1938, with a swimming pool section, financed by Georgia Tech, and completed in June of 1939." The WPA contributed to the latter stage of construction. The...

Funds provided by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) enabled the construction of Georgia Tech's Hinman Research Building ca. 1940.

"Tech's development continued in the Fall of 1938 with the announcement that the Board of Regents, with Public Works Administration assistance, would spend $350,000 for the construction of four buildings and an addition to a fifth. Work began on the Howell and Harrison Dormitories by December of 1938."

"The Works Progress Administration which as we have seen sponsored the Gymnasium for Georgia Tech, was also responsible for adding the third and final addition to the Lyman Hall Chemistry Building. Construction began on a three-story "L" shaped addition in February of 1936. This addition has a large, two-storied chemical engineering laboratory 22 feet by 72 feet. The third story of this building contained a lecture room, library, and offices. Designed by Bush-Brown, Galley and Associates, the building followed the Collegiate Gothic of the Emerson Addition in style ..."

"The first building built under the "Civil Works Administration" was the Naval Armory. Constructed on the site of the temporary gym that burned in 1931, the Armory Building was a "no-frills" building. The building was to serve the Atlanta Naval Reserve, the Georgia Tech Naval ROTC unit, and the Communication Reserve of the U. S. Navy. By February of 1934, the foundations were almost completed and all of the labor for this project was being supplied by the Civilian Works Administration." The building was demolished in 1980 to make way for the Edge Athletic Center building.

Georgia Tech's Stephen C. Hall Building was constructed as the Civil Engineering Building. "Today, the Stephen C. Hall Building houses the Writing and Communication programs at Georgia Tech, as part of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts." "The Federal Government continued its support of Tech by assisting the Board of Regents in 1937 with the construction of the Civil Engineering Building and the Mechanical Engineering Drawing Building. This $275,000 project allowed three departments to move out of the Mechanical Engineering Building and the Electrical Engineering Building. It also increased Tech's research capability through a Hydraulics and Highway laboratory in the...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Atlanta's Grant Park ca. 1936.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop the precursor to what is now Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, then known as Atlanta Municipal Airport or Candler Field, during the 1930s.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop and improve Atlanta's Parkway Drive ca. 1936.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to develop Atlanta's Piedmont Park ca. 1936.

The first major federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project undertaken in Atlanta during the Great Depression was the city's police station and jail. The PWA supplied a $257,000 loan and $97,460 grant for the project, whose total cost was $355,867. Construction occurred between February 1934 and May 1935. The exact location and present status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. GA 2983.

Completed by Paul Rohland in 1940, "Dogwood and Azaleas" was originally installed in the Decatur, GA post office. The above photo dates to when it resided there, before being moved to the Federal Building in Atlanta.

Numerous New Deal agencies contributed to the development of metropolitan Atlanta's sewer system during the Great Depression. Atlanta initially applied for PWA funding in July 1933, but lack of local contribution caused the city government to withdraw the application and shift it to CWA in December 1933. CWA approved funds to modernize the metropolitan area sewer system, contingent on matching funds from city and county. in March 1934, FERA began work on new sewer lines, and in 1935, the project transferred to the WPA after the passing of a bond issue. Employment was estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 men. In 1936,...

The Techwood Homes public housing project in Atlanta was a whites-only complex constructed between 1935 and 1936 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. It has since been demolished. "Techwood Homes was the first public housing project in the United States, opened just before the First Houses. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, it replaced a shantytown known as Tanyard Bottom or Tech Flats. It was completed on August 15, 1936, but was dedicated on November 29 of the previous year by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The apartments included bathtubs and electric ranges in each unit, 189 of which had garages. Central...

The University Homes public housing project in Atlanta was completed in 1938 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. It has since been demolished. "Built in 1938 on the site of the former Beaver Slide slum. Seen as the African American counterpart to Techwood Homes, the first public housing project in the nation. Architect William Augustus Edwards." (Wikipedia) The exact location of the housing project is unknown to Living New Deal, though we believe the University Homes were constructed southeast of Spelman College and what is now Clark Atlanta University.