Georgia Sites

"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...

From Marguerite Cline in the Cherokee Tribune: "Construction of the current Canton Golf Course was a part of President Franklin Roosevelt's 1930s New Deal. It was built by the WPA - Works Progress Administration program. Critics joked about the program and said that WPA meant 'We Piddle Around.' But that was not the case when the Canton golf course was built."

The WPA helped build Forstyth Golf Course in 1935.

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

A photograph on the website "Vanishing Georgia" identifies the building along the south side of Church Street at Library Street in Jeffersonville, Georgia to be a gymnasium constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). As of 2022 the building does not appear to be in use.

After the Hall County Courthouse in Gainesville, GA, was destroyed by a tornado on April 6, 1936, the PWA dedicated funds toward its reconstruction. A "marker and bronze tablet honoring President Roosevelt and commemorating Disaster Relief aid by the Federal Government." The courthouse is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic former Sparta Public School in Sparta, Georgia was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The high school construction project was sponsored by Hancock County. Living New Deal believes the building now houses offices for the Hancock County Board of Education. The PWA supplied a $44,000 loan and $18,577 grant for the project, whose total cost was $65,291. Construction occurred between Feb. and Oct. 1935. PWA Docket No. GA 5988

An onsite marker commemorates the extensive work of the CCC at this site, reading in part: "This park was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal program sponsored by President Roosevelt. It was administered as a division of the U.S. Army to reclaim unusable farm land, create recreational areas, and teach young men a skill or trade. Enlistees of the CCC were paid about $30 for a six-month enlistment, $25 of which was automatically sent to the enlistee’s family. There were two CCC camps housed at the Park. The first camp, District “B” Company 450 Ga. SP-8,...

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 original tenement "House in the Woods" burned down and the second "House in the Woods" was built in 1939 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's WPA. The new "House in the Woods" was made of logs with two large open fireplaces." "When the "House in the Woods" was removed in 1968 it was situated near the Farber Health Center. It was torn down unsentimentally to make room for Langdale..."

This New Deal federal building was constructed in 1936-37 by the Treasury Department under supervising architect Louis A. Simon. The building is located back-to-back with the county courthouse.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve and pave Jackson Street in Americus, Georgia, in 1936—specifically the south end of the street near the railroad tracks.

From the summer of 1938 to early 1942, Civilian Conservation Corps Camp NP-4 provided improvements to the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. During its operation, the camp's enrollees cut trails and roads, implemented fire suppression measures, improved erosion control at the site, planted tress, and constructed the park's first headquarters building. The camp contained barracks, a recreation center and library, a mess hall, and several vocational education buildings. Though much of the physical campsite was disassembled and re-used for the war effort, the landscape constructed by the CCC is still extant.

According to the Jones County governmental website, “The original 9-hole layout was designed and built in 1939 by the WPA in conjunction with the Jonesco Clubhouse. The original construction included two small lakes, a pavilion, a swimming and diving facility and male and female bathhouses which were used by the general public until the mid 1960’s.”

"Macon Downtown Airport has its origins beginning in World War I as "Camp Wheeler". As early as 1925, Huff Daland Dusters, the precursor of Delta Air Lines, based its crop dusting operation at Camp Wheeler. In 1936 the City of Macon purchased 250 acres of airfield for $107,000 to replace its inadequate "Miller Field" to support Eastern Air Transport's passenger and mail service to Macon. Then the Works Project Administration began a $500,000 project that included a hangar, a 24 x 56-ft, administration building, and a concrete apron. The new airport was dedicated on November 11, 1937, and named in...

Between 1938 and 1940 the WPA and the War Department conducted a joint effort to improve the landscape design of the Marietta National Cemetery (c. 1866). Though an elaborate archway and speaking platform had been erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the cemetery by the 1930s had fallen into disrepair. In 1938, the War Department agreed to have 150 WPA workers improve the grounds. Work included expanding the boundaries of the cemetery on its western side, rehabilitating existing structures and buildings, replacing over 8000 headstones, paving the drive areas, and constructing a reticulated rock wall around the...

"McKinnon worked tirelessly to secure Works Progress Administration and other federal funds. In 1933, Coffin and Jones donated a sizeable tract of land for the new airport. The major portion of the Sea Island Co. land was once part of the Retreat Plantation. Glynn County purchased adjoining tracts, fragments of the old Kelvin Grove Plantation, and other privately owned parcels for the new airport. As land was being cleared in 1935, workers discovered evidence of a Native American settlement beneath the soil that had grown famed Sea Island cotton in the 19th century. Work was halted to allow archaeologists from the...

"Mitchell County is a prosperous agricultural district. Its sound financial condition aided by a grant from the PWA enabled it to erect a court house building and a jail building both much needed in the county. The upper picture shows the court house which is two stories high with partial basement, and the lower picture shows the jail. The plan is the first floor of the court house. The first floor accommodates the various county officials and the second floor houses the courtroom, judges' offices, jury room, and witness rooms. The exterior brick walls are faced with marble....

The Municipal Court building in Jackson, Georgia was constructed as the city's post office during the 1930s. This New Deal structure served as the post office until 1995, upon its relocation to East 2nd St. The building also housed an example of New Deal artwork, which was moved to the current post office site upon the post office's relocation.

In 1940 and 1941, the Marietta Board of Education and the WPA collaborated on modernizing the athletic field of Marietta High School. Work included grading the field to facilitate drainage, the construction of concrete stands, the installation of lights for outdoor games, and the erection of a reticulated rock wall around the entire stadium. According to Guy Northcutt, a member of the city's board of education who oversaw the work, as long as the city provided the materials, the WPA would cover the labor expenses. Upon completion of the project, the Marietta Daily Journal boasted that the city had the...

"Nottely Dam is a hydroelectric and flood storage dam on the Nottely River in Union County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s as a flood control structure and to help regulate flow at nearby Hiwassee Dam."   (wikipedia)

Numerous New Deal agencies had a tremendous impact on the development of Ocmulgee National Monument, the site of pre-Columbian southeastern settlement dating back millennia. "The largest dig ever conducted in this country occurred here at Ocmulgee and the surrounding area. Between 1933 and 1936, over 800 men in Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (ERA & FERA) and later the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) excavated under the direction of Dr. Arthur R. Kelly from the Smithsonian Institute. Kelly was the only archaeologist at the Ocmulgee camp and conducted evening training courses for the men....

The CCC worked to restore Earthlodge at Ocmulgee National Monument. NPS.gov: "At the Earthlodge, enrollees puddled clay in large pits, mixed in straw, and then applied the mixture to the inner concrete wall to simulate the Indian architecture. The public was admitted to this historic structure on November 11, 1937 after the CCC 'boys' completed the steel walkway and installed electric lights."

CCC work at Ocmulgee National Monument included: "preparing trails, including a bridge between the museum and Earthlodge that has become a local landmark." While the wood surface of the bridge has been replaced, the stone base supports are original.

The striking Art Moderne visitor center at Ocmulgee National Monument has New Deal roots, featuring involvement by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The National Park Service (NPS) website has this to say about the visitor center: "Designed by NPS Architect James T. Swanson, the building is an excellent example of the (Art Moderne) style, which grew out of the more well-known Art Deco, and was popular in the 1930s. The style is characterized by smooth surfaces, curving corners and a horizontal effect. The building is a showplace of the Art Moderne style with smooth concrete surfaces,...

Designed by William J.J. Chase in the Stripped Classical style, the Oconee County Courthouse was built by the PWA and opened in 1939.

The Okefenokee Swamp had long been a site of habitation in southern Georgia. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "An all-black unit of the Civilian Conservation Corps was transferred to the refuge, and between 1937 and 1941 they developed facilities there, which are still in use today. Designating the Okefenokee a wildlife refuge preserved the swamp but drove out its residents. Swamp dwellers were told they could no longer kill bears and wildcats in order to protect their livestock. The residents found it impossible to support themselves, and over time they moved away. All residents were likely gone by 1958....

The historic former Baldwin County Courthouse building in Milledgeville, Georgia was constructed in 1887. It was remodeled and repaired with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds in 1937. The PWA supplied a grant of $29,250 for the project, whose total cost was $65,297. Construction occurred between Jan. and Sept. 1937. PWA Docket No. GA W1197

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

"There had been no courthouse and no proper place for the storage of records until the completion of the new courthouse in December 1936. The building is two stories in height and houses all of the county offices, the court, jury rooms, and record-storage vaults. It is fireproof and the exterior walls are red face brick trimmed with wood. The construction cost was $64,391 and the project cost $74,371."

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.