Des Moines Sites

From the school website: "In the 1930s the famous WPA Murals, under the direction of Grant Wood, were painted for the walls of Callanan. The school was fortunate to be chosen to have two such artistic treasures to beautify the upper portion of each stairway. The south mural Nation at Work' was painted by George Grooms in 1936. The north mural 'Nation at Play' was by Glen Chamberlain and dated to 1937. Each mural made a statement about preparing young people for participation the the adult world. They were viewed as a patriotic reflection of President Roosevelt’s aim to get all...

The Treasury Section of Fine Arts commissioned "the Wheelwright" painted by artist Daniel Rhodes in 1942 for the Clayton Branch Post Office in St. Louis, Missouri. The mural was removed from the post office in 1971 and relocated to the Des Moines Federal Courthouse, where it is currently on view.    

"This is a modern fire station which includes not only all the necessary facilities for the fighting but also provisions for training, recreation, housing of personnel, and maintenance of all equipment. The building is located in the business district of the city at the intersection of two important streets which are not, however, arteries of excessive traffic. In addition to the building illustrated, the project includes a shop building and a drill tower. The headquarters building is rectangular in plan, 128 by 117 feet. The apparatus room provides space for five units of rolling stock besides space for...

"In 1938 and 1939 a Works Progress Administration project made several improvements" to Des Moines's Glendale Cemetery, "which included improving curbing and the six miles of winding roads through the hilly property and making a two-acre lake which continues to attract ducks and geese."

The WPA undertook extensive construction and improvements at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in the mid 1930s. The Iowa State Fair information page describes the history of the site and the extent of the work carried out by the WPA: "Extensive improvements – from reroofing the Cattle Barn to building a storm sewer on Dean Avenue – heralded the 1934 Fair. A five-day program of harness and running horse races offered more than $12,500 in premiums. Forty additional acres were added to the Campgrounds, increasing the total to 160 acres and making it the largest of its kind in the U.S Lighting on...

This large 1910 Treasury Department-funded building, located at Walnut St. and 2nd Ave. in downtown Des Moines, underwent an extension during the New Deal. At the time the structure was a federal building and housed post office operations. The building presently serves as the Polk County Administration Building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 1974. "The Des Moines architectural firm of Wetherell & Harrison drew up plans in the early 1930s for a large addition to the south, but no money was appropriated for it. Plans for a smaller addition were approved in 1934...

“Built in a public park in 1931, the Sylvan Theater Historic District reflects a movement that took place throughout the United States in the 1930s. It was a movement to expand the facilities of parks beyond the passive enjoyment of natural and cultivated landscape, and playground and sports activities, to include facilities for pageants, drama, music, and other cultural interests. The outdoor theater was the natural solution to providing such facilities to all citizens at a minimum cost, and many, like the Sylvan Theater in Des Moines, were built in this period. In Des Moines, as elsewhere, its outdoor theater...