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  • Ada County Courthouse and Murals (former) - Boise ID
    "Built in 1938-39, the Ada County Courthouse was constructed as part of the Depression-era Public Works Administration (PWA). Building the courthouse provided jobs not only for construction workers and craftsmen, but also for the artists that embellished it. The Art Deco style of the building is partly the result of using many workers who were not necessarily skilled in construction. The collaborative efforts of architectural firms Tourtellotte & Hummel and Wayland & Fennell resulted in a simple design characterized by geometric shapes, which were considered easier to build. The modern style and solid construction were also intended to communicate confidence...
  • Arco City Building - Arco ID
    "The Recreation Hall in Arco, Idaho was constructed in 1937-38 as a Works Progress Administration project. The building was built as a gymnasium and was constructed of basalt. The project was a challenge to the WPA masons because the basalt could not be shaped into regularly shaped blocks. Instead irregular stones were mortared together and then small “seams” were traced into the mortar to give the appearance of tightly fitting stones. The building was renovated (including a new roof) in the 1990s and now includes city offices in addition to recreational facilities. On June 8, 1948, President Harry S. Truman greeted...
  • Athletic Field - American Falls ID
    The WPA participated in the building of this athletic field in American Falls. It is unclear where the site pictured is located, but if it is still extant Stebbins Park next to American Falls High School seems to be the likeliest candidate.
  • Atlanta Ranger Station Historic District - Atlanta ID
    "The Atlanta Ranger Station Historic District, also known as Atlanta Guard Station, is a 24 acres (9.7 ha) historic districtin Boise National Forest in Atlanta, Idaho that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It dates from 1933. It involved the Civilian Conservation Corps and the USDA Forest Service, and includes Forest Service R-4 Standard and other architecture. The listing included ten contributing buildings."
  • Bear Lake Middle School - Montpelier ID
    The PWA helped build Bear Lake Middle School (docket #1058-D), originally a high school. The school is still in use today.
  • Bishop Mountain Lookout Cabin and Tower - Island Park ID
    The lookout buildings were constructed between 1936 and 1938 by members of Company 2515 of the CCC. The cabin was used for lookout workers until the early 1980s and can now be rented by guests.
  • Bogus Basin Road - Boise ID
    The CCC created Bogus Basin Road, possibly with the assistance of the WPA, which eventually spurred the development of the recreation area. From the Bogus Basin ski resort website: It all started in 1938 when a 24-month WPA road project started the development of Bogus Basin as a recreation site.  A handful of Forest Service experts were called in, of which Alf Engen, founder of the Alta Ski Area in Utah played major roles in site selection.  Three years later, in September of 1941, the non-profit Bogus Basin Recreational Association (BBRA) was incorporated to raise funds and oversee the maintenance of...
  • Boise Art Museum - Boise ID
    The Boise Gallery of Art was originally constructed in 1936 of Boise sandstone in the Art Deco style with the assistance of the WPA. Over the years several additions have been added, but the original building still remains.
  • Boise District Headquarters of the Civilian Conservation Corps (Former) - Boise ID
    The structure was originally built as the headquarters of the Boise District of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The Boise District supervised CCC camps in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Currently, the building serves as a restaurant.
  • Boise High School Gym - Boise ID
    The WPA built a new gymnasium for the high school in 1936. According to the school's website: "Students had saved their nickels and dimes and put them in a fund which covered some costs of the structure. The new gym replaced the cracker box located in the basement of the main building. The ceiling in the old gym was so low it interfered with the playing of the game of basketball. The WPA furnished the labor to build the gym." (https://boise.school.boiseschools.org)
  • Boise National Forest CCC Camp - Atlanta ID
    The Boise National Forest CCC Camp (F-78) was located near Atlanta, and left permanent structures there and in Garden Valley. From the National Forest Service: "In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Boise National Forest to protect timber and watershed resources in southwestern Idaho. The Forest Service added lookouts, campgrounds, and roads, assisted by hundreds of young men enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression, Deadwood Lookout and Atlanta Ranger Station were built by the CCC—now available for overnight rental." Also from the Forest Service: "Atlanta Cabin is located in the old mining town of Atlanta, Idaho, at an...
  • Boise Project - Blacks Creek ID
    "The present construction features of this project are the raising of Arrowrock Dam and spillway for additional storage, and the building of the canal system for the Payette Division. Work has been in progress on Arrowrock Dam during 1936 and is scheduled for completion the latter part of 1937. Contracts have been awarded for eight tunnels on the Black Canyon canal of the Payette Division, four of which are practically complete. Bids have been received and contract will soon be awarded for canal excavation from Station 0 to Station 157. Specifications will soon be issued for canal excavation from...
  • Boise State University - Boise ID
    Originally Boise Junior College. "Established in 1932, the Boise Junior College was without a permanent home until the initial construction of the present campus in 1940-42. The land had previously been occupied by the Boise airfield, which had moved to its current location at Gowen Field. Designed in the traditional campus style of Collegiate Gothic, the Administration Building (1940), Heating Plant (1940), Assembly Hall (1940-41), and original Student Union (1941-42) represent a more streamlined version of the style as it transitioned into the modern age. The campus infrastructure, landscaping, and original structures were all funded through the WPA." (www.preservationidaho.org)
  • Bonner County Courthouse Additions - Sandpoint ID
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of additions and alterations to the Bonner County Courthouse in Sandpoint in 1938-39. One source suggests that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was involved with other related work at the building or grounds. The PWA provided a $37,650 grant for the project. The total construction cost was $83,521. PWA Docket No. ID 1178. In a piece about the history of the Bonner Courthouse, Bob Gunther recounts the story of a local who worked on the construction of the jail addition: "Nellie Garrison recalls, 'It was during the depression and people needed food. My father was caught poaching deer and since they...
  • Boundary County Courthouse Friezes - Bonners Ferry ID
    The Boundary County Courthouse is the site of three friezes, all created by Fletcher Martin in 1940 for the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (WPA-FAP) and viewable on the front of the courthouse. They are officially untitled but are known by what they depict; "Floating Logs,"  "Harvest," and "Mining." Mining, farming, and the timber industry were all "staple industries of the area." (waymarking.com)
  • Camas National Wildlife Refuge - Hamer ID
    Camas National Wildlife Refuge lies in southeast Idaho along the Camas River and just west of the Grand Tetons of Wyoming.  Its 10,000 acres are half lakes, ponds, and marshlands and half grass sagebrush uplands, meadows, and farms.  It is a major viewing site for swans, geese and curlews, among other birds and wildlife. Camas NWF was created under the New Deal in 1937.  Lacking further details, we can only say it is likely to have been enacted by a presidential Executive Order and carried out by the Bureau of Biological Survey, as were most wildlife refuges of the New Deal....
  • Camp Elk River (former) - Elk River ID
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp at Elk River, Idaho, in 1933. It was designated as Camp F-133 (a Forest Service camp). Elk River is a small town in mid-panhandle Idaho, west of the Clearwater Range. The main activities of the CCC enrollees were probably tree planting and road work. We know from the attached photograph that the camp was active in 1934 and CCC company 1238 had been installed there. Elk River campground near the village of Elk Creek looks to have been built by the CCC and might be on the location of the former CCC camp. It...
  • Canyon Springs High School - Caldwell ID
    Originally Van Buren Elementary School, this school was constructed by the WPA. It was completed in 1941.
  • Carey Dome Fire Lookout - Riggins ID
    Located in the Payette National Forest, this lookout tower were built by the CCC in 1934. A sign near the site (pictured at www.advrider.com) reads: "In 1934 and 1935, Aeromotor Company of Chicago manufactured the 85-foot tall galvanized steel lookout tower. The USDA Forest Service in cooperation with the Civilian Conservation Corps assembled the prefabricated framework on the granitic ridgetop toll, known as Carey Dome."
  • Cassia County Courthouse - Burley ID
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded roughly half the cost of the construction of a new courthouse for Cassia County, in Burley, Idaho. A grant of $53,000 was offered to the county in 1938 and constrution began that year. The building, which included a jail, was completed in 1939 – as proudly carved above the entrance. The County Courthouse is a substantial two and a half story brick building with a central tower, slightly recessed, jutting up another story. The design is Moderne (Art Deco) with four low-relief pillars on each side and up the central portion, each...
  • CCC Camp F-42 - Saint Joe National Forest ID
    The Civilian Conservation Corps built camp F-42 at the Saint Joe National Forest, Idaho.
  • Central Assembly Building & Auditorium - Nampa ID
    A 1200-seat auditorium in the Public Works Administration (PWA) Moderne style built primarily as an addition to the facilities of Central Junior High School, but also served the Nampa community for many years as a venue for concerts, sporting events, and other large public gatherings. According to the Idaho Statesman, "The structure was built as a PWA project at a cost of $88,725.88. It is at the corner of Fourteenth avenue and Sixth street south. All intermural sports for the entire system will be played in the new building. Opera seats arranged on three sides of the hard maple center floor...
  • Challis National Forest CCC Camp - Clayton ID
    CCC Camp F-407 was stationed near Clayton in the Challis National Forest. Camp F-407 left structures at Clayton, Loon Creek, and Cape Horn. From the Forest Service: "The site for the Clayton Ranger Station was acquired as an administrative site in 1913. The original station consisted of a three room dwelling, barn, and woodshed built in 1914. During 1933 and 1934, the present buildings were constructed by the CCC."
  • City Hall (former) - Boise ID
    The Ada County Office Building was built in 1937 with funding from the Works Progress Administration. The architectural style is predominantly Art Deco.
  • City Park Band Shell - Twin Falls ID
    The City Park Band Shell in Twin Falls, Idaho was constructed as a Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) project in 1934-1935, part of a larger program of civic improvements around the city of Twin Falls. The band shell is still in use.  Unfortunately, there is no acknowledgement of the role of the New Deal and local relief workers on or around the bandshell. There might be a plaque hidden under the ivy on the back of the structure, but the information sign in front makes it sounds as if the bandshell were built along with the park in the 1904. However,...
  • City Rocks CCC Camp - Coeur D'Alene ID
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built a camp near Coeur D'Alene in Idaho. The enclosed images showing CCC enrollees at the camp were provided to the Living New Deal by Nancy Calle. Her father, John Griffith Calle, pictured in several of the images, was enrolled in the CCC and worked at the City Rocks Camp in 1935.
  • Civic Improvements - Twin Falls ID
    In 1933-34, a large number of civil improvements were made to Twin Falls, Idaho by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Idaho Emergency Relief Administration (IERA). The works were done by relief workers hired from local jobless rolls in the depths of the Great Depression. Both CWA and IERA were funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), to the tune of around $250,000. The civic improvements included the City Park band shell, work at the water treatment plant, tennis court at Harmon Park, painting Shoshone Street bridge, grading over 200 blocks of city streets, and graveling 95 blocks of streets.
  • Clifton High School (demolished) - Clifton ID
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Clifton High School in Clifton, Franklin County. The project was awarded to Isakson and Morrin of Ogden, Utah with a winning bid of $43,300 in December of 1938. It was completed in 1939. The school was used as a high school for about 10 years, then as a junior high school and elementary school until the late 1980’s, when it was demolished.
  • Community Hall - Sandpoint ID
    The WPA built this community hall in Sandpoint in 1936. From the Idaho Historical Society (via Waymarking.com): "The idea behind the Community Hall originated with the local Boy Scout organization early in 1935. It was difficult to find meeting places for the three Sandpoint troops, especially during the winter months, "and for that reason the council decided to build a log cabin for the use of the Boy Scouts and other local groups," reported E. E. Hunt, president of the Bonner County Boy Scout council. Other groups soon became involved and the project became community- wide in scope. Local support for the...
  • Deep Creek Bridge - Kooskia ID
    "A final example of a historically significant Forest Service road bridge is the Deep Creek Masonry Arch on the Bitterroot National Forest in Idaho (figure 7). This arch is a single-span masonry arch built by the CCC in the 1930’s. The Deep Creek Arch was designed by Arthur (Art) Kahl, the USDA Forest Service regional bridge engineer between 1934 and 1962. Mr. Kahl was responsible for the design and construction of numerous USDA Forest Service bridges in Montana and Idaho. A case could be made that he was a significant individual in the early development of bridges and transportation systems...
  • Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge - Nampa ID
    "President Theodore Roosevelt created a national bird refuge at Deer Flat Reservoir, now Lake Lowell, with his February 25, 1909, executive order. The refuge was one of 17 federal reclamation projects referenced in the order, each of which used manmade aquifers to provide safe havens for migratory birds. 1935 Civilian Conservation Corps BR-24 Co. 2506 charged with restoring dams eroded by waves and ice. 1937 President Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the Snake River Islands Refuge by executive order. Thomas Horn assigned as first refuge manager. 1938 Works Progress Administration workers help build refuge infrastructure (roads and buildings). 1939 WPA workers complete observation tower."
  • Downey Grade School (former) - Downey ID
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) financed the construction of the Downey Grade School in 1939. The school building is a long, single-story, brick Moderne (Art Deco) structure. The former school is now a private assisted living facility called "Whispering Pines".  
  • Dugway Road Improvement - Clifton ID
    The Civil Workers Administration (CWA) improved a road into Clifton Basin located above the town about 4 miles. The overall length of the improved route was about a mile long and allowed a smoother, less steep, and less dangerous route into the National Forest lands of Clifton Basin and beyond. Presumably, part of the reason for the improved route was to make the harvesting of fuel for homes in the form of trees much more convenient. This project was awarded via the CWA as Clifton Wood Road Project 21 B1-15 in 1933.  
  • East Side Elementary School (demolished) - Nampa ID
    The PWA built this six-classroom elementary school in 1937 (docket #1093-RD). It remained in use until 1997, when it was demolished. The site is now East Side Park. Note: the Nampa School District history linked below indicates that the WPA built the school, while the record is found in the PWA archives with a docket listed.
  • Emmett High School Gymnasium - Emmett ID
    In 1939, the Public Works Administration funded the construction of a gymnasium addition to the High School in Emmett Idaho. Project Docket No. Idaho 1045D. The architect of record was Tourtellotte & Hummel. The exact location and present status of the structure is unknown to the Living New Deal.
  • Fenn Ranger Station - Kooskia ID
    Fenn Ranger Station is part of the Moose Creek Ranger District and located in the Nez Perce National Forest near Kooskia, Idaho. It was built by the CCC between 1936 and 1940. "Construction of Fenn Ranger Station was fully underway by the fall of 1936. The next year, an administration building, two warehouses, and two garages were completed. By the end of 1938, a cookhouse, gashouse, and one residence had been added. Another residence, a bunkhouse, and a powerhouse were completed in 1939. The barn was built in 1940." (https://idahoptv.org)
  • Fish Hatchery - American Falls ID
    The CCC and WPA were involved in the creation of a fish hatchery at American Falls in 1934. From the Idaho Museum of Natural History: "The Hatchery was built circa 1934 in a cooperative effort by the State of Idaho and the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal program; and is maintained by the State of Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Three full time employees live year round at the hatchery providing 24 hour on call services to prevent fatal catastrophes. Both state and private sources provide funding via fishing license revenues and donations. This module provides information about the...
  • Fish Hatchery - Hagerman ID
    The WPA conducted work at Hagerman Fish Hatchery. The extent of the WPA's involvement in the site is not clear.
  • Fish Hatchery - Sandpoint ID
    The WPA was involved in building this fish hatchery in Sandpoint.
  • Franklin County Courthouse - Preston ID
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of a new courthouse for Franklin County in Preston, Idaho, in 1939. The Franklin County Courthouse is a fine example of late Moderne architecture, a clean white cube with bas-relief columns and otherwise minimal exterior decoration.
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