Kansas Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Fowler Swimming Pool and Bathhouse in Fowler KS. Fowler was apparently hard hit by the dust storms of the 1930s, and the construction of a swimming pool would bring not only construction jobs but welcome relief from dirt and heat. Cost in 1936-1937 was $13,000, of which the town paid $3000. The pool's dedication ceremony on July 30, 1937 drew 1,000 people. The project was approved in may 1935, but construction was delayed and began in March 1936 and was completed in November 1936. According to the Kansas Historical Society, "Among 40 Kansas pools improved or...

The Civilian Conservation Corps Veteran's Camp 1778 comprised of World War I Veterans constructed a state park on the former grounds of the Fort Hays Military Reservation in Hays, Kansas. The camp was located along the banks of Big Creek and the enrollees occupied buildings the present-day Fort Hays State University campus. The veterans constructed roads, bridges, and picnic areas that included limestone shelters and fire pits. The campers built a small dam in Big Creek to create a recreation area for fishing and boating. Some of these projects including the shelters were completed or maintained by the National Youth Administration. In...

This 100 acre lake, north of Gardner, was created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1935 and 1938. According to a local history site, "Prior to building the lake, a camp was built to house the 200+ transient workers who would live there during construction. It was called 'Transient Camp # 9'. The camp buildings included a mess hall, bath houses, barracks, a kitchen, hospital, waterworks and recreation hall. The laborers were provided food shelter, clothing, and medical care, and were paid $1 to $3 per week. Excavation began in 1935. By May 1936 there were 225 men working...

The Work projects Administration (WPA) worked to construct the Military Science Building at Kansas State University in Manhattan. It was renamed Gen. Richard B. Myers Hall in 2006. "The building is home to K-State’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs, and is the only building on campus that was built during World War II." WPA Project No. 165-1-82-218 Cost: $92,595. Sponsor: War Department

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) built the George J. Perry Memorial Armory in St. Marys KS between 1941 and 1943. In the early 1940s, plans for a new armory in St. Mary estimated costs at $55,000, most of which would be covered by the WPA. Ground was broken in April 1941, and that first summer construction employed 65 men. With the advent of World War II, however, work slowed and costs rose. By the time work was actually completed in 1943, the WPA had disbanded and there were only nine "silver-and gray-haired men" left on the project. Dedication ceremonies were held...

Edgerton Grange Hall was built in 1904. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) remodeled it in the late 1930s, presumably to accommodate electricity.

Shelterbelts were natural windbreaks planted to protect land from the dust storms of the 1930s. The Great Plains Shelterbelts spans several states. The agency that started the project is unknown to the Living New Deal, but the project was transferred to the Works Progress Administration because of a dispute over the source of funding. Today, very few of the Depression-era shelterbelts are left, but a few trees remain of the shelterbelt built on the McFarland Ranch.  McFarland Ranch is a private property southwest of Cimarron. The ranch is south of the Arkansas River and the trees were originally irrigated by the Arkansas...

The Works Progress administration built the City Park in Green, KS in 1938. Project no. 7392. The exact location of this park is unknown to the Living New Deal.

In the 1930s youths the National Youth Administration (NYA) hired young people to construct the stone shop building in Gypsum Hill Cemetery. The shop building bears an NYA plaque.

Designed by Overend and Boucher of Wichita, the historic Hamilton County Courthouse in Syracuse, Kansas was constructed in 1937 as a Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (a.k.a. Public Works Administration—PWA) project, one of several P.W.A. county courthouses in Kansas. The P.W.A. supplied a $29,250 grant for the project, whose total cost was $65,007. Courthouses.co: "The building faces west and is a rectangular two story buff colored brick and concrete structure. On the west front is white colored stone trim with trim around the entrance." P.W.A. Docket No. Kansas 1258-D

A portion of the county grid network in southeast Lyon County, Kansas between Hartford and Gridley was surfaced by the Civil Works Administration.

Basehor, Kansas received a new school in 1938, constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The facility, which Living New Deal believes is that located at 3102 155th St, now houses the Sixth Grade Center. An inscription above the main entrance reads: RURAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 3 BASEHOR KANSAS The PWA provided a $24,627 grant for the project, whose total cost was $55,889. Construction started in Nov. 1937 and was completed in Jul. 1938. PWA Docket No. Kan. 1114.

A high school construction project in Nortonville, Kansas was undertaken as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The project was mutually sponsored by Jefferson and Atchison counties (Nortonville lies right on the county line, in Jefferson). The PWA provided an $30,272 grant for the project, whose total cost was $59,407. Construction started in Jan. 1937 and was completed in Jul. 1937. As of 2023 the building is privately owned, and appear to be a residence. PWA Docket No. Kan. 1068.

Easton, Kansas's 1920 Rural High School building received an addition of an auditorium / gymnasium as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA provided an $11,045 grant for the project, whose total cost was $24,612. Construction started in Oct. 1938 and was completed in Feb. 1939. As of 2023 the property is privately owned. PWA Docket No. Kan. 1372.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) approved & appropriated $20,947 toward the construction of this auditorium/gymnasium at what had been the high school in Plevna, Kansas in Aug. 1937. The school board raised another $20,000 in bonds. The building was completed in July 1938. It sat 500 for basketball and 1000 auditorium style. Features included dressing and shower rooms for both boys and girls; two additional rooms designed for manual arts and domestic science; and even a projection booth for motion pictures. Engineers on the project were Hefling-Hughes of Hutchinson. The structure is located at the southeast corner of S Main St....

The Civil Works Administration "refinished" the Reading High School building in a project completed in early 1934. There is no more high school in Reading; its location and present status are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Auditorium and Gymnasium is an addition to Baldwin High School built by the Works Progress Administration. Construction on the $72,000 project stopped in 1942 when WPA workers were pulled away to work on a site in Lawrence. The gymnasium at Baker University was destroyed by fire in January 1943, leaving Baldwin City without a court for either its high school or college basketball teams. The community rallied and finished the high school gymnasium themselves in a couple of weeks. The site was sold to a private party in 2014.

In 1936, Works Progress Administration workers tore down Fulton's 1885 school building and erected a gymnasium/auditorium with reclaimed rocks.

The Works Progress Administration built the Highland Park High School Stadium in Topeka KS.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Hoisington High School - Hoisington KS, and Art Deco high school built in 1940. The school is still in use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Hoisington High School was designed by the architecture firm Brinkman & Hagan.

The Hoisington High School Stadium was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1937 with limestone from the nearby Ney farm. The stadium is still in use and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Iola's North Community Building, located at 505 North Buckeye Street, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1940. The building was dedicated on August 4, in a celebration that also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

This historic Iowa Tribe Community Building was constructed in 1940 as a New Deal project. It is "one of the only extant resources built by the Civilian Conservation Corps – Indian Division in Kansas." NRHP nomination form: "The Iowa Tribe Community Building ... is located in northeast Brown County on the reservation of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. ... The one-and-a-half-story limestone building exhibits elements of the Rustic and Colonial Revival architectural styles, which were popular during the New Deal era. It was constructed as part of a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division (CCC-ID), a...

"The J.J. Richards Band Shell was built during 1936 and 1937 by the WPA."

Art Deco courthouse funded by WPA. KERC funding opened the quarries that provided the limestone. Building is still in use and on the National Register of Historic Places.

John Marshall School was completed in 1939 and dedicated January 9, 1940. The school was named in honor of John Marshall, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The builder was Armagost and Son Construction Company in cooperation with the Public Works Administration. There were nine classrooms, an auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, art room, music room, shop and two home economics rooms. A small library was located on the first floor with a part-time librarian provided by the City Library. C.E. Strange was the first principal. The staff included 15 teachers, a part-time librarian, a visiting teacher who spent part...

"The Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, Kansas occupies a beautiful WPA (Works Progress Administration) building which was the Wichita Municipal Airport terminal from 1935 to 1951."

Still an integral part of the Kansas School for the Deaf campus, this building, originally built as a dormitory, was constructed as a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The core of the building is now known as the Stanley D. Roth Administration Building, and is flanked by residences on either side. Based on a 2023 visit, the building bears no cornerstone or PWA plaque. It is across the street from the Museum of Deaf History, Arts and Culture. Short and Stanley-Brown: This new dormitory for the State School for the Deaf replaces old buildings constructed more than 60 years ago which were...

Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers built the Bison Arena at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. Other WPA-built improvements included "upgrading the fair's sewer, rebuilding the Old Mill ride with permanent fireproof concrete, and putting in a reinforced concrete stage and basement at the grandstand." The Bison Arena and the rebuilt Old Mill ride are still in use.

From the Kansas State University website: "David Hicks Overmyer painted the four Historic Farrell Library murals in 1934 as part of the federal government’s Public works of Art Project. Each of these murals is 11’ x 14’ and their subjects symbolize the four major academic pursuits of the institution at the time: science and industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, the arts, and home economics. Overmyer, an illustrator, artist, and muralist, was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1889 and died there in 1973. He has murals in several other Kansas sites including courthouses in Ft. Scott and Norton, Topeka High School,...

Designed by Overend and Boucher of Wichita, the historic Kearny County Courthouse in Lakin, Kansas was constructed in 1938-9 as a Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (a.k.a. Public Works Administration—PWA) project, one of several P.W.A. county courthouses in Kansas. The P.W.A. supplied a $31,950 grant for the project, whose total cost was $71,067. P.W.A. Docket No. Kansas 1194-F

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) conducted a project on Kelso Road in Morris County, Kansas involving riprapping.

In 1939, a rock wall was constructed along Kenwood Park Drive in Salina, Kansas by youths who were employed by the National Youth Administration (NYA). The NYA was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that focused on training, employing, and educating young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Chris Cotten, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of Salina, Kansas tells us that "n April 1939 the Salina Journal reported that 35 NYA youths, working part time and using rubble masonry, were hired to construct 'ten dead-end walls' on streets that terminated at the Smoky Hill River. Remnants of...

The Kincaid High School (now Kincaid Community Center) in Kincaid KS was built as a high school with Works Progress Administration bonds. Now used as city hall, public library, museum, and gathering space.

A sizable flood control project along Labette Creek in Parsons, Kansas was undertaken by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933-4. The Parsons Sun: "This is one of the most important Improvements, from a practical civic viewpoint, made In Parsons in years. It remains to he seen just how much the removal of thousands of cubic yards of earth from the creek bed and banks will alleviate flood conditions at that point on Labette creek, but is is believed that it will go a long way toward preventing bad inundations caused by heavy rains."

"Lake Afton is a 258-acre (104 ha) man-made recreational lake located about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A. It is within the 720-acre (2.9 km2) Lake Afton Park, on land once inhabited by the Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita (tribe), Osage, and Southern Cheyenne Indian tribes. The lake was created by Works Progress Administration workers in 1939–1942."

Multiple New Deal agencies: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) were involved in the improvement and development of the park surrounding Lake Herington in Herington, Kansas. 1934: "Herington has been allotted $6,106 from the CWA state funds for improving Lake Herington. Excavating will be done and stumps pulled around the edges." "Lake Herington was created in 1929. WPA funds were used for the construction caretaker's house and garage as well as the shelter house just up the street (N). Appropriations for the project in 1935 and 1936 exceeded $12,000, of which approx. $9,634 were for the construction of...

This recreational lake in Eastern Kansas was completed by the WPA and German POWs. Work included a dam and spill way. The lake is still a popular recreational area for residents of Topeka and nearby towns.

Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, originally Lawrence Stadium, was a baseball stadium built by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1934. Home to minor league baseball and National Baseball Congress tournament for many years. It was demolished in 2018 to make room for Riverfront Park.

Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the former Leavenworth County Jail in Leavenworth, Kansas was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA provided an $59,400 grant for the project, whose total cost was $131,362. Construction started in Nov. 1938 and was completed in Dec. 1939. The building was located on S 3rd Street just north of the current Justice Center and jail, which replaced it in 2000. The New Deal-era jail was demolished in late 2013. PWA Docket No. Kan. 1422.