Massachusetts Sites

Almost fifty years after he painted this mural, Alfred Crimi reflected on its origins and later developments: “Most gratifying was the honor I received from the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1980. In 1940 I had painted a mural for the Post Office Building in Northampton entitled 'Work, Religion, and Education.' This commission had been awarded through national competition under the auspices of the Section of Painting and Sculpture, Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. Now that the building was sold, the mural was taken down to be rolled up and sent to the Smithsonian Institution where it most likely...

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "WPA workmen have completed repairs to the Hannah Dustin School, Haverhill ..."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA), in conjunction with the War Department, developed what is now known as Hanscom Air Force Base / Field in Massachusetts. WPA project details: "Improvements to municipal airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐14‐490 Total project cost: $195,895.00 Sponsor: War Department

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) eliminated cesspools by installing sewers along Harding Court in Southbridge, Mass. in 1937.

The land that makes up Harold Parker State Forest was formed by the action of glaciers thousands of years ago, and the area has undergone numerous man-made changes since then. The Pentacook Indians were the first people to reside on the land and they called this place home for a few thousand years before it was settled by colonial English farmers in the 1650s. By the mid-nineteenth century many people abandoned the land for agricultural purposes, and moved closer to the towns of North Andover, Andover, North Reading, and Middleton, and the forest area reverted to a more wild character....

Collins Pond Dam is the most important of all the dams constructed by the CCC in Harold Parker State Forest. This dam is connected to a large retaining wall that surrounds the pond and it impounds a large quantity of water. The dam is currently is poor condition and it is not clear who is in charge of monitoring or repairing the dam. Many people were contacted in an effort to get information on the dam (North Andover Directory, North Andover Conservation Management, Massachusetts Office of Dam Safety and Removal, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation). However, it was difficult...

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was most likely the agency involved with work at the Hasting School. The former Hasting Elementary School is still extant, facing Beacon St. (formerly Beaver St.) as part of a broadly expanded facility serving the Framingham Housing Authority.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted work at the fish hatchery in Montague, Mass.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Work of a WPA crew here will increase the output of the state fish hatchery 30 per cent, according to Louis Horst, hatchery superintendent. Last year the hatchery distributed 100,000 live trout, five to eight inches in length, 100,000 which were seven to twelve inches in length and 200,000 smaller trout, the latter planted in feeder streams. An increase of 30 per cent, over these figures will mean a considerable boon to the sport of trout fishing in Massachusetts. The project at the fish hatchery has built four ponds, each 125 by 40 feet, a catch pool, four small ponds, 15...

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "The Haverhill Stadium, which was dedicated October 3, is the pride of the city. Every seat in the reinforced concrete stands built by the WPA is a good seat from which to watch football games on the well laid out field, which runs parallel to the stands."

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted bridge work at Herbert St. and Beaver Dam Brook in Framingham, Mass. in 1939-40. According to the 1940 Town Report: The old wooden bridge over the Beaver Dam Brook at Herbert Street, which had become unsafe, was replaced with a reinforced concrete structure, including new concrete abutments, wing walls and slab. Concrete curbing and sidewalks and bituminout concrete pavement were constructed on the approached to the new bridge.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) resurfaced Hibbert St. in Arlington, MA. The W.P.A. installed sidewalks along the road as well.

"The new sixty-foot fire tower on High Rock is nearing completion. The work has been done by the men of the C. C. C. The glass-enclosed observation room at the top of the tower will be occupied during the period from April to October next year, by a man whose duty it will be to detect forest fires and notify the fire fighting forces where the blaze is located. By triangulating with maps and instruments these observers locate the blazes with amazing accuracy." A personal visit to this site in 2014 suggests that the CCC structure has been demolished and replaced.

The former high school in Auburn, Massachusetts was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "For the past two decades, the increasing cost of tuition and transportation of pupils to Worcester caused agitation for an Auburn high school, and while land had been acquired on the Dunn property on Auburn Street in 1926 for such a school, it was not until a special town meeting held August 29, 1933, that $250,000 was appropriated. Federal aid was sought under the provisions of the Public Works Administration and on March 5, 1935, the plans drawn by Lucius W. Briggs,...

Formerly Burlington's high school, what is now a municipal building at 61 Center St. was constructed as a New Deal project with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) assistance. The P.W.A. supplied a $76,950 grant for the project, whose total cost was $163,411. The cornerstone was laid on Dec. 3, 1938 and the building was put into use in Sept. 1939, though formal dedication didn't occur until Oct. 12, 1939. PWA Docket No. MA 1437 The building's design is most unusual for its era, and the building has been extensively renovated. The only real architectural cue of the building's heritage is its 1938 cornerstone. Town reports thoroughly...

The former high school in Waltham, Massachusetts, now John W. McDevitt Middle School, received an addition as part of a New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. Construction occurred in 1935. PWA Docket No. MA 5042

All 17 schoolhouses in Framingham, Massachusetts were painted, remodeled, and/or repaired with federally funded labor during the Great Depression. At the former High School (now Danforth Art Museum) the Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) conducted maintenance work in 1933. Heating facilities in the school's gymnasium were improved the following year, and further maintenance continued with New Deal labor. Most significantly, under a project begun by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a six-room addition to the school. Further improvements included the installation of a Public Address system. "Through a W.P.A. project, the necessary wires were installed from...

Oxford, Massachusetts's old high school received assistance from multiple New Deal programs during the 1930s. In 1933 the Civil Works Administration (CWA) painted  and decorated the school building, a project continued under the federal Emergency Relief Administration. The building, now known as the Norman J. LeBlanc, Sr., Memorial Building, now houses private offices.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed a wall around Highland Cemetery from 1935-6.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers constructed sanitary sewers along Hillcrest Pkwy., Fells Road, and Euclid Ave. in one section of Winchester, Mass. This letter was submitted to the WPA by a local official: "Dear Sir: "We have completed the installation of sanitary sewers in Euclid Avenue, Fells Road, and Hillcrest Parkway. "The work performed by the WPA men has been veiy satisfactory. The total cost of the work including the material, tools, etc. furnished by the Town and the labor furnished by the WPA compares very favorably with the construction costs performed by hand' labor employed by the Town. "The installation of these...

Courtesy the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.), Village Hall in Framingham was "repaired and painted, both inside and out. New plastering was installed where necessary..." In 1937 the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) replaced the electrical wiring, installed a cement concrete floor, and re-shingled the roof. In 1940: "The floor system of the upper Village Hall was reconstructed and strengthened by putting in new steel beams and columns, and a new oak floor was laid over the whole upper hall and entrances. The interior of the building was also painted," by the W.P.A.

During 1934 the F.E.R.A "thoroughly renovated and repaired" Framingham's Hollis Street fire station, in addition to constructing "a new brick fireproof fire alarm signal building" in the rear of the station. Later the W.P.A. sponsored a six-room addition to the building: A brick addition, one story in height for a two-car garage, was constructed on the rear end of the Hollis St. Fire Station. Work was begun in December   on an addition to this building to provide an office for the chief and also three additional rooms for the firemen who are on duty at this station. Work on the additions...

Medium: oil on canvas This 1936 Section of Fine Arts mural by Ross E. Moffett depicts "Captain Alezur Holyoke's Exploring Party on the Connecticut River." The mural depicts the original explorers of the Connecticut River lead by the town’s namesake using the elaborate marble doorframe to define the small hill the explorers were standing on. Ross Moffett was born in Iowa and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Student’s League in New York City. He moved to the bay area of California and then to Provincetown, MA where he died.

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "A saving from one-half to one-third on electric bills is a saving in anybody's household. The City of Worcester expects to save this amount at the Home Farm, where a new electric generator is being built by WPA. This is but one of many improvements made by WPA at the farm, where poultry houses have been built, new barn additions made, a new kitchen and mess hall facilities installed and a dam constructed to give a greater water supply."

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the following work in North Adams, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: On Sperry Avenue between Elm and Lincoln Streets, North Adams, WPA has strengthened the bank of the Hoosac River with an 80-foot long and 11-foot deep retaining stone wall. Public and private property will be benefited by this reconstruction.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted the following work in Woburn, Massachusetts. WPA Bulletin: Reforestation, terracing and landscaping of 100 acres of land, including Horn Pond, Woburn's major water shed, has been completed by the Woburn WPA. More than 100 men were employed.

Town annual report: The following work has been done under projects, since April, 1934: Hosmer St., from Mass. Ave., to School St., widening, straightening and grading 3,168 feet, using sixteen men, 1 foreman, four trucks, from April 5 to October 25. Fire protection water holes along the street were also constructed with F.E.R.A. labor.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers constructed an infirmary in Chicopee, Massachusetts. From a W.P.A. Bulletin: One hundred and fifty-two patients will be accommodated in the new Chicopee WPA City Infirmary Project now under construction. Plans include a two-story central building with one story wings on either side and the building of a two-story cottage for the hospital superintendent. The location and status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

Description of a 1937 W.P.A. project: "Blue Hills Reservation; two baseball diamonds and four tennis courts were built in the sports area south of Hoosicwhisick Pond in Milton." Hoosicwhisick Pond is also known as Houghton's Pond.

Oxford, Massachusetts's old Huguenot Steamer No. 1 Fire Station is located on Main Street in North Oxford. A second-story community meeting space was in the building was known as Huguenot Hall. Huguenot Hall received assistance from the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s. The building now houses a firefighting museum managed by the Oxford Firefighters Association.

Hunt Recreation Center in Concord, Massachusetts was constructed as a New Deal project. It was built in part with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. supplied a grant of $27,653 for the project, whose total cost was $61,494. Construction occurred between Nov. 1935 and Aug. 1936. PWA Docket No. MA W1028.

In 1938-1941 the WPA constructed this Boston subway extension, part of the Boston Elevated Railway which now appears to be part of the MBTA Green Line underground light rail route. WPA Bulletin, 1937: HUNTINGTON AVENUE SUBWAY TO EMPLOY 1400 A YEAR Work for 1400 men for about a year will be provided by the $2,000,000 Huntington avenue subway in Boston on which initial construction has begun. At its peak the project will employ about 1400 on a six-shift basis. Engineers, engaged in preliminary work, carefully inspected every building and every building foundation along the route of the subway extension to determine what steps will...

Hyde Park Ave. in Boston, between Walk Hill St. and Metropolitan Ave., was reconstructed as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

Lee, Massachusetts's former Hyde School was enlarged in 1936 by an addition constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. supplied a grant of $56,244 to the project, whose total cost was $124,999. Construction occurred between April 1936 and Jan. 1937. PWA Docket No. MA W1326. The school is now a senior living complex and senior center.

An incinerator in Newton, MA was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in 1934-5. The exact location and status of the facility is presently unknown to Living New Deal. PWA Docket No. MA 2127

"In Attleboro, crews labored to install curbings, dig trenches for sewer and water lines and drained a wet area near the current Willett School ..."

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "These are only a few of the many WPA projects in Winthrop which have given material benefits to the town in addition to providing unemployed men and women with work. Winthrop also has had its share of street, sewer and water main projects. Space does not permit mention of the many projects which have been completed and are in progress at Fort Banks."

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "Before work relief began building things in Winthrop, the high school athletic teams were forced to play at Ingleside Park which was partly a swamp. This is also being reclaimed by WPA."

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) furnished the labor for the construction of two 500-foot stone-walled drains at Ironstone Street in Millville, Massachusetts.

The facility now known as Jodrey State Fish Pier was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the Great Depression. The PWA supplied a grant of $522,046 for the project, whose total cost was $1,137,311. Construction occurred between April 1937 and Sept. 1938. PWA Docket No. MA W1354