Springfield Sites

WPA Bulletin, 1937: "Springfield- Years of petitioning by residents of Connecticut Avenue for a good road have brought results. The city has started a WPA project to resurface the road."

Artist Theodore Hussa, Jr. of Burlington, VT painted four murals for the Eastern States Exposition, with support from the Works Progress Administration Arts Project. Each mural depicts a major Vermont industry: Recreeation; Quarrying; Dairying; and Sugaring. Each murals measures 5' wide by 8' tall and is painted in "oil on special material." They were to be installed in Vermont Pavilion at the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA, in September 1941. Their present whereabouts is unknown. A 1941 Burlington Free Press and Times article reads, "Gov. William H. Willis and Pierre Zwick, director of the Vermont art project of the  WPA, are shown...

W.P.A. Bulletin, 1937: "ew projects will build two huge dikes in Springfield and its sister community, West Springfield, at a cost to the government of $304,000. At its peak, next spring, the projects will employ about 500. ... The Springfield dike will extend from the North End bridge to the Boston & Albany Railroad bridge. There will be 3000 feet of earth embankment and 1000 feet of concrete seawall. It will cost $132,000. No concrete work will be done during freezing weather."

Many of the projects of the New Deal involved large scale public works projects that required hundreds of workers. While this type of project was incredibly important to help alleviate widespread unemployment, there was also a belief that the United States should not forsake its cultural heritage. As such, Federal Project Number One was formed as a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to give work to so-called "starving artists," as well as musicians, playwrights, and writers. The Federal Art Project is particularly well known for creating murals in public places across the country. In 1937, artist Umberto Romano...

The Springfield Armory began "as a major arsenal under the authority of General George Washington early in the Revolutionary War" and "began manufacturing muskets in 1794." (www.nps.gov.) Renovation and repair was conducted under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including razing some building and replacing others with fireproof structures, as well as strengthening and repairing the floors. The details—including description, Official Project Numbers, total costs, and sponsors—of more than two dozen W.P.A. projects undertaken at the historic armory can be found in the DoD Heritage Assessment cited below.

A sizable storm sewer construction project in Springfield, Mass. was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. MA 1177

A sizable street construction project in Springfield, Mass. was undertaken with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. PWA Docket No. MA 1176

"This bridge is part of a street construction program undertaken to allow traffic passing through the city to bypass the congested business area. The project consisted of the construction of approximately 11,300 feet of highway connecting Roosevelt Avenue at one end with Houghton Avenue at the other, the construction of a rigid frame bridge at State Street with ramps up to State Street, and the construction of the Watershops Pond Bridge illustrated on this page. This bridge has steel girders and concrete spans with hung arches and stone facing on concrete piers and abutments resting on pile foundations. The total length...