Maine Sites

The Skowhegan State Fair is “The Nations Oldest Consecutively Running Agricultural Fair” Celebrating 197 Years. During the Great Depression, various public works projects were initiated in town, including the construction of a grandstand for the racetrack. According to the Independent Reporter, "The Grandstand project which includes the construction of a ticket office and other improvements calls for four carpenters and two laborers. The amount appropriated in ERA funds is $891" A later article reports "The carpenter-foreman at the Fairgrounds is Ralph Buxton. At the time a crew is engaged in building a ticket office as part of the new grandstand equipment. "The Grandstand,...

The historic U.S. Border Inspection Station at Ferry Point in Calais, Maine was constructed with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in conjunction with the Treasury Department. The Colonial Revival facility and its attendant garage were constructed in 1936. The facility, since altered, is still in service.

According to the 1934 town report, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was involved in "Constructing a dam back of the Grange Hall at Fairfield Center, to make an auxiliary water supply for the fire department." During a site visit, an older gentleman at the grange hall did remember a fire pond in the back, before the current highway 139 was built in the 1960s. Further investigation at the site revealed the concrete pipe that regulated the water in the pond.

The Skowhegan Fire Station was built in 1904. According to a local news article from 1935, FERA carried out extensive improvements to the station: “A thorough cleaning of the interior of the Skowhegan fire station is being followed by the application of fresh coats of paint and varnish. The work is being done by a FERA crew. Improvements at the station are more extensive than anticipated due to the fact that money has been found available with which to increase the size of the crew. Four additional painters and four additional laborers have been added, thanks to the fact that an...

According to the 1933 and '34 town reports, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) were involved in: "REPAIRS TO HOUSES The CWA laid the last section of flooring in the Central Station and built a new hose drying rack and also painted and papered the interior of Hose No. 4 house. Hose No. 3 house interior was painted last spring by the driver there. Previous to the CWA work only minor repairs were attempted." "The construction of fire prevention pools in the rural section" (1934) REPAIRS TO HOUSES "A concrete wall was put under the west side of Hose 4...

An article by Gerald Reed in the Lewiston Evening Journal Jan. 3rd, 1935 reported that the CWA helped with the funding of the construction of a sub fire station in East Auburn and the renovation of another sub fire station on Court Street on Goff Hill. Total cost of the projects was $13,846.95 with the city covering $4,396.40 for the materials. The sub station on Center Street was rebuilt in 1974, and the the sub station on Court Street on Goff Hill was demolished and a new station built nearby on Minot Avenue in 1972.

A Bureau of Public Roads project, "Fish House Bridge was built to provide a grade separation for a small access road to a boat landing used by local fishermen in the Otter Creek area. The bridge is faced in native granite and is distinguished by its semicircular arch. -- Historic American Engineering Record"

While going through the town reports at the Wilton History Museum, the 1938 town report has a brief notation "Floating Bog Project WPA - $2,000" which on its own would be too cryptic to figure out. Thankfully, when shown this to a couple of members of the historical society, they brought out a folder featuring 7 photos of the project itself and some historical context. Apparently in the aftermath of the 1938 hurricane, a large mass of floating vegetation at the north end of Wilson Lake had broken off and was blocking the entrance to a canal system that supplied...

Mercer ME, a small town of only 408 residents at the 1930 Census, received federal help for relief work, which included flood mitigation. Contributions from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Public Works Administration (PWA), and the Civil Works Administration (CWA) are mentioned in the 1936 Town Report. The Report lists following details about the relief work and flood control efforts carried out in 1936: Two people are listed in connection with a 1933 CWA project. Eighteen people and three companies are listed in connection with repairs after the 1936 flood. "Flood Project, WPA, Beech Hill Towns Portion $1,171.94."  

This CCC Camp in Indian Township was called the "Far East" 192nd co. camp, and was under the immediate supervision of the Maine Forest Service from June 1933 to June 1941. The Far East Camp focused on forest culture, road construction and maintenance, and extended West Street on what is presently called the Stud Mill Road. During WWII the camp was modified, in part, by the addition of a barbed wire fence, additional fences, and four guard towers. After approval from the U.S. Truman Committee this camp then became a Prisoner of War camp in 1944 and housed from 250-500 German...

The annual report of the Forestry Division of the Park Commission for the year ending December 31, 1934 reads: "This branch of the Park Department was helped greatly by the Federal Relief Projects; the C. W. A. during the first four months of 1934, with six tree workers and number of laborers for woods clearing, and again under the E. R. A. from the middle of September to the end of the year with two tree climbers. On all this work the Park Department maintained its own foreman and furnished the truck and driver, also all tools, equipment and materials were...

The Works Progress Administration completed pine blister eradication work in the town of Bethel. 1936 Below is a United States Department of Agriculture report of white pine blister rust for the Town of Bethel, year 1936. "Acreage worked, 4254 Crew man hours, 6652 Bushes destroyed. 48,094 Amount spent for labor, $2,932.16 Amount spent for crew transportation, $240.96 This year has completed the mapping of all the pine growth in Bethel. This project has furnished employment for 14 men during the summer months and four men during the winter. The town has contributed nothing toward this project." 1937 Below is a United States Department of Agriculture...

Fort Knox is a massive granite fort built to protect the Penobscot river in the aftermath of the failure of the US to protect river towns and the valuable lumber trade from British depredations during the Revolution, the War of 1812, and northern border tensions around 1838-39. Construction began in 1844 and continued until 1869. It was used intermittently and never saw action. In 1923, the US military sold it as surplus to the State of Maine for $2,121. During 1935-1936, a work crew from the Ellsworth CCC Co. 159 helped transform the fort into a major tourist destination. According to...

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted improvement work at the former Fort Levett on Cushing Island in Portland, Maine. Project information: “Make general improvements to grounds” Official Project Number: 765‐11‐2‐3 Total project cost: $50,545.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Williams, U.S. Army

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted improvement work at the former Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island in Portland, Maine. Project information: “Rehabilitation of buildings including plumbing, heating, and electrical” Official Project Number: 13‐2‐11‐108 Total project cost: $40,000.00 Sponsor: War Department ‐Q.M.C. “Fts. Williams, McKinley, & Preble: Improve roads” Official Project Number: 165‐2‐11‐8 Total project cost: $189,576.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Williams, U.S. Army

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted improvement work at the former Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island in Portland, Maine. Project information: “Rehabilitation of buildings including plumbing, heating, and electrical” Official Project Number: 13‐2‐11‐109 Total project cost: $40,000.00 Sponsor: War Department ‐Q.M.C. “Fts. Williams, McKinley, & Preble: Improve roads” Official Project Number: 165‐2‐11‐8 Total project cost: $189,576.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Fort Williams, U.S. Army

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) conducted extensive improvement and development work at the former Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Work was largely sponsored by the Commanding Officer, Fort Williams, U.S. Army (the remaining by the War Department). Project information: "Remodel and improve buildings" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐11‐5 Total project cost: $271,131.00 "Reconstruct and improve roads and sidewalks" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐11‐14 Total project cost: $146,732.00 "Construct chapel" Official Project Number: 65‐3‐11‐164 Total project cost: $13,082.00 "Construct tent floors" Official Project Number: 65‐3‐11‐169 Total project cost: $7,569.00 "Improve grounds" Official Project Number: 745‐11‐2‐2 Total project cost: $3,849.00 "Construct tent floors" Official Project Number: 865‐11‐2‐11 Total project cost: $13,300.00 "Construct club building and...

CCC 130th Company Baxter State Park: Foster Field (Millinocket Maine) (June 1934 – October 1934) Excerpt from Schlenker, In The Public Interest: On June 1, 1934, the 130th Co. moved from Alfred to Baxter State Park and Mt. Katahdin. Field work was placed under the State Park Service, and Forestry #SP2 was assigned to this camp. At Mt. Katahdin, the work was recreational, including the building of trails, camp sites, cabins and dams. In a newspaper article by Kenneth Fuller Lee, dated October 7, 1934, the significance of the 130th Co. stay at Baxter Park is described. “Last June the boys of the 130th Co....

Gardner Commons is a low income housing apartment subsidized by the federal governments HUD (Housing and Urban Development Division) that utilizes the former Bucksport High School/Jr High, a PWA project. The Bangor Daily News reported in 2009 that $250,000 was spent to convert the Junior High school building into elderly apartments. It's located at 67 Elm St. A June 8, 1936 article in the Bangor Daily News reported that Bucksport was considering voting on a $25,000 gift for a new High School combined with the issue of bonds worth at least $26,500 to sell to the Federal Emergency administration. A June 11...

According to the community notes of April 25, 1935 Garrat Schenck School “During the vacation the FERA workers finished several very much needed bits of work for the school. A table for library use has been made for grade eight and a splendid cabinet has been constructed for scientific apparatus. Shelves have been placed in grades 3 and 4. Scrap lumber left by FERA workers will be utilized by the manual training department in their next project.”

"Ernest was... instrumental in the building of Gyger Gym at Greely. He and Herman Sweetser made a study in 1937 of the Federal Public Works Administration program, with the idea of financing a gymnasium for the school. In spite of considerable opposition, they persisted, and were able to continue. PWA Project No. 1097F was accepted in 1938 at a special Town Meeting. With the Town having to pay only half the cost, work started in October. The name was originally going to be Cumberland Gymnasium, but upon the unexpected death of School Superintendent, John Thomas Gyger, one week...

Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport is a Hancock county owned, public use airport located in Trenton, Maine. During the summer months activity at the airport is the busiest in the State of Maine. From 1927 until 1934 there were discussions and investigations for a suitable location by the Bar Harbor chamber of commerce of the need of an airport to service the Bar Harbor region. "The Bar Harbor special town meeting was held on February 13, 1934, at 2 p.m. Julian Emery, the Moderator, read Article 2 to the meeting and then assured the voters that "the Jordan River mentioned was the one...

"REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF JONESPORT SCHOOL DISTRICT To the Municipal Officers and Citizens of the Town of Jonesport: In accord with the provisions of Section 3 of "AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF JONESPORT SCHOOL DISTRICT" (S. P. 253—L. D. 203), it becomes our duty as members of the Board of Trustees to submit a report of the doings and the financial condition of said District for the fiscal year ending March 1938. This Project was set up under the provisions and with the cooperation of the United States Administration of Public Works and the Town...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) surfaced and replaced the sidewalks on Highland Road in Bridgton ME. According to a 1933 town report, on "Dec. 15 Fifty men to be employed on local CWA projects by next Saturday is the goal which is set for Bridgton, although the plan which has been adopted of selecting these men through the federal employment bureau instead of allowing the selection to be done locally, is handicapping the work some. The first job to be started was the surfacing of Highland Road and tearing up the old sidewalk."  

The August 24 1933 issue of the Independent Reporter lists 7 CWA projects for Somerset County, including $8,000 for the Horsetail Hill road from 12 corners all the way to Cass Corner in Cornville. A February 15, 1934 article adds some history.. From Clarks corner to Parkers corner, a large number of rocks to be used in the road were being taken from a former stagecoach stop called Deansville Depot. In clearing out the land for farming, an area next to the Bagley road was a dumping ground for large rocks and boulders and became the place to gather to...

Constructed under the Federal Emergency Relief Agency/Maine Emergency Relief Agency, with with an 1800 x 75 graded runway and an 1800 x 100 graded runway as part of a state wide airport construction program. The legislative session of the Maine State Legislature of July 22, 1940 issued a report from the state Defense Commission on the pressing need of 6 military airbases out of which Houlton was one. In 1940, the National Youth Administration built a cabin and a hangar at the Houlton Airport. The structures were built as part of  the Aviation Mechanics Project, a program founded “at the Houlton...

The W.P.A. developed what is now known as Houlton International Airport, in Houlton, Maine. W.P.A. project info: "Construct municipal airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐11‐102 Total project cost: $669,295.00 Sponsor: Town of Houlton "Improvements to municipal airport" Official Project Number: 65‐1‐11‐2213 Total project cost: $45,805.00 Sponsor: War Department "Construct municipal airport" Official Project Number: 165‐1‐11‐44 Total project cost: $424,820.00 Sponsor: War Department

A bridge carrying Mingo Loop Road over Hunter Cove on Rangeley Lake was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934.

Indian Island is an island in the Penobscot River in Penobscot County that is the main reservation for the Penobscot Indian tribe. The WPA was involved in bringing electricity to the island under the Rural Electrification Administration, paving some roads, installing a few street lights, and building a sewer system and water mains that were connected to the neighboring town of Old Town. 30 local men were employed in the work.

The historic U.S. Border Inspection Station at Boundary Line Road in Fort Fairfield, Maine was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The Colonial Revival facility was completed in 1934.

The historic U.S. Border Inspection Station on Route 229 / Grand Falls Rd. in Limestone, Maine was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The Colonial Revival (Cape Cod)-style facility was built in 1933.

The historic U.S. Border Inspection Station on Boundary Rd. in Orient  Maine was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The Colonial Revival facility (along with attendant garage) was built in 1937.

The historic former U.S. Border Inspection Station on Border Lane off U.S. 2 in Houlton, Maine was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The facility was completed in 1934. Wikipedia: "This border crossing was closed in the early 1970s when Interstate 95 was completed immediately to the north. The Canada border station, which was sometimes called Richmond Road, was demolished. The US border station remains in disrepair."

Original name was the Fifth Street Junior High School "The two new junior high schools in Bangor were built and equipped at the cost of $740,000. Every cent of this was paid by the W.P.A. (Works Projects Administration) City Manager Wallace designed the two school grounds. The new Fifth Street Junior High School is surrounded by walks, a cyclone fence, shrubs, vines, and trees. Approximately 2,000 feet of concrete walks were constructed in front of the both new Junior High Schools in Bangor. There is a tarred driveway encircling the building with a parking area at each end. Over 1 1/3 miles...

"ERA BUILDS A SEWER SYSTEM by Frank Gibson The City of Lewiston has been confronted with a serious situation caused by a stagnant and disease-ridden brook which flowed through the sub-urban section of the city. Valuable land was going to waste as people did not care to build in this section on account of the oder that arose from this brook during the summer months. Money was appropriated by the city officials to put in a drainage system, but due to the fact that only small amounts could be appropriated yearly it would have taken twenty years to complete this sewer...

One of many campgrounds that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed throughout Maine, this one in Baxter State Park in 1934. Katahdin Stream is a popular family campground providing access to Mount Katahdin via the Appalachian Trail as well as access to numerous streams and ponds in the Kidney / Daicey area.  

As part of a state-wide airport construction project, the Maine Emergency Relief Administration provided the labor for the construction of the Kennebunk Airport, a NW-SE 2000' x 100' graded runway. It was abandoned 50 years ago; the site now houses a wastewater treatment facility.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Kerwin Brook CCC Camp in the unincorporated area T36 MD BPP, in the vicinity of Wesley ME. 160th Company Kerwin Brook Camp (Wesley, Maine) October 1939 – June 1942 Excerpt from “In The Public Interest – The Civilian Conservation Corps In Maine” by Jon A. Schlenker, Norman A. Wetherington, Austin H. Wilkins. In October 1939, the 160th Company moved from Stow, Maine to Wesley Maine to establish the Kerwin Brook Camp. During the months from July to August, the cadre erected four barracks, a kitchen and mess hall, officers' and foreman's quarters, washrooms and toilets, a classroom building,...

"In mid-February 1941, Congress appropriated $693,125 to the WPA to construct three 3,500-foot runways and appropriate navigational aids. With the full cooperation of the Owls Head Board of Selectmen, the principal parties signed a formal agreement in early March, and within an hour after the receipt of the Civil Aeronautics Administration certificate of navigation on April 24, 1941, construction began, with 10 men digging test pits under the direction of Rockland civil engineer Franklin H. Wood... By the summer of 1941, the WPA employed more than 100 men to clear the land and construct the runways. With the growing world crisis...

The Lafayette School in Sanford, Maine was constructed as a New Deal project; the facility was built with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $36,739 grant for the project, whose total cost was $82,347. PWA Docket No. ME 1115