• Ah-Gwah-Ching Sanitarium Artwork - Walker MN
    Between 1935 and 1943, the Ah-Gwah-Ching (“out of doors” in Ojibwe) sanitarium housed “more the 160 items including prints, watercolors, oils and woodcarvings by such artists as Bob Brown, Henry Bukowski, Reathel Keppen, Dorothea Lau, Alexander Oja and Bennet Swanson,” all created through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). When the sanitarium, which opened in 1907 to treat tuberculosis, closed in 2008, the Minnesota Historical Society became the steward of many of these artworks. They now comprise the Ah-Gwah-Ching Archive, much of which can be viewed through this page of the Minnesota Historical Society.
  • Baker Playground Building - St. Paul MN
    St. Paul's west side "contains two W.P.A. built recreational structures, the Harriet Island Pavilion and the Baker Playground building at 670 S. Waseca Street."
  • Como Park Zoo Improvements - St. Paul MN
    The WPA constructed several structures at the Como Zoo in the 1930s. From the Como Zoo's website: “In 1897, the City of Saint Paul fenced-in a pasture in Como Park to hold three deer gifted to them, thus beginning Como Zoo. Thirty-some years later the first major construction project was federally funded through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The 1930s’ WPA projects included the bear grotto, Monkey Island, the barn and the Main Zoo building.” The following quotes are from Larry Millet's Guide to the Twin Cities (2007). Gateposts: "These brick and stone gateposts originally stood at the front entrance of the...
  • Fort Snelling - St. Paul MN
    The fort dates back the early nineteenth century, when it was used to “promote and protext the interests of the United States in the region’s fur trade” (historicfortsnelling.org). Between 1938 and 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) performed structural renovation and historic restoration work at this site, including sidewalks, sewers, porches, and garages. National Park Service: "Fort Snelling benefited from New Deal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The programs provided funding for a general reconditioning of the fort, including landscaping and infrastructure. Workers graded and resurfaced existing roads, built new sidewalks and curbs and...
  • Hamline Park Playground Building - St. Paul MN
    Designed by African-American architect Clarence "Cal" Wigington, the Hamline Park Playground building was completed in 1938. The building now houses an art shop and studio.
  • Harriet Island Pavilion - St. Paul MN
    From the Minnesota Historical Society: "The Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion, formerly known as the Harriet Island Pavilion, is significant in St. Paul’s recreational history as a well-preserved example of the work of Clarence Wesley Wigington, the first black architect hired by the city. Harriet Island, originally named for St. Paul’s first schoolteacher, Harriet E. Bishop, became an enclave for healthy living in the bustling city of St. Paul in 1900. Dr. Justus Ohage, St. Paul’s health officer, bought the island and built a new park there, complete with public bathhouse and beach, playgrounds, handball and tennis courts, cafeteria, bandstand, pavilions, zoo, childcare...
  • Hidden Falls Regional Park Improvements - St. Paul MN
    Landscape architect Horace Cleveland, known for his leadership in developing the Twin Cities’ park system, set aside the land now known as Hidden Falls Regional Park in 1887. The spring-fed waterfall is indeed “hidden” in a small ravine on the north end of the park, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The falls feed into a small creek, which runs south into the Mississippi. The park stayed largely undeveloped until the WPA constructed a stone staircase leading from the falls up to the East River Parkway and a lookout area at the top of the river bluff.
  • Highland Park Pool (demolished) and Bathhouse - St. Paul MN
    In 1935-36, the WPA built a pool and bathhouse at Highland Park. The pool has long since been replaced. The stone bathhouse remains, though it is now boarded up.
  • Holman Field Administration Building - St. Paul MN
    The Holman Field Administration Building at St. Paul Downtown Airport in St. Paul, Minnesota was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: "The Holman Field Administration Building is significant under criterion C as one of the most accomplished works of Clarence Wesley Wigington, the first Black architect for the City of St. Paul. The building is also significant under criterion A as an important WPA project completed in cooperation with the City of St. Paul, and as well-preserved example of the Moderne style. Wigington's career as an architect with the City spanned 34 years and...
  • Indian Mounds Park: Limestone Walls - St. Paul MN
    Indian Mounds Regional Park sits on limestone and sandstone bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River and downtown St. Paul. It features six Native American burial mounds created roughly 1,500-2,000 years ago. The WPA constructed limestone walls throughout the park.
  • Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace - St. Paul MN
    The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace is a unique New Deal project located in Como Park in St. Paul. Saint Paul Almanac: "Labor for the fireplace was provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal relief program that provided jobs for unemployed workers during the Great Depression. An old newspaper article said that the stone used to build the fireplace came from the Saint Paul City Hall, which had been demolished three years earlier in 1933."
  • Minnesota State Capitol Improvements - St. Paul MN
    The WPA did extensive work on the building: rehabilitating, altering, and adding additional space. Redecorating the walls, ceilings, and Capitol dome. Repairing marble floors. Hundreds of windows weather-stripped. Expansion of the basement area via excavation, creating additional storage space. Improvement to heating system. Plumbing and wiring utilities modernized. Tunnel constructed, connecting Capitol to State Historical building. Two storage rooms added to library. Roof rebuilt. Landscaping. Sidewalks extended. Painting.
  • Minnesota State Fairgrounds - St. Paul MN
    The WPA built several structures for the Minnesota State Fair from 1935-1940, including the art deco Horticulture building, the horse barn and decorative friezes, the sheep and poultry barn, the swine barn, the commissary building and the 4-H building. From a 2011 Finance & Commerce article: “If the Fair had a great architectural era, said Granger , it would have been the years before and during World War II, when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed some of the most beloved Art Deco-influenced buildings, among them the Horse Barn, 4-H, Sheep & Poultry, Swine and Commissary.”
  • Northern Pacific Railway Locomotive No. 2650 (demolished) - Saint Paul MN
    In 1933, the Public Works Administration (PWA) authorized a loan to the Northern Pacific Railway for $1,250,000 to purchase new locomotives. The Interstate Commerce Commission then issued a certificate of approval for the loan, although for a slightly lesser amount - $1,220,000. The loan allowed the Pacific Railway to purchase ten A-2 class locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works. They were delivered in 1934, numbers 2650 to 2659.  These engines would carry passenger trains between Jamestown, North Dakota and Missoula, Montana – a 906 mile-long route, one of the longest in the U.S. at the time. On October 13, 1934, The Missoulian...
  • West Minnehaha Recreation Center - St. Paul MN
    One of architect Clarence “Cap” Wigington’s distinctive St. Paul structures, the West Minnehaha Recreation Center was built between 1937 and 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Wigington was the first black municipal architect in the country, and many of his designs were brought to completion by New Deal funding and local laborers. See the Harriet Island Pavilion (now Clarence W. Wigington Pavilion) and Hamline Playground Building for other examples of his WPA-era work in St. Paul. The West Minnehaha Recreation Center, known as “West Minne” by locals, was built of Platteville limestone and has received many additions and renovations since...