Cleveland Sites

Federal aid from the Emergency Relief Administration to match $200,000 appropriated by Mississippi legislature was awarded to repair and improve the six state universities and colleges. Delta State Teachers College received $15,595.20 for dormitory renovations, auditorium repairs, and painting other buildings. Complete interior renovation of two men’s dormitories began August 25, 1934, for an expected cost of $15,000 for new plumbing, lights, wall and ceiling plastering, and new woodwork. Hardee Hall, originally constructed 1912-1914, and Taylor Hall, constructed 1912-1914, were part of the Bolivar County Agricultural High School and among the first buildings for Delta State Teachers College. Hardee was...

The annex to the Hill Demonstration School was constructed with funds from the WPA. The building was dedicated in 1939 and named for the director of the demonstration school. The Art Moderne building was designed by campus engineer J. S. Sigler, and was demolished in 1974.

PWA Project Miss. 1225 was constructed at Delta State Teacher's College (now Delta State University) in 1938 (MDAH) to serve as part of training in applied home management. Currently named Marshall House, the building is a residence for the Vice President for Academic Affairs (Bulletin of Delta State University).

The Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) "...did add to its physical plant with the completion in 1936 of an outdoor swimming pool with $20,000 from the Works Progress Administration" (Gunn & Castle, 1980, p. 45). The pool opened in May, 1936 for the senior class party. The pool was eventually demolished, and the site remodeled into a natatorium.

The 1939 PWA library constructed at Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) was designed in an Italian Renaissance/Mediterranean style. It was used as the library until 1968, and has been used as the Fielding Wright Art Center since then. A rear addition was added in 1954, another addition in 1970, and the building was renovated in 1978.

The 1938-39 Art Moderne Project Miss. 1225 is "...a rare surviving example of a university gymnasium from the period before World War II. ...maintains its interior and exterior integrity" (MDAH). The gym was expanded with a rear addition of a second gym in 1947, which was demolished in 2000. Brick veneer was added in 1964, and the building was renovated in 1975-76. It remains in use today, and is prominently located at the front of the campus on Leflore Circle.

The gymnasium was constructed 1938-1939 as Public Works Administration project W1232. Architect E. L. Malvaney designed the gymnasium with a seating capacity of 1000, offices for athletic officials, dressing rooms, and a band hall on the second floor. It was converted to use as the Girls' gymnasium when a new one was constructed 1946 for boys. A grant of $16,930 was provided toward the total cost of $37,827. The project was approved 6/22/38, started 9/33/38, and completed 4/17/39. The building was demolished July 2019.

The Nailor High School was initially known as the Cleveland Consolidated School for African American students. It was designed by architect E. L. Malvaney and approved as WPA No. 50,022 in the fall of 1940. The monolithic concrete building contained two wings of classrooms connected by an auditorium seating 400, with a proposed cost of $63,000. WPA approved $25,394 toward the cost of the new school. "Nailor's poured concrete construction and Art Moderne style is almost unique for black schools of the same period and would have made it one of the finest African American school buildings of its time"...

Architects N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town designed the new Cleveland Hospital, constructed 1938-1939 with assistance from Works Progress Administration funds. The new hospital could serve 32 patients, and housed nurses' quarters and contained "the most modern equipment" (Solicit funds, p. 8). WPA allotted $3,190 in funds toward the completion cost of $55,000 sponsored by the city of Cleveland. A portion of the hospital was renovated in 1991 as part of the new Delta State School of Nursing. The remainder was demolished 1995.

The WPA-built Art Moderne style armory adjacent to Delta State Teachers College (now Delta State University) provided facilities beginning in 1946 for one of the earliest guidance centers. Delta State later acquired the armory building and it served as an art studio until it was demolished in 1971.

The Colonial Revival style former post office was constructed in 1934, and currently is used as the Cleveland Police Department. The building was the first federal building constructed in Bolivar County (Fazio, et al., 1979).