PWA Project 1343 for street improvement in Shelby was approved 9/16/1938 for a grant of $20,454. Contracts were awarded 11/30/1938 and construction began 12/5/1938. Work was completed 3/22/1939 for a total cost of $47,638. Mississippi House Bill 23 authorized the… read more
The city of Biloxi embarked on a city-wide street improvement program to surface streets and provide storm drains, funded by the Works Progress Administration between 1935 and 1937. WP-53, 2000 and 3483 for three street paving projects were completed. WP-53… read more
Public Works Administration project x1377 was approved for a grant of $33,750 on 9/17/1938. The total cost of improvements was approximately $75,000 and were reported to be “one of the most complete street paving system of any town its size… read more
A Depression-era street pavement project in Waveland, Mississippi was undertaken with a grant by the Public Works Administration (PWA). Opening bids were advertised for the $49,000 street paving project in Waveland following the approval of the PWA project 4408. The… read more
Amory initiated a street paving program in 1938, using $100,000 in municipal bonds, a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of $81,818, and a Works Progress Administration (WPA) contribution of $20,000. PWA project x1284 was approved 9/7/1938. Construction began November 23,… read more
The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided $150,000 to establish the experimental sweet potato starch plant, erected under supervision of Dr. F. H. Thurber, who designed the machinery. The experimental plant was leased to the Sweet Potato Growers co-op for… read more
The swimming pool was Mississippi project 6871 approved on June 20, 1934. A $4,000 loan and a $1, 783 grant was provided by the Public Works Administration toward the estimated total cost of $6,500. The bids were advertised on August… read more
A new swimming pool and municipal park were built in 1934 using Civil Works Administration funds. The school playground was furnished, athletic field improved with grading and concrete seats, teacher’s home renovated, and repairs made to the high school. Dedication… read more
The superintendent’s house for the Hurricane School complex was constructed 1938 by the National Youth Administration as project W. P. 5206, Application 921. The stone veneer house used stone from the NYA quarry in Pontotoc County and shingles from the… read more
The National Youth Administration (NYA) constructed a teacher’s home in Minter City between 1937-1939 as W. P. 5857 application #1102. The construction is documented photographically in the Series 2018 NYA scrapbook. Location of the building was determined from the map… read more
One of two teacherages constructed for the Hickory Flat school district, this building is no longer extant. It was probably demolished to allow the construction of the new gymnasium, as its former location was where the gymnasium parking lot is… read more
This teacherage (meant to house teachers for the town school) was one of two constructed by the National Youth Administration in 1939 for the Hickory Flat school. It remains in use by the school.
The National Youth Administration completed a teacherage at the Purvis school as W. P. 4487, Application #82 Purvis Teachers Home No. 1. The house foundation was “…placed at old site on school grounds. Faulty construction and other reasons necessitated moving… read more
The teachers house at Clara Consolidated School was constructed 1938 by the National Youth Administration. It is extant on the school grounds, but current use is unknown.
The National Youth Administration built a combination teacher’s home and dormitory for the Lincoln County Training School for African Americans as W. P. 4306 in 1937-1938. Construction was supervised by John Quincy Martin and employed 20 boys for four months…. read more
“Tishomingo State Park is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, north of Tupelo. Activities in the park include canoeing, rock climbing, fishing and hiking.[2] The park pays tribute to Tishomingo County’s remarkable geography of… read more
Triangle Homes for African American families was constructed 1940-1941 by W. J. McGee and Son for a base bid of $325,866. Two-story row houses are still in use in the triangle formed by South Maple Street and South 4th Avenue…. read more
The concrete, one-story building was constructed in 1934 at a then-cost of $11,000, of which the county furnished $4,000 and the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) furnished the remainder. The structure was designed by A. H. Town and N. W…. read more
A 35-unit subsistence homestead community, located 5 miles north of Tupelo off the Natchez Trace consisted of modest, one-story frame houses. Twenty of the units remain, and are owned by the National Park Service since transfer in 1940, and were… read more
The one-story, brick Colonial Revival style post office was constructed in 1939. It is currently in use as the Chancery Clerk’s office. Details include a basement, semicircular granite steps leading to the entrance, cast iron railings, and a limestone frieze… read more
A new county jail and improvements to the existing county courthouse were approved as PWA project 1272 July 23, 1938. E. L. Malvaney was architect for the two-story concrete Art Deco jail. Construction began 10/10/1938 and was completed 3/29/1939. PWA… read more
T. M. Strider and Company was in charge of construction for the four-lane steel-reinforced concrete bridge replacement for the old two-lane wooden bridge across the Hilgard Cut, connecting the University with Oxford. The original cut was hand dug by enslaved… read more
The CWA and ERA completed repairs and improvements in state institutions across Mississippi in 1934 and 1935. At the University of Mississippi, the interior and exterior of two women’s dorms were painted, music hall and campus residence were repaired and… read more
At the University of Mississippi, “…funds from New Deal agencies were also used for improvements in the university’s athletic facilities. The baseball field was graded and enhanced and a new grandstand was added. The golf course was also enlarged and… read more
Barnard was built in 1938 as a women’s dormitory, and attached to existing dormitory Isom Hall, built in 1929. It is currently used to house ROTC at the University of Mississippi. It is defined as a “contributing building” in the… read more
These three dormitories were constructed in Georgian Revival style as Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works Mississippi project 1216-DS. The buildings were dedicated October 21-22, 1938, along with three other new dorms built on the campus of the University of… read more
The Eastbridge Faculty and Staff apartments at the University of Mississippi were constructed by the PWA and consisted of eight, 2-bedroom apartments. The building has since been demolished.
Constructed primarily with Works Progress Administration funding, the University of Mississippi built 22 vernacular cottage-style houses on a new street named Faculty Row in 1939 (Walton, 2008). The three-bedroom houses ranged from 1200 to 1600 square feet, and were sided… read more
Kennon Observatory, one of 39 buildings constructed by the PWA on the campus during the years 1936-1941, was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2011. “Kennon Observatory was constructed in 1939, and once again, R. W. Naef was the architect. Naef… read more
Leavell Hall, was initially built as a men’s dormitory housing 68 students. It is one of six dormitories constructed on campus with PWA funds during 1938. All six buildings remain and are in current use, or slated for renovation and… read more
A project grant of $20,000 supported the construction of an Olympic-sized swimming pool west of the gymnasium in July 1936.
The Physics Building of the University of Mississippi campus, was built in 1939 as one of the last construction projects during the Public Works Administration. It was renamed Lewis Hall in 1977 for Dr. Arthur Lewis, a physics professor from… read more
“Congress granted permission for universities to use Works Progress Administration funds for fraternal housing. The Sigma Alpha Epsilon House, occupied in the fall of 1935, was the first built on Fraternity Row after the ban on fraternities and sororities was… read more
Somerville was built in 1938 as a women’s dormitory under Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (which later became the PWA) Mississippi Project 1216-DS. It currently houses the English faculty and the Center for Writing and Rhetoric on the University… read more
The concrete structure football stadium was begun in 1937 with a capacity for 18,000 (Sansing) or 24,000 (Oxford Campus and University Buildings). The new stadium was proposed as a WPA project in 1936, and completed in 1941. The west side… read more
The Student Union Building was completed in 1939 on the campus of the University of Mississippi. It housed the bookstore, university post office, a grill, game room, barbershop, clothing store, and several meeting rooms (Sansing, 1999, p. 254). The Greek… read more
The State Teachers College in Hattiesburg received funding from ERA in 1934 and 1935 for improvements and repair to several buildings on campus. The school received $28,532.89 for repairing the hospital building, redecorating the interior of the library, renovating four… read more
The Art Moderne school was completed in 1943 as W. P. A. Project No. 7233. Work began in 1941 but was stopped due to lack of money resulting from the war. WPA workers mixed concrete on site, and carried it… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop Vicksburg National Military park during the 1930s. Among other improvements they planted hundreds of trees and other vegetation in the park to to combat erosion.
One of more than 40 new vocational units added to Mississippi schools following an increase in federal funds in 1937, the white wood frame Vocational Agriculture and Home Economics building was constructed by the National Youth Administration.