Mississippi Sites

Building 228 at Keesler Air Force Base.

McComb's municipal auditorium/city armory/gymnasium on Virginia Avenue served as the armory for Company L, 155th infantry from 1938-1940 (MDAH/Historic Resources Inventory). Constructed by the Work Progress Administration between 1936-1938, the facility was destroyed by fire in 1952. Work on the field house was begun in July 1936, and within a few weeks, the gymnasium and armory components were added. Work was suspended December 1936 when the facility was 30% complete. A February 1937 news item indicated "work will be resumed on the long stagnated combination Field House, Gymnasium and Armory building" (To resume work, p. 1). A. J. Spradlin was...

The Municipal Water System Pumping Station is located at the corner of E. Main (MS 6) and Elliott Avenue at 34.089206, -88.621181. The small brick building is marked with a Public Works Administration dedication plaque. Concrete holding tanks remain at the rear of the building, but are not in use. The water tower (next to the pumping station) was fabricated by Taylor Iron Works. Consulting engineers were Totten & Loving and the builder/contractor was Blair, Algernon, Construction Company. The project Miss.1081 was supported by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works with a loan of $37,000 and grant of $30,272....

Public Works Administration project 1307 was awarded to Washington County following approval 2/21/1934. A loan in the amount of $400,000 and a grant of $161,149 enabled the construction a number of gravel roads throughout the county. Bids were advertised in September 1934 for construction of grading, drainage structures and bridges and gravel surfacing on 11.548 miles of the Murphy-Slater Ferry Highway. The highway began in Murphy and ended at the Slater Ferry Crossing for the Sunflower River. George Vinzant was chief engineer of the Washington County Highway Commission. Contractor was Barber Brothers of Baton Rouge, La. Construction began 10/17/1934 and...

The 445-mile parkway follows the general path of the old Natchez Trace, originally a footpath for Native American Choctaw and Chickasaw (Littman). The parkway runs from Natchez, Mississippi, across the northeast corner of Alabama, and into Tennessee. The Northern Terminus (Tupelo-Nashville) ends just out of Nashville after passing by Franklin, Tennessee. The final leg of the parkway was completed in 1996 (Littman). Representative Thomas J. Busby of Mississippi introduced the first of the bills into Contgress to construct a paved road along the route of the old Trace. Work began under the Public Works Administration, and included the Works Project...

A cantilevered Warren through truss bridge spanning the Mississippi River on US Highway 84 connects Natchez, Mississippi with Vidalia, Louisiana. Mississippi's project # 1126 opened to traffic on September 26, 1940 after two years of construction (Mississippi Department of Archives & History). It originally operated as a toll bridge. The toll plaza remains on the Natchez side of the river, and although the toll booths have been removed, the semi-circular wooden columns that surrounded the plaza remain. A commemorative tower and plaque, identical to the one at the toll plaza, stands just before the bridge entrance in Vidalia. A second bridge...

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.

This 2-story Art Moderne building was constructed by the WPA in 1938, and from 1939 to 1940 served as the armory for Company G, 155th Infantry. It is currently used to house the City Parks and Recreation Department.

The Works Progress Administration financed the construction of a national guard armory and rifle range for Amory. Architects N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town designed the building, "expected to exceed $56,000 and take 12 months" (Daily Clarion-Ledger, Oct. 6, 1940, p. 5). The average number of workers for the project was 44. In 2002, the building was named a Mississippi Landmark.

The National Guard Armory in Greenwood, Mississippi was built by the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) with the City of Greenwood and Leflore County as sponsors. Began in 1939, the building was completed in 1940, with the facility dedicated March 31, 1941. The cost was approximately $80,000. Architects were N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town. Frank McGeoy was supervising architect until his death in 1940 prior to completion. Superintendent of construction was Paul Thomas. The building was of reinforced concrete with an 80 x 100-foot drill hall, 20-foot ceilings, and maple floors. It included a stage with 1,600 square...

PWA Docket No. Miss. 1245-F approved construction of a school building in the city of Oxford to house Oxford's "Negro Elementary and High School." The building is no longer extant.

The rustic log cabin was the first library built in Philadelphia, Mississippi, although the library had been established several years earlier in space in two other buildings. It was a community effort spearheaded by the Twentieth Century Club. The WPA also provided the first paid librarians. The building, relocated to a park when a new and modern library was constructed, was almost totally destroyed by a tornado in 2011. Only the flooring, chimney, and fireplace remained. It was reconstructed in 2013 in a joint effort of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and City of Philadelphia.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) added a jail to the existing Newton County courthouse in Decatur, Mississippi during the Great Depression as a part of a temporary job creation program under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). It was demolished in 1972, along with the courthouse, in order to build a new courthouse on the same site.

One of two new schools built with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds, the two schools combined were constructed for about $205,500, with PWA providing 45% of the funds (New Schools to be Opened Tonight, 1937). The school contained an auditorium to seat 498. It was demolished circa 1999.

The Colonial Revival building that served as the county health office was constructed in 1939-40 by the WPA. Part of the Macon Historic District, it currently is used as the county justice court (Barrow, 2001).

At a cost of approximately $6,000, "...an extensive arcade system of walkways" was completed at the two schools in Clarksdale (Arcade sidewalks, p. 1).

The former state capitol was one of 20 state institution renovations completed in 1934. In August, funds were approved in the amount of $200,000 by Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and supplemented with a $200,000 allocation by the Mississippi legislature. Improvements at the old and new capitols were part of the project. Painting and redecoration of the woodwork, new roof, and paving of curbs, gutters, and driveways was completed for the old building. The old capitol building was allotted $5,459.84 for painting and widening and paving driveways, and paving curbs and gutters.

PWA Docket Mississippi # 1219 DS approved additions and alterations to the Oxford Grammar/Elementary School. The school has since been demolished.

The Oxford Municipal Airport was constructed in the 1930s, most likely in 1937 which is the first time it appeared in the Airport Directory, which also indicated construction was under way on an additional runway. It is unclear from available records if only the original building/hangar was constructed, or if the airfield was part of the construction. The airfield was listed in the 1945 AAF Airfield Directory, but closed sometime between 1965-1981 for unknown reasons. The 1967 Minute Book #23, City of Oxford, indicates the city owned "the old airport property on Murray Creek" (p. 195), so it most likely...

The oyster project was completed at an expenditure of $67,270.94 for bedding of 2,678 acres of oyster reefs with shells. The sponsor’s contribution was $4,683.18 and the Works Projects Administration funds $62,587.76. The project was approved 1935 to support the cultivation of oysters along the gulf coast. The oyster seedlings were planted on the state reefs of Pass Christian and Pascagoula and in the Bay of Biloxi. At the time, Biloxi was rated the largest oyster canning industry in the world.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) project W1067 was "to build, equip school addition" (PWA Projects, 1935, p. 10), an Art Deco gymnasium for the Pace Consolidated School. The project received a $20,000 loan and a $16,515 grant and was approved on September 9, 1935. Construction began on April 6, 1936 and was completed on November 7, 1936 for a total of $37,860. Architects N. W. Overstreet and A. H. Town designed the building, constructed by Salley and Ellis.

PWA project W1263 was initiated February 1937 and approved for a loan of $100,000 and grant of $81,818 August 12, 1937. Bids were advertised November 6, 1937 and construction begun December 20. The Art Moderne style building was designed by the Mississippi architectural firm of Smith & Olschner and constructed by Newton & Schmoll. "At the time of its completion, the new school building was one of the most modern in the state since it incorporated state of the art equipment which reflected the latest ideas in school planning. Among the amenities included were a large library, a cafeteria, a...

NYA boys on the Pearl River Junior College campus erected a vocational building, while the girls worked in home economics. Hancock Hall was completed 1938 by the National Youth Administration. The architect was Robert William Naef. The building was destroyed in 1961.

Public Works Administration (PWA) project 1254 was for the Peoples Consolidated School. A loan in the amount of $1550 and grant for $4745 was approved 8/12/1937. Construction began 12/14/1937 and was completed 5/31/1938 for a total cost of $10,952.

Percy Quin State Park was cleared and constructed by the members of the camp at Percy Quin, established August 16, 1935 (CCC Legacy). The park opened in 1939 after 4 years of construction, and was the 9th of 10 state parks built by the CCC in Mississippi. The rustic pavilion was completed in 1938. The lodge and group cabins were brick, in a Colonial Revival design, atypical of most CCC constructed state park facilities. Lake Tangipahoa, part of the state park, was reported to have been constructed by Works Progress Administration in 1936 (Clarion-Ledger).

The stone veneer teacher's house was constructed as W. P. 5288, Application #678, Pontotoc High School Teachers Home. The rock for the Colonial Revival style house was quarried from nearby Tishomingo County, at the NYA quarry. The house is currently used as a private residence.

The wood siding teacher's house #2 was built next door to the stone veneer teacher's house #1 for Pontotoc High School. According to the Series 2018-National Youth Administration Work Projects Photograph Album, 1937-1939, the house was constructed by WPA, and while started on the same day as the stone veneer house constructed by NYA, was finished a month after the stone house. The floor plan for both houses was the same. While the front facades differ, the rear of both houses appear to be the same, indicating #2 may have been renovated at some point. The original photograph for #1...

Post office built in 1936 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic post office in Carthage, Mississippi was completed in 1940 with funds provided by the Treasury Department. It is also the site of Peter Dalton's 1941 wood carving, "Lumbermen Rolling a Log," completed with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and viewable in the lobby.

The historic post office building in Charleston, Mississippi was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the Great Depression. Completed in 1939, it is still in use today.

The historic New Deal post office in Columbus, Mississippi was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, was built ca. 1939 and is still in use today.

The Crystal Springs post office building was built in 1940-41 by the US Treasury Department in the Colonial Revival style. Features include twin wooden Tuscan columns on either side of the front doors, wooden vestibule, terrazzo floor, and marble wainscoting.

The Colonial Revival style post office building was completed in 1939 by the Treasury Department.

The post office in Eupora was completed in 1941 with funds provided by the Treasury Department. It is also the site of Thomas Savage's 1945 mural, "Cotton Farm," completed in 1945 with funds provided by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and viewable in the lobby.

The historic post office in Forest, Mississippi was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1938. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in use today.

Hazlehurst's Colonial Revival style post office is similar to many of the New Deal post offices constructed in Mississippi. The builder, Blair, Algernon Construction Company, was responsible for a large number of Mississippi post offices during that time. The building featured English bond brick pattern, wooden fluted Doric pilasters, a cast metal eagle over the door, terrazzo tile floor, marble wainscoting, and wooden vestibule (Enzweiler, 1992).

Colonial Revival style; 1 story, red-brick building with cupola. Funded by the Public Building Administration of the Federal Works Agency.

This one-story Art Moderne style post office was built in 1935. It originally contained a New Deal mural, "White Gold in the Delta." The mural was destroyed in the 1960s.

The one-story, buff-colored brick Colonial Revival post office has granite steps, cast-iron railings, a wide limestone frieze, and wooden cornice. It is topped by an octagonal wooden cupola with louvered minor sides. It was one of 32 post offices constructed in Mississippi with Public Works Administration funds.

The historic post office building in Lexington, Mississippi was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the Great Depression. The one-story, flat-roofed building remains in use as the post office today.