North Dakota Sites

"The Lutheran church sponsored Jamestown Hospital (not surveyed). Ground breaking for the facility took place in 1928 and cornerstone ceremonies on October 28, 1929, one day before the Stock Market Crash. Consequently, donations and bond financing for the project were stalled for several years. The brick structure was completed in 1935, late enough that it may have been assisted by PWA financing. Stylistically, it is very unusual in its simplified Art Deco detailing, particularly in the striated spandrels and stylized arches. Discussion of the style and associated historic theme is found under the Great Depression heading, above."

Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1939 by Executive Order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (which wikipedia incorrectly calls an act of Congress in 1938).  The land was purchased and administered by the Bureau of Biological Survey (which morphed into the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940). The region was one of the last parts of the country to be settled by farmers and before long the area suffered from drought and dust storms like much of the rest of the Great Plains in the 1930s. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) help the locals realize their plan to...

From the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department: “Nestled in the scenic Turtle Mountains on the shores of Lake Metigoshe, Lake Metigoshe State Park was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and is one of the most popular year-round vacation spots in North Dakota.” The site continues: Several ND state parks have infrastructure within them that were built as a result of the New Deal programs, including Lake Metigoshe State Park. The first 10 workers to show up to build this camp complex started in August 1934. By October, there were 50 men working onsite. Those workers were quartered...

CCC Camp SP-3, made up of World War I veterans, "complete extensive work at three city parks in Fargo (Lindenwood, Edgewood, and Oak Grove) ca. 1935.

This steel cantilever bean bridge, spanning the Sheyenne River, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936. The bridge is still in use and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1932 under President Herbert Hoover.  Like many other extant refuges, it was improved during the New Deal by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) working under the Bureau of Biological Survey (which became the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1940). The refuge encompasses 22,000 acres, most of which is made up of Long Lake. "At Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge, the Civilian Conservation Corp, comprised largely of local residents, played an important role in the refuge's development. Participants worked primarily on water development, wildlife conservation, and erosion control. They constructed dikes to control...

"The Park Auditorium, completed in 1936 as a WPA project, is a domical building, the design of its facade carried out in the straight lines and angles of modern architecture. Constructed with laminated truss-type arches which support the entire roof load, the auditorium has 25,000 sq. ft. of floor space unobstructed by supporting columns. Its acoustics is excellent, owing to the vaulted shape of the roof and the absorbing quality of the timbers in the arches." President Roosevelt toured the site in 1936, The New York Times reporting: " saw a new $17,000 auditorium more than large enough to hold the...

President Roosevelt toured Jamestown, North Dakota in 1936, The New York Times reporting: " saw a new $17,000 auditorium more than large enough to hold the town's population, a current WPA project. It faces a stadium that was begun as a CWA operation and completed, together with an ornamental fence on the property, as an FERA project." The facilities were in what is known now as McElroy Park. The exact location of the stadium within McElroy Park and its present status are unknown to Living New Deal, though it might be what is now known as Jack Brown Stadium.

The Memorial Hall in Flasher, North Dakota, used as a community center, was constructed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Blueprints for the project date to 1936.

Constructed between December 1935 and September 1936, the historic War Memorial Building (also known as Memorial Hall, and now home to American Legion Anton Ulijohn Post 66) was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building was described in a Federal Writers' Project guide as a "a modern, stuccoed MEMORIAL BUILDING, a community center completed under the Works Progress Administration in 1936," though Living New Deal cannot presently confirm WPA involvement with the construction.

"WPA Stone Structures in Memorial Park and Calvary Cemetery, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. It includes work by Ray F. Wyrick, "'a noted cemetery landscape engineer' from Des Moines, IA, who consulted as a WPA design advisor all over the country." The listing includes "two sets of stone entrance gateways, one relocated set of stone entry cairns, and a stone chapel building." It is believed that Wyrick made provided overall design of general cemetery layout and designed a reflecting pool for the cemetery, too. The nomination was described in a...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Michigan Cemetery along County Road 35 south of Michigan, North Dakota in 1936.

On May 2, 1934, Public Works Administration (PWA) director and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, “announced today he had signed a contract covering a loan of $36,000 to the Midland Continental Railroad company in North Dakota for the purchase of a new Diesel-electric locomotive” (Argus-Leader, 1934). This PWA-funded locomotive would become No. 310 in Midland Continental Railroad’s (MCR) small roster of equipment.  It would also be the first Diesel-electric engine assigned to road service in the western United States.  Prior to this, diesel locomotives were relegated to “switcher” service (i.e., moving train cars short distances, usually within the confines of...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Edinburg, North Dakota's historic municipal auditorium in 1939. It is still in use today.

North Dakota State University was originally known as the North Dakota Agricultural College. The name was changed in 1960. The campus newspaper The Collegiate reported on Nov 5, 1937: "Up for approval before the local WPA council is an NDSC campus improvement, building renovation, and general landscaping plan involving expenditures amounting to $65,000. Out of the President's office just a few hours ago broke the news that Mr. Theodore Loy, WPAdministrator for this district, has in his hands at this moment an application for approval of the plan as drawn up by Business Manager S. W. Hagen, Mr. Edward Nelson, Board of...

The newspaper of what was then the North Dakota Agricultural College, The Spectrum of April 14, 1939 reported: "Student health fees, accumulating over a period of several years, will help finance the building of a $25,000 student health center on the campus, announces President Frank L. Eversull. Plans have been made for the project to be accomplished through WPA assistance. Tentative plans call for $10,000 of the student health fund to be augmented by $15,000 WPA money, although final arrangements have been on the WPA appropriation. Dr. Eversull adds that WPA officials have promised help in securing definite approval of the...

CCC Camp SP-3, made up of World War I veterans, "complete extensive work at three city parks in Fargo (Lindenwood, Edgewood, and Oak Grove) ca. 1935.

This article was found in the January 14, 1937 issue of The Enderlin Independent. It is reprinted here exactly as it appeared in that paper. ************ WORK ON DAM IN PATRICK PIERCE PARK UNDER WAY ------------------------- Rubble-Masonry Dam Will Have Fifty-foot Spillway --------- Work on the new dam across the Maple River in Patrick Pierce Park started this week, according to city engineer, Clifford T. McBride, in charge of the work. The plans call for a rubble-masonry overflow dam with an over-all length of 92 feet and a fifty-foot spillway. A house has been erected over the site to protect the men from the severe winter...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed Valley City's Pioneer Park. In 1937 the WPA completed a stone amphitheater as well as four fieldstone cairns to mark the entrance to the park.

The post office in Hettinger, North Dakota was constructed with federal funds. The building, which opened for business in 1938, is still in use today.

The historic post office building in Langdon, North Dakota, was constructed using federal Treasury Department funds in 1937. The building, which possesses a New Deal mural in the lobby, is still in operation today.

The post office in Lisbon, North Dakota was constructed with federal funds. The building, which opened for business in 1940, is still in use today. A New Deal sculpture by James L. Hansen was created for the post office lobby but was never installed, and has since been relocated.

New Rockford, North Dakota received a new post office in 1939. The building was constructed with Treasury Department funds; work began in 1938 and the building open for business on October 29, 1939. Still in use today, the post office features a mural titled "Advance Guard of the West," which was installed in 1940.

The post office in Oakes, North Dakota was constructed with federal funds. The building, which opened for business in 1935, is still in use today.

The post office in Rugby, North Dakota was constructed using Treasury Department funds and opened in 1940.  Its lobby features a Section of Fine Arts mural by Kenneth Callahan.

This oil-on-canvas mural entitled "Taking Toll" (a.k.a. “Indians Demanding Wagon Toll”) was painted in 1939 by Leo J. Beaulaurier.  The work is installed above the Postmaster's door at the Langdon, North Dakota post office. According to a local newspaper story, this was the first Federal building artwork to be sponsored by the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts program in the state; the local Postmaster was quoted as saying that Langdon was the smallest city in the nation to be "granted a mural." (The source for this information is an un-cited article, dated Oct. 12, 1939, included in the National...

The New Rockford, North Dakota post office contains a Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Advance Guard of the West," which was painted and completed in 1940 by Eduard Buk Ulreich. According to the project's contract (dated Dec. 1, 1939) the artist was to be paid $840 for his efforts. Mr. Ulreich was quoted as saying: "In choosing the subject matter for the New Rockford postoffice mural, it seemed appropriate to portray the Indians from whom the state derived its name. ... I feel that Americans should become more familiar with the beauty and character of the red man ... and it...

Medium: oil on canvas Section of Fine Arts mural entitled "Rugby, the Geographical Center of North America." The work was painted by Kenneth Callahan and completed and installed in 1943. According to the project's contract, dated May 28, 1942, Mr. Callahan was to be paid $850 for his efforts.

James L. Hansen received a Section of Fine Arts contract to complete a sculpture decoration for the new Lisbon, North Dakota post office on March 7, 1942. The terra-cotta relief was titled "Family Group." Mr. Hansen was to receive a sum of $850 for the work; however, his enlistment in the U.S. Navy and his attendant relocation made the artist unable to install the work; as such $50 was deducted from his final payment. According to WPAmurals.com: "This information is from Ms. Elizabeth Anderson from the Smithsonian American Art Museum: The Lisbon, ND relief was completed in 1943 but was never installed in...

"Library additions were also constructed," by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) "such as the expansion of the Williston and Mandan Public Libraries ..." The exact location and status of the project in question is unknown to Living New Deal.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) library construction projects in North Dakota included "work on the Dickinson Carnegie Library." That facility still forms part of the Dickinson Area Public Library complex.

The stately Ransom County Courthouse in Lisbon, North Dakota was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project (though it is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA). The PWA supplied a $49,090 grant for the project, whose total cost was $109,220. Primary construction occurred between Dec. 1937 and Nov. 1938. This "project, along with a construction boom helped lift the county out of depression." PWA Docket No. N.D. 1050-R

The historic Renville County Courthouse in Mohall, North Dakota was built starting in April 1936 and dedicated on June 25, 1937. Its construction was enabled by a $51,650 grant provided by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The Moderne building, which was also built as a jail, is still in service. Construction is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. PWA Docket No. ND 1027.

Robinson Hall was constructed as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Discussions regarding the hall’s construction started in 1934 with Bismarck-based architect HM Leonard. According to Golden Jubilee, Robinson North Dakota, “A special election was held October 3, 1934, to issue bonds of $2,000.00 to erect a community hall. In August 1935, lots 10, 11 in block 3 were purchased for $100.00 from OB Wells as a site for the community hall.” Pete Konningsrud worked as foreman during the hall’s construction. The construction of the hall alone employed a great number of people from the area. According to an article from...

Devils Lake, North Dakota's Roosevelt Park was developed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the 1930s. Swimming, picnicking, and camping are noted as available activities in a WPA guide.

A sanitary sewer construction project in Noonan, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $7,131 grant for the project, whose total cost was $15,871. Work occurred between September and November 1936. (PWA Docket No. ND W1113)

A waterworks construction project in Ray, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $14,940 grant for the project, whose total cost was $32,760. Work occurred between December 1938 and August 1939. (PWA Docket No. ND X1237)

A sanitary sewer construction project in Regent, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $8,590 grant for the project, whose total cost was $20,585. Work occurred between April and June 1937. (PWA Docket No. ND W1130)

A sanitary sewer construction project in Richardton, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $17,955 grant for the project, whose total cost was $39,881. Work occurred between January and July 1937. (PWA Docket No. ND W1117)

A sanitary sewer construction project in Steele, North Dakota was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $9,975 grant for the project, whose total cost was $22,676. Work occurred between October and December 1936. (PWA Docket No. ND W1017)