Atlantic City Sites

The condition of Atlantic City's primary thoroughfare Atlantic Avenue was so poor that it was occasionally referred to as "no man's land" prior to the federal Works Progress Administration's resurfacing of the road in 1936.

Atlantic City International Airport was "established in 1942 as a Naval Air Station on 4,312 acres leased from Atlantic City." (www.sjta.com) "In 1941, in its attempt to stimulate the local economy, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had begun clearing a wooded area in Egg Harbor Township for the construction of a municipal airport to service the Atlantic City area. The Works Progress Administration approved $1.5 million for construction (Atlantic City Press/Evening Union 3/28/41). The Project was to employ 1,187 men to cut and clear land for three, one-mile long concrete runways (Atlantic City Press/Evening Union 11/41). Recognizing the airport project as a...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) resurfaced Atlantic City's Baltic Avenue in 1936. "One of the tracks will be removed from that thoroughfare, new gutters will be laid and the street resurfaced with asphalt, the same as Atlantic avenue." "Twelve city blocks of this avenue had been resurfaced by 109 unskilled and 10 skilled WPA workmen who also installed a concrete gutter on the street." The WPA paving job quickly proved its worth. According to City Commissioner Major William F. Casey after the 1936 Cape Hatteras hurricane, "Baltic Avenue was a pleasure to see after the storm because of the new paving....

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve the boardwalk in in Atlantic City ca. 1935-6. The project included the installation of new decking. The improvements helped the boardwalk to withstand the Cape Hatteras hurricane of 1936.

The historic post office in Atlantic City, New Jersey was constructed with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in conjunction with the Treasury Department. The building, which was completed in 1937, housed New Deal artwork inside. Unfortunately, it has since been demolished. A local historic preservation site describes the former building: "The imposing Atlantic City Post Office was a New Deal project built between 1935 and 1937. Of neoclassical design, with Italian marble floors, brass ornaments and light fixtures, and two remarkable 1939 murals, "Family Recreations” and “Youth" executed by Peppino Mangravite, the building was intended to convey civic pride and a...

Two murals by the Italian born American artists Peppino Mangravite were painted for this post office with funding from the Section of Fine Arts in 1939. "Youth" and "Family Recreations" together show more than 130 figures participating in a range of seaside activities. "What Mangravite depicted was the busy, carefree image of middle-class America enjoying a vacation at the shore before the Depression. It taps into the period of time when Atlantic City was the 'Queen of Resorts'... (https://wasahockey.github.io). The post office containing the murals has been demolished. According to a website devoted to Peppino Mangravite, murals have been restored by Parma Conservation...

Stanley Holmes Village (a.k.a. Stanley Village) is a 420-unit low income housing project on Adriatic Avenue that was built in 1937 and expanded in 1951. Its the oldest public housing complex in New Jersey. Atlantic City was the first municipality in New Jersey to provide public housing to its constituents. The movement to establish public housing was initiated in 1933 with the organization of the Civic Committee for Better Housing – headed by Walter J. Buzby; Mrs. Warren Somers, Commissioner of the State Housing Authority; Naomi Craighead; Robert A. Watson, Manager of the Southern Division of the State Housing Authority; B.J....

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed storm drains in Atlantic City ca. 1935-6.