• Ben Franklin Bridge Rail Line - Philadelphia PA to Camden NJ
    In conjunction with what was known as the Ridge Avenue Connector, "the high speed electric rail transit line which connects the Ridge Avenue—Eighth Street—Locust Street Subway in Philadelphia with a terminal near the Broadway Station of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in Camden, is the largest of the completed Public Works Administration projects in Pennsylvania," as of 1937. Work involved development of a rail line across what is now the Ben Franklin Bridge.
  • Broadway Paving - Camden NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration paved Broadway in Camden, New Jersey between Federal Street and the city line at Newton Creek. The project took 242 man-hours of work and required 4,000 tons of material.
  • Davis Elementary School Murals - Camden NJ
    Two large murals for the Davis School in East Camden, New Jersey were painted by WPA Art Project artists Esther Heppler Inglesby and Russell J. England. The murals portrayed a half-century of progress in the City of Camden. Their names, titles, and current status are unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Elijah Perry Park - Camden NJ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Elijah Perry Park (then called "South Camden Park") in Camden, New Jersey. Among the amenities were a "spacious bath house ... swimming pool, 200 feet by 78 feet; wading pool amid a playground for children; tennis court." Camden's Evening Reporter described the facilities in June 1936: The bath house is constructed of concrete block and stone. Its exterior is of salmon-tinted California stucco with white granite trim. Locker rooms on the main floor are equipped with 1,600 clothing baskets of wire, each with a numbered brass tag. As many as 2,400 persons can use the...
  • Farnham Park Improvements - Camden NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve Farnham Park in Camden, New Jersey ca. 1936.
  • Federal Street Paving - Camden NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration paved Federal Street in Camden, New Jersey in 1936. Additionally, the WPA tore up obsolete trolley car tracks along the road, notably along the viaduct over Admiral Wilson Blvd.
  • Haddon Avenue Paving - Camden NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration paved Haddon Avenue in Camden, New Jersey in 1936. Work occurred from 7th St. beyond Kaighn Avenue.
  • High School Athletic Field Improvements - Camden NJ
    More than 100 National Youth Administration (NYA) workers operated over three shifts to renovate the athletic fields (including football and baseball fields) at Camden High School in 1936.
  • Newton Friends Meeting House Restoration - Camden NJ
    Newton Friends Meeting House in Camden, New Jersey was the city's first house of worship. According to the Federal Writers' Project: "Built in 1801 on ground donated by Joseph Kaighn, was the first house of worship in Camden. It is a two-and-one-half-story rectangular building, of post-Colonial design, constructed of red brick with white trim. Quakers met here until 1915. In 1935 the building was restored with PWA funds under the direction of the Camden County Historical Society and is now used by the city for storage."
  • Post Office and Courthouse Improvements - Camden NJ
    Designed by James A. Wetmore and constructed just prior the Roosevelt administration, Camden's new post office and courthouse saw continual improvements during the New Deal era, including: the addition of lavatories on the second floor; the reinforcement of aluminum windows; and fifth-floor remodeling. The GSA documents various other minor improvements. The GSA also describes the courthouse and post office in detail: "Completed in 1932, the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse represents an important example of 1930s Neoclassical federal architecture in the Modernist manner. A cornerstone near the entry indicates this building was completed under James A. Wetmore, who served as acting...
  • Pyne Point Park - Camden NJ
    150 federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers worked to transform Pyne Point Park in northern Camden, New Jersey during the Great Depression. In addition to constructing baseball diamonds, as of April 1936 WPA workers were "building a roadway, terracing, planting trees and laying a cinder track." Previously, the area was an "unsightly stretch ... with piles of dirt and craters that were more like the surface of the moon than an athletic field on the earth."
  • Roosevelt Plaza Park - Camden NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration constructed what is now known as Roosevelt Plaza Park (then known as City Hall Plaza) starting in 1936. The project called for "a center fountain, the planting of gardens, placing concrete gutters, building gravel walks and oiled gravel roadways and construction of a controlled parking area for 150 automobiles."
  • Walt Whitman House Restoration - Camden NJ
    The W.P.A. conducted restoration and preservation work at "the clapboard house at Camden, N.J., in which the Good Gray Poet, Walt Whitman, spent the last years of his life."
  • Westfield Acres (demolished) - Camden NJ
    The no-longer extant (demolished and since redeveloped) Westfield Acres was a public housing project constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during the New Deal. The first families moved in on May 1, 1938 and the project was demolished in 2001. The Federal Writers' Project wrote: "Westfield Acres, N. side of Westfield Ave. between Dudley and 32nd Sts., was financed with $3,000,000 of PWA funds. The model housing project covers 25 acres and includes 18 units with a total of 514 apartments of 3 to 5 rooms. The buildings are three-story brick structures of simple design, with many large, steel-framed windows....