New Jersey Sites

The historic post office in Millburn, New Jersey housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Revolutionary Engagement at Bridge in Millburn–1780," a mural painted by Gerald Foster in 1940. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, has unfortunately since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Short Hills, New Jersey housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Short Hills Landscape," an oil-on-canvas mural painted by Ernest Lawson in 1939. The work, which was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, has unfortunately since been destroyed.

The historic post office in Summit, New Jersey housed examples of New Deal artwork: "Arrival of First Train" and "Stage Coach Attack," created by Fiske Boyd in 1937. Commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the works have unfortunately since been destroyed.

The post office contains a series of murals depicting “The Battle of Cranford during the American Revolution.” The murals were funded by TRAP and painted by artist Gerald Foster in 1937.

These four post office murals were commissioned by the Department of the Treasury's Section of Fine Arts. Painted by Henry Schnakenberg, they were installed in 1941. The murals are titled “Indians Trading with the Half Moon,” “Washington at Fort Lee,” “Moving Pictures at Fort Lee,” and “The Present Day.”

This post office contains two Treasury funded murals by Albert Kotin painted in 1938: "The City" and "The Marsh."

The post office contains three murals by George Biddle painted in 1939 with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds, each depicting a historical scene from the region: "George Washington with De Witt, Geographer of the Revolutionary Army" "Washington Retreating from New Brunswick" "Howe and Cornwallis Entering New Brunswick"

This early 20th century post office contains two tempera murals by Anton Refregier. Painted under the aegis of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the murals "Folklore of America" and "Quilting Bee" were created in 1942: "The tempera murals are by Anton Refregier, a Russian whose art appeared at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair (a 30-foot mural in the WPA Building), the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. "Folklore" depicts icons of America, such as Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and John Henry; "Quilting Bee" captures a sense of community as the women bend over their sewing...

The post office originally contained two Section of Fine Arts murals painted by Roy Hilton in 1939. One mural, "The New Stagecoach," still hangs in the post office. The mural "Building of Westfield" was unfortunately destroyed during lobby renovations in 1964.

Wooden relief entitled "Morning Mail" created by artist Enid Bell in 1939. Originally in a historic post office building, the relief now hangs in Boonton's 1970s post office.

The former Cliffside Park, New Jersey post office contained a 1938 Section of Fine Arts relief entitled “Rural Delivery” by Bruno Neri, then of Perth Amboy. The present status and location of the relief is unknown to Living New Deal. Bruno Neri was issued the $710 contract to create the relief on November 25, 1936; the contract was for: "Preliminary design, full size cartoon, labor, materials, scaffolding, etc., necessary for the designing, and finishing of a full size relief and its installation in the Post Office building at Cliffside Park, N.J." Final payment for the completed work was approved May 17,...

The post office contains a 1940 Section of Fine Arts plaster relief entitled “Industry and the Family.” The relief was created by artist Murray J. Roper.

The historic post office in Hawthorne, New Jersey houses an example of New Deal artwork: a wood relief titled "Postman and Hawthorne Bush." The work, created by Ilse Erythropel, was completed in 1942. It was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The main post office in Linden, New Jersey houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Industry," a terra cotta relief created by Sahl Swarz. It was funded by the Section of Fine Arts in 1940.    

The post office contains a 1942 Section of Fine Arts plaster relief entitled "Gardeners," created by artist Harold Ambellan.

The historic post office in Mount Holly, New Jersey possesses a 1937 Treasury Section of Fine Arts wood sculpture carved by Enid Bell, entitled "The Post – 1790," in 1937.

The historic post office in Westwood, New Jersey housed an example of New Deal artwork: "Pegasus with Messenger," a metal relief created by Hunt Diederich in 1937. Commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts, the work has unfortunately since been destroyed.

The post office contains a set of plaster reliefs by Armin A. Scheler created with Section of Fine Arts funding in 1939. The reliefs are titled “Philip Freneau Freeing the Slaves,” “Rural Mill,” “Old Hospital,” “Old Glenwood Institute,” and “First Presbyterian Church, 1767.″

The historic post office in Ridgewood, New Jersey houses an example of New Deal artwork: two metal reliefs, of two male and female figures, title unknown. The work was created by Romuald Kraus in 1940, commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

A Section of Fine Arts plaster lunette, titled “Sorting the Mail," hangs in the lobby of the Caldwell post office. It was made by Brenda Putnam in 1937.

A Section of Fine Arts sculpture, “Transportation of the Mail,” was made by Robert Laurent in 1937. The sculpture hangs in the lobby of Garfield's main post office.

With Treasury Relief Arts Program funding, Isamu Noguchi produced this cast stone relief entitled "The Letter" for display at the Haddon Heights post office in 1939. Noguchi is best known for his bas-relief "News" on the exterior of 40 Rockefeller Center in New York City. Ironically, then-postmaster of Haddon Heights, Henry McKay, objected to the installation, but it has remained to delight generations of local residents.        

The historic post office in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey houses an example of New Deal artwork: a cast stone sculpture entitled "Benjamin Franklin." The work, created by A. Stirling Calder, was commissioned by the federal Treasury Section of Fine Arts.

The wood carving "Construction" was created by Maurice Glickman for the new South River post office. The work was commissioned by the Section of Fine Arts and completed in 1943.

The historic Hammonton post office houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Harvest," a sculpture created by Spero Anageros in 1940. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, the sculpture is missing.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed curbs and gutters along Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1936. Notably, WPA workers laid 616 feet of curb during one day one day in late August. The agency also paved the street with macasphalt. Work occurred along Prospect Avenue from Essex to Central Ave.

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."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted flood control work along the Rahway River in West Orange, New Jersey, "from Joyce St. to the South Orange line." The project was undertaken to "save property owners incalculable sums for many years to come."

The monumental Ramsey High School was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $270,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was $600,106. Construction occurred between Jan. 1936 and Apr. 1937. PWA Docket No. NJ 1047-R. RamseyHistory.org: “The first high school class (2 students) graduated in 1909 from the school that is now Ramsey’s Borough Hall (There were schools before that in Ramsey, but this was the first full four year High School course approved by State authorities). After that, starting in 1912, the Dater School building (recently torn down) was the high...

The Federal Writers' Project detailed a small CCC undertaking: State 38 crosses the South Branch of Rancocas Creek, water highway for nearly 200 years, now a favorite resort of canoeists. Tiny fir trees have been planted in cut-over tracts by CCC workers.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted millions of dollars (not even adjusted for inflation) of improvement and development work at the former Raritan Arsenal in Edison, New Jersey. Work involved the construction and improvement of facilities and various utilities, including railroad tracks and docks. A cataloguing of these projects was undertaken by the DoD in its Heritage Assessment, cited below.

"In December 1935, the Resettlement Administration hired Alfred Kastner, a German-born architect and city planner who was known for his designs for low-cost housing, as Principal Architect. Kastner, in turn, hired Louis I. Kahn, then a young architect, as his assistant. In designing the community, Kastner was influenced by both the English Garden City Idea and by the German Bauhaus style. Jersey Homesteads' buildings are characterized by their spare geometric forms and use of modern building materials (including cinder blocks). The houses are integrated with communal areas and surrounded by a green belt. (3) Although it appears rather stark today,...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked on a project that involved "cutting embankment on upland at 54th St. Newark Bay, cleaning beach and reconstruction of 3 life-saving stations." Richard A. Rutkowski Park is still in use today.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a riprap wall along the waterfront in East Millstone, New Jersey ca. 1936.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook multiple projects in Livingston, New Jersey. "Among the local WPA projects are a sewing project for women, road building, the laying of water mains and the clearing of lands at the Civic Centre Park."

The federal Works Progress Administration issued its one-millionth check in New Jersey in March 1937. The check was given to Roy Boyd of Oxford "on a road grading project in his home town."

Poultry farmers in the villages of Richland and Milmay, of Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, pleaded to the township to improve the conditions of roads as "large flocks of chickens on these farms are faced with starvation because of the inability of any vehicles to penetrate the muddy and sodden thoroughfares." 100 federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers were immediately reassigned by the township to improve the roads around Richland and Milmay, thus making them passable.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook improvement work on "public access roads" as part of a $1,704,036 project in several towns in Burlington County, in rough conjunction with development efforts at what was then Camp Dix. Work was sponsored by the New Jersey State Highway Department. WPA Official Project Number: 165‐1‐22‐458

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook improvement work on "access roads" as part of a $465,476 project in Eatontown and Shrewsbury, New Jersey, in rough conjunction with development efforts at Fort Monmouth. WPA Official Project Number: 265‐1‐22‐119

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook improvement work on "public access roads" as part of a $1,704,036 project in several towns in Burlington County, in rough conjunction with development efforts at what was then Camp Dix. Work was sponsored by the New Jersey State Highway Department. (Note: Work was stated to be in Springfield Township. This Burlington County entity is not to be confused with the Springfield Township located in Union County. For our purposes let's just call it Jobstown.) WPA Official Project Number: 165‐1‐22‐458