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  • Montclair State University: Sprague Field - Montclair NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration constructed an athletic field between 1936 and 1937 "to care care of track, football and baseball." This facility is believed to be the original iteration of Sprague Field, which was inaugurated in 1937.
  • Morris Canal (former) Weed Control - Bloomfield NJ
    "Twenty-nine WPA workers started today to rid the dry bed of old Morris Canal of rag weed, poison ivy and sumac, a $3,750 project for relief of hay fever victims. The workers will clear five miles of winding stream bed from the Belleville-Bloomfield line to the Clifton-Bloomfield line. Thirty acres of weeds will be removed." (Evening News)
  • Morris County Highway Improvements - Morris Plains NJ
    “Further important work on State Highway 10 through Morris County was ordered by the State Highway Commission yesterday after it had received $6,346,000 Federal funds under the National Recovery Act. The Commission approved a number of large jobs, all of them designed to give work to men throughout the state….Local labor is used exclusively on the grading projects.” (July 7, 1933) (https://mcl.mainlib.org) Today "route 10 is a 23.51 mi (37.84 km) state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It runs from an intersection with U.S. Route 46 in Roxbury Township, Morris County east to County...
  • Morristown Municipal Airport - Hanover Township NJ
    “Work was started on the Morristown Municipal Airport this morning by an engineering party ….It is expected that about 100 men will be put to work tomorrow and Wednesday will see the balance of the men at work… The money that is being allocated to Morristown is an outright grant from the Federal government through the Department of Commerce and has no conditions accompanying it except that at least eighty percent of it be spent for labor….this money…had been designated for airport development and can only be used for such work. Morristown is especially fortunate in securing this grant, which...
  • Morristown National Historic Park - Morristown NJ
    "Morristown's Other Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) ...In Jockey Hollow the men built many of the trails, performed extensive archeology around the Soldiers Huts, Wick Farm and Guerin House. They also constructed the tour road, Wick House garden and replanted the apple orchard at the Wick House... Next time you are in a park, especially Jockey Hollow, take a minute to appreciate the hard work that had to be done for us to enjoy Jockey Hollow and other public lands the way we do today. If you would like to learn more about the CCC at Morristown NHP join one...
  • Mosquito Control - Morristown NJ
    Ten federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers constructed more than two miles of drainage ditches (and re-dug many old ditches) over a period of six months between 1935 and 1936. The effort was undertaken to combat mosquito infestations in Morristown, New Jersey. "The drainage ditches in the area, bounded by Franklin, ... and Washington avenues, are clearly visible from trains along the Lackawanna." 3,000 man-hours of labor went into the project.
  • Mosquito Control - Pennsauken NJ
    Anti-malaria efforts were undertaken by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Pennsauken, New Jersey west of Pennsauken Creek and near the Delaware River. The work involved "revamping of the drainage areas" in an effort to combat the spread of the disease by removing the breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
  • Mountwell Park Pool (former) - Haddonfield NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a pool in Mountwell Park in Haddonfield, New Jersey ca. 1936. The pool has since been abandoned. Philly.com: "started out as a swimming hole created by the 1913 construction of a cobblestone dam (the cobblestones were taken from Kings Highway) at a stream near the present intersection of Reillywood Avenue and Centre Street. The bathhouse atop an adjacent hill and a children's playground followed. In 1937, as a public-works project after the Depression, a cement pool replaced the original sand-bottom hole. That year, the Camden County Park System described the pool and its park as...
  • Municipal Airport - Ocean City NJ
    Ocean City Municipal Airport in New Jersey was constructed as a New Deal project, with the aid of Civil Works Administration (CWA) labor, in 1934. The facility officially opened in 1935, and it is still in service.
  • Municipal Building - Saddle River NJ
    Saddle River's Municipal Building / Borough Hall was constructed with the assistance of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $26,181 grant for the project, whose total cost was $59,256. Construction occurred between Jan. and Dec. 1937. PWA Docket No. NJ 1192-D. Short and Stanley-Brown: “The first floor of the project contains an entrance foyer, the mayor’s office, council room, offices for the assessor and collector, and an auditorium seating 225 people. The second floor contains a balcony to the auditorium, seating 125, and a library. In the basement are a fire-apparatus room, firemen’s recreation room, police and recorders’ room,...
  • Municipal Building (former) Improvements - Florham Park NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to repair and remodel Florham Park's old Municipal Building in 1936. The exact location and current status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Municipal Building (former) Renovation - Pennsauken NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to renovate the old Municipal Building in Pennsauken, New Jersey in 1936. The exact location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Municipal Bus Terminal (former) - Hackensack NJ
    This former WPA bus terminal is no longer extant, however it was a landmark of the community for a long time. A 1939 WPA Federal Writers' Project described the then new terminal as follows: "The Municipal Bus Terminal, River St. opp. Demarest Pl., is a modern one-and-one-half-story structure of white-faced brick and glass. Designed by Spencer Newman and opened in 1937, it was financed jointly by the city and the Works Progress Administration. The severity of the functional style is relieved by effective planting on the approaches. The terminal serves most buses operating in the Hackensack section."   (https://www.getnj.com) A recent book looks...
  • Municipal Colony (former) Improvements - Trenton NJ
    Eight boys of the federal National Youth Administration (NYA) worked to improve the grounds at the old Trenton Municipal Colony in Hamilton Township, "a complex that included facilities to care for city dependents, including the aged, the homeless, the infirm and those suffering from contagious diseases." The Mercer County Geriatric Center now occupies the site. According to a WPA bulletin, the NYA boys were at work "painting benches, cutting grass and cleaning up the grounds."
  • Municipal Harbor - Atlantic Highlands NJ
    The Atlantic Highlands municipal harbor was constructed 1939-1941. Of its nearly $1,000,000 cost, the WPA paid most of it. The Army Corps of Engineers built a 4,000 foot breakwater to protect the harbor.
  • Municipal Stadium (former) - Harrison NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a municipal stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. Work on the facility began June 1, 1936. The exact location or status of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Municipal Swimming Pool (former) - Waldwick NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Waldwick, New Jersey's old Municipal Pool in 1936. The exact location of the old pool is unknown; Living New Deal believes the pool has been replaced.
  • Music Pavilion - Ocean City NJ
    Ocean City Sentinel-Ledger: One of the most talked of improvements in Ocean City this season is the appearance of the city music pavilion, on the Boardwalk at Moorlyn terrace. During the winter this building, hammered by storms last fall and in need of repairs after a few years of comparative neglect, has been entirely renovated , with new paint inside and out, and new ceilings and walls. The status of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal.
  • National Guard Armory - West Orange NJ
    Originally the 102d Cavalry Armory, this facility was constructed with the aid of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "This city is a residential suburb near New York. It has a population of approximately 25,000. The building contains a large riding ring, stable quarters, rifle range, machine shop, repair shop, caretaker's quarters, company rooms, officers' lounge, grill room, and administrative section. It is fireproof throughout with structural steel frame and concrete floor construction. There are 74,256 square feet on the ground floor. The volume is 2,598,690 cubic feet. It was completed in November 1938 at a construction cost of $458,469 and a project cost...
  • National Guard Armory Addition - Burlington NJ
    The historic National Guard Armory in Burlington, New Jersey was the recipient of WPA efforts: "alteration and addition" work. WPA Official Project Number: 65‐22‐3451
  • National Guard Camp Improvements - Sea Girt NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at the National Guard installation in Sea Girt, New Jersey. Example project description: "Improve the National Guard camp grounds, including bulkheads, curbs, walks, sewers, manholes, and field drains, reconstructing pump houses and septic tanks, demolishing obsolete structures and hauling to low areas for fill, excavating"
  • Naval Air Station Development - Lakehurst NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development work at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. WPA project details: "Construct and rehabilitate buildings and facilities" Official Project Number: 109‐3‐22‐13 Total project cost: $10,000.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Make improvements at Naval Air Station" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐22‐391 Total project cost: $22,758.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Excavate, clear, and level grounds, and provide bridges, roads, and fences" Official Project Number: 265‐2‐22‐40 Total project cost: $153,464.00 Sponsor: Commanding Officer, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project Number: 709‐2‐44 Total project cost: $16,107.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Lakehurst NAS" Official Project...
  • New Jersey National Guard Armory - Jersey City NJ
    The New Jersey National Guard Armory located near McGinley Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, was constructed during the Great Depression with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The building is still in use and also serves as a recreational facility. "This armory provides quarters for one battalion of infantry, one battalion of engineers, two medical units, and one division of the naval militia. The large drill hall is on the street level and has banks of seats on two sides. Under these seats are eight company rooms and equipment storage rooms, and on two mezzanine floors are four more company...
  • Newark Airport Administration Building - Newark NJ
    The original Newark Airport terminal building, then known as Building 1, was built in 1934-35 with New Deal funding.  Newark Airport holds a special place in aviation history, with the first paved runway and the first terminal that provided a designated place for passengers and a restaurant. It has been called, by one preservationist, "...the single most important and historic passenger facility in the world" and a model for all that followed. (Quote here) It is an Art Deco gem, the work of architect John Homlish (an extensive tour of the building and its details, with fine photographs, can be found...
  • Newark Airport Administration Building Murals (lost) - Newark NJ
    Two twelve-by-six-foot murals were painted by Mr. and Mrs. William Herbert Holston for the Newark Terminal (Administration Building) of 1935 under the auspices of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The murals, shown in a contemporary WPA photograph, have been lost or destroyed. According to Newark's Star-Eagle: The first mural depicts Leonardo da Vinci gazing into space with his left hand raised, attempting to solve the mystery of flight. Seated at a table to his left is his student, Astro, head bowed, wearing useless wings. The second mural shows the "Kitty Hawk" in successful flight 40 years later ... Both murals combine...
  • Newark Airport Administration Building Murals at Newark Museum - Newark NJ
    "Between 1935 and 1937, Gorky painted ten large-scale murals on the theme of  aviation for the Newark Airport Administration Building. This mural cycle, known as Aviation: Evolution of Forms under Aerodynamic Limitations, was among the first modernist murals created and installed under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Art Project. Although still engaged with the Cubist vocabulary of Picasso and Braque, the mechanized forms of these murals also reveal a debt to the work of Fernand Léger, especially his monumental 1919 painting The City, now in the Museum's collection. Léger's urban, machine-inspired imagery and vivid colors...
  • Newark Airport Improvements - Newark NJ
    New Deal agencies greatly improved the Newark Airport, opened in 1928, during the 1930s.  The Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a $31,635 grant toward an airport repair project whose final cost was $129,978 (PWA Docket No. NJ 1146). Construction on this project occurred between October 1933 and March 1935.   In 1935, $3,500,000 was allocated by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for the improvement of Newark Metropolitan Airport.  The details of the work are uncertain, but probably included completion of the new Terminal (Administration) Building and new runways.  
  • Newark Bay Sewer Pipes - Bayonne NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) supplied the labor and paid most of the project cost of laying three sewer pipelines from points in west Bayonne to points in Newark Bay beneath the low tide line. Three 12-inch cast iron pipes, each 220 feet long, were to be laid transporting waste into the bay at 49th, 52nd, and 53rd Streets. The project also provided for the reconstruction of manhole covers and the cleaning of 4,020 feet of beach.
  • Newark City Hall Mural - Newark NJ
    Michael Lenson painted "History of Newark" with funding from the WPA Federal Art Project. It consists of 8 panels, each approx 6' h x 4' w. The New York Times wrote the following in 2003 in a retrospective article of New Jersey-based artist Michael Lenson: " moved to Newark and applied at the W.P.A. office on Halsey Street ... Soon, Mr. Lenson was designing and executing murals for the state W.P.A. program. He went on to become assistant state supervisor in charge of the other muralists in the agency. By the time the federal W.P.A. closed in 1943, Mr. Lenson had created six...
  • Newark Street Paving - Newark NJ
    The federal Works Progress Administration paved Newark Street in Newark, New Jersey in 1936.
  • Newark-Pequannock Watershed - West Milford NJ
    The Newark-Pequannock Watershed is a 35,000 acre natural resource owned by the City of Newark New Jersey. “TRENTON—That it is possible for the boys of the New Jersey Civilian Conservation Corps camps to gain a varied experience and training is well illustrated by the activities of a single crew of Camp Pequannock, near Butler, that has been working on the Pequannock Watershed of the Newark Water Supply, near Newfoundland. During four months, this crew was employed in the following different types of work: Planting two, three and four-year old trees in abandoned fields and pastures… Constructing a small reservoir, laying pipe...
  • Newell Elementary School - Allentown NJ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $52,000 grant for construction of a school in Allentown, New Jersey. Total cost of the project was $149,681. Completed in 1936, Living New Deal believes this is Newell Elementary School. PWA Docket No. NJ 1020
  • Newton Creek Work - Collingswood NJ
    "Commissioners were wise enough to accept some federal aid and the WPA helped enlarge the high school stadium and did some excellent work in making the swamps along Newton Creek and Cooper River attractive parkways."
  • 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."
  • Newton-Sparta Road Grade Separation - Andover NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds to construct a grade separation for Newton-Sparta Road and the railroad in Andover Township, N.J. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 2nd, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the crossing. Contract for construction was let by the State Highway Department in August, 1936, and construction was completed in September, 1937. Funds from the Bureau of Public Roads were allotted to meet the...
  • Nomahegan Park - Cranford NJ
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed Nomahegan Park in Cranford, New Jersey during the Great Depression.
  • Nye Avenue Repaving - Irvington NJ
    Among a series of paving projects undertaken by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Irvington, New Jersey was the 2,200-foot stretch of Nye Avenue from Union Ave. to Springfield Ave.
  • Oak Street Improvements - Bernards Township NJ
    Approximately two dozen Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers increased the safety of the old Oak Stump Road (current name unknown) in Bernards Township, New Jersey. The WPA straightened a bad corner, widened the road, and constructed gutters along 900 feet of the road.
  • Oak Tree Road Underpass - Iselin NJ
    The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a grant for the construction of an underpass to carry Oak Tree Road under the train tracks in Iselin, New Jersey. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. The PWA provided a grant of $113,535 for the project, whose total cost was $261,443. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "An order to eliminate the grade crossing on Oak Tree Road and the main line tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad was issued by the Board on March 22nd, 1934. Execution of the order was delayed during litigation by...
  • Oaklyn Municipal Building - Oaklyn NJ
    The WPA constructed this brick municipal building in 1941. The building now houses the city police and other offices.
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