Nevada Sites

Humboldt General Hospital in Winnemucca has been around in various forms since the 19th century. The first hospital on the present site was established in 1908.  It was expanded with new structures in 1936, 1942, 1962, 1973 and completely rebuilt in 2015-16. The 1941-42 expansion was undertaken with a $14,121 grant by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), while the 1936 addition was undertaken with a $24,545 grant by the Public Works Administration (PWA). The 2015-16 reconstruction of the hospital effaced all traces of buildings before the 1960s. Old Hospital before being torn down in 1972 - Winnemucca NV

The PWA constructed a swimming pool at Idlewild Park in Reno in 1937.

"The Division of Grazing (Grazing Service as of 1939) operated the greatest number of CCC programs in the state. There were several reasons for this. First of all, Nevada has the largest public domain (nonallocated federal acreage) of any of the forty-eight states. With little trouble, Nevada's elected officials and stockmen easily persuaded national CCC officials to approve requests for several new grazing camps, notwithstanding national CCC program budget cuts. Second, following passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, a large workforce was needed to implement its ambitious provisions. Even with CCC assistance, the amount of work needing to...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed a road "over Ione Summit" in Nye County, Nevada, ca. 1937. The road is likely Nevada State Route 844.

Lehman Caves National Monument was established in 1922 and put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived in 1934, setting up a camp and going to work on improvements to make the monument more welcoming for visitors. One of their tasks was to construct part of the Johnson Lake Trail.  We have no information on what other trails the CCC enrollees built in the park. The monument was incorporated into a new Great Basin National Park in 1986.  

“Lincoln County was not far behind Clark County sites in terms of federal funds spent on park developments. The county received approval for a fair share of state-operated recreational facilities that’s to the collective efforts of the county commission, the Caliente Chamber of Commerce, state senator L.L. Burt, and Congressman Scrugham. Lincoln County was anxious to promote its little-known natural attractions, including the intense red spires and erosional features at Cathedral Gorge. After purchasing park properties with federal Public Works appropriations funds, Congressman Scrugham and Senator McCarran secured a CCC camp for Panaca to build new parks. A full company...

“The Forest Service’s CCC program blazed new roads and trails into prospective campgrounds, existing mines, or susceptible fore zones. The Forest Service with its ample staff of engineers and natural resource specialists provided technical expertise for CCC projects. Similarly, the technical staff assisted the Soil Conservation Service by supervising construction activities on southern Nevada flood-control projects in the lower Moapa Valley, Panaca, and Caliente. Similarities in construction and design in different forests are no coincidence. Most early ranger stations, roads, and campgrounds were built according to standard regional plans prepared by architectural engineer George Nichols in Utah. After 1938, a manual...

“After more than twenty-five years of operation…many of the early water-control and -conveyance structures had fallen into a state of disrepair, and existing storage had proven inadequate. In Lahontan Valley, the CCC built or completed new water conservation projects including the Sheckler Reservoir and the S-Canal Dam and regulating reservoir to store more water. They also renovated and enlarged portions of the thirty-two-mile-long Truckee Canal, built several earth- and rock-filled dikes to increase reservoir capacity, and lined the Lahontan Dam Spillways with rock riprap to protect its banks.” –The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) conducted riprap and other improvement work at Lake Lahontan (Lahontan Reservoir) during the Great Depression.

“To accommodate the influx of tourists, new park facilities were in demand. With CCC labor, the NPS developed beaches and outdoor facilities in three different areas of the Boulder Dam Recreational Area (later subsumed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area): Hemenway Wash near Boulder City, Overton Beach, and Pierce Ferry in Arizona. The park service’s CCC program accomplished its goals. NPS director Arno Cammerer was pleased with the ‘fine cooperation from the Civilian Conservation Corps.’ Enrollees and staff from the Boulder City and Overton camps provided the main labor force for the new recreation area. In addition to building campgrounds, other...

“To accommodate the influx of tourists, new park facilities were in demand. With CCC labor, the NPS developed beaches and outdoor facilities in three different areas of the Boulder Dam Recreational Area (later subsumed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area): Hemenway Wash near Boulder City, Overton Beach, and Pierce Ferry in Arizona. The park service’s CCC program accomplished its goals. NPS director Arno Cammerer was pleased with the ‘fine cooperation from the Civilian Conservation Corps.’ Enrollees and staff from the Boulder City and Overton camps provided the main labor force for the new recreation area. In addition to building campgrounds, other...

“To accommodate the influx of tourists, new park facilities were in demand. With CCC labor, the NPS developed beaches and outdoor facilities in three different areas of the Boulder Dam Recreational Area (later subsumed by Lake Mead National Recreation Area): Hemenway Wash near Boulder City, Overton Beach, and Pierce Ferry in Arizona. The park service’s CCC program accomplished its goals. NPS director Arno Cammerer was pleased with the ‘fine cooperation from the Civilian Conservation Corps.’ Enrollees and staff from the Boulder City and Overton camps provided the main labor force for the new recreation area. In addition to building campgrounds, other...

This steel and concrete bridge was constructed in 1937 through the Public Works Administration (PWA) for a cost of $108,729.44 (PWA grant, $10,636.00; Federal-State Highway Funds, $32,593.44; City of Reno, $65,500.00).

Lamoille Canyon is the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains in northeastern Nevada. It is a spectacular glaciated canyon with several side valleys, surrounded by peaks over 11,000 feet.  Much of the canyon lies within the huge Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest complex across Nevada and is jointly managed with the Trust for Public Land. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in the canyon and did extensive work there, 1933-37. Camp Lamoille was the first CCC camp in Nevada, which had 54 camps overall by the end of the New Deal era.  It was located at the confluence of Lamoille Creek...

Lamoille Canyon is the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains in northeastern Nevada. It is a spectacular glaciated canyon, known popularly as "Nevada's Yosemite" and is surrounded by peaks rising over 11,000 feet.  Lamoille Canyon lies mostly within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which extends in patches across all of Nevada. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in the lower canyon in 1933 and did extensive work there from 1933-1937, under the supervision of the US Forest Service.  The CCC enrollees built the road up the canyon, built trails, and laid out two campgrounds in the canyon. The large Thomas Canyon...

Lamoille Canyon is the largest valley in the Ruby Mountains in northeastern Nevada. It is a spectacular glaciated canyon with several side valleys, surrounded by peaks over 11,000 feet.  Much of the canyon lies within the huge Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest complex across Nevada and is jointly managed with the Trust for Public Land. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in the canyon in 1933 and did extensive work there until 1937.  Notably, the CCC enrollees built the 12-mile road up Lamoille canyon (NF-660) from highway 227.   The road climbs from about 6,000 feet at Lamoille to 8,800 at the...

Lehman Caves National Monument was established in 1922 and put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) came to Lehman Caves National Monument and set up a side camp in 1934.  (The main camp was at Berry Creek, northeast of Ely) The CCC enrollees made improvements to the national monument, including the  water supply, trails, the first campground and parking at the visitor center.   The biggest CCC project was helping the National Park Service drill a new access tunnel into the Lehman Caves, the main attraction at the park.  The tunnel was done...

Lehman Caves National Monument was established in 1922 and put under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service in 1933. New Deal relief agencies came in to aid the Park Service in improving facilities at the park to make it more welcoming to the public. First to arrive was the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in the winter of 1933-34. Relief workers made repairs to the water line from Lehman Creek to the caves, the cave trail and the modest park buildings by the cave. In the summer of 1934, workers from the Transient Relief Camp at Lehman Creek did general clean-up...

The Lincoln County Courthouse in Pioche, Nevada was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "In 1937 Lincoln County began to receive the proceeds of a major boom in lead and zinc mining that ran through the 1950s and provided a major portion of the county's tax revenues. As the old county courthouse deteriorated, sentiment grew to replace it, resulting in a 1937 bond issue. At the same time the county received a grant of $26,800 from the Public Works Administration toward 45% of the cost of a new courthouse. The PWA money carried conditions, one of which was a...

"The New Deal continued to build facilities that would eventually contribute to Las Vegas's emergence as a resort city. ... Access to Las Vegas was also improved when New Deal funding finished the paving and widening of the Los Angeles Highway - an event which forever abolished southern Nevada's remoteness." Interstate 15 roughly follows the old Los Angeles Highway right-of-way.

“The Boulder City and Overton Camps are probably best known for their involvement in salvage archaeology, most notably excavations at Lost City in the lower Moapa Valley. The rising Lake Mead threatened a number of important archeological sites along the terraces overlooking the Muddy River. One well-publicized project was at Lost City, a five-mile stretch of Puebloan settlements that were soon to be inundated by Lake Mead. In a race against time, Nevada and NPS officials mobilized the young and energetic labor force and resumed the excavation at Lost City.” --The Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) carried out improvements on the irrigation water distribution system in Lovelock Valley, c. 1936-38.  The canals and drainage ditches serving the irrigated farms of the valley were largely in place by the time the Rye Patch Dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation to increase storage capacity.  They had been built by six private companies earlier in the 20th century.  The CCC men cleaned and improved 110 miles of canals, laterals, and drains in Lovelock Valley that supplied irrigation water to 20,000 acres of farmland.  They also replaced worn-out water-control structures and flumes. Kolvet (2006) notes the pride...

Lyon County Courthouse in Yerington, Nevada was constructed in 1912. During the mid-1930s the building received an addition enabled in part by federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. "In 1936, the existing west half of the building was added at a cost of $40,000." (NPS nomination form) The PWA provided a grant of $18,000 toward the project, whose final cost was $46,006. Construction began in Dec. 1935 and was completed Apr. 1936. (PWA Docket No. NV 2538.)

The Reno Main Post Office no longer occupies this building and has moved to a location on Vassar Street.  The original post office (the subject of this post) was sold to a local development group in August 2012 and, after extensive and careful renovations, is now being leased as a "modern workspace" for businesses. "Designed by Frederick DeLongchamps in 1932, this post office is one of the best examples of Art Deco design, specifically Zig-Zag Moderne, in Nevada. MacDonald Engineering constructed the building, with the assistance of the Civil Works Administration (CWA), one of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs. The...

Located on the southern portion of the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno is a long concrete dam and irrigation canal that travels east/west through the campus. The dam is located at the southern portion of Manzanita Lake on campus. On the northern wall on the east side of a bridge that spans the canal leading north onto campus is a bronze plaque that reads: 'BUILT BY W.P.A. - 1940 - SPONSOR - UNIV. OF NEV.'. No other information about the canal and dam's history has been located by the Living New Deal. A survey of Google Maps revealed that...

The CCC constructed four low water-diversion dams along Martin Creek in Humboldt County, NV. The projects were described as being "in the Winnemucca vicinity," though further clarification of the location of these dams along the long creek is needed.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed what is locally known as the "Mathews Drop structure" northeast of Caliente, Nevada. Its construction was meant to "stop gully erosion along the Meadow Valley Wash, slowing floodwaters and stopping head-cutting along a portion of the Meadow Valley Wash north of Caliente."   The Mathews Drop Dam was so effective that, after many years, Panaca Meadows replaced the huge erosion gully cutting through the valley.

An elementary school built in the Mission Style in 1909, McKinley Park School had its playground rebuilt under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) programs. Walkways around the building were also built. Today the playground is a parking lot and the school houses an arts center.

What is now the Virginia City Middle School was an educational facility constructed between April and September 1936 as part of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The building replaced the historic 1876 Fourth Ward School (now a museum). The New Deal middle school has since been altered and features a newer addition to the original structure. The PWA provided a grant of $14,727 for the school's construction; the project cost $34,727 in all. (PWA Docket No. NV 1016)

"The Division of Grazing (Grazing Service as of 1939) operated the greatest number of CCC programs in the state. There were several reasons for this. First of all, Nevada has the largest public domain (nonallocated federal acreage) of any of the forty-eight states. With little trouble, Nevada's elected officials and stockmen easily persuaded national CCC officials to approve requests for several new grazing camps, notwithstanding national CCC program budget cuts. Second, following passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, a large workforce was needed to implement its ambitious provisions. Even with CCC assistance, the amount of work needing to...

The PWA granted a loan of $55,000 for a new Mineral County high school building in 1934. In 1940 the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a tennis court at the school at a cost of $1,902. The building is still in use today.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed a 16-foot-wide road between Belmont, Nevada and the Monitor Valley. The road is likely what is now known as Nevada 82.

CCC Company 1915's "first job was a daunting task. To build a road up Cottonwood Canyon to Mount Grant. These men worked under every condition, but still built a road up the steep mountain, which at the time, was one of three roads built at such an elevation. Another was Pike’s Peak in Colorado." The road, believed to be unnamed, is still extant.

Mount Rose Elementary School is one of two remaining Mission Revival style schools the other being McKinley Park School. The school was built in 1912 and designed by local architect G Ferris. Work was done under the new deal projects to improve the playgrounds.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in conjunction with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a ski hut on Mount Rose in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The exact location and status of this facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

"The Community of Elko got a new swimming pool and dressing rooms" was a result of New Deal construction in northern Nevada. Further information about this project is needed.

Now the Hawthorne Army Depot, what was then the Naval Ammunition Depot was developed and improved by multiple New Deal agencies during the Great Depression. noehill.com: "By 1930, Hawthorne's population had grown to 757, with the Depot contributing 72 military personnel and 90 civilian employees to the total. The presence of the Depot helped Hawthorne through the Great Depression, but a number of President Roosevelt's New Deal programs were undertaken there to further help ameliorate joblessness. In October 1935, the first Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects were initiated, consisting mostly of road construction and repair. Other projects included courthouse repair and improvement,...

“The Newlands Project (originally the Carson Truckee Project) is considered Nevada’s greatest reclamation project. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District has operated the irrigation system since 1926. By the 1930s, the Newlands Project needed to be enlarged and overhauled if Fallon Farmers were to stay in business. The bureau was also concerned with the efficiency of irrigation systems in the Pershing County Water Conservation District in Lovelock, the Washoe County Water Conservation District in Reno, and the Walker River Irrigation District in Yerington. By 1935, five Bureau of Reclamation CCC camps had been established to store water and enlarge and upgrade existing irrigation...

“The Newlands Project (originally the Carson Truckee Project) is considered Nevada’s greatest reclamation project. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District has operated the irrigation system since 1926. By the 1930s, the Newlands Project needed to be enlarged and overhauled if Fallon Farmers were to stay in business. The bureau was also concerned with the efficiency of irrigation systems in the Pershing County Water Conservation District in Lovelock, the Washoe County Water Conservation District in Reno, and the Walker River Irrigation District in Yerington. By 1935, five Bureau of Reclamation CCC camps had been established to store water and enlarge and upgrade existing irrigation...

“The Newlands Project (originally the Carson Truckee Project) is considered Nevada’s greatest reclamation project. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District has operated the irrigation system since 1926. By the 1930s, the Newlands Project needed to be enlarged and overhauled if Fallon Farmers were to stay in business. The bureau was also concerned with the efficiency of irrigation systems in the Pershing County Water Conservation District in Lovelock, the Washoe County Water Conservation District in Reno, and the Walker River Irrigation District in Yerington. By 1935, five Bureau of Reclamation CCC camps had been established to store water and enlarge and upgrade existing...