• Broadway Auditorium (former) Improvements - Buffalo NY
    Broadway Auditorium in Buffalo, New York was improved substantially ca. 1936 by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. 150 men were put to work as part of this effort. The building now serves as a municipal Streets Department warehouse.
  • Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (demolished) - Buffalo NY
    Buffalo, New York's Minucipal Auditorium was a $2.7 million New Deal-funded project. Ground was broken on November 30, 1939 and the auditorium opened October 14, 1940. Sources differ with regard to the source of the New Deal funding -- an AP article claims it was the PWA while others claim the WPA constructed the building. The Municipal Auditorium was demolished in early 2009.
  • Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court - Buffalo NY
    "Buffalo Zoo Entrance Court – funded by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), the entry court and gates (1935-38) are the most intact surviving work of John Edmonston Brent, one of few African Americans practicing as both an architect and a landscape architect in the early twentieth century."
  • Cazenovia Park Improvements - Buffalo NY
    Cazenovia Park and the nearby South Park in Buffalo were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century. Improvements to the park continued throughout the early 1900s. In 1935, the WPA built a pedestrian suspension bridge across a creek in the Cazenovia Park golf course. The WPA photo pictured here also shows a swimming pool listed as being "South Park Swimming Pool - Cazenovia Park." This may well be the swimming pool in Cazenovia Park, which was also constructed in 1935.
  • City Hospital Pools and Bathhouse - Buffalo NY
    A WPA photo (pictured) shows a bathhouse and two swimming pools built by the WPA for what was then the Buffalo City Hospital. The hospital was renamed the Edward J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in 1939, and has since been expanded into the Erie County Medical Center. Google images show that the bath house building and pools (now empty) are still standing. Their current function is unknown.
  • Clearwater Reservoir - Buffalo NY
    Clearwater Reservoir, located under what is now La Salle Park (formerly Centennial Park) along the shores of Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, was a massive federal Work Progress Administration project completed in 1936. The project put thousands of local laborers to work. The water supply reservoir was "roofed over with a concrete platform to provide a much needed auto parking space." Buffalo's Courier Express discussed the dedication of the project on December 30, 1936, writing of the $1,000,000 project. Buffalo's then-Mayor George J. Zimmermann stated: "With completion of this reservoir Buffalo's water system will be equalled by no other city." He...
  • Connecticut Street Armory Improvements - Buffalo NY
    Also known as the 174th Regiment Armory, the Connecticut Street Armory was 'overhauled' by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor.
  • Cyclorama Building - Buffalo NY
    The Cyclorama Building was built in 1888 and showcased a variety of cycloramic exhibits, including "The Crucifixion of Christ" and "The Battle of Gettysburg." The city of Buffalo acquired the building in 1910, using it as a livery and taxi garage and as a roller skating rink. The building fell into disrepair until it was renovated and repaired by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937. The WPA added new windows, a new floor, and a new roof and built an additional room, all for the cost of $36,000. In 1942, the Grosvenor Library purchased the building, converting it into...
  • Delaware Ave. Bridge - Buffalo NY
    This photo shows a "twin arch bridge" on Delaware Ave. under construction by the WPA in 1936. Google maps shows that the bridge is still standing.
  • Delaware Avenue Improvements - Buffalo NY
    The major thoroughfare of Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York was improved substantially ca. 1936 by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. More than 400 men were put to work as part of this effort.
  • Elmwood Music Hall Demolition - Buffalo NY
    The WPA was responsible for the demolition of Elmwood Music Hall in Buffalo, NY in September 1938. The building, which previously served as an armory, was located at the northeast corner of Elmwood Avenue and Virginia Street. "The building was declared unsafe and condemned in February, 1938. Edward and Mary Seaton Kleinhans had already left a bequest in 1934 expressly for the construction of a new music hall. Music performances were held at the Buffalo Consistory (Cansisius High School) for the next two years while the Kleinhans Music Hall was being constructed on Pennsylvania Street."
  • Erie County Sheriff's Office - Buffalo NY
    Originally the Erie County Jail, the Erie County Sheriff's Office in Buffalo, New York was constructed with federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. 1282-D). Construction began February 1937 and the building was completed in 1938. According to a local newspaper at the time, the jail, Architect Maxwell James claimed was "so escape-proof neither wall nor fence is needed." The fifth floor of the structure was set aside for female inmantes. The building has since been integrated into a larger law enforcement and penal complex that includes the Erie County Holding Center.
  • Kenfield Housing Project - Buffalo NY
    Buffalo, New York's first public housing project, known as Kenfield, was located on what had previously been vacant land a few miles northeast of the city's downtown. Federal Public Works Administration funds (Docket No. H-6703) supported the project's construction. The project spanned roughly the area bounded by (and surrounding) Langfield Drive up to Kensington Highway, between Suffolk St. and Eggert Rd. ArtVoice reported in 2011 that the project was originally whites-only and contained 658 housing units.
  • La Salle Park - Buffalo NY
    La Salle Park, along the shore of Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, was originally known as Centennial Park. The WPA helped to develop the site, in conjunction with the completion of the Clearwater Reservoir, ca. 1936.
  • Mead Library - Buffalo NY
    Mead Library in the Lovejoy neighborhood of Buffalo, New York was constructed in the 1930s by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). "After the Erie County Library Board selected the Mead Library as one of several Buffalo branch libraries to be defunded and closed, the Lovejoy neighborhood and Councilmember Richard Fontana took steps to keep Mead open as a community resource. Today Mead continues to loan books, host weekly meetings of such groups as the Homemaker’s Society and offer free internet access, entirely through the work of volunteers. This industrious and collective spirit is very much in keeping with Mead Library’s roots:...
  • Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse - Buffalo NY
    The Art Moderne Michael J. Dillon U.S. Courthouse in Buffalo, New York was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. The building was constructed in 1936 and is still in use today.
  • Riverside Park Improvements - Tonawanda NY
    Riverside Park in Buffalo, New York was improved in 1938 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). 230 men were put to work on the project.
  • Schiller Park Pools and Locker House (Demolished) - Buffalo NY
    WPA photos (pictured) show the Schiller Park pools and locker house built by the WPA in Buffalo, New York. Google images do not show an existing pool. Google Earth shows remains of the Pool House (42 54’ 43”N 78 48’ 07”W) but the 12 foot and 4 foot pools are filled in.
  • Sewers - Buffalo NY
    A massive combination sewer construction project in Buffalo, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The three-year effort amounted to one of the largest construction projects in the country at the time. The PWA supplied a $3,358,000 loan and $6,750,000 grant; the total cost of the project was $15,091,077. (These figures have not been adjusted for inflation.) Work occurred between March 1936 and June 1939. (PWA Docket No. NY 1034)
  • South Park Water Tanks - Buffalo NY
    South Park and the nearby Cazenovia Park in Buffalo were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 19th century. The caption to the Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here lists this water tank as one of five water tanks built by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in South Park during the Great Depression. It notes that while the PWA built the water tank structure, the WPA laid the foundations for the steel work "...and put in water lines." More information is needed to determine the present status and exact location of this water tank.
  • Suffolk Street Paving - Buffalo NY
    The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) resurfaced Suffolk St. in Buffalo, New York during the 1930s.
  • War Memorial Stadium (former) - Buffalo NY
    A WPA stadium originally completed in 1937, War Memorial Stadium (a.k.a. the Rockpile, or Best Street Stadium) housed the Buffalo Bills before falling into disuse. Though the stadium itself was demolished in 1988, its northeast and southeast entrances have been preserved. A 1940 WPA write-up detailed the project: "Like Bleecker Stadium in Albany, Best Street stadium was an abandoned reservoir, destined to become a city eyesore. Forming a natural amphitheatre the site was converted into a stadium, with concrete stands and walls, seating 38,000 persons. As a result many sports events which the city could not otherwise have accommodated, have been...