New York Sites

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) reconstructed and paved streets in Massena, New York during the mid-1930s.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Morristown.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Clifton, represented on the map here by the village of Newton Falls.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Norfolk.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Oswegatchie.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Parishville.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Piercefield.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Pierrepont.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Pitcairn.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Potsdam.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Rossie.

The Massena Observer wrote in 1938 that the vast majority of municipalities in St. Lawrence County, New York had sponsored relief projects with the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). Among the towns in which the WPA had worked to 'reconstruct' roads was Waddington.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted road work in Lackawanna, New York during the 1930s. This image shows WPA work grading a road bed and collecting refuse from local steel mills for Lackawanna road projects. Additional information is needed to determine the current status and locations of WPA road projects in Lackawanna.

The Cape Vincent Eagle reported that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved 11 roads in the town of Cape Vincent, New York. "All school bus, milk, and rural mail routes, the roads form an important part of the town's highway system." The project encompassed eight miles of road, and called for "grading, draining, placing base, trimming shoulders and ditches, surfacing and incidental appurtenant work." Living New Deal cannot identify the present name/location of several of these roads, including: McWayne, leading from state highway northerly one mile Webster, leading from state highway southerly two miles Aubertine, leading from Rosiere country road northwesterly eight-tenths of...

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve roads in Chateaugay, New York. Work included grading, widening, filling, and ditching. Two points identified in one article were "the Jones hill on the Badger road and the Proper Hill on the River road."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Clinton, New York, including one Living New Deal cannot currently place: "Breen Corners Road."

The WPA allotted $17,480 in Oct. 1935 for general road improvements in East Hampton, NY.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Middle Road and (what was then known as) Hershey Street in Essex, New York. Work included "clearing, grading, preparing bases, surfacing, ditching and installing drainage structure." The exact location of Hershey Street is unknown to Living New Deal.

A 1935 story in Sayville's Suffolk County News references a "curb and gutter project near the Islip Town Hall" being undertaken by WPA laborers.

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve roads and sidewalks in Lindenhurst, New York during the 1930s. One project, which cost $21,806 (for which the WPA allocated $14,211) was described by the WPA in its project rolls: "Improve North Wellwood, South Wellwood, West Hoffman and East Hoffman Avenues ... including constructing sidewalks, curbs and gutters; removing trees;" and performing related work. WPA Official Project No. 065-21-1-170.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve 6.3 miles of farm-to-market road in the Town of Lyons, New York. On one part of the project, more than two dozen men were put to work reconstructing Pleasant Valley Road. The work enabled all-weather transportation along the improved roads.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here records this WPA project as a "black top improvement" to a road classified as a "farm-to-market road" in Macedon, New York. The photo is dated to 1937. The Living New Deal does not know the present status or exact location of this project.

In Ogdensburg, New York the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) resurfaced five miles of roads with blacktop and removed three miles of abandoned trolley tracks. At least 27 streets in the city were impacted by WPA improvement work.

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) worked to improve the roads in Mount Hope township in Orange County, New York. One project undertaken in 1940 was described as follows: "Improve Barlow, Ackerman, and Mountain Roads including excavating; grading; widening; installing culverts; shaping shoulders and ditches; laying base; surfacing." The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied a grant for another street improvement undertaking, providing a $9,998 grant for the project, whose total cost $22,360. Work occurred between between March and August 1936.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Peru, New York in 1936, including some Living New Deal cannot currently place: "Burie road beginning at Burie farm and connecting with Calkins road" "Lyons road beginning at Turner Hill and running northerly to town line which is southerly part of old Military Turnpike"

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Schuyler Falls, New York, including: "Morrisonville road starting at foot of hill connecting with Hard Scrabble road." Living New Deal cannot place this project at this time.

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a $197,000 street repair and maintenance project, along what were then dirt roads, throughout the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Roads improved included the following in central Canarsie in the vicinity of Flatlands Ave. and E. 87th St.: E. 88th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Ave. J E. 88th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Glenwood Rd. E. 87th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Ave. J E. 87th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Glenwood Rd. E. 87th St.: Ave. M to Ave. L E. 85th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Ave. J E. 85th St.: Flatlands Ave. to Glenwood Rd.

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a $197,000 street repair and maintenance project, along what were then dirt roads, throughout the borough of Brooklyn, New York. Roads improved included the following in northeast Canarsie in the vicinity of the L train terminus: E. 98th St.: Farragut Rd. to Foster Ave. E. 99th St.: Farragut Rd. to Foster Ave./li> E. 103th St.: Farragut Rd. to Glenwood Rd. E. 104rd St.: Farragut Rd. to Glenwood Rd. Farragut Rd.: E. 102nd St. to E. 107th St.

A road paving project in Montauk, New York (specifically, around Montauk Point) was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $16,400 grant toward the $65,938 total cost of the project. Work occurred between December 1933 and June 1934. (PWA Docket No. NY 1548)

A road paving project in Port Chester, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $46,500 loan and $19,421 grant toward the $92,384 total cost of the project. Work occurred between October and December 1934. (PWA Docket No. NY 4353)

A road paving project in Rouses Point, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $20,874 loan and $8,045 grant toward the $28,919 total cost of the project. Work occurred between October and November 1934. (PWA Docket No. NY 5797)

A road paving project in White Plains, New York was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $99,000 loan and $33,308 grant toward the $115,723 total cost of the project. Work occurred between April and October 1935. (PWA Docket No. NY 3703)

A road paving project in Yonkers, New York was undertaken during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $25,333 grant; the total cost of the project was $61,451. Work occurred between April and September 1936. (PWA Docket No. NY 1079)

Historic imagery shows that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) dug up and rebuilt 8th Ave. around 42nd St., in Manhattan, in 1936.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) curbed and resurfaced many north-south local roads west of downtown Plattsburgh in 1936, including Grace, Lafayette, and Champlain Streets.

Two WPA murals by Robert Gaston Herbert were painted for what was originally the Suffolk Home in Yaphank, NY and is now a Suffolk County office building. One mural is a painting of Richard "Bull" Smith riding what was probably a mythical bull. The story of his ride around what is today called Smithtown still persists. The legend has it that an Indian sachem would give Smith all the land he could ride around on a bull in one day. The other more historically accurate mural is of Rev. Paul Cuffe, an Indian preacher, preaching to colonists and Indians. Each...

Formerly known as Enfield Glen State Park, New York's Robert H. Treman State Park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) between 1933 and 1941. From 1933-1941, "...the men of Camp SP-6, Company 1265 were, according to the late local historian Neil Poppensiek, “trucked to work sites in Enfield Glen (later Robert H. Treman), Buttermilk Falls, and Taughannock Falls State Parks. There they excavated flagstone and did masonry work, blasted, excavated fill, graded, planted trees, shrubs and grass, built roads, bridges, and water systems, erected park buildings, and – after the disastrous floods of July 1935 and August 1937 –...

The PWA built the east wing of the Robert M. Finley middle school. "The Robert M. Finley Middle School, serving students in grades six through eight, is made up of several buildings: the west wing, built in 1910 and renovated in 1989; the east wing, built in 1938; and the Unified Arts Center/Media Center and gymnasium, built in 1975." (https://www.glencove.k12.ny.us) "This building replaces an old frame high school built in 1893. Among the rooms on the first floor are 14 classrooms, a gymnasium, auditorium, offices, music room, and wood and metal workrooms. The second floor has two art rooms, two men...

A trestle carrying what was then what was then the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway across Robin Road Avenue was built in 1936 as part of a massive grade separation project. The line has long since been abandoned (as the line was discontinued in 1953) and the trestle at Robin Road is one of its few remaining traces. The bridge bears a 1936 date stamp. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $1.46 million grant for the $6 million grade crossing elimination project, which included work elsewhere in Staten Island and even in Manhattan. PWA Docket No. NY 4926.

The WPA undertook work during the 1930s to improve Rockaway Beach (the physical beach, as opposed to the neighborhood of Rockaway Beach itself) in southern Queens, New York. One project entailed: "Removal of refuse and level sand on Rockaway Beach." WPA Official Project No. 165-97-3001.