Wendell Jones painted the oil-on-canvas mural “Barn Raising” in 1942 for the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. Originally painted for the city’s then-new post office, the mural is currently viewable in the lobby of Rome’s City Hall.
Artist Rosalind Bengelsdorf was “[o]ne of the youngest members of the American Abstract Artists… In 1935, she entered Hans Hofmann’s atelier as one of the many scholarship students he took on. The following year, she joined the abstract artists working… read more
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… read more
The building housing FDNY Engine 70, Ladder 53 on City Island was constructed in 1939 by the Work Projects Administration. This firehouse has a plaque confirming its New Deal origin. This is one of the few New Deal plaques in… read more
City Island Road, between Pelham Bridge and the City Island Bridge, was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The WPA developed a “wholly new sewage system” for City Island, which had previously “depended on an antiquated system of individual street sewers, cesspools and septic tanks.”
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA) constructed the historic Potsdam civic center. NRHP nomination form: “The Potsdam Civic Center shares salient associations with Depression-era New Deal programs and politics, particularly as manifested in the process… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a sizable public building improvement project in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1935. The project involved the “Improvement of Public Buildings and Offices” at more than 30 locations, including the no-longer-extant Civil Prison… read more
The Claremont Inn was first built in 1804 and was located along the Hudson River, just north of where Grant’s Tomb stands today until its demise in 1951. For years, a succession of aristocrats lived in the house, including Joseph… read more
The 17-acre Claremont Park in the Bronx was extensively renovated and improved in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. The renovated park opened on December 7, 1940. A press release from opening day describes WPA work in the park: “This… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop during the 1930s what is now known as Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park. NYSParks.com: “The original core of land around and including Canopus Lake was developed through the use of the Civilian… read more
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… read more
The Cape Vincent Eagle reported that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) was to improve several roads to the Lake Ontario shore in the Three Mile Bay area of Jefferson County, New York, during the summer of 1939. Roads included… read more
A graceful Art Deco bridge carries [East] Clinton Street over Chenango River in downtown Binghamton, New York. The project was enabled by funding from the federal Public Works Administration (Docket No. NY 1321-R). The PWA provided a $162,297 grant for… read more
Two bridges carry rail traffic over [East] Clinton Street, just west of the Chenango River, west of downtown Binghamton, New York. This grade-separation project was enabled by funding from the federal Public Works Administration (Docket No. NY 1322-R). The PWA… read more
SILive.com: “Among the other major WPA projects on the Island were … development of park lands at Clove Lakes Park.”
A former military facility, the Coast Guard Air Station at Floyd Bennett Field was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. “The City of New York under the direction of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, deeded a portion of New York City’s only… read more
Completed in 1934, and opened as the K-12 Cohocton Central School. Later became Wayland-Cohocton Elementary School. As of 2022, it became Wayland-Cohocton Prekindergarten School. The tower is octagonal. Possibly this is a reference to Cohocton’s Orson Squire Fowler, the great… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Cold Brook Road outside Saranac, New York. Work began October 19, 1936 and was slated to put 30 men to work for six months.
This brick fire hall was constructed as Colden’s Fire Station #1 by the WPA: “In the 1930’s plans were drawn for a new Station #1 to be located across the street from the hall of the time next to Cazenovia… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed to the development of what is now College Point Boulevard, prior to the advent of the 1939 World’s Fair. Then called Lawrence Street, WPA efforts involved “the widening and paving of [this] important approach… read more
The historic College Station post office in New York, New York on West 140th St. was one of many post offices in Manhattan constructed with federal Treasury Department funds during the New Deal era. This project was implemented by the Public Works Administration…. read more
The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve New Rochelle’s, New York’s former Columbus Branch Library (a.k.a. Feeney Park Library; opened 1931) during the 1930s. The exact location and present status of the building that housed the library, which was… read more
Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers landscaped and conducted other work at Columbus Circle in Syracuse, New York. Work concluded in 1936.
Columbus Park, located in Manhattan’s Chinatown, was one of the city’s earliest major parks. By the early 1930s, it was quite rundown. New Deal programs greatly remodeled and upgraded the park and its facilities. In October 1934, the Department of… read more
“The City acquired this land on July 19, 1910, and since the 1920s Italian-Americans of Queens have gathered here to celebrate Columbus. The Board of Aldermen, on April 1, 1930, named the site for the famed explorer. The Italian Chamber… read more
Originally known as “City Park,” the oldest park in Brooklyn dates back to 1836. The park became a popular place after the WPA significantly redeveloped the park in 1939-1940. The WPA relocated old trees and constructed baseball, football, basketball and… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here describes this project as “removal of island and building of dyke.” The work took place in Como Lake Park in Lancaster, New York. The current status and exact location of the dike… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed this rustic shelter house in the 1930s for Como Lake Park in Lancaster, New York. More information is needed to determine the present status of the shelter and its location within the park…. read more
“The Coney Island and Brighton Beach boardwalks were rebuilt [by the WPA].”
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a sewer construction project by Coney Island Creek at Shell Road in 1936.
One of the five restored Alice in Wonderland murals painted by Abram Champanier in 1938-40 is hung in the Cumberland Center at 100 N Portland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205. The mural was originally created for the Gouverneur Hospital children’s ward in lower Manhattan, but… read more
This PWA pumping station is still standing. A 1939 PWA publication described it as follows: “This interesting structure is approached by a wide walk between lawns which leads to the main entrance flanked by sculptured twin representations of Pegasus. The… read more
The Coney Island Wastewater Treatment Plant came into operation in 1935. It was constructed with the help of the PWA.
The Conference House (also known as the Billopp House) is located on the southernmost tip of Staten Island in the Tottenville neighborhood. “The Conference House, a grand stone manor house built in 1680, is named for the unsuccessful Revolutionary War… read more
The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve the Connecticut Hill State Game Management Area (then the Connecticut Hill State Game Refuge) in Newfield, New York during the 1930s. One project was described by the WPA in its project rolls:… read more
Also known as the 174th Regiment Armory, the Connecticut Street Armory was ‘overhauled’ by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor.
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… read more
Continental Army Plaza was built by the New York City Department of Public Works in 1903. In 1936, Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds – and presumably workers – were used to renovate the plaza in order to improve access… read more
The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a stone wall at, and made other improvements to, what is now known formally as the Wilmington E. M. Cooper Memorial Public Library. Google Street View imagery shows the wall present as of… read more