Rhode Island Sites

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at Fort Getty in Jamestown, Rhode Island. The projects included road construction and building improvements.

The WPA restored this fort at some point prior to 1938. From Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State: "he Works Progress Administration has restored the old fort, graded the land, and converted it into a park." The site is now the Columbia Park Playground.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement and development projects at what was then Fort Kearny—now the site of University of Rhode Island - Bay Campus—in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The projects included: 1. "Access road Fort Kearney," WPA Project No. 165‐1‐16‐74; $32,970, sponsored by the War Department. 2. "Construct and improve buildings," WPA Project No. 165‐3‐16‐99; $7,208, sponsored by the War Department.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at Fort Wetherill in Jamestown, Rhode Island. The projects included road construction, painting, the repair of a wharf, and building improvements.

In Newport, Rhode Island "the WPA built sidewalks and most of the stone walls, grandstands, concession buildings and other facilities in Newport’s public parks. Vernon Park, Freebody Park and Cardines Field are the most visible examples." At Freebody Park, the extent of WPA work is unclear as the astounding stone perimeter wall bears a 1932 date stamp, which pre-dates the New Deal.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed greatly to the development of the park system in Woonsocket, R.I. Globe Park benefited from landscaping improvements and the construction of picnic areas and fireplaces.

WPA crews built fireplaces and reproduction Narragansett Indian villages for Warwick's 300th anniversary in 1936. Crews also built a field house in the park, but it does not appear to be extant. The precise location of fireplaces is unclear in the roughly 400 acre park.

This PWA building was constructed in 1937-38 and demolished in 2013. A two-story Art Deco building intended to house both hangar and terminal facilities. The architects were Jackson, Robertson & Adams. The building was torn down as a safety measure for a runway extension.

A simple brick school building. It replaced a wooden school on the same site. The architect was Albert Harkness, of Providence, who designed the nearby Chepachet School at the same time. It was later renamed the Adah S. Hawkins Elementary School, which was succeeded by the Fogarty Memorial School. It is today occupied as offices.

"Early projects proposed by the town and paid for by the WPA included ... stone walls along High Street." Stone walls can be seen on the south site of High Street, in front of a couple of properties between Wacott Ave. and Baldwin Ct.

Construction of Hope High School, undertaken with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funding, comprised one of the largest New Deal undertakings in Rhode Island. "The Hope Street High School is one of the largest high schools in America, accommodating 2,200 pupils. It is in the vicinity of Brown University. It has 60 classrooms, an auditorium seating 1,285, a large stage and sound-moving-picture equipment, a library, study hall, cafeteria which accommodates 700 at one sitting, modern kitchen facilities, boys' gymnasium, and a girls' gymnasium with 105 individual shower stalls. There are special rooms for wood-working, art metal, machine-shop work, music rooms, and...

Seawall constructed on Hope St. Built by the Works Progress Administration between 1935 and 1939.

In 1938, a massive hurricane destroyed or damaged many public and private buildings in Rhode Island. Among these buildings was the James T. Lockwood High School of Warwick. Edward O. Ekman of Providence was hired to draw plans for the reconstruction of this 1925 building. It is currently occupied by condominiums.

This New Deal Art Deco building was originally constructed as the "post office annex" to the 1908 Federal Building and Courthouse next door. The building still functions as both a post office and a general federal building housing various federal offices. Note: Though the GSA document cited below says the building was WPA, such buildings were almost always PWA. The two agencies have often been confused. From the U.S. General Services Administration: "By the late 1920s, the need for additional space again became urgent. The city selected a site adjacent to the 1908 Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. A local architectural firm,...

This WPA building is ornamented with "Cast concrete sculptures on the facade created by artist Raymond Barger, a Maryland native who studied at the Carnegie Institute and Yale. Completed in 1940, the carved sculptures were executed under the WPA's federal art program. The sculptures above the two main entrances depict stylized eagles. On the projecting pavilions, the sculptures consist of the head and torso of human figures, a sun or moon and stars, and illustrations of different means of delivering mail." (gsa.gov)

Woonsocket, RI: A Centennial History, states: The Woonsocket Call of September 28, 1935, reported that "work was started on the first five WPA projects in Woonsocket, giving employment to 300 men." Logee and Larch Streets and Rhodes Avenue were graded; Thomas Street was paved; and Cass Park athletic fields were completed.

"Early projects proposed by the town and paid for by the WPA included ... new athletic fields on Lawn Avenue ..."

This large park and fountain, two miles north of the Brown campus, were erected by the WPA in 1935-37 and 1940 respectively.

A W.P.A. shield-style plaque embedded in the sidewalk, on South side of Lloyd Ave., east of Hope St., identifies the sidewalk as a W.P.A. construction. The plaque is located adjacent to Erickson Gym, directly across the street from the direct entrance to the Moses Brown School.

Woonsocket, RI: A Centennial History, states: The Woonsocket Call of September 28, 1935, reported that "work was started on the first five WPA projects in Woonsocket, giving employment to 300 men." Logee and Larch Streets and Rhodes Avenue were graded; Thomas Street was paved; and Cass Park athletic fields were completed.

The historic Main Street Firehouse in Pascoag, Rhode Island was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The colonial-style brick building was constructed between Dec. 1938 and Aug. 1939. The PWA supplied a $23,998 grant for the project, whose total cost was $51,721. PWA Docket No. RI X1447

One of Rhode Island's largest sports venues, McCoy Stadium was built between 1938 and 1940 by the City of Pawtucket. It was co-designed by Thomas E. Harding, the city engineer, and Mark Linenthal, associate engineer. Home to the Pawtucket Red Sox, it is named for Tom McCoy, mayor of Pawtucket at the time of the stadium's construction. Renovated in 1999. The stadium is currently home of the Pawtucket PawSox. "Presidents Roosevelt and Truman both visited during the 1940s to see the product of the federal building they'd funded."   (Pahigian)

As attested to by multiple plaques on-site, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed drainage channels with culverts for walking trails at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island, and potentially made other improvements.

The PWA built this school in Mount Pleasant. From the city archives: "In the fall of 1931, at the recommendation of Dunne and Reidy, the city borrowed $300,000 in anticipation of taxes for a system of work relief. This procedure was followed by Providence for the duration of the Depression, supplemented first by loans from the state and then by federal New Deal programs. Five new junior high schools, Mount Pleasant High School ... were among the many public works projects undertaken in Providence during the era in an attempt to combat unemployment."

The PWA funded an addition to the Mumford School circa 1935. After the school closed in the late 2000s, the building was renovated and converted into affordable housing. It is now known as Mumford Manor.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a massive improvement and development project at what was then Naval Air Station Quonset—now Quonset State Airport—in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Description: "Clear land, grade, excavate, install pipe drains, set railroad tracks, gravel roads, demolish buildings at U.S. Naval Operating Base at Quonset Point." WPA Project No. 265‐2‐16‐26; $701,042. Sponsor: Commandant, Naval Air Station, U.S. Navy

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at what was referred to as the "Newport Naval Base" and "Newport Naval Training Station" in Newport, Rhode Island. The projects included road construction, water and sewer system development, and grounds and buildings improvements.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted multiple improvement and development projects at what was then the Naval Torpedo Station, located on Goat Island in Newport, Rhode Island. The projects included construction of a hospital wing, new barracks, the improvement of a power plant, and construction of retaining walls. Goat Island no longer houses military operations.

A long, low Colonial Revival school with a portico and pediment. One of the last major commissions of its architects, William R. Walker & Son. Has served as a junior high school since Veterans Memorial was opened in 1955.

"Attention to the NBG continued during the Great Depression when the New Deal's Works Progress Administration funded additional workers to help care for the grounds and make improvements."

Founded as a town in 1671, Pawtucket, Rhode Island was home to the nation's first cotton-spinning machine at Slater Mill and is called the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in America. The Oak Hill neighborhood, which borders Providence and the Seekonk River, is the small city's most affluent residential community. WPA plaques lay embedded in several stretches of these notably rough and pebbled sidewalks at 100-foot intervals, including along the two-block-long Progress Street at the heart of the neighborhood. (It is tempting to connect the naming of Progress Street to WPA activities in and around Oak Hill between 1935 and 1939,...

A mundane Colonial Revival structure serving the Oakland Beach neighborhood of Warwick. The architects were William R. Walker & Son of Providence.

The Old Jamestown Bridge, which spanned the west passage of Narragansett Bay, was constructed as a New Deal project: the Public Works Administration (PWA) supplied significant financial assistance for the then-$3 million project, which opened for traffic in 1940. The structure, which was demolished in 2006, has since been replaced. The structure bore a "Federal Works Agency // Public Works Administration" plaque. Art in Ruins: "Planning for a bridge at this location began as early as 1920 and was spurred by the financial woes of the Newport Ferry Company. The noted bridge engineering firm Parsons, Klapp, Brinckerhoff and Douglass, which also designed the...

A large, Art Deco high school. Now known as Charles E. Shea High School. Built from 1938 to 1939, and designed by Pawtucket architect John F. O'Malley.

"The Economic Activities of the Narragansett Planters" is a Treasury Section of Fine Arts mural, painted by Ernest Hamlin Baker, that was originally installed in the Wakefield, Rhode Island post office. The mural was relocated in 1999 and currently resides at the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society. Medium: oil on canvas Size: 98 sq. ft.

Pierce Memorial Field was constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression. "The site of the athletic field was an abandoned gravel pit ... had gradually been developing into a public dump, ... taking the honor of perhaps the biggest eyesore in East Providence." After acquiring the land the town council "received the approval of the W.P.A. to construct a football field." The total cost of the project was then $300,000.

The artificial Point Judith Harbor in Rhode Island was improved with the aid of a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project between 1934 and 1935. It is likely that work included the following: "the harbor at the mouth of the pond was dredged and a dock constructed in 1935 to create a port for Rhode Island's fishing industry." (blogspot) Jetty and wharf work was likely also included. The PWA supplied a $77,000 grant; the total cost of the project was $284,655. (PWA Docket No. RI 8129)

WPA crews built this firing range. It is unclear if the range is still in the same location or if the original structure remains.

The historic East Providence post office was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in 1936. The building, which houses examples of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

The historic East Providence post office houses examples of New Deal artwork: three Section of Fine Art murals painted by Eugene Kingman in 1939. However, the murals are not in good condition. A third of the mural "East Providence" has fallen off the wall.