South Carolina Sites

The federal Civil Works Administration constructed and improved roads in the vicinity of Andrews, South Carolina ca. 1933-4. A photo of the work is available at the source link below.

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the remodeling of the 1893 Opera House building, converting much of the four-story building into municipal offices. The building houses Sumter's city hall to this day. Wikipedia: "The building was remodeled in 1936, converting the first floor into a movie theater and the second floor opera house into offices." SumterSC.gov: "The cornerstone was reset in May, and a $120,000 renovation transformed the Opera House into a moving picture theater. This project also provided jobs for 300 workers in the midst of the Great Depression." "The very first film shown at the Opera House was Earthworm Tractors....

"Table Rock State Park is a 3,083-acre (12.48 km2) park at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Pickens County, South Carolina. The park includes Pinnacle Mountain, the tallest mountain totally within the state. The park features a lodge restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that includes a kitchen and a 72-seat dining room. There are two park lakes with seasonal swimming permitted and hiking trails that lead to the Pinnacle Mountain Summit (two routes), Mill Creek Falls, and the summit of Table Rock. A nature center offers educational programs, and there are picnic shelters and a playground. The 1.9-mile...

This grade school, elsewhere listed as "Taylors Colored School," is reported in the National Archives as the first completed PWA project in the country. No other information, including location or current status, is available. See link in sources for corroboration of name. Location listed below is inferred based on current location of Edward E. Taylor Elementary, constructed in 1954, which could have replaced the original school. Since the original school was for black children in segregated Columbia, and the Census tract surrounding the current site of Taylor Elementary was 92% black in 1970, the location is plausible.

The federal Civil Works Administration constructed public tennis courts in Georgetown, South Carolina, ca. 1934. The exact location and status of the project is unknown to Living New Deal. A photo of the work is available at the source link below.

"The lack of facilities in the plant made it impossible to meet the demand for an increase in the student body until funds appropriated by the State legislature and a P.W.A. grant made possible the construction of several buildings, one of which was this barracks. It is substantially the same both architecturally and as to construction as the Murray barracks which were built in 1926. It is 4 stories in height and is built around an inner courtyard surrounded with balconies. It provides 52 rooms, 2 toilet rooms, 2 dressing rooms, and 2 shower rooms on each floor....

"The lack of facilities in the plant made it impossible to meet the demand for an increase in the student body until funds appropriated by the State legislature and a P.W.A. grant made possible the construction of several buildings, one of which was this barracks. It is substantially the same both architecturally and as to construction as the Murray barracks which were built in 1926. It is 4 stories in height and is built around an inner courtyard surrounded with balconies. It provides 52 rooms, 2 toilet rooms, 2 dressing rooms, and 2 shower rooms on each floor....

Thornwell College, a dormitory building on the University of South Carolina campus in Columbia, SC, was expanded in 1937, "part of an extensive building program on campus launched in the late 1930s as part of the New Deal. Originally planned as a student union building, Maxcy College and new wings at Thornwell College were erected at a cost of $225,000, a portion of which was paid for by the Public Works Administration." (USC) "New wings, then named Coker and McBryde, were added in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal building program." (USC) The building is located at the north...

Multiple New Deal-supported construction projects were undertaken on the campus of Winthrop University during the 1930s. "While a U.S. senator, Byrnes arranged for Works Project Administration funds to be used with matching state funds to construct three campus buildings – the auditorium, Thurmond Building, and Macfeat Nursery School, now the Macfeat House, a reception area created from the former Academic Computing Center." (winthrop.edu)

The federal Public Works Administration supplied "a loan of $120,000 to be repaid over 30 years, as well as an outright grant of $108,900" to Orangeburg for the construction of what was then known as the Tri-County Hospital. Construction occurred between 1936 and 1937. The building has since been demolished. When the 'old hospital’ was new, thetandd.com: "On Wednesday, Jan. 15,1936, a simple, but impressive, groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new hospital on Carolina Avenue. ... This new facility was to be three stories high, have a capacity of 125 beds, and face north on the corner of Carolina Avenue and...

Orangeburg, South Carolina's former Tri-County Hospital was constructed with federal Public Work Administration (PWA) funds during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided support for construction of the hospital's nurses' dormitory. "In 1937 the W.P.A. approved a grant of $18,000 toward the construction of the student nurses' dormitory, which was to be built across the street. The total cost of this project was to be about $50,000. In April 1937, the voters of Orangeburg County approved a $60,000 bond referendum to help equip and furnish the new hospital, as well as pay $1,350 for the purchase of the lot...

The federal Civil Works Administration constructed is now U.S. 17 in the vicinity of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. "Near Murrell's Inlet, Route #49, C.W.A. Project #97, Georgetown County, South Carolina". The Civil Works Administration operated from November 1933-March 1934 and helped to employ nearly four million men during the Great Depression. The men worked to build and improve bridges, roads and public oriented buildings. SC Route 49 became a part of US 17 in 1935." (Georgetown County Digital Library) A photo of the work is available at the source links below.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided the labor for the construction of U.S. 701 north of Georgetown, South Carolina. "Jeff Lewis is a natural-born storyteller who vividly recalls life in rural Georgetown County when wagons were the mode of transportation and cardboard extended the life of your shoes. During the Great Depression, the WPA hired local men and boys to help build Highway 701 and clear the swamps, and Lewis was one of the eager workers." (Georgetown County Digital Library)

The historic former post office and federal courthouse building in Florence, South Carolina was constructed during the early 20th century and received a large addition constructed during the 1930s with federal Treasury Department funds. The extension and remodeling work was completed in 1938. The building is now privately owned.

The University of South Carolina was the beneficiary of a large influx of New Deal funds from various agencies throughout the Great Depression. In "The Prosperity of the Depression," the university's website writes the following with regard to this era of the campus's history: "It is interesting to note that almost as many buildings were built during the Depression as during the period 1908-1930. A world economic crisis occurred in 1929, the harbinger of the Great Depression. Even before that, in 1927, state appropriations for permanent improvements had ended. On the one hand, the Great Depression meant severe financial constraints for the...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Wade Hampton State Office Building in Columbia SC. According to Historic Columbia, "This structure was built using funds from the federal Public Works Administration to alleviate the state’s constant need for office space. Its Stripped Classical exterior and Art Deco interiors are typical of other buildings constructed under the New Deal and compliment the State House and the John C. Calhoun State Office Building next door. Built with separate bathrooms for African American citizens, the building housed the State Department for Education throughout the state government’s stalwart defense of racial segregation in public...

A substantial waterworks construction project was undertaken in Orangeburg, South Carolina during 1937 with funds provided by the federal Public Works Administration. (PWA Docket No. SC 1094)

A waterworks construction project was undertaken in Spartanburg, South Carolina between 1934 and 1935 with funds provided by the federal Public Works Administration. (PWA Docket No. SC 5144)

The College of Charleston's Willard A. Silcox Physical Education and Health Center gymnasium was a WPA project.

The massive Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina was originally constructed as the 17,600-seat Columbia Municipal Stadium in 1934. Sources claim that the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided significant funds / labor for the project's construction; however, as the WPA was not officially established until 1935 further research is needed to validate the federal program that was responsible for this project.

The World War Memorial Building was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Construction largely occurred during 1935 though the building was completed in 1936. The PWA provided a grant of $33,086 for the building's construction, which was completed at a cost of $120,240. (PWA Docket No. SC 5732)

"The federal government’s New Deal programs, specifically the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration, also played a direct role in Rock Hill’s economic recovery. Building projects included ... York County Hospital ..." (sc.gov) "The hospital which accommodates both white and colored patients opened May 20, 1940. It is modernly equipped, including X-Ray units, air conditioned operating and delivery rooms. A school of nursing is maintained." (cofc.edu) "The York County Hospital (2268), financed with county bond money, was another prominent Modernist building. When erected in the late 1930s, the hospital stood just outside Rock Hill’s city limits in the Town of...

Fountain Inn, South Carolina's Younts Center for the Performing Arts was originally constructed as a high school. According to the building's National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: "Fountain Inn High School is located on North Main Street, near the intersection of North Main and Quillen Avenue, within the city limits of Fountain Inn, in Greenville County, South Carolina. ... The high school is a 19,000-square foot rectangular brick building, constructed in 1939 by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in the Moderne architectural style during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first presidential term. The asymmetrical L-shaped building consists of an original auditorium as well...