South Dakota Sites

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the Watertown Auditorium. The facility has two basketball and volleyball courts. It also has a stage with theater seating. For years it was used for rec league basketball and volleyball leagues and youth basketball camps and tournaments.

A stone airport hangar at Watertown Regional Airport in South Dakota was constructed by the federal Civil Works Administration (CWA) during the Great Depression. The exact location and status of tis structure is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

Williams Middle School in Sturgis, South Dakota was constructed as Sturgis High School during the Great Depression with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $46,000 grant; the total cost of the project was $108,625. Construction occurred between March and December 1936. (PWA Docket No. SD 1005)

"It was not uncommon for WPA employees to work side by side with Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) members on projects throughout the Black Hills and in Rapid City. Some of these projects included landscaping work that utilized native stone in rock walls and ponds throughout Canyon Lake and Wilson parks."

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made a host of improvements to Wind Cave National Park, which had been established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The improvements made in the 1930s included a new administration building, a new operator's building, two new residences, and a large garage/storage facility.  Three other buildings were remodeled as residences. Other projects at the park included the construction of a reservoir and water system,  elevator housing and concrete stairs within the cave, game fences around the park, and new signs at the park's entrance. In addition, the CCC built bridges in the...