Tennessee Sites

The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) provided $13,909 grant towards a repair project for Loudon, Tennessee's county courthouse during the Great Depression. The total cost of the project, undertaken in 1936, was $30,909.

The bridge was built by the Works Progress Administration. It was demolished at an unknown date and replaced with a pedestrian bridge.

The historic Madison County Courthouse at 100 E Main St. in Jackson, Tennessee was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. "This project consisted of a building 160 by 65 feet in plan and 4 stories and a basement in height. The basement contains offices for the county agent, farm welfare, the Red Cross, the health department, and a receiving room for the jail. On the first floor are the offices for the county clerk, registrar, county superintendent, tax assessor, sheriff, and county judge. The second floor is occupied by 2 courtrooms each 35 by...

Marrowbone Lake, located in the northwest reaches of Nashville, was created by Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) workers.

Presently known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School, Nashville's historic Pearl High School was built in 1936-37 with federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. Pearl High School was built expressly to serve Nashville's African American community (which was wholly segregated at the time).  It was described at the time as the finest school for Blacks in the South, according to the University of South Carolina Museum of Education. Designed by the nation's first African American architecture firm of McKissack & McKissack, the school features a "stripped classicism highlighted by creative, abstract grillwork in an Art Deco manner above the central entrance"...

McGhee Tyson Airport was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Some of Tennessee's largest WPA projects reflected the arrival of the age of flight. WPA workers ... built major airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and at the Tri-Cities." Van West: "In its brief existence during the winter of 1933-34, the CWA began planning for the development of a major airport between Knoxville and the company town of Alcoa in Blound County. Officials in both Knoxville and Blount County wanted a rural location so the airport could easily expand in the future; the Alcoa Highway (U.S....

McKellar–Sipes Regional Airport was developed by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Some of Tennessee's largest WPA projects reflected the arrival of the age of flight. WPA workers helped complete landing fields and airports at Jellico, Cookeville, Lebanon, Jackson, and Milan."

The CCC company 1442 provided labor for the initial development of what was initially known as Shelby State Park, planting trees, damming the lake, and building trails. National Park Service funded the project and labor was provided by CCC, and later, by WPA crews who built cabins and an administration building. The Resettlement Administration supervised the work crews. Planning began in 1933, land clearing in 1935. Additional building was planned, but interrupted by World War II.

Memphis International Airport was developed in part by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Some of Tennessee's largest WPA projects reflected the arrival of the age of flight. WPA workers ... built major airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and at the Tri-Cities."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted an improvement project at Memphis National Cemetery, providing work for about 35 laborers.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) enlarged worked to improve Memphis Zoo during the Great Depression. Federal labor installed a pair of stone lions at the entrance; constructed a metal cage for bird flight; built Monkey Island and Ibex Mountain; pools for sea lions and swans; and stone cages for large animals. Monkey Island was occupied by 55 Simians in seven-unit quarters at opening, and was completed at a cost of what was then $14,764.

This monument marks the spot where the explorer Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark duo) died as he was traveling along what later became part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. The site had been marked as early as 1848. "In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration and CCC workers camped at the site built a cabin museum a few feet southwest of the Grinder's Stand site . While their original objective was to duplicate the design of Grinder's Stand, no reliable description could be located." (wikipedia)

The 96-unit public housing was constructed for African-Americans during the Great Depression. It was demolished following damage from a tornado in 2003.

"Montgomery Bell State Park is a Tennessee state park in Dickson County, Tennessee in the United States. The park is 3,782 acres (1,531 ha) and sits at an elevation of 758 feet (231 m). The park is open for year-round recreation including boating, hiking, camping, fishing and golf. Montgomery Bell State Park was built during the Great Depression by members of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps as Montgomery Bell Recreational Demonstration Area."  

The former Municipal Public Works Garage Industrial District is comprised of six single-story, brick buildings built c. 1940. The garages are on the west bank of the Cumberland River, in Nashville. Buildings 1 through 4 run lengthwise northwest to southeast while Buildings 5 and 6 run northeast to southwest.  This New Deal project was funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), which was absorbed into the Federal Works Administration (FWA) in 1939. The Works Progress (or Projects) Administration (WPA) provided labor for the project. The Municipal Public Works Garage Industrial District was constructed to house various municipal public works departments, such as...

Nashville International Airport was first constructed by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Some of Tennessee's largest WPA projects reflected the arrival of the age of flight. WPA workers ... built major airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and at the Tri-Cities." FlyNashville: "Nashville’s first airport opened in June 1937, culminating a two-year process that began with the selection of a 340-acre site located along the Dixie Highway (now Murfreesboro Road) and built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Named in honor of Colonel Harry S. Berry, state administrator of the WPA, Berry Field consisted of a terminal building,...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted an improvement project at Nashville National Cemetery, providing work for about 35 laborers.

"The Natchez Trace Parkway is a National Park Service unit in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Old Natchez Traceand preserves sections of the original trail. The Natchez Trace Parkway logo can be seen on signs and trail markings along the parkway. Its central feature is a two-lane parkway road that extends 444 miles (715 km) from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Access to the parkway is limited, with more than 50 access points in the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee... Construction was begun by the federal government in the 1930s. The development of the modern roadway was one of the...

This Tennessee state park was developed by several New Deal  "on land bought from residents who could no longer farm the land due to erosion." (wikipedia.org) "Three New Deal agencies, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Resettlement Administration, assumed responsibility for the park's initial planning and development. Like other early state parks, the Resettlement Administration relocated property owners from unproductive and overused farm land; the CCC and WPA began land replenishment and park construction. The CCC concentrated its efforts on reforestation work and instigated land stabilization programs that included the introduction of the Japanese vine...

"In December 1929, the state of Tennessee established Nathan Bedford Forrest Memorial Park atop Pilot Knob, which had been donated by the Paffords. A road was built connecting Eva with Pilot Knob, where a memorial consisting of a granite obelisk had been erected. In the mid-to-late 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration arrived to build the park's roads, trails, and facilities."

The concrete Art-Deco influenced WPA Moderne armory was completed as part of a 3 building complex. Cost was $200,000. The building is currently used as the Memphis Children's Museum.

The former National Guard Armory in Columbia, Tennessee was designed by Warfield and Keeble. The facility includes a 70x100-foot drill hall. Warfield and Keeble designed a series of Tennessee National Guard Armories for the WPA between 1940-1942 with a "standardized but vaguely Art Deco-style architectural plan" (Fieser & Moore, 2011). Other armories were in Cleveland, Shelbyville, Centerville, and Murfreesboro. The Tenth Machine Gun and Chemical Company was headquartered in the Columbia armory during World War II. The building is currently used by the local Parks and Recreation department.

The Sprankle Building (also known by later names of The Pembroke and The Daylight Building) is now a 38- (formally 40) unit condominium in the adaptive reused building. Built in 1927, this building housed the initial offices of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Engineering Staff, Training, and Education programs, and Soil Erosion and Reforestation offices. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Daylight Building in 2009.

The four panels that make up "TVA Power" by Minna Citron were produced with the help of Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds and were moved from the old Post Office to the Museum in the 1970s.

The Norris Dam and reservoir were constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933-1936. It was the TVA's first major project.  It was built in a "modernist style, which was controversial and advanced for the era of construction." In addition to the TVA work on the site, "The Civilian Conservation Corps built recreational facilities and aided in the removal of various structures. The town of Norris, Tennessee was initially built as a planned community to house the workers involved in the construction of this dam."   (wikipedia)

"Norris Dam State Park is a state park in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is situated along the shores of Norris Lake, an impoundment of the Clinch River created by the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. The park consists of 4,038 acres (16.34 km2) managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The east section of Norris Dam State Park was developed in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a "demonstration recreational project" of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The CCC built a lodge, several rustic cabins, and an amphitheater. The...

The Obion County Courthouse was erected in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The limestone veneer, PWA Moderne courthouse was built for "just over two hundred thousand dollars" with "Art Deco details, terrazzo floors, marble wainscoting, and Art Deco-styled ornamental metal" (Van West, p. 42).

The Obion County Health Department Clinic was undertaken in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA built the "unadorned brick building for about ten thousand dollars" (Van West, p. 88). The location of the health clinic has since relocated and the building now serves as an agricultural extension office.

"Ocoee Dam No. 3 is a hydroelectric dam on the Ocoee River in Polk County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of four dams on the Toccoa/Ocoee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to meet emergency demands for electricity during World War II."   (wikipedia)

This New Deal post office is a one-story brick Colonial Revival building, rectangular in shape, on raised basement. Limestone pilasters with Doric capitals surround windows and door in center of facade. Interior of the building is largely intact, including original brass post office boxes.

Currently known as Levitt Shell, in recognition of funding that saved it from demolition, the Overton Park band shell was constructed by the WPA and City of Memphis in 1936 for $11,935. It has almost been demolished twice.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed the entrance steps at the northeast entrance to Percy Warner Park in Nashville, Tennessee, at Belle Meade Blvd. "Sumner Trails Chapter of Tennessee Trails will lead a 3.5 mile loop hike on the Warner Woods Trail in Percy Warner Park in Nashville, rated moderate. This hike features the Luke Lea heights overlook and the recently restored iconic steps (originally built by the WPA back in the 1930's) of the beautiful original park entrance."

"Now a standard Nashville tradition, Iroquois Steeplechase traces roots back to 1936, when Marcellus Frost suggested a racecourse to take over a piece of Warner Parks. Mason Houghland, master of the Hillsboro Hounds, along with foxhunter Con. Thompson Ball, and President Franklin Roosevelt confidant Harry Hopkins created the course in response, as a parks improvement project of the Works Progress Administration. The race has continued each year since, except in 1945 due to World War II."   (https://www.tennessean.com)

"Pickett State Park is a Tennessee state park in the upper Cumberland Mountains. It is located in Pickett County, northeast of the city of Jamestown, and is adjacent to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The park is located on 19,200 acres (78 km2) of wilderness including caves, natural bridges, and other rock formations. About 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) are managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as a state park, and the remainder of the property is managed by the Tennessee Division of Forestry as a state forest. The park was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps...

"Pickwick Landing Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Hardin County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The dam is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1930s as part of a New Deal-era initiative to create a continuous navigation channel between the river's mouth and Knoxville, and bring economic development to the area. The dam impounds the 43,100-acre (17,400 ha) Pickwick Lake and its tailwaters are part of Kentucky Lake." (Wikipedia)

The building contains three murals by artist Burton Callicott in 1934, commissioned under the CWA's Public Works of Art Project. The murals are titled "Conflict with the Indians" (left panel), "Coming of De Soto" (center panel), and "The Discovery of the Mississippi River" (right panel). "For over fifty years, few visitors to the original building of the Memphis Pink Palace Museum have failed to notice the three large murals over the staircase in the lobby. There, in bold oranges and greens and in a dramatic style, is depicted the coming of Hernando De Soto to West Tennessee. The first mural...is filled...

The red-brick Colonial Revival style post office was erected with WPA labor. (Van West, 2001). It contains a mural by Carl Nyquist, "Picking Cotton." Interestingly, Van West takes an almost opposite view of the accuracy of the mural from that Of Howard Hull, Tennessee Post Office Murals, 1996. (See entry for mural for Hull's perspective on the mural). Van West said of the mural: "While Nyquist's portrayal is plausible, it was misleading in terms of its depiction of race and gender roles" (p. 61). Van West identified the lack of head covering (and for that matter, protection from the sun!) as...

The Camden post office was constructed by the Treasury Department in 1936.

The post office in Decherd was built in 1940 with New Deal funds.

This post office in Dresden was built with New Deal funds circa 1937.