“With its dependable water source, abundant fish and game, and natural beauty, the region of Central Texas around the Colorado River and present Inks Lake has been an inviting location for centuries, attracting Native American and German and Anglo settlers…. read more
The historic former U.S. Border Inspection Station in Laredo, Texas was built in 1943 with U.S. Treasury Department funds. The facility was in Spanish Colonial Revival style. The facility has been replaced, and Living New Deal believes the New Deal… read more
The Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built the International & Great Northern Railroad (now Union Pacific) Underpass in 1937 to separate the grade between the railroad tracks and San Pedro Avenue in San Antonio,… read more
On January 9, 1936, the Austin City Council adopted a resolution to request the Texas State Highway Commission to seek federal funds to separate the grade of Enfield Road from the International–Great Northern Railroad tracks. The Highway Commission with assistance… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided funding and labor toward the development of the Irion County Courthouse in Mertzon, Texas. It is unclear whether the WPA was directly involved in the building’s construction or if it undertook landscaping efforts around… read more
Esther Hurwitz and the Irving Felicity Club led efforts to obtain this U.S. Works Progress Administration project for Irving. The Felicity Club, Dallas Co., the WPA, and various individuals funded the project at a cost of $1,852.52. The Dallas Co…. read more
The historic J. Marvin Jones Federal Building in Amarillo, Texas was constructed as the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse with Treasury Department funds. The building, which was completed in 1938, houses multiple examples of New Deal artwork.
Artist Julius Woeltz painted six murals for the lobby of the J. Marvin Jones Federal Building under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts program in 1940. The murals are titled: “Gang-Plow,” “Harrow,” “Coronado’s Exploration Party,” “Cattle Loading,”… read more
J. P. Elder Middle School Annex (originally part of the North Fort Worth High School), was one of the school district’s existing schools that received landscaping by the CWA/WPA during the New Deal. At this school, a lengthy sandstone retaining… read more
The Jack County Courthouse was designed in 1939 by Wichita Falls firm Voelker and Dixon. The county applied for a grant in 1938 from the Federal Works Agency and received approximately half of the funding from the PWA, the rest… read more
The PWA constructed one building of the former James E. Guinn School in 1936-37. That building is now occupied by the Business Assistance Center. “The James E. Guinn School had its origins as the Southside Colored School, organized in 1894…. read more
The Jasper County Jail in Jasper, Texas was built by the Works Progress Administration under project number 65-66-3047. The building is currently the Jasper County Historical Commission Office and Library.
A state historical marker on the courthouse square has text that reads that “The present courthouse, constructed of locally made red brick, was completed in 1889…. An adjacent office building was erected by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1940… read more
Houston, Texas’s old Jefferson Davis Hospital was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. The PWA supplied a $1,003,500 grant toward the eventual $2,388,686 total cost of the project. Work occurred between March 1936… read more
The New Deal Public Works Administration (PWA) constructed this school building for the community of Jermyn in 1936 at a cost of $50,000. The project was supervised by W. J. Walker, PWA engineer, and completed by Gurley Construction Company. The… read more
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed reforestation and improvement work at the John Henry Kirby Memorial State Forest. The work included tree planting and timber stand improvement—a forest management method that supports tree growth. The CCC also built a residence, park roads… read more
Originally the City-County Hospital, this facility was constructed in Fort Worth, Texas in 1938-1939 in a design that reflected both Classical Moderne and Streamlined Moderne styles. Fort Worth architect Wiley G. Clarkson designed the building and the general contractor was… read more
The plaque on the front of the John Twohig house gives a brief glimpse into the interesting history of this house which was moved by the WPA to its current location on the grounds of the Witte Museum: “In 1841,… read more
The Johnson County jail in Cleburne, Texas, was constructed in 1938 through the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works by the architectural firm W. G. Clarkson & Company.
A Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts-sponsored mural titled “Big City News” was by Jose Aceves and installed in the lobby of the old Borger, Texas post office in 1939. The mural, which measures 4′ x 9′, is now housed… read more
Pritchett Field is a historic football stadium at Sam Houston State University. The first football game at Pritchett Field was on October 6, 1912. The Work Progress Administration constructed stone bleachers on both sides of Pritchett Field in the 1930s…. read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the Josey Boy Scout Lodge in Huntsville in 1934. Huntsville native and self made millionaire Robert A. Josey donated $5000 for the construction of a Boy Scout lodge in 1933. “The material for the construction… read more
Juanita Jewel Craft Park was originally called Wahoo Park and was purchased by the City of Dallas in1924. A Works Progress Administration (WPA) community building, retaining wall, landscaping, planting, walks and other improvements were executed 1936-38. The park was renamed… read more
Oncell: “In 1934, as part of a local Public Works [of] Art Project, three Houston area artists were commissioned to paint murals in the Houston Public Library (HPL) building. The murals found on the first and second floors of the… read more
The Frank N. Drane school was erected in 1930, though it received an east wing addition built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. A plaque in the front hallway says, “This school is dedicated to the enrichment of… read more
The Works Progress Administration built Karnack High School between 1938 and 1940. In 2016, due to low enrollment, high school students began going to nearby Jefferson Independent School District, and the school board moved Kindergarten through 8th grade and the… read more
The Keller Recreation Center, also referred to as the Rock Gym, was constructed in 1933-34 by the Civil Works Administration. The structure is made of native sandstone and petrified wood, and cost $16,000. It included meeting rooms, locker rooms, two… read more
In 1934, the City of Kerrville donated 517 acres to the State Parks Board for development of a state park. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Company 1823CV arrived in January 1935 to begin construction on project SP-58. The company stayed until… read more
The Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built an underpass in 1935 to separate the grade between the Texas & New Orleans Railroad tracks and U. S. Highway 77 in Schulenburg, Texas.
In 1931, Edwin Kiest, an influential Dallas businessman, made a gift of 247 acres of land to the City of Dallas for a regional park as a memorial to his wife, Elizabeth Patterson Kiest, who had died in 1917. The… read more
Text From the state historical marker reads: In response to the East Texas oil field boom, yet in the midst of the Great Depression, Kilgore residents voted to support the establishment of a junior college in 1935. Classes were held… read more
The Killough Massacre, believed to have been the largest single Indian depredation in East Texas, took place on October 5, 1838 in northwestern Cherokee County. The eighteen victims who were either killed or kidnapped included Isaac Killough, Sr., and members… read more
The WPA provided labor for the construction of the Knox County Courthouse and a school in Benjamin, Texas. The courthouse, built in stone in the Moderne style by the firm of Voelcker & Dixon, was constructed at a cost of… read more
This structure was built under the Work Progress Administration between the years of 1935 and 1937. It is located in Koehler Park which is adjacent to Brackenridge Park, but most local people just think of this entire area as Brackenridge… read more
“Originally known as “North Side School,” the present brick building was a 1935-1937 WPA project. The school was named after John A. Kooken, a long-time superintendent of the Arlington School District. J. L. Hill was the first principal.” (https://www.arlingtontx.gov)
While the town of Kosse, TX no longer maintains a school (which was consolidated with Groesbeck’s Independent School District in 1968), the town did receive a new school building with funding by the PWA. “Numerous jobs, ranging from skilled to… read more
Among the improvements hoped to be undertaken in the proposed NYA project include 316 feet of cement sidewalk 4 feet wide in front of the cemetery, 2 large columns at the double gate, with an arched entrance; 824 feet of… read more
A historical marker at the school reads: “Citizens [of Kyle] moved the Independence Hall schoolhouse to this site in 1890, marking the beginning of the Kyle Public Free School. The school grew steadily with the town, adding facilities to the… read more
It is generally believed that General Martin Perfecto de Cos, a brother-in-law of Mexico’s President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, surrendered to the Texan commander, General Edward Burleson, after the five-day Siege of Bexar in December 1835 at the Villita… read more
“La Villita, in the heart of San Antonio, was once the site of a Coahuiltecan Indian village. The first huts in the community were probably erected about 1722… The Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo colonial history of the section is… read more