Text of the state historical marker reads: “In 1934, the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an auditorium on the original Locke Hill school grounds. Federal workers constructed the limestone building out of stone from a nearby quarry. Built to… read more
Lockhart State Park is located at the southwestern edge of Lockhart, Texas and is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park consists of 263.7 acres of land that was purchased by the State of Texas on December… read more
The hewn-limestone school in Lometa, Texas consists of two wings and a central gymnasium. It was the first school building in Lometa to have indoor plumbing. The Works Projects Administration did most of the work and the Public Works Administration… read more
“The park is named for Longhorn Cavern, a limestone cave formed by the cutting action of an underground river that receded thousands of years ago. Before the cave became a tourist attraction, it was used over the years by Indians,… read more
The Houston Independent School District and the Public Works Administration (PWA) erected the Adele Looscan Elementary School in 1936 under PWA project number TEX-1057R. Looscan is still an active elementary school for the Houston ISD.
Love’s Lookout Park, north of Jacksonville, Texas in north Cherokee County, was developed by the WPA. After John Wesley Love’s death, his “family gave 22.22 acres, including the lookout site, to the state for a park. The city of Jacksonville… read more
This concrete bridge bears the faint stamp “NYA 1939”. It crosses the San Antonio River at E. Woodlawn and River Avenue in Brackenridge Park. It was closed to traffic many years ago, but still serves as a crossing for pedestrians… read more
A marker erected in 1998 describes the CCC’s role in developing Loy Park and Loy Lake: “Grayson County officials became aware of a growing need for a public recreation facility for the area’s approximately 65,500 residents in 1930. Three years… read more
“In the heart of the Great Depression, five small rural elementary schools were consolidated into Cooper Rural High School, District 1, to give more rural students a chance for a high school education. … The New Deal era was an… read more
Mackenzie State Recreation Area, commonly referred to as Mackenzie Park, is located in the northeast portion of Lubbock. The park was first built in 1921, and included a pool and a golf course. During the Depression city leaders desired to… read more
This grand post office takes up almost an entire city block. It was constructed in 1931 under the Treasury Department’s supervising architect James A. Wetmore, prior to the advent of the New Deal. The post office contains six New Deal… read more
The state historical marker erected at this site describes the still standing arched entryway to the now demolished Majors Stadium as having been built by the Works Progress Administration in 1940.
The old section of Malakoff Elementary School, locally referred to as the “Rock Building” or the “Old Rock School,” was constructed of brown fieldstone in 1940 as part of the federal Works Projects Administration (WPA).
“Mansfield Dam (formerly Marshall Ford Dam) is a dam located across a canyon at Marshall Ford on the Colorado River, 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Austin, Texas. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on February 19, 1937 with United States Secretary of… read more
The National Youth Administration built the Marion County Roadside Park near Jefferson, Texas between 1935 and 1938. The park serves the same function as of 2019. A state historical marker at the site reads: “This roadside park was constructed by… read more
The University of North Texas’s Marquis Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. “As North Texas grew boarding houses were no longer adequate to accommodate the student population. Parents often requested a dormitory for women so they… read more
Laredo, Texas’s historic Martin High School was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the Great Depression. The building is still in use today. The PWA supplied a $250,000 loan and $101,853 grant toward the $352,283 total… read more
On October 31, 1935, the City of Austin accepted a grant from the Public Works Administration not to exceed $286,363 to cover 45% of the costs of building new schools, and making additions and repairs to existing schools. The voters… read more
Max Starcke Park is a 227 acre park located along the Guadalupe River. It is the main municipal park in Seguin. The land was a pecan orchard prior to the park’s dedication in 1938. The park was designed by Robert… read more
The town of Maydell “…developed on the rail line that ran between Rusk and Palestine, and in 1933 a forest conservation camp under the auspices of the Federal Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was established here. The camp was closed in… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements at the Maypearl Intermediate School in Maypearl TX. Except from Waxahachie Daily Light dated 4/17/1941: “The project covering improvements at the Maypearl School reopened April 11 after having been suspended since Oct. 1940… read more
This building was originally known as W. P. McLean Junior High when it opened in 1936. It was designed by Fort Worth architect Wiley G. Clarkson and built by James T. Taylor with financing through the Public Works Administration (PWA)…. read more
The Works Progress Administration renovated the Medina County Courthouse between 1938-1940. Excerpt from the historical market installed at the Medina County Courthouse: “Between 1939 and 1942, changes to the courthouse were made, including the addition of two two-story wings. Stone for… read more
The State of Texas allocated $50,000 for the construction of the Goliad Memorial Auditorium and the United States government allocated $20,000. The Works Progress Administration added $5,000 to build sidewalks, parking areas, and roads and to grade and fill the… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) contributed to the development Memorial Park. “At the close of the war, when the camp was abandoned, part of the site was acquired by the Hogg brothers, who, in 1924, turned 1,000 acres over to… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) completed work at the Menard Elementary School in Menard. At the site, there are two WPA markers that contain the same information—”Works Progress Administration 1938-1940.” One of the structures is a school building and the other is a… read more
In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) approved a loan of $4.2 million for a school building program in Fort Worth. Rufino Mendoza Elementary School (then called Denver Avenue Elementary School), built in 1910, received a new auditorium wing between… read more
Meridian State Park is located along the 98th meridian on the edge of a natural transition zone between prairie and hill country. The land was acquired from private owners between 1933 and 1935 and the 505.4-acre park opened to the… read more
Multiple websites report an unusual WPA project that took place in rural Texas: “Archeological digs employed WPA labor, including [the] excavation at the site of the Odessa meteor crater in Ector County, Texas.” (Marist) “[I]nterest [in the site] swelled after… read more
Under project number 665-66-2-153, the Works Progress Administration (renamed the Works Projects Administration by the time the project finished) built a new school in Milano, Texas between 1938 and 1940. The school had eleven classrooms and a combination auditorium and… read more
“The W.P.A. undertook construction of recreation buildings in Emancipation Park and Milby Park.”
The Works Project Administration built a school in Milford, Texas in 1940. The official project number was 65-1-66-186. The school had twelve classrooms and a combination auditorium and gymnasium. The school is still in use.
The post office in Mineola was built in 1936 under the Public Works Administration (PWA) program and was designed by architects at the U.S. Treasury Department. It continued to be used as a post office until 1998. It is now… read more
This building was originally the post office, but then was repurposed as the Mineola Historical Museum. The oil-on-canvas mural by Bernard Zakheim, entitled “New and Old Methods of Transportation,” was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. From Art… read more
The Mission Historical Museum was constructed as the city’s post office in 1940. The building houses an example of New Deal artwork.
The Mission Historical Museum (formerly post office) houses an example of New Deal artwork: “West Texas Landscape,” an oil-on-canvas mural by Xavier Gonzalez. The work was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts and was completed in 1942.
Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo was first established in 1720, moved to another site briefly, and then was reestablished at this location in 1740. The site is near a ready source of water, later known as the… read more
Franciscan Monks established the Spanish Mission San Francisco de los Tejas in what is now East Texas in 1690. The monks were forced by the local Indians to abandon the mission in 1693. The monks burned the mission when they… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Mitchell Street Bridge over the San Antonio River between 1935 and 1937. The steel stringer style two-lane bridge is still in use for vehicular traffic.
The Works Progress Administration built theMontgomery County Courthouse Wall in Conroe TX. Waxahachie Daily Light excerpt: “Construct stone wall around courthouse yard, landscape grounds; Federal Funds $2,410; sponsor’s funds $1,122; workers 36.”
Check out our latest map and guide to the work of the New Deal in Washington, D.C. It includes 500 New Deal sites in the District alone, highlighting 34 notable sites, and includes an inset map of the area around the National Mall which can be used for self-guided walking tours.
Take a look at our previous guides, equally comprehensive, covering key New Deal sites in San Francisco and New York City.
