A large road paving project in Victoria, Texas was undertaken with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $162,000 grant toward the $341,634 total cost of the project. Work occurred between October 1938 and… read more
The National Youth Administration (NYA) in cooperation with the Texas Highway Department created roadside picnic areas in Texas. The Gonzales park, constructed adjacent to U. S. Highway 183 near the south bank of the Guadalupe River was part of the… read more
This picnic area on U.S. 281 in Hamilton County is an early roadside park constructed by the Texas Highway Department (now Texas Department of Transportation). This roadside park was completed in 1936 to accommodate motorists attending the State’s Centennial Events…. read more
The National Youth Administration (NYA) in cooperation with the Texas Highway Department created roadside picnic areas in Texas. The La Grange park, constructed adjacent to U. S. Highway 77 was part of the development of roadside parks begun in 1935… read more
Picnic table and steps on the left as you head out of Fort Davis toward Fort Davis State Park. This is just one of several along this scenic route. In 1927 the legislature instructed the State Highway Department to build… read more
These two stone bridges were built by the WPA as part of the same project that built the town hall.
On October 31, 1938, the Public Works Administration offered the City of Austin a grant not to exceed $613,127 to cover 45% of the costs of school buildings, a stadium and field house, a central heating system, an underpass, an… read more
“Further improvements in the Robert Lee school are assured with allocation Saturday in Washington of a $1,350 grant in PWA funds.” (Sweetwater Reporter) The address and current status of this structure are not presently known by Living New Deal.
Robertson Stadium was “constructed as a joint project between HISD and the Works Progress Administration by the Fretz Construction Company.” Originally Named Public School Stadium it was completes in 1942. Houston Independent School District renamed the stadium Jeppesen Stadium. In… read more
Rock and brick building labeled Rochelle ISD has a WPA plaque which reads, “Work Projects Administration 1938-1940.” The adjacent rock building labeled “1935 Rochelle School Auditorium” looks typical of structures built by the WPA, but has no plaque attesting to… read more
This rock wall was constructed 1935-1937 by the Works Progress Administration and partially encloses a city block. It is unknown the original purpose for the wall’s construction, though it now encloses the Old Jail Museum Complex.
An onsite marker reads: “Rockport School has served the town of Rockport for many years as both an educational and community institution. It dates to 1935, during the era of the Great Depression. One of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New… read more
Rockwall County is the smallest county in Texas and was primarily agricultural during the Great Depression. By 1940, fifteen percent of the available workers were doing relief jobs or in search of work. The federal government kept the county government… read more
This municipal golf course opened in 1938. The first nine holes were constructed by the CWA. Additional work was completed by the WPA.
A marker was erected in 1985 to commemorate this New Deal resettlement community. The text reads: “The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was enacted in 1933 as part of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Program to aid families during… read more
The house was first leased to the Arthur Murphy family inn 1938, The entire farm consisted of 299 acres. The house was donated and moved in March 2014 to the FiberMax Center for Discovery (formerly the Bayer Museum of Agriculture)… read more
In 1934, the Public Works Administration approved a loan of $4.2 million for a school building program in Fort Worth. Rosemont Middle School (Originally Rosemont Junior High School) was one of the schools built with the PWA funds. The E…. read more
On September 1, 1937, President Roosevelt signed the United States Housing Act of 1937. This created the United States Housing Authority (USHA) and provided $500 million for subsidies to be paid from the U.S. government to local public housing agencies… read more
Rosewood Park is a 13.9-acre neighborhood park in East Austin. The land for Rosewood Park was purchased by the City of Austin in 1929 and developed as the first African-American park in Austin. The Civil Works Administration helped make improvements… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the original section of Round Top-Carmine High School in 1939 (Project No. 12646.). It was called the Carmine Independent School at the time of construction. An addition was built on the northwest side of the… read more
LOC: “Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad Underpass, Spanning State Highway 183 at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, TX: An example of Fort Worth’s exceptional network of grade separation structures, the underpass[es serve] as a good… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a project beginning December 24, 1935 that would employ “16 men for three months” working to develop / improve “an 11-mile road south of Silverton to Floyd County line.”
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook a “school addition and improvements” project in Silverton, Texas, that was completed in December 1935. The location of the schools is unknown to Living New Deal.
A disastrous flood in June 1935 washed away the existing highway bridge across the Llano River in Llano, Texas. The Texas Highway Department designed a new bridge in the fall of 1935 and built a new two-lane four-span Parker through… read more
The University of Houston’s old Science Building, now known as the Roy G. Cullen Building, was constructed as a New Deal project. Houston, a history and guide: “Directly opposite the reflection pool is the SCIENCE BUILDING (open day light hours,… read more
The National Youth Administration constructed the building that houses the Runnels County Sheriff’s Office between 1941 and 1942.
In 1937, a school was built in Rylie, Texas (now Dallas) to replace the former school that burned down the year before. An article published in 1937 in the Dallas Daily Times Herald, recounts the process by which federal funds were… read more
Sabine Farms was one of 200 New Deal Resettlement Administration communities and one of only thirteen set aside for African Americans. “Sabine Farms was built on nearly 12,000 acres of land. ‘They built about 80 homes – half in Harrison… read more
Saginaw Elementary School in Saginaw, Texas was constructed in large part with federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds. Text from the state historical marker reads: “Saginaw School. Jarvis J. Green settled here in 1882 and named the site for his… read more
Record flooding of the Salt Fork Red River occurred on June 15, 1938, damaging the bridge for then State Highway 52 (now State Highway 203). Deemed unsalvageable by Texas Highway Department Engineers, plans were made for a replacement bridge. The… read more
The Public Works Administration contributed $1,329,508 toward the construction of the Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall. The architect of record was Alfred C. Finn. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on November 4, 1936 and dedication was held on November 26,… read more
“San Angelo Nature Center, located in the former Lake Rangers Headquarters building at Lake Nasworthy, built by Works Progress Administration. Natural science and history museum emphasizing understanding of Edwards Plateau region.”
Ethel Wilson Harris was already the owner of a well-established decorative tile business in San Antonio when she became the local technical supervisor of the Arts and Crafts division of the WPA in San Antonio in 1939. Her staff of… read more
“In 1928 the San Antonio Zoological Society, a nonprofit organization, was established to purchase animals to be housed adjoining Brackenridge and Koehler parks on a fifty-acre tract of land from a Spanish grant that belonged to the city. The site… read more
In 1933, the Georgetown City Council authorized the mayor to conduct negotiations to purchase land known as the Old Fair Grounds. This tract along the San Gabriel River had been a place for public gatherings for decades. The city planned… read more
The bridges over the north and south forks of the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, Texas are identical designs of a cantilevered-suspended span type bridge, where a steel unit is placed between cantilevered arms projecting beyond the main supports of… read more
“Impressive celebrations were held throughout the State of Texas in 1936 to commemorate the centennial of its secession from the Republic of Mexico. One of the most important events leading to this act was the decisive Battle of San Jacinto… read more
A sanitary sewer construction project in Sudan, Texas was undertaken in 1937-8 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $10,763 grant for the project, whose total cost was $24,222. P.W.A. Docket No. TX [X]1466
A sanitary sewer construction project in Monahans, Texas was undertaken in 1935 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $20,120 loan and $5,982 grant for the project, whose total cost was $26,383. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 2016
A sanitary sewer construction project in Muleshoe, Texas was undertaken in 1936 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $17,600 loan and $14,334 grant for the project, whose total cost was $31,960. P.W.A. Docket No. TX [W]1080