Texas Sites

The paper "A History of the Bandera Public Library" documents that a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project was secured to cover a portion of the cost to build a new building in 1934. In the book, History of Bandera County, Texas, the library is documented as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. It is speculated that the building began as CWA project and the WPA finished it as the former program ended and the latter program began during the time period the building was constructed.

Constructed in 1941, with WPA labor, the Banita Creek Bridge crosses the waterway of the same name with three spans of reinforced concrete girder. The 100’-long bridge has a 24’-wide roadway with cantilevered sidewalks on both sides. The hand railing is composed of open concrete balustrade divided into sections by stepped Art Deco-like posts. The approach railing at the end of bridge angles out, following the skew of the wingwalls below. The WPA erected the bridge as part of a larger project that widened and improved the channels of Bonita and Lanana creeks. As part of the project, work-relief crews built sidewalks...

The federal National Youth Administration (NYA) built circular walls surrounding Barton Springs and created a terraced sunken garden. The site can be found along Barton Creek in Zilker Metropolitan Park, just off the Lady Bird Lake Bike Trail. There are two sets of steps leading down into the garden.

This beautiful park is nestled in the "Lost Pines" area of Texas. The park was built as a CCC project and opened to the public in 1937. In September 2011 96% of the park was burned by a devastating wildfire; some of the burn damage is still visible, but the park is regenerating. The fire spared the refectory and the cabins built by the CCC. A CCC pavilion at the overlook suffered damage to the wood roof, but today has been rebuilt. "The architect of Bastrop State Park, Arthur Fehr, followed National Park Service design principles that suggested harmony with the...

Hailed as the first major Works Progress Administration (WPA) project completed in Texas, what was then a bridge spanning the Colorado River along the primary link connecting Bastrop and Elgin, located on a farm-to-market road, opened in January 1936. Given as Texas State Route 95—the most direct connection between the cities today—was not yet constructed at the time, Living New Deal believes this to be the former bridge spanning the Colorado River along Farm-to-Market Road 969 (since replaced).

In 1937 the Wichita Falls Times described a Works Progress Administration (WPA) in a photo caption: "a bath house ... as an addition to city park facilities in Vernon." The status and location of the project are unknown to Living New Deal.

The Electra city pool "was built in 1935-36 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the facility includes a stone building with native stone from the area."

Originally built as the Goose Creek post office, the historic Baytown Historical Museum building was originally constructed in 1936 as the city's post office and Federal Building. Construction was funded by the federal Treasury Department. The building houses an example of New Deal artwork.

The historic Baytown Historical Museum building (formerly Federal Building / post office) houses an example of New Deal artwork: "Texas," a fresco mural by Barse Miller. The mural was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was restored in 2011 at a cost of $14,000.

The State of Texas erected a historical marker in 2009 to commemorate this New Deal resettlement community. The text reads: "Named for its location between Beaumont and Port Arthur, Beauxart Gardens was developed during the Great Depression by the U.S. Government as a federal subsistence homestead colony under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. The act encouraged urban and rural workers to supplement their incomes through agriculture. Residents worked part-time at area refineries and kept gardens and livestock. One of five such colonies in Texas, Beauxart Gardens was located on fertile rice land and provided a total of 50 families...

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 of Austin also passed a $350,000 bond package to cover the city’s share of the costs. Becker Elementary School was one of the new schools built. The student population increased rapidly to the point that there was a need for Becker Elementary School to be expanded. In 1939, the city approved an addition to the school, using part of an additional...

The Bee County, Texas Courthouse was built in 1912. In 1941 a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project built an L-plan brick addition to the south side of the courthouse. The brick used to create the addition is nearly identical to that of the original building,

Belvin Hall was the first student residence constructed on the campus of Sam Houston State University, then called Sam Houston State Teachers College. With an occupancy of 92, the building has remained a women-only residence since it opened. The Public Works Administration financed the four-story red brick building with a $150,000 grant and loan package. The college built on an addition called Buchanan Hall in 1945 to support the increasing population of the school. Now known as Belvin-Buchanan Hall, the combined structure houses 209 girls.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted development work at Ben Ficklin Park in San Angelo, Texas. Work included $3,095 on a garden.

What is now Benson Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was constructed in 1937-8 with the assistance of Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a $37,933 grant for the project, whose total cost was $84,817. Construction began in Dec. 1937 and was largely completed in October 1938. The school is now part of an expanded school and administrative campus known as the Benson Educational Complex. The original building is in the shape of an 'L' along Mueller and Dean Streets, and still features original floors, ceilings, and pull-up classroom closet doors, as well as its old auditorium stage. A Federal...

In 1913 the City of Tyler purchased the land for Bergfeld Park. Starting in 1936, the Works Progress Administration made improvements to the park including a stone amphitheater, rock culverts, and a rock lined creek, restrooms, and tennis courts. The city renovated the amphitheater in 2017 with a new stage and seating arrangement.

WPA funded two projects for the Bexar County Boys' School in 1939. Construction of a greenhouse for the facility, which served as a "juvenile delinquent" training school was authorized in December 1939, with WPA funding $2,213 and Bexar County funding $968 and employing 30 workers. A workshop, 30x85 feet, "...for inmates at the Bexar County Training School for Boys" replaced a building previously destroyed by fire (Boys Home Gets $15,000 Shop, 1940). WPA funded $10,738.50 of the cost of the workshop and Bexar County funded $4,397.62. Plans were drawn by Russell White, Bexar County engineer. The workshop was constructed of...

"Dramatic views off of the 200-foot bluff and from the CCC-built loop road are among the featured attractions of this 382-acre park. Early morning or sunset, joggers, walkers and cyclists circle the loop, enjoying these views as they exercise. An elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display is one of the largest in the region. Other activities include picnicking, nature study and sightseeing." CCC construction: Entrance Portals, Park Road 8, Culverts, Bridges, Concession Building (currently park offices), Keeper’s Dwelling, Stone Pavilion, Restrooms, Picnic Tables, Stone Steps, and Retaining Walls. An amphitheater was designed, started, but not completed. A Stone Pump House and...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook mosquito control work in Tyler, Texas. Work included lining a creek bed with rubble masonry walls, and paved cement pan to keep down mosquitoes.

The National Youth Administration built the Blanco High School in 1940. Austin American Statesman Newspaper, December 19, 1940: "Blanco lays cornerstone for new building, built by National Youth Administration workers. The new high school started a year ago, is built of native white limestone. It contains eight class rooms and a large auditorium, the latter section being the only part not yet completed. More than 100 Blanco County boys have received work experience on the building. Jesse Kellam, state NYA head, was the speaker at cornerstone laying ceremonies Wednesday afternoon."

Blanco State Park is located in historic Blanco, Texas. The park offers camping, hiking, fishing and swimming and scenic views of the Blanco River. In 1933 local landowners donated just over 100 acres for the park. The CCC worked here until 1934; this was one of their first projects. CCC construction in the park includes: "Park Road 23, Culverts and Bridges, Retaining Wall and Steps, Stone Walks, Stone Dams, Picnic Tables, Rock Seats, Benches, Picnic Table and Bench Combinations, Camp Stoves, Rock Wall, Concession House-Café (currently a maintenance building), Concession Building (currently the group pavilion), and Pump House (no longer in use)....

The Marie Heineke Memorial Gymnasium was built in 1938-40 by Blinn College and the Work Projects Administration.

"Houston Ship Canal--Loading Oil" Medium: oil on canvas Size: 6'6" x 6'6"

The state acquired the land for Bonham State Park in 1933 from the City of Bonham. The Civilian Conservation Corps developed the 261-acre park, landscaping the rocky, hilly terrain for erosion control and recreational purposes, and constructing an earthen dam to impound a sixty-five-acre lake. CCC Company 894 constructed buildings of local cream-colored limestone and Eastern red cedar, working under the supervision of Bonham architect Joe C. Lair and San Antonio architect William C. Caldwell. The overall design exhibits a WPA rustic style. The CCC built the entrance portal, concession building (currently the park headquarters and storage facility), waterfront storage building...

Text on a historical marker at the school reads: "In 1880, two years before the City of Gainesville created a public school system for all its children, Island Sparks, a young Mulatto, taught the black children of the city. In 1886, the city built a frame school building on this site for the community's black youth. Originally known as the Gainesville Colored School, the school adopted the name Booker T. Washington sometime before 1927. The original two-story facility was replaced in 1939 with a red brick, WPA project structure. Desegregation in 1965-66 resulted in the closing of Booker T. Washington as...

In June 1938 the PWA approved an $8,181 grant toward the construction of Borger High School's football stadium. However, due to delays in obtaining the grant the stadium had been already built. "The school board undoubtedly will seek to keep the money to make improvements on the stadium and increase the seating capacity," the Borger Daily Herald stated. The stadium was then two blocks north of the high school. Presently, the school system's football facilities are located at Johnson Park.

In 1935, the Meridian Tribune reported that a "contract for re-modeling the Bosque county courthouse and constructing a one-story addition was awarded ... to O.K. Johnson, Waco contractor, for $44,113.00." In 1934, the clock tower and hipped roofs were replaced with a flat concrete roof as a result of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. That renovation also resulted in a one-story addition to the west side of the courthouse. A restoration project in 2005-2007 removed the addition and restored the clock tower and roof to give the courthouse back its former Gothic style.

The Bosque River Bridge was constructed under a Works Progress Administration work-relief contract between 1940 and 1941. The bridge was as part of a larger project that created a new alignment of Texas State Highway 22 though Bosque County. The W.E. Worrell Company of Austin constructed the bridge and approaches, with work performed by WPA labor. Work began on the bridge in May of 1940 and finished the following December for the final cost of $98.002.88. This 566 long, steel I-beam bridge crosses the Bosque River west of Meridian, Texas. The bridge consists of a 265’ long four-span continuous span unit...

Text from the state historical marker reads: "Aurelius Delphus Bourland (1840-1904), a North Carolina native and a veteran of the Civil War, bought land here in 1873. A farmer and Primitive Baptist preacher, he first used this site as a family cemetery. The earliest marked grave is that of his grandson A. Delphus White, who died in 1886. In 1899 Bourland sold 2.5 acres, including the grave sites, to the residents of Keller (1.5 mi SW) for use as a public burial ground. Additional land was given by the families of Bourland in 1947 and A.B. Harmonson (1891-1967) in 1977. The...

The Civilian Conservation Corps built the Boykin Springs Recreation Area in 1937 and 1938. The park is set in a forest of longleaf pine trees surrounding a nine-acre man-made. spring-fed lake. In the early 1900s this area was the center of a thriving community built around the logging industry harvesting the old growth pine trees of East Texas. The loggers "clear cut" the land, and by 1920, with the trees gone, the community dissolved. The Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in the mid-1930's, replanted pine trees in the area and built several recreation areas such as Boykin Springs.

The Wichita Falls Boys Club (now the Boys and Girls Club of Wichita Falls) at 1318 6th Street, Wichita Falls, TX, was dedicated on November 22, 1942. The one-story stone building was sponsored by the Rotary Club and constructed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA). Philanthropists J.J. and Lois Perkins of Wichita Falls were important benefactors of the project. The building contained club rooms, a library, an auditorium-gymnasium, and a workshop. It now serves as the administrative office of the Boys and Girls Club of Wichita Falls and home to the Central Club.

Brackenridge Hall was completed in 1916. A fourth floor was constructed during the 1930s with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The building, since demolished, has since been replaced by the Brackenridge Student Union.

This lenticular truss bridge was moved to historic Brackenridge Park in 1925. It had been constructed in 1890 on St. Mary's Street over the San Antonio River by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of East Berlin Connecticut. After a devastating flood in 1921 the city under took a massive rebuilding of the city's downtown infrastructure and the bridge was relocated to the park rather than being demolished. The plaque on the bridge indicates that the National Youth Administration did work in 1937-38, but it is not known if they worked on the bridge or on the adjacent retaining walls.

"A low limestone perimeter wall built in 1936–1937 separates Broadway and the adjacent sidewalk from the green space in front of the Witte and Pioneer Hall. The wall, which runs the length of the property, was built by Witte museum and WPA workers. Entry points through the wall connect to sidewalks leading to both the Witte and Pioneer Hall. A stone bench is built into the wall, presumably to provide seating for bus patrons. The wall culminates at Tuleta Drive on the south and on the north at the northeast corner of the park property. Curved wing walls and planting...

The Reptile Farm had originally opened in 1933 in close proximity to the Witte Museum. It would move twice before coming to this final location in 1937 when permanent stone structures replaced the temporary structures made of planks, barbed wire and old sheet metal. The NYA assisted museum employees in constructing the large tank and surrounding snake houses. It is on the edge of the Witte Museum property which is in the boundaries of Brackenridge Park. The Reptile Farm was a huge success from the time it opened. Attendees paid a dime to walk through the amphitheater-like enclosure to view snakes,...

The Brady Creek Bridge is a 270 foot long, 50 foot wide steel stringer bridge that carries US Highway 377 (also called N Bridge St) across Brady Creek in Brady, Texas. Jensen Construction Co. Inc. built the bridge in 1939 under the supervision of the Texas Highway Department and the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency.

Text from the state historical marker: The town of Brazoria began in 1828 as a port and trading center in Stephen F. Austin's colony. Partially burned in 1836 during the Texas Revolution, it rebuilt and served as county seat until 1897. To escape floods and to enjoy a better life, the townspeople moved to "New Town" near the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway in 1912. This town became "Old Town." The first traffic bridge, built across the Brazos River in this historic region in 1912, provided a vital link between eastern and western Brazoria County. Falling victim to the elements...

The Brazoria County Courthouse had undergone much damage after the 1932 storm that hit the Houston and Galveston area, having also been used as a refugee site during the storm. After investigations about whether the courthouse should be renovated, in 1939, the Brazoria County officials and a grand jury finalized that a new courthouse would be constructed with Public Works Administration funding. The new building consisted of five stories with a county jail on the fifth floor. In addition, the project utilized $500,000 and around 100 workers. While there were countless applications sent for PWA funding, it seems that the...

"Constructed with locally available building materials in the traditions of the Rustic Style, the Brenham High School Gymnasium combines a native fieldstone veneer with metal factory-sash and massing reminiscent of the International Style. Ranging from 1 to 3 stories, the structure is composed of geometric building blocks which express the different functions housed within... The gymnasium was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939-40. It is similar to the WPA constructed gymnasium on the Blinn College campus. The property is an excellent example of Rustic architecture that characterized labor-intensive craftsmanship, government building in the 1930s. Its use of local stone...

A local source states that brick road paving in Dalhart, Texas was undertaken as a WPA project. Additional information about this project is requested.