“This Arlington Heights area school is an eclectic blend of Colonial Revival and Moderne influences. It was financed by the PWA, designed by Hubert H. Crane and erected by Quisle and Andrews. The central wing of the 2-story building is… read more
Abilene’s South Junior High School, renamed Jefferson Middle School during the 1980s, was a 1942 WPA project. No longer a middle school, the building has “been used while other Abilene Independent School District campuses [are] renovated.”
The South Llano River Bridge is a 1424 foot steel through truss bridge with a 24-foot wide roadway that carries Texas State Highway Loop 481 over the South Llano River in Junction, Texas. The bridge replaced a functionally obsolete truss… read more
The South Main Street Overpass is a bridge with an overall length of 1,335 feet including approaches that currently carries South Main Street over multiple BNSF Railway tracks near downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The Texas Highway Department oversaw the construction… read more
In 1937, the Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built two underpasses on South St. Mary’s Street in San Antonio, Texas to separate the grade of South St. Mary’s Street from the railway lines of… read more
The combined efforts of Southwestern University and the Georgetown City Council secured the funds to build the Cody Memorial Library. Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson helped Southwestern and the City through the maze of federal agencies to get a grant from… read more
WTAMU’s Stafford Hall was constructed as a New Deal project during the 1930s. Construction was undertaken with the aid of Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds.
Rio Grande City, Texas’s historic Moderne-style Starr County Courthouse 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 $64,000 loan and $52,363 grant toward… read more
This stone building on the edge of the Historic Brackenridge Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas is attributed the work of the National Youth Administration. The NYA completed many projects in the park. The registration form for the park’s nomination… read more
Between 1939 and 1940, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked at the state fish hatchery northeast of Huntsville, Texas as part of project 65-1-66-175. The WPA reworked the ponds to remove sediment, added an 8-inch water supply line and concrete… read more
The Work Projects Administration constructed and improved 27.75 miles of SH 16, between Brackeen Drive and State Highway 254, and State Highway 254 in Palo Pinto County below Possum Kingdom Dam between 1940-1942. This section, the corridor from Brackeen Drive to… read more
The construction of the Colorado River bridge was part of a larger THD undertaking to reroute SH 29 around Buchanan Dam, which was under construction beginning in 1931. The original roadway and the bridge across the Colorado at Bluffton were… read more
SH 78 bridge at Red River is the only surviving K-Truss bridge in Texas. It has an overall length of 2,108 feet, and provides a crossing between Fannin County, Texas and Bryan County, Oklahoma. The “eight riveted K-truss through spans,… read more
On June 14, 1935, a devastating flood washed out the two truss spans and the center pier of the 1930 bridge of State Highway 9 across the Llano River in Mason County, Texas. The Texas Highway Department considered the reconstruction… read more
The Works Progress Administration project 65-1-66-2583 removed the streetcar rails from Houston and Commerce Streets in downtown San Antonio in 1940. San Antonio streetcar service began on June 22, 1878. San Antonio’s streetcar system reached its peak at ninety miles… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) hired local workers to build the Stephenson High School. The school replaced an older facility that no longer met the needs of a growing population the surrounding area. Dedicated in 1939, the new structure was a… read more
The Sterling County Courthouse was built in 1938 with assistance from the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works under docket number TEX 1585-F. It has “wonderful Art Deco details of the local sheep and cattle-ranching enterprises and the ubiquitous cactus.”… read more
This stone pavilion was constructed by the WPA in 1934-1936. After many years it was in danger of collapsing into a nearby creek, until the city recently moved the entire pavilion 25 feet to a more secure location.
Stinson Field was established by the Stinson family at this location in 1916. The family were accomplished aviators and had been running a flying school at nearby Fort Sam Houston prior to leasing this 500 acre plot of land from… read more
Stoddard Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. “The first Stoddard Hall was the original state dormitory at TWU and was completed in 1908. The current building was completed in 1936 and now is home to the… read more
The Stone Cottage in Addison, Texas, originally called the Addison Community Building, was built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) between 1939 and 1940 as the permanent meeting place for the Addison Home Demonstration Club. The official project number was… read more
A large sewer construction project in Houston, Texas was enabled during the Great Depression byfederal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA supplied a grant covering nearly half the total cost of the project ($310,053 of $676,777, not adjusted for… read more
The works Progress Administration manufactured 18″, 24″ amd 36″ diameter reinforced concrete pipes on site, dug trenches and installed the pipes underground for a storm sewer system in Luling. The official project number was 665-66-1-161.
Alamo Stadium (previously submitted) was about to open in 1940 when the City of San Antonio applied for WPA funding to improve the streets in the surrounding neighborhood of the stadium. Streets were widened and repaved and simultaneously were developed… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved streets on the south side of Palestine, Texas in the fall of 1940. Some of the streets paved were Angelina Street, Michaeux Avenue and Highland Avenue. The WPA used an iron ore base with… read more
By 1923 only about five miles of Tyler’s 130 miles of street were paved and most residential streets remained unpaved. A bond for street paving passed in 1925 by Tyler provided funding for continued street paving, some of it in… read more
From the Forest Service website: “Stubblefield Lake Recreation Area was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. Just an hour north of Houston, in the Sam Houston… read more
Sul Ross State University, named for former Texas Governor Lawrence Sullivan “Sul” Ross, was founded in 1917. The university built Lawrence Hall, also named after Sul Ross, in 1938 to be a dormitory for 116 female students. The Public Works… read more
The Sulphur Creek Bridge is a three span steel stringer bridge that carries U.S. Highway 281 over Sulphur Creek in Lampasas, Texas. W. W. Vann & C0. built the bridge in 1934 under the direction of the Texas Highway Department… read more
“The theater originally was constructed in 1930 and expanded and renovated in 1937 using Texas Centennial funding. The architect for the 1930 project was Harvey P. Smith, who was joined by George Willis and Charles T. Boelhauwe to design the… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a swimming pool and bathhouse in Swenson Park in Spur TX. The pool was built between 1935 and 1937 and closed in 2009. A WPA marker in front of the bathhouse reads: “Works Progress… read more
The pool was built by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. Work Project No. 6552, Official Project No. 65-66-7087. All that remains today is the entrance.
The new swimming pool at McCamey opened June 2, 1939. The new $50,000 swimming pool was built by Upton County as a PWA project. The new pool, recently completed, is one of the finest of its kind in this section… read more
The Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed a pool in Pearsall, Texas. The entrance to the pool area is marked. Rock wall, rock decorations at edge of pool, and rock wall on one side of pool filtering equipment. The pool is… read more
The 285,000 gallon concrete pool was started August 25, 1936 and completed a year later. It was officially dedicated in 1938. Total cost of construction for the pool, walkways, rock house for living quarters for the caretakers, showers, concession room,… read more
The University of North Texas’s Marquis Hall was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. “1936 was also the date when construction started on a new library building. The first library, now known as Curry Hall, had been opened… read more
Sycamore Park received extensive improvements with assistance from the WPA and the NYA. Pictured here is a WPA shelter and drinking fountain built in 1935-36. The structures were designed by Hare & Hare of Kanas City, Missouri. The Fort Worth… read more
The Works Progress Administration built the Taylor County Agriculture Building in Abilene, Texas between 1938 and 1939. The building then became the Taylor County Welfare Office for a number of years. The building’s current use is unknown. Anecdotes tell that… read more
The University of Houston’s old Industrial Building, now known as the Technology Annex, was constructed with the assistance of the Work Projects Administration, a New Deal agency. Houston, a history and guide: “Newest of the units is the INDUSTRIAL BUILDING… read more
Tenison Park is in the divide of East and West Grand Avenue. On the site there is a rock bathroom (in need or restoration), a rock trash container, and a small rock bridge, as well as rock-lined drainage ditches.
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.
