Texas Sites

In 1938, the Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium/auditorium combination for the Elm Mott School. Interestingly, the records show that they put "used" bleachers in the building. This is a two-story, red brick building that now sets behind a locked chain link fence. In 1955, Elm Mott and Lakeview Schools combined to create the Connally School District.

The one-story, Art Deco School Gymnasium/Auditorium was erected in Moulton TX in 1939 by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Kai J. Leffland was the Architect and J.E. Dickey the Contractor.

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was the following: "Improvements and repairs have been completed on a Carbon school building and grounds at a cost of $3560." The location and status of this facility is unknown to Living New Deal.

A school improvement project in Hart, Texas was undertaken in 1936 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The P.W.A. provided a $20,454 grant for the project, whose total cost was $46,939. P.W.A. Docket No. TX 1682

The Works Progress Administration conducted improvement work at the Rising Star School in Rising Star, Texas, in 1939. According to the Abilene Reporter-News, "Rising Star School Gets WPA Allotment RISING STAR, April 12.-- Announcement was received here today that $18,933 had been allotted by works progress administration to the Rising Star Independent school district. The allotment makes possible a project planned by school board members 18 months ago, the cost of which aggregates $25,000. Included In the project will be a new home economics building, a rock veneer for the gymnasium, a deep well for the school's, water supply, a rock fence for the...

According to the Sweetwater Reporter the PWA approved "a grant of $6,545 and a loan of $8,000 for improvements to the Winters school system."

Multiple New Deal agencies financed or conducted development or improvement work at what was then known as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy at El Paso (or "School of Mines"), now the University of Texas at El Paso. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided funding for the construction of two dorms on campus, while the Works Progress Administration constructed an addition to the chemistry building, graded "drives on campus," and built an "extension of the power plant at the College of Mines."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) renovated a school in Cameron, Texas, ca. 1935. A 1935 Austin American Statesman article mentions the school renovations: "Milam county: Cameron Renovate school buildings and grounds In school district Federal funds, $16,136; sponsor's contribution $4085." The structure in question was likely the school built in 1920 in memory of C. H. Yoe.  

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was "repairs on a ward school building" in Cisco, Texas. "Building repairs, including a new concrete foundation, painting and refinishing inside and outside, cost $12,299. Forty-five men were employed for five months." The location of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

This sandstone wall was built by the WPA between 1937-38 in Valley View, Texas, about 60 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth. From 2013: An upcoming school bond to build a security fence places the wall in danger. A campaign is underway to save it. 2016 update from contributor Andy Hogue: "The wall has been preserved! As part of 2016 school renovation and expansion projects, the Valley View School Board decided to place the new security fence on the inside of the wall (closest to the school). Repairs were made in some of the more deteriorated places and new capstones were added. A...

Originally Texas Woman University's Science Building, the structure that is now part of the Ann Stuart Science Complex was constructed with federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds in 1936.

A small park at S/W Corner of Water & Devereaux Street with historical marker. Marker text: "As a branch of the Boy Scouts of America, Sea Scouting promotes mental and physical fitness through maritime skills. In 1936, Jacksonville attorney John C. Box, Jr., organized a unit for local boys, sailing the Sea Scouts Ship 400. The Sea Scouts met in one of four buildings made of red ironstone by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). One of the buildings was built in the shape of a hull and deck of a sailboat, fronted by a small amphitheater. This served as a...

The Works Progress Administration built a sewage disposal plant for Elgin, Texas in 1939 under project number 665-66-2-206. It was the first municipal plant to use the Hays process for sewage treatment.

The WPA worked to extend the sewer system in the town of Taylor, Texas during the mid-1930s.

The Borger Daily Herald reported that in June 1938 the PWA approved a $43,363 grant and $53,000 in loans to Wheeler, Texas for the purpose of improving / constructing its sewer system.

The Brownsville Herald: "Sixty men were at work Tuesday on Brownsville's biggest WPA sewer project, involving an expected expense of $121,868 of federal money and $41,179 from city funds. Work was started in the Los Ebanos section, where new sewers are urgently needed. Crews will later be increased until 208 men will be employed."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided labor for a $60,000 storm sewer construction project in McAllen, Texas in 1934.

"The WPA also funded the laying of sewer lines in various areas" on the North Texas State College campus.

The Seymour City Park was one of several city parks constructed or enhanced by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Texas. The CCC built the rock walls that extend around the perimeter of the park, and the entrance features to the park.

The Texas state highway 34 bridge at the Trinity River over the Ellis and Kaufman county line was completed in 1934, and is no longer extant. The bridge, funded largely through the National Recovery Act, was "a single 150-foot Parker through truss and 53 steel I-Beam approach spans" (Lauderdale, 1996). The Trinity River Bridge was one of 543 Texas emergency projects funded under NIRA. The bridge was necessary as the Texas Highway Department planned to re-route SH 34 on a new location, and it included new roadway grading and drainage structures, as well as the bridge. Special provisions under NIRA...

The Federal Administration of Public Works (a.k.a. Public Works Administration) provided funds to build the former Sharp School building about a dozen miles north of Thorndale, Texas, in 1939. As of 2018, the west end of the building appears intact, but the roof has collapsed on north and east ends. After a 1939 fire, the Sharp School building was rebuilt with the help of the Public Works Administration. The Bartlett Tribune reported the incident: "Sharp's new $74,000 school building which was to have been dedicated Sept 3, burned to the ground Sunday afternoon ... The building, which was erected with PWA aid...

This 1914 building used to be the Sherman Public Library and now houses a museum that "acquires, preserves, interprets and displays items" of local significance. "The Carnegie boasts of three oil on wood paintings, by Texas artist James Swann, that were hung in the building in 1934. They are the only examples of WPA art in Grayson County."   (www.theshermanmuseum.org) The paintings are titled "Music," "Literature," and "Painting." The three paintings are each 3' X 7' oil paintings on pressed wood. The background is gold leaf. The Greek figures were chosen as a representation of Sherman being labeled as the "Athens of Texas" around...

The Works Progress Administration constructed curbs / sidewalks around the Medina County Courthouse between 1938-1940. A WPA plaque is located on the 16th Street side of the courthouse.

The W.P.A. constructed curbs and sidewalks in Columbus, Texas. There are at least six instances of "Work Progress Administration" stamped in the sidewalks, and one example of a similarly stamped curb. These locations are all within a mile and a half of the courthouse.

Silver Falls Park is the largest and one of the finest roadside parks in Texas. Since the 1800s travelers have found Silver Falls a scenic, pleasant place to stop. In 1935 the National Youth Association, part of President Roosevelt’s Work Project Administration, build the park’s stone facilities.

The Sixth Street Bridge is a concrete beam bridge that currently carries the east bound frontage road of US Highway 67 over the North Concho River in San Angelo, Texas. The road is also referred to as West 6th Street. Contractor Purvis & Bertram built the bridge in 1936 with funds from the Public Works Administration. The bridge is referenced as project no. Texas 1540-A.

NRHP nomination form: "Other federal agencies active in Amarillo during the Depression included the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which built concrete sidewalks along Sixth Street and paved sections of Route 66 elsewhere in the Panhandle region." "Surviving WPA curb stamps at the following locations indicate half-block lengths  of sidewalk classified as single contributing structure: 2700 block: 1 south side 2800 block: 1 north side 2900 block: 2 north side 3000 block: 1 north side, 2 south side 3100 block: 2 north side, 1 south side 3200 block: 2 north side, 1 south side 3300 block: 1 north side, 1 south side 3400 block: 1 south side" Keystone Lonestar: "The year 1942 brought many improvements to Sixth...

The PWA approved a grant for the reconstruction of the high school in Snyder, TX. "A federal grant of $75,445 is being prepared ... and total cost of the project will be $145,455. ... The project is to include foundation work, refinishing of interiors, braces for weakened parts of the structure, and other construction work."

"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 divided by cast stone columns and flanked by pedimented porticos whose severe styling reflects a Moderne influence. Like the nearby Arlington Heights Senior High School, this building is also crowned with a lantern. In 1940, the school was featured in the publication, Texas Architecture, edited by Henry Whitworth. Four classrooms and a cafeteria were added during the 1948 Building Program...

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 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 bridge with a 14-foot roadway that flooding had damaged in 1935. Although repaired, the Texas Highway Department engineers felt a sense of urgency to replace the old bridge. The new bridge was built between 1936 and 1937 with federal aid funds. A bronze plaque embedded in the railing at each entrance to the bridge identifies the Texas Highway Department and...

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 of the bridge under a special United States Bureau of Public Roads grade crossing program. The overpass originally separated the grade of South Main Street from the tracks of the Texas & New Orleans Railroad and the Gulf Colorado & Sante Fe Railway. Contractor Purvis & Bertram built the bridge from 1936 to 1937 for $257,000 using federal aid funds.

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 the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad merged with Southern Pacific Railroad which was taken over by Union Pacific Railroad, which still uses the bridge. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad bridge is no longer in use and the railroad tracks have been removed.

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 the Public Works Administration. The three story building was completed at a cost of approximately $81,000. The building remains intact and well preserved and is the permanent home for the Senator John G. Tower Papers.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built and completed improvements at the Springtown Tabernacle in Springtown TX. The Inspection Reports indicate the perimeter stone and wood fence was constructed in 1934. The pavilion (as it is called in the NPS Inspector Reports) was constructed in the latter part of 1937. There was no marker on site indicating that it was constructed by the CCC. There is a marker designating the structure as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (2017).

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 the $116,783 total cost of the project. Work occurred between September 1938 and April 1939. (PWA Docket No. TX 8231)

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 to the National Register of Historic Places refers to the construction of a starter house, caddy house, tee boxes and drinking fountains on the golf course by the NYA. The form states that only the starter house is standing at this time.

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was "installation of a water system at the fish hatchery" in Cisco, Texas. "The hatchery water system was installed at a cost of $4500 and provided work for 30 men for a period of six months." The hatchery is long closed, and its former location is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

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 drainage boxes. They improved the drainage ditches by digging them out, rebuilding some with rock masonry walls and adding culverts where necessary. They also widened some of the levees around the ponds to allow trucks to drive on them. Years later, the lake that fed the ponds of the hatchery drained when its dam failed in a storm, forcing the closure...