Texas Sites

The Works Progress Administration built facilities for the Dublin High School between 1938-1940. A large rock construction structure located to the right of the High School building bears a plaque that reads "Works Progress Administration 1938-1940." Across the front of the building is a sign that reads "Recreation," suggesting that it may be an auditorium with a stage as well as a gymnasium. There is a wall around the school, and across the street is another rubble rock building that does not have a plaque.

An onsite marker commemorates the CCC's efforts in the area: "In 1929, one of ten erosion control research stations in the United States was set up southeast of this site for the purpose of studying erosion problems and the effectiveness of erosion control methods. This was one of the first organized efforts to solve the nation's soil erosion problems in a planned, scientific manner. Five years later, in 1934, the Duck Creek watershed near this site was approved as a demonstrational project for working with all known methods of erosion control. In cooperation with the landowners in the 25,000-acre area, a...

The Dundee State Fish Hatchery was built in 1927 with 44 ponds. The Works Progress Administration built stone bridges and concrete drainage ditches at the hatchery. The hatchery is currently the largest Texas state hatchery in operation with 97 ponds. The current manager of the hatchery relayed that the structures pictured in the historical photographs have either been removed or covered over in the expansion of the hatchery.

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on E Magnolia St. in Angleton. This researcher found a mark in a section of sidewalk at Magnolia and Chenango streets, one block from the Brazoria County Courthouse. A 1940 Galveston Newspaper article tells of sidewalk work being done in Alvin, which is also in Brazoria County, so the work was likely completed in this same time period.

The New Deal helped to construct the Eagle Pass high school at 1610 Del Rio Boulevard in the mid-to-late 1930s. It operated as a high school until 1972 before becoming a middle school. It is now an elementary school. According to contributor William Gunter there is a WPA plaque on the building with the date 1936. However, an article in the American Educational History Journal puts the year at 1938.  

A school for "Mexican-American children" was constructed with Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $13,091 grant for the project, whose total cost was $29,215. Construction began in January and was completed in July 1936. The school was later known as the Earl Bell School. It was demolished in 1979 after abandonment. A 1963 USGS map places the Earl Bell School on the south side of E 5th Street between Peach St. and Sycamore St. PWA Docket No. 1177.

The museum contains four murals by Xavier Gonzalez: "Pioneer Saga," "Music of the Plains," "Contemporary Youth" and "Drilling for Oil." They were painted with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1941 and moved from the post office to the East Texas Oil Museum in 1999.

The Civil Works Administration completed the Agriculture Building at the "East Texas fair grounds" in 1934. The location and status of this structure is currently unknown to Living New Deal.

Several projects at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) were undertaken with New Deal funds. "The biggest project undertaken using funds from the federal government was the development of an airport, supported by partial grants from the WPA. In 1940, the government bequeathed the WPA $25 million for the construction of airports. The WPA provided approximately $154,970 towards such a project on the campus of the Agricultural and Mechanical College to Texas. The airport was completed in 1941 and another $75,000 was given by the WPA to light the finished runways. The Agricultural and Mechanical College...

The Works Progress Administration built the entrance gates and wall around the Eastland City Park. The project also included the building of picnic tables and restrooms. Abilene Daily Reporter, September 3, 1935, p. 5. District 13 WPA Office Sends Application for 26 Projects to San Antonio State Headquarters. "City of Eastland: Concrete wading pool and swimming pool in Eastland park; 236 months; $8,739.50 federal; $9,949.55 total" Abilene Morning Reporter News, October 6, 1935, p. 1 and 12. New Projects Get Approval: Benefit 15 Communities in This District Blanton Wires. "Eastland park was approved for park  $3, 320, and for park improvement $1,055" Abilene Daily Reporter,...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Eden Grammar School in Eden, Concho County. The one-story building is a combination of brick and rock. The WPA plaque bears the date 1938-1940. The cornerstone above mentions the date 1941. A high school building next to the elementary school, and a rock wall around the schools, are unmarked.

Today this building is known as El Mercado, the home of the largest Mercado outside of Mexico. It was built as a WPA project during 1938-1939 after the existing municipal market house (known as the Giles building) was torn down. The new market was originally named the Municipal Truck Market because it was designed with a wide entry so farmers could drive their truck into the market and sell their produce direct from their truck. However, the market was commonly called the Farmer's Market. In 1975 the last produce was sold here and the market house underwent renovation to convert...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the El Paso International Airport in El Paso TX. The antecedent to the El Paso International Airport, built by the WPA, was the Municipal Airport, established by Standard Airlines. This original airport was established close to the east side of the Franklin Mountains. More than 1000 men worked on landscaping, groundwork, as well as airplane and airport improvements. This original site then became a cement batching plant, and later on it became a US Army training base during WWII. It is important to consider the precedent of the original airport because it gives important historical...

A former set of "Spanish-style cottages," known as El Pueblo, was created for married students at what was then West Texas Teachers College. The project, built in 1936, was enabled by Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds: a $27,400 loan and $11,105 grant. A 1936 article in the Canyon News newspaper says the cottages were "located on the northeast corner of campus and are situated in a semi-circle." Satellite imagery shows that the houses were located between Russell Long Blvd. and 2nd Ave.; and east of 26th St. Local sources (see Facebook link under Sources) state that each of the structures was...

The Crosbyton Review reported in Dec. 1939 that, finished three years prior, Crosbyton's then-new grade school was "one of the most modern in this territory," and its construction was aided by PWA funding assistance. "The building contains class rooms, auditorium, study hall and offices," and still serves as Crosbyton's elementary school today.

Text from the state historical marker reads: This location has been home to a school building for the students of the Terrell area since 1901. The site was selected to serve the children living north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks nearby. A two-story building named the North Primary School was completed here in September 1901 at a cost of $9,000, and contained six classrooms with facilities for 300 pupils. Over the years increased enrollment placed greater demand on the primary school and other schools. In 1931 the Terrell School Board decided to erect new school buildings with financial assistance...

The WPA constructed a bridge: "Spanning Elm Creek, on Elm Creek Road (Leaday-Hill Road), 0.8 miles northeast of the Colorado River, Voss vicinity, Coleman County, State of Texas" The exact coordinates of the structure are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

A state historical marker at Elmwood Cemetery notes that the native stone wall along the perimeter of the cemetery on Patterson and Nelson Streets was constructed by employees of the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1935 and 1937.

Elmwood was a tuberculosis sanatorium located at 2805 Kimbo, Fort Worth. The building has been demolished. The sanatorium was a joint project of the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County with partial funding coming through the PWA. It was designed by Preston Geren and constructed by Quisle and Andrews at a total cost of $101,733 without equipment. It opened in 1937.

Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas was dramatically transformed and improved by construction projects enabled by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) during the Great Depression. The park "was donated to the City of Houston in 1916. For more than twenty years, Emancipation Park was the only public park in Houston open to African-Americans. In 1938-39, the Public Works Administration constructed on the park site a recreation center, swimming pool, and bathhouse, designed by prominent Houston architect William Ward Watkin, on the site. The buildings are important examples of PWA construction in Houston and have been used since their construction for after-school...

In the early 1930s, the City of Austin acquired about 1008 acres of ash and juniper woodland west of the city with a mile of lake front on Lake Austin. In December 1939, Civilian Conservation Corps Company 1805 arrived at the site to develop the tract of land into a municipal park. The company's primary work included seeding and sodding grass, planting trees, and protecting the bank of the lake from erosion. They also cleared brush, built roads and developed permanent improvements to the site such as a bathhouse and concession stand. These wooden structures later burned and were replaced...

The original Eola School was built in 1928. In 1939, a five-room addition, a gym/auditorium, a rock wall, and two water towers were added with the help of Work Projects Administration (WPA) funds and labor. In 1983, the school closed. In 2005 the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently the Eola School Restaurant and Brewery. The five-room addition was added to the west side of the original building. It is constructed of rough faced limestone with brick trim. The gym/auditorium extends off the rear or north side. It is spanned by a barrel vault...

Until World War II, the site of present-day Camp Bowie was privately owned agricultural land. It is presently the site of Camp Bowie, a military installation owned by the Texas Military Department. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp 3818(V), active in Brown County from 1935 to 1936, was composed of 250 local veterans (hence the “V”) and was tasked with erosion control and drainage projects on privately owned land around Brown County. A few structures (now in ruins) likely built by CCC Camp 3818(V) remain on what became part of Camp Bowie, a military installation, at the start of World War...

Large building along HWY-183 in Coryell County town of Evant. It is located next to a modern school building. Building is mainly rubble rock construction with brick accents. Has Evant engraved above the entrance. Has an outside metal staircase to a second floor.

Among the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects identified as completed in a Abilene Daily Reporter article from June 14, 1936 was "Repairs on a girls' dormitory and finishing of an auditorium and recreation building Ranger, at a total cost of $1659. Twenty men were employed for two months." The location and status of these facilities is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

Fair Park was expanded by New Deal agencies WPA, CCC, and PWA in 1936. The Dallas City Commission is considering to privatize Fair Park in 2018.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the National Youth Administration (NYA) completed work for the Fair Park in Tyler TX. This is the location where the East Texas State Fair is held. In 1940 many old buildings were demolished and replaced by WPA workmen, including the headquarters building. Ornamental fence set around the pavilion and ornamental spiral staircases was made by NYA shops in Marshall.

National Youth Administration (NYA) completed improvements at Fair Park in Childress TX. A small marker on the lake next to picnic table says "1937 NYA." On site are several picnic tables, a small amphitheater, and a fountain with a lighthouse in the middle. All items that appear to be created by the NYA.

The National Youth Administration built a rock wall and bleachers at baseball/softball field in Fair Park. The work was done in 1937-1938.

"Built by the Work Projects Administration near the end of the great depression in 1940 at a cost of $57,000, the stadium has is the second oldest in the Texas Panhandle. The first game played at the stadium was on Sept. 27, 1940 against the Chillicothe Eagles where the Bobcats recorded a 19-0 victory."   (Fair Park Stadium turns 75)

The oil-on-canvas mural "Texas of History," a ten-panel behemoth, each 30' x 80', was painted by Eugene Francis Savage as a New Deal project.

The Works Progress Administration built a two-room schoolhouse in the Fairland community near Marble Falls, Texas. The rock masonry building was completed by February 1940 under official project number 665-66-2-485. The building is currently a private residence.

Excerpts from the state historical marker read: "Work began on a fifth Falls County courthouse in 1938. A county bond issue for $130,000 was matched with a 45% Public Works Administration grant in 1938. The cornerstone was leveled by the Grand Lodge of Texas, A. F. & A. M., on July 4, 1939, and the building was completed by December. . . The courthouse was designed in the Art Moderne style by architect Arthur E. Thomas of Dallas, and was constructed by San Antonio contractors Hill and Combs. . .The 1939 Falls County courthouse continues to serve as the center of...

Federal funds supported the construction of the Falls County Roadside Park in Marlin TX, on highway No. 6, south of Big Creek.  They most likely came from the Bureau of Public Roads to the Texas Highway Department, but that needs to be verified. "Shrubs, ornamental bushes and flowers will be placed along the highway for almost a quarter of a mile in the vicinity of the park, according to present plans. The park is being put in by the highway department with funds allotted by the federal government. The ground for the park was donated by J. G Bargnier, owner of...

This section of Farm to Market Road (FM) 45 is a 4.6 mile two-lane paved road running in an east-west direction below the south corporate city limits of Brownwood. The Works Progress Administration constructed the road in 1941 as a new access road to Camp Bowie. The military reservation had been established a year earlier in September of 1940 as a training center for the Thirty-sixth Infantry Division, Texas National Guard. The camp expanded rapidly during the early years of World War II, increasing form its original 2,000 acres to 120,000 by October of 1942. As part of the expansion,...

In 1937 the Wichita Falls Times described a Works Progress Administration (WPA) in a photo caption: "a farm-to-market road job in Young county near Olney." The road in question is unknown to Living New Deal.

Farrington Field is a large multi-use stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. It was constructed in 1938-1939 by the WPA and designed by Arthur George King and Everett L. Frazier from the architecture firm of Preston M. Geren. Evaline Sellors did the bas relief sculptures of the football player and the track and field athlete.

Abilene's historic Federal Building was constructed as the U.S. Post Office and Court House during the Great Depression. It was constructed with Treasury Department funds between 1935 and 1936. The building is still used by various federal agencies.

By the early 1880s, the U.S. Custom House on Post Office Street was inadequate to contain all the federal offices in Galveston. To supplement it, a new United States Courthouse, Post Office, and Custom House was built at the corner of Rosenberg and Church Streets between 1886 and 1891. By the mid-1930s that ponderous Victorian building had also become inadequate, even though a separate Custom House had been built on Galveston’s “Strand” in 1933. Therefore, this six-story federal building, occupying the entire block front on Rosenberg Street, was authorized. Designed by Alfred C. Finn of Houston, it exemplifies the penchant of...

Today this building is known as the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building, but a small post office branch is still operating in the building. The building was completed in 1936 and opened in 1937. It was built under the auspices of the Federal Works Program with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funding; the design process was under the direction of the Office of the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department. "Its construction accomplished several goals--generating employment, housing all federal agencies in a single building, and streamlining San Antonio's quickly expanding postal needs. A skillful example of Beaux-Arts classicism, the U.S. Post Office...