• Alamo Grounds Improvements - San Antonio TX
    Multiple New Deal agencies were involved with improving the grounds at the Alamo. A timeline mural board on the west side of the Alamo Museum indicates that "depression-era public works projects" built the walls that now encompass the grounds of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. The Alamo is regarded as the "Shrine of Texas Liberty" due to its location of the famous battle within its perimeter during the Texas Revolution; however, it was originally the site of Mission San Antonio Valero which was moved here in 1724 after several previous locations in the area were not suitable. The New York Times...
  • Alamo Stadium - San Antonio TX
    San Antonio's historic Alamo Stadium was constructed at/near the site of an abandoned rock quarry by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938-40. The facility was dedicated September 20, 1940. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a much loved place for many San Antonians who grew up here. In 2013 Alamo Stadium underwent a $35 million renovation which restored the facades, including plaques and markers.
  • Alamo Stadium Tile Murals - San Antonio TX
    Alamo Stadium was built by the WPA in 1940. In 1941 four tile murals, entitled 100 Years of Sports in San Antonio, Texas, 1840-1940, were installed above the main entrance to the stadium; this project was under the auspices of the WPA Arts and Crafts program. The stadium recently underwent an extensive restoration/renovation program. The murals were removed and then reinstalled in their original location. The following description is from the NRHP nomination form: "To enhance the stadium, Ethel Wilson Harris, supervisor of the WPA Arts and Crafts Division in San Antonio, undertook her program’s largest project to date. The work was...
  • Alazan Courts - San Antonio TX
    San Antonio's Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. 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 (LHAs) like SAHA to improve living conditions for low-income families. SAHA made applications to the USHA for funds and the USHA agreed to provide financing for five projects; Alazan Courts, Apache Courts, Lincoln Heights Courts, Wheatley Courts and Victoria Courts. San Antonio enforced segregation in...
  • Apache Courts - San Antonio TX
    San Antonio's Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. 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 (LHAs) like SAHA to improve living conditions for low-income families. SAHA made applications to the USHA for funds and the USHA agreed to provide financing for five projects; Alazan Courts, Apache Courts, Lincoln Heights Courts, Wheatley Courts and Victoria Courts. San Antonio enforced segregation in...
  • Arneson River Theatre - San Antonio TX
    The Arneson River Theatre is a well known landmark along San Antonio's Riverwalk. Built with WPA funds between 1938 and 1940 it has hosted thousands of events. The stage is on the north bank of the river with seating on the south bank. It is most frequently used for summer plays, including the popular Fiesta Noche Del Rio. It is also a popular venue for weddings. It is a part of the La Villita Historic Arts Village.
  • Brackenridge Park Bridge Improvements - San Antonio, Texas
    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.
  • Brackenridge Park, Perimeter Wall and Entry Gates - San Antonio TX
    "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...
  • Brackenridge Park, Reptile Farm (demolished) - San Antonio TX
    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,...
  • Daughters of the Republic of Texas Meeting Hall - San Antonio TX
    Work had been done on the Alamo grounds in 1934 under the Texas Relief Commission which had been established in 1933 by Governor M.A. (Ma) Ferguson and used Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funds. A marker confirming this work is on the wall facing Crocket Street that connects the DRT meeting hall and their Library was relocated there from another lower wall that was present in the 1930's. Lewis Fisher writes in Saving San Antonio The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage that the City agreed to donate the fire station in the fall of 1936 and references an article in the...
  • Dog-trot Cabin Replica, Witte Museum - San Antonio TX
    This replica of a dog-trot style cabin (two rooms with a breezeway between them, sharing a common roof) on the grounds of the Witte Museum was constructed in 1939 through the efforts of the National Youth Administration. Thirty youth were involved in the project. The dog-trot cabin was very common in Texas and throughout the Southeastern U.S.. The cabin is situated perpendicular to the San Antonio River and features changing exhibits representative of the Texas Frontier in the two rooms.
  • El Mercado/Farmer's Market - San Antonio TX
    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...
  • Federal Building/Post Office - San Antonio TX
    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...
  • Federal Building/Post Office Murals - San Antonio TX
    A beautiful, 16 panel mural titled “San Antonio’s Importance in History” adorns the walls of the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building (formerly the main U.S. Post Office) in downtown San Antonio Texas. The mural was painted by Howard Cook between the years of 1937 and 1939 using the fresco technique (fresco is the process of painting directly on fresh, wet plaster). Cost of the mural was $12,000. Each panel represents a different period in San Antonio’s rich history from the arrival of the conquistadors and Franciscan missionaries to the great cattle drives and cotton businesses of the early 1900’s. Mr....
  • Fire Museum (former Central Fire Headquarters) - San Antonio TX
    The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the Central Fire Headquarters in 1938. The facility provided offices for the Fire Chief and other officers. It also served as San Antonio Fire Station #1 from 1938 until 2011, and is currently home to the San Antonio Fire Museum.
  • International & Great Northern Railroad Underpass - San Antonio TX
    The Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built the International & Great Northern Railroad (now Union Pacific) Underpass in 1937 to separate the grade between the railroad tracks and San Pedro Avenue in San Antonio, Texas.
  • John Twohig House Relocation, Witte Museum - San Antonio TX
    The plaque on the front of the John Twohig house gives a brief glimpse into the interesting history of this house which was moved by the WPA to its current location on the grounds of the Witte Museum: “In 1841, John Twohig – a San Antonio pioneer, Texas patriot, and prosperous merchant – erected this house on a site which was part of the Veramendi Palace within a curving bend on the San Antonio River at St. Mary’s and Commerce streets. Mr. Twohig’s house was unique in the community since few buildings in this area at that time could boast a...
  • Koehler Pavilion - San Antonio TX
    This structure was built under the Work Progress Administration between the years of 1935 and 1937. It is located in Koehler Park which is adjacent to Brackenridge Park, but most local people just think of this entire area as Brackenridge Park. In 1915 Emma Koehler donated 11 acres of land to the City of San Antonio for a park in memory of her husband, Otto Koehler. The pavilion is available for rental through the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department; it is a very popular venue for picnics as it is right on the San Antonio River and within...
  • La Villita Cos House Restoration - San Antonio TX
    It is generally believed that General Martin Perfecto de Cos, a brother-in-law of Mexico’s President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, surrendered to the Texan commander, General Edward Burleson, after the five-day Siege of Bexar in December 1835 at the Villita Street building known today as the Cos House. This structure is considered to be the oldest building in the "Little Village" since it pre-dates the 1835 surrender. The building was restored through the efforts of NYA workers as part of the La Villita restoration project.
  • La Villita Restoration - San Antonio TX
    "La Villita, in the heart of San Antonio, was once the site of a Coahuiltecan Indian village. The first huts in the community were probably erected about 1722... The Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo colonial history of the section is preserved in the name of the streets and houses of La Villita: Guadalupe Street, Bolivar Hall, Juarez Plaza, Cos House, Canada House, and McAllister Corner. La Villita was restored as a result of a city ordinance of October 12, 1939, and is owned by the city and operated as a craft and recreational center. The National Youth Administration assisted in...
  • Lincoln Heights Courts - San Antonio TX
    San Antonio's Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. 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 (LHAs) like SAHA to improve living conditions for low-income families. SAHA made applications to the USHA for funds and the USHA agreed to provide financing for five projects; Alazan Courts, Apache Courts, Lincoln Heights Courts, Wheatley Courts and Victoria Courts. San Antonio enforced segregation in...
  • Locke Hill Auditorium - San Antonio TX
    Text of the state historical marker reads: "In 1934, the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built an auditorium on the original Locke Hill school grounds. Federal workers constructed the limestone building out of stone from a nearby quarry. Built to address the county superintendent’s call for school improvements, the auditorium served as a central community space. Following post-war growth, the school’s infrastructure no longer met increased student needs. In 1976, the Locke Hill School was rebuilt less than one mile away to accommodate more students and to meet new building standards. The historic auditorium exists as a longstanding testament to San...
  • Low Water Crossing Bridge, Brackenridge Park - San Antonio TX
    This concrete bridge bears the faint stamp "NYA 1939". It crosses the San Antonio River at E. Woodlawn and River Avenue in Brackenridge Park. It was closed to traffic many years ago, but still serves as a crossing for pedestrians and fishermen.
  • Mission San Jose Restoration - San Antonio TX
    Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo was first established in 1720, moved to another site briefly, and then was reestablished at this location in 1740. The site is near a ready source of water, later known as the San Antonio River. Franciscan priests came on behalf of the Spanish government to establish missions among the Coahuiltecan Indians. The Mission was four miles south of Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo). Three more missions would be relocated nearby in 1731. San Jose would later be known as the "Queen of the Missions" due to the ornate carvings and...
  • Mitchell Street Bridge - San Antonio TX
    The Works Progress Administration built the Mitchell Street Bridge over the San Antonio River between 1935 and 1937. The steel stringer style two-lane bridge is still in use for vehicular traffic.
  • Municipal Auditorium: De Young and Neumann Murals - San Antonio TX
    Two Civil Works Administration murals were installed at the Municipal Auditorium Murals in San Antonio TX. Titled, "Texas Basket Maker Indians at their Daily Tasks," the murals were painted by Harry Anthony De Young and Gilbert F. Neumann. The murals for the auditorium walls were removed in 1935 by the mayor after the American Legion complained they had communistic symbols.  
  • Nogalitos Street Underpass - San Antonio TX
    The Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads designed and financed several underpasses on Nogalitos Street in San Antonio, Texas. Built in 1937 by Brown & Root, the project took Nogalitos Street under Cassiano Street, The Texas & New Orleans Railroad tracks, Lachapelle Street, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad tracks. The street bridges were steel stringer design and the railroad bridges were steel plate girder design. The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad tracks have been abandoned, but the other three bridges and the underpass are still in use.
  • Olmos Basin Park - San Antonio TX
    In 1934, The Civil Works Administration built a latrine and wading pool on land in the Olmos Creek floodplain. The City Council of San Antonio named the area Franklin Fields in 1940, presumably in honor of President Franklin Roosevelt. The area was to be "fully developed as a natural forest area and to include various fields, all manner of recreation facilities, as well as for the purpose of conservation and the preservation of the natural beauty of this place." The park received additional federal funds for development in July 1940, when the park was designated a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp....
  • Picnic Area, Brackenridge Park - San Antonio TX
    Between 1938 and 1940 the WPA constructed 19 concrete and stone picnic tables, benches, and fire pits in Brackenridge Park. They are nestled among the trees along Tuleta Drive, just south of the Joske Pavilion. The concrete pads and stone water fountains were added at a later date.
  • River Walk - San Antonio TX
    Construction of the San Antonio River Walk was undertaken during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and is one of the agency's most iconic accomplishments. During the late 1800’s citizens of San Antonio became concerned about preserving and protecting the winding little river that ran through the center of their town. In 1929 Robert H.H. Hugman had presented his master plan using an Old World theme to enhance and maintain the natural setting of the river while allowing commercial development.  In 1938 after funding was obtained through the WPA Hugman was hired as the architect of the San...
  • San Antonio River Walk: Tile Plaques - San Antonio TX
    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 approximately 60 local artisans manufactured decorative clay tiles; during the time of the shop’s involvement with the WPA the tiles would not be sold but offered to charitable and public organizations. The tiles from the WPA involvement are seen today in two plaques along the San Antonio River. (One is found under the Navarro Street Bridge on the south loop...
  • San Antonio Zoo Improvements - San Antonio TX
    "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 had been a rock quarry, and the resultant limestone cliffs provided a "natural" habitat for the animals. The San Antonio River flowed through the area, and an extensive canal system was developed using its water. The zoo opened in 1929 with 344 specimens in the collection, including seventy-two white-tailed deer and sixty-seven ring-necked doves." (Bowers, 2010) In 1935, the San Antonio...
  • South St. Mary's Street Underpasses - San Antonio TX
    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.
  • Starter House, Historic Brackenridge Park Golf Course - San Antonio TX
    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.
  • Steetcar Rail Removal - San Antonio TX
    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 of track in 1926. As the Great Depression took hold, the declining amount of people living in downtown San Antonio, where the bulk of the streetcars' ridership occurred, were less able to buy tickets. Buses and automobiles were also adding to the competition for riders. San Antonio became the first major U.S. city to abandon streetcar service. The last car ran...
  • Stinson Field Terminal Building - San Antonio TX
    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 the city of San Antonio. The field was the training sight of many military aviators before, during and after World War I. Charles Lindberg kept an airplane at the field while he was stationed at Brooks Field. The field was briefly known as Windburn Field in memory of a reporter who died in an airplane crash; the field was re-named...
  • Street Improvements - San Antonio TX
    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 into a new system of more convenient routes to the new Stadium. This was done in anticipation of the vehicles that would be coming on game days to the facility. The marker embedded in the curb is partially obscured by subsequent layers of asphalt. It gives a date of 1938-1940; the stadium opened September 20, 1940.  
  • Sunken Garden Theater Expansion - San Antonio TX
    "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 1937 project. The old quarry wall forms the western (back) edge of the theater site, providing an open-air setting with natural acoustic features. The 193- design included stage and classical wings, while the 1937 expansion added dressing rooms and stage support buildings, restrooms, seating, and a concrete floor for the seating area. The 1937 project was constructed by WPA workers, while...
  • Victoria Courts - San Antonio TX
    San Antonio's Board of Commissioners created the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) on June 17, 1937. 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 (LHAs) like SAHA to improve living conditions for low-income families. SAHA made applications to the USHA for funds and the USHA agreed to provide financing for five projects; Alazan Courts, Apache Courts, Lincoln Heights Courts, Wheatley Courts and Victoria Courts. San Antonio enforced segregation in...
  • Woodlawn Lake Park Improvements - San Antonio TX
    Woodlawn Lake Park began as a subdivision development outside of San Antonio in 1887. The developers constructed a dam across a creek on the property to create a lake which soon became a resort area. The City of San Antonio acquired the property in 1918 and a citizen's group constructed restrooms and a playground and planted trees. A bond package in 1928 allowed for the construction of a pool and community center. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built two masonry bridges in the park. One still carries vehicular traffic into the park. The road over the second bridge was...