Blacksburg Sites

What is now the Downtown Station post office at 118 North Main Street in Blacksburg, Virginia was constructed in 1935 as the city's main post office, with Treasury Department funds.

The campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia—or, as it was then known, as Virginia Polytechnic Institute (V.P.I.)—was dramatically developed as part of numerous New Deal projects during the Great Depression. The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided multiple rounds of funding for the construction of several buildings on campus from the mid-1930s to early 1940s. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was also active on the campus. Public Works Administration-financed buildings included: Burruss Hall Graduate Life Center (originally Faculty Center) Owens Hall Eggleston Hall (Main, East, and West) East Campbell Hall Military Building (orig. Utilities Building) Hutcheson Hall Smyth Hall (orig. Natural...

Virginia Tech's Agnew Hall, originally known as the Home Economics Building, was constructed as a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project and dedicated in 1940. It was part of a broader development of several buildings on its corner of campus that involved both the WPA and the Public Works Administration (PWA).

The airport at Virginia Tech, now known as Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport, was enlarged as part of a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project completed in 1940.

The Armory, now part of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, was originally constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in 1936. The PWA supplied an $18,000 grant for the then-National Guard armory, whose total cost was $42,544. Primary construction began in January and was completed in December 1936. The project is sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), including on a historic information board outside the building's entrance. Once it had fulfilled its original purpose the facility served as an auditorium for what was then the nearby Blacksburg High School. Per VT.edu, the Armory was...

Burruss Hall serves as the main administration building for what was then the Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Sometimes mis-attributed to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the building, originally called the Teaching and Administration Building, was constructed with a grant from the Public Works Administration (PWA) from 1934-1936. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was involved with the project as well. It contains a 3,003-seat auditorium that is still widely used. The ceiling and walls of the auditorium were decorated with geometric designs as part of the project. In addition to the original building, two wings and a...

Virginia Tech's former Commerce Hall was remodeled as part of a larger Public Works Administration (PWA) project on the campus. The New York Times identifies this "business administration" building as a PWA project dedicated in August 1940. VT.edu, re: Commencement Hall: "Remodeled 1939 to house business administration and renamed Commerce Hall (not to be confused with a later Commerce Hall, now Pamplin Hall). Demolished in 1957."

Virginia Tech's East Campbell Hall dormitory was constructed as part of a Public Works Administration (PWA) project. Also known as Campbell Hall's east wing, the structure was constructed in 1940; whereas Main Campbell Hall was built in 1930, prior to the advent of the New Deal. A plaque on the building credits the Public Works Administration.

Virginia Tech's Eggleston Hall dormitory was constructed in stages, as part of two Public Works Administration (PWA) projects during the Great Depression. Main Eggleston Hall (440 Drillfield Drive) was constructed first and completed in 1935. Main Eggleston was one of four buildings on the campus completed as part of a massive PWA-sponsored project that cost $1.2 million (PWA Docket No. VA 1790). Its wings: East Eggleston Hall (410 Drillfield Drive) and West Eggleston Hall (500 Drillfield Drive) were added later, in 1940. Plaques along their respective walls where the buildings are connected to Main Eggleston Hall identify both wings as part of...

Now known as the Graduate Life Center, what was originally the Faculty Center—a dormitory on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia—was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in the mid-1930s. It was one of four buildings on the campus completed as part of a massive PWA-sponsored project that cost $1.2 million. The building has since been dramatically extended to the southeast. PWA Docket No. VA 1790.

Virginia Tech's Hutcheson Hall, originally known as New Agricultural Hall, "was built in 1940 at a cost of $206,000," and was constructed as part of a larger Public Works Administration (PWA) project on the campus. It was part of a broader development of several buildings on its corner of campus that involved both the PWA and the Work Projects Administration (PWA). The building was sometimes referred to as "agricultural unit one," and was expanded in 1950 toward Smyth Hall.

Now known as the Military Building, what was originally the utilities building was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project in the mid-1930s. It was one of four buildings on the campus completed as part of a massive PWA-sponsored project that cost $1.2 million. The building has since been expanded. PWA Docket No. VA 1790.

Virginia Tech's Owens Hall dining facility was constructed as part of a larger Public Works Administration (PWA) project on the campus. VT.edu: "When completed in 1939, Owens Dining Center, which seated 2,240 diners, covered the greatest area of any structure on campus."

Virginia Tech's Seitz Hall, originally known as the Agricultural Engineering Building, was constructed as a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project and dedicated in 1940. It was part of a broader development of several buildings on its corner of campus that involved both the WPA and the Public Works Administration (PWA).

Virginia Tech's Smyth Hall, originally known as the Natural Science Building, "was built in 1939 at a cost of $127,650," and was constructed as part of a larger Public Works Administration (PWA) project on the campus. It was part of a broader development of several buildings on its corner of campus that involved both the PWA and the Work Projects Administration (PWA). The building was sometimes referred to as "agricultural unit two," and has since been extended.

The Students Activity Building at the Virginia Polytechnic institute in Blacksburg, Virginia was built as part of a Public Works Administration (PWA) project in 1937. The original building was completed in May of 1937 and was 54,366 square feet. The building was renamed the “Squires Hall” in 1949 and then “the Squires Student Center” in 1970. Though the building has had two major renovations, and the outside has been substantially changed, the inner core of the building still consists of the original Squires Hall. The facility also contains two ballrooms, a 510-seat theater and dining areas.