“The overpass on 6th Street was a project funded by the state and Works Progress Administration (WPA). The overpass allowed cars and trucks to go over the railroad tracks. Centralia was an important logging and coal-mining town. The bridge improved… read more
Alki Playfield underwent a regrade, thanks to New Deal funds, in 1934.
David M. Hartz, superintendent of Arlington’s schools, requested from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a mural of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox to adorn the walls of Arlington High School as a memorial of the folkloric past of… read more
In 1937 the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance authorizing work to begin on reconstructing the bridge. The job took a year and a half and replaced the timber approaches with approaches of concrete and steel that featured ornamental lighting…. read more
Ballard High School in Seattle opened in 1901, underwent renovations through New Deal funds in 1934. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) completed renovations between 1933 and 1934. Special Report of accomplishment by CWA workers from November 24th, 1933 to February… read more
Between 1938 and 1941, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Seattle Park Department completed several improvement projects at Beacon Hill Playground. In the first of these projects, WPA workers re-painted the playground shelter house in 1938…. read more
A WPA press release from Nov. 1937 reported: “More than 150 schools have been repaired and the grounds improved and landscaped [in Washington State], and five brand new schools in the state were erected entirely by WPA with a small… read more
"The Bellingham High School is one of the largest and finest structures of this type erected recently in northwest Washington. It is 3 stories in height with sufficient basement to take care of the heating system. It provides 20 standard… read more
A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: “Improvement of the grade school building at Black Diamond also begins this week. WPA workers will modernize the inside and landscape and seed the grounds and add other improvements, with the aid… read more
Camp Long is a 68-acre park in West Seattle. The park was constructed with WPA help starting n 1937. It was dedicated in 1941. WPA work in the park includes extensive rock work, the construction of a golf course, cabins… read more
“[T]he historic Kirkland Cannery building [was] built during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. … The 11,000-square-foot wooden structure was built beginning in 1935 and opened as a free public cannery in 1936.”
During the 1930s, with the help of Works Progress Administration funds and labor, the Seattle Park Department made significant improvements to Cascade Playground. Among these improvements was the construction of a small brick comfort station in the northeast corner of… read more
The push for construction of a playground in Seattle’s Cascade neighborhood began during the 1920s. In 1926, using funds from a 1924 bond issue, the Seattle Park Department acquired the proposed Cascade Playground site, which covered nearly the entire block… read more
A WPA press release from Nov. 1937 reported: “More than 150 schools have been repaired and the grounds improved and landscaped [in Washington State], and five brand new schools in the state were erected entirely by WPA with a small… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded and carried our maintenance work for the Central Library (The Seattle Public Library). The HistoryLink.org website to highlights the history of the first of three libraries that have existed in downtown Seattle: “Since 1906,… read more
From the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies: “Bellingham’s second City Hall [was] designed by Leonard William Somerville Bindon [and] built under Public Works Administration and Federal Works Agency programs of the New Deal in the Art Deco style. Begun in… read more
A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 stated: “To provide employment for needy persons on relief rolls an allotment of $6,900 has been made … for labor in cleaning and renovating public buildings in Tacoma, such as the city hall,… read more
The historic Snohomish City Hall, originally constructed as the community’s post office, was constructed during with federal Treasury Department funds during the Great Depression.
This 1940 Section of Fine Arts oil-on-canvas mural by Lance W. Hart, “Construction of a Skid Road in the 80’s,” was painted for what was then the Snohomish post office. The mural remains in the original location, which is now… read more
Now a part of McCaw Hall, Seattle’s old Municipal Auditorium was drastically improved by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA). “McCaw Hall is the latest incarnation of what was once Seattle’s Civic Auditorium (1928), which was then gutted and rebuilt… read more
In 1931, the Seattle Park Department acquired the property for the Cleveland Playfield at 13th Avenue South and Lucile Street, immediately west of Grover Cleveland High School. As a new park facility, the playground had seen few if any improvements… read more
The Seattle Park Department acquired the land for Colman Playground in 1910, shortly after the opening of nearby Colman School. A regrading project in the early 1910s made the site suitable for picnics and baseball, but otherwise the Park Department… read more
During the late 1930s, with funds from the WPA, the Seattle Park Department upgraded Colman Playground. The largest component of the improvement project was the construction of a new shelter house near the southwest corner of the playground. WPA workers… read more
“The Cowen Park Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans a ravine in Seattle’s Cowen Park. The structure is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and it is a designated city landmark. The bridge has been… read more
One of a many PWA and WPA projects in Washington state: “At a cost of $978,122 the allocated funds went to the renovation, new construction and extension of roads. The project also added drainage, guard rails, and money to paint… read more
“In 1929, the state legislature authorized the construction of a bridge across the narrow scenic but dangerous waterway between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, but there were no funds to proceed. In 1934, the Public Works Administration authorized a grant and… read more
“The Dockton King County Park was created during the Great Depression as a project of the Works Progress Administration. Theo Berry was the local storekeeper and WPA administrator. The original structures, which included a bathhouse, a kitchen building, a bandstand,… read more
“This light and fog-signal tower is typical of many of the smaller structures which have been erected on the coast line and rivers of the United States. The tower and housing for the equipment operating the fog horn is of… read more
A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: “Improvement of Dry Falls State Park, two miles from Coulee City will keep more than 50 men busy for eight months, Abel said, with the aid of $29,601.75 in WPA funds. This… read more
The federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds provided funding for the construction of numerous facilities as Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake, Washington.
“Improvement of the Eatonville cut-off is now under way with the ditches being deepened and widened to provide proper drainage and the road graded and re-surfaced, which was provided for by a WPA grant of $1,667. Labor for these project… read more
Everett, Washington’s main library was constructed between 1933 and 1934 with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a grant of $23,600; the final cost of the project was $108,112.
“The project began in October of 1938 and ran 6.5 miles of sewer pipes through Everett. At a cost of $110,839 the project improved the sewer system throughout Everett at no cost to residents.” (http://depts.washington.edu)
“Everett’s domestic water storage reservoir improvement project on the Sultan River watershed was assured today with the announcement from WPA State Administrator Don G. Abel of approval of the City’s application for federal aid. In creating this new project, with… read more
A WPA press release from Nov. 1937 reported: “More than 150 schools have been repaired and the grounds improved and landscaped [in Washington State], and five brand new schools in the state were erected entirely by WPA with a small… read more
Bellingham, Washington’s old historic Fairhaven Hotel occupied the northeast corner of 12th Street and Harris Ave. “A new use for a famous old landmark in Bellingham hes been found with a recently approved Works Progress Administration project designed to convert… read more
“Work is expected to start November 11 [1937] to provide proper drainage for Tanwax and Kroger farm-to-market roads in Pierce County at an expenditure of $6,000 of which the WA supplies all but $40. The work consists of removing slides,… read more
“Don G. Abel, state director of the Works Progress Administration, today announced approval of a $16,245 farm-to-market road improvement project for Asotin County. Throughout the county the roads will be graded, resurfaced and generally reconditioned. The project is slated to… read more
“Camano Island, Island County draws $21,267 [in WPA funds] for reconstruction of farm-to-market roads.”
Check out our new 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.