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  • Laurelhurst Playfield Improvements - Seattle WA
    The Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Laurelhurst Playfield along NE 41st Street between 45th Avenue NE and 48th Avenue NE in 1927. Although a few improvements to the site were completed between 1929 and 1932, a series of New Deal projects between 1933 and 1941 allowed the Park Department to move forward with additional upgrades despite the hardships of the Great Depression. Laurelhurst Playfield was one of a limited number of Seattle park facilities to receive funding under the New Deal's Civil Works Administration program. During the winter of 1933-1934, CWA laborers began construction on a brick field house...
  • Leverich Park Improvements - Vancouver WA
    "Improvement of Leverich Park in the City of Vancouver, slated to begin December 4, with $42,262 made available from WPA funds, calls for the construction of a grandstand, ticket booth, dressing rooms, showers, comfort stations and a tennis court. Also the installation of a drainage and lighting system. Considerable work will be put on the grounds, including grading and reseeding."
  • Library - Dayton WA
    The library in Dayton, Washington was constructed with the assistance of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds during 1937. The building, which has since been extended, is still in use today. PWA Docket No. WA 1318
  • Library (former) Assistance - Puyallup WA
    A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 announced that $780 was "allotted for work in the Puyallup City Library." The old library was located on what is now Pioneer Park.
  • Library (former) Improvements - Monroe WA
    "City officials of the town of Monroe, were today advised that the Town Hall and the Library were due for remodeling to the extent of $2,400, it was learned from the office of Don G. Abel, State Administrator of the Works Progress Administration, through whose approval the city fathers were granted $1,822 of federal funds for this work. The city of Monroe is supplying an additional $578. The project is slated to begin on November 11 and will supply work for 15 men, taken from WPA rolls, for about two months. The improvements. will bring the public library and city...
  • Lincoln Park Trails - Seattle WA
    In 1933-34, New Deal relief workers built trails in Lincoln Park. We do not know exactly which ones, but the work almost certainly included the stone-lined steps down to the beach – which are classic New Deal stonework -- and the picnic shelter looks typical of that era, as well (but may well have been rebuilt over time). A photo from the University of Washington digital collections shows workmen constructing a trail along a steep hillside (see below). The caption on the photo says, "State of Wash., E.R.A. K.C.D., Proj. 509, Dec. 26, 1933, Neg. No. 19; Lincoln Park."   ERA refers...
  • Longmire Meadow Landscaping - Mount Rainier National Park WA
    Mount Rainier was the nation's fifth National Park, established 1899. During the Great Depression the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps greatly aided the park's development. National Register of Historic Places nomination: "In the 1930s, the CCC made further improvements on the landscaping of Longmire Meadow."
  • Longmire Village - Mount Rainier National Park WA
    Mount Rainier was the nation's fifth National Park, established 1899. During the Great Depression the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps greatly aided the park's development. Numerous structures were constructed at Longmire Village by the CCC. National Register of Historic Places nomination: "Comfort stations, fireplaces, and the campground loop roads were added to the Longmire campground in the 1930s with the help of CCC labor."
  • Lowman Beach Park Improvements - Seattle WA
    Lowman Beach Park, a small park property that provides access to Puget Sound in a primarily residential area of southwest Seattle, was the site of two Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first project involved the construction of a cement mortar seawall along the entire shore line of the park property. This project was started in 1935 and completed the following year. Additionally, WPA workers built a concrete tennis court on the north side of the park in 1936.
  • Loyal Heights Playfield - Seattle WA
    The Seattle Park Department acquired the property for Loyal Heights Playground in 1941 and, that same year, employed WPA workers to clear and regrade the site, which naturally sloped downward from north to south. More than 7,300 cubic yards of dirt fill were added as part of the regrading project. Work on the playfield continued until December 1941, when all WPA workers at the site were transferred to defense work in preparation for World War II.
  • Madison Park Improvements - Seattle WA
    Madison Park, located at the eastern end of Madison Streeet, next to Lake Washington, was the site of several small Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects. The first of these projects involved the replacement of the park's clay tennis courts near the intersection of East Blaine Street and 42nd Avenue East. Installed in 1936, the new tennis courts were built with reinforced concrete, which the Park Department preferred due to lower maintenance costs and their potential use for other recreational activities, such as roller skating. Then, in the spring of 1937, WPA workers began remodeling the park's bathhouse, a wood-frame structure originally...
  • Madrona Playground Improvements - Seattle WA
    In 1927, the Seattle Park Department acquired the site for Madrona Playground at East Spring Street and 34th Avenue. The playground site received a few improvements during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including the grading of the playfield and the construction of a pair of concrete tennis courts, but otherwise remained mostly undeveloped until the late 1930s, when increased Works Progress Administration funding allowed the completion of several improvement projects. These improvement projects included the construction of a new brick shelter house near the north end of the playground. Begun in 1938 and completed in 1939, the shelter house...
  • Madrona Playground Shelter House - Seattle WA
    During the late 1930s, with funding assistance from the Works Progress Administration, the Seattle Park Department upgraded Madrona Playground. The largest component of the improvement project was the construction of a new shelter house near the north end of the playground, immediately east of an already existing pair of tennis courts. WPA workers began constructing the shelter house in 1938. Completed the following year, the one-story, brick structure housed a recreational playroom, instructor's room, caretaker's room, and men's and women's restrooms. Interior features included hardwood floors and a fireplace at the north end of the recreation room. Significant renovation work...
  • Magnolia Bluff Sewers - Seattle WA
    A WPA-sponsored project improved sewers in the Magnolia Bluff neighborhood of Seattle. The project, which received $2,135 in WPA funds, provided work for 16 men for two months.
  • Main Library Improvements - Tacoma WA
    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, library, and others... The work includes cleaning walls, woodwork, furniture and washing and repairing furnishings and drapes. This project employs mostly women and the funds will curry it until about June 1, 1938. Tacoma as sponsor is supplying materials needed with $740."
  • Main Street Resurfacing - Auburn WA
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) resurfaced Auburn, Washington's Main Street in early 1934.
  • Malaga School (former) - Malaga WA
    "Immediately following Thanksgiving, work will begin on the grounds of the Malaga School, Chelan County ... Funds from WPA in the amount of $18,083 have been provided for excavating, grading, leveling and covering the ground with a top soil. The sponsors, School District #115, will provide $4,400 to be added to the WPA grant and men from WPA rolls will complete the work by July 1, 1938." The precise location and the present status of the school building are unknown to Living New Deal.
  • Maple Leaf School (demolished) Addition - Seattle WA
    A grant from the Works Progress Administration funded the construction of an addition to Seattle's former Maple Leaf Grade School during the late 1930s. The school, which was part of the Maple Leaf School District at the time, was located on the northeast corner of Northeast 100th Street and 32nd Avenue NE. The original school building, situated at the northern end of the site, was completed in 1926. Four years later, an addition to the school was built to accommodate the increasing number of children who attended the school. As the surrounding neighborhood continued to grow during the 1920s and 1930s,...
  • Marblemount School (former) Improvements - Marblemount WA
    A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 announced that the agency had allotted $1,028 "to install a furnace and lights and for general repairs at the Marblemount school, Skagit County." Marblemount no longer maintains a school. The exact location and status of the facility are unknown to Living New Deal.
  • McGraw St. Bridge - Seattle WA
    Grants from the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration helped fund the construction of a new bridge to carry McGraw Street across the Wolf Creek ravine in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill district. The new bridge opened in 1936. It replaced a wood trestle structure that dated back to the early years of the century and had fallen into severe disrepair. In 1934, engineers with the Seattle Parks Department, which had responsibility for maintaining the old bridge, declared it to be unsafe and in need of immediate replacement due to a large number of rotten timbers and escalating maintenance...
  • McMillin Bridge - Orting WA
    One of many PWA and WPA projects in Washington state: "Crossing the Puyallip River on Route 162 in Pierce County, the McMillin Bridge was an engineering wonder of its time. It is a truss style bridge that used concrete instead of wood, like other truss bridges of the time. Also the McMillin Bridge applied a theory mainly practiced in Europe at the time. Hollow-box construction, the act of pouring cement around hollowed wooden shafts, not only made the structure more economical but also it lightened the load of it. This reduction in weight also helped, because the engineers had to make...
  • Mercer Playground (demolished) Improvements - Seattle WA
    The former Mercer Playground at 2nd Avenue North and Harrison Street in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood was the site of several small WPA maintenance and improvement projects. In 1938, WPA workers painted the playground shelter house, as part of a city-wide initiative to repaint various park structures that had not received any paint maintenance since the start of the Depression due to budget cuts. The following year, workers regraded the playground's ballfield, installed a water and drainage system, and built a new handball court. A lighting system was also installed. Twenty years later, Mercer Playground, along with much of the surrounding...
  • Meridian Elementary School - Kent WA
    Kent, Washington's Meridian Elementary School was originally constructed as a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project beginning in 1937. "Adding one more to the list of schools being built in the State of Washington by the Works Progress Administration, state administrator Don G. Abel, today announced a $80,211 school building and garage for children of the Meridian School near Kent, Washington. The school district is providing $31,620 of the total account, for materials. The project, scheduled to get under way by November 22, calls for the construction of a one-story tile and concrete building and a separate garage to house the...
  • Military Road Reconstruction - Spanaway WA
    A WPA press release from Jan. 1938 reported: "With the aid of a WPA allotment of $10,000 the improvement of the Military road near Spanaway will start next Monday, it was amounoed yesterday by Don G. Abel, state Works Progress Administrator. More than 30 men will make up the initial WPA crew. Clearing operations are included as a necessary part of the widening and rebuilding of the road. The project which is being sponsored by Pierce County Commissioners is benefiting by an additional $4,817 from that source for necessary equipment and supplies. It is estimated the work will require six months and...
  • Miller River Road - Skykomish WA
    One of many WPA and PWA projects in Washington state: "$231,961 was allocated for the construction of a 10 mile road that lead to an area rich with minerals and recreational possibilities."
  • Montlake Boulevard Pedestrian Overcrossing - Seattle WA
    A Public Works Administration grant helped to fund construction of the Montlake Boulevard Pedestrian Overcrossing on the campus of the University of Washington. The bridge provided a safer pedestrian connection between the main part of the campus west of Montlake Boulevard and the university's main athletic facilities east of Montlake Boulevard, including Husky Stadium and the University of Washington Pavilion, later renamed to Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Construction of the bridge began in late 1938 and was substantially completed by February of 1939. The total cost of the project was $22,349, of which 45% was paid by the PWA. The remainder...
  • Montlake Bridge Improvements - Seattle WA
    The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) supplied labor for the painting of Seattle's historic Montlake Bridge in 1934.
  • Montlake Playfield, Shelter House, and Community Club - Seattle WA
    The Montlake Playfield and Shelter House were constructed partially on fill in former marshlands on the shores of Portage Bay between 1933 and 1936. In the 1910s and 1920s, houseboats moored there, and Dahlialand, a local garden store, utilized nearby acreage to grow dahlia bulbs for commercial use. Montlake mothers, desiring to ward off boredom that might propel their teenagers into juvenile delinquency, pushed for the creation of the playfield, which—with the field house structure that initially housed the community center—were built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers. The playfield was expanded in the early 1960s when material dredged for...
  • Moran State Park: General Development - Olga WA
    Moran State Park was created in 1921 when Robert Moran, shipbuilder and former mayor of Seattle, donated more than 2,700-acres to the state for a park. Like many state parks at the time, it was not well developed for public recreation until the coming of the New Deal. Most of the trails, roads, bridges, and buildings in the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. The CCC typically used native materials on site to construct the many stone and wooden shelters and buildings. The Moran State Park website offers a few more details on its History page: "In...
  • Moran State Park: Observation Tower - Olga WA
    Moran State Park was created in 1921 when Robert Moran, shipbuilder and former mayor of Seattle, donated more than 2,700-acres to the state for a park. Like many state parks at the time, it was not well developed for public recreation until the coming of the New Deal. Most of the trails, roads, bridges, and buildings in the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s. The CCC typically used native materials on site to construct the many stone and wooden shelters and buildings. The most notable of the CCC's structures is the stone observation tower at the...
  • Mount Fremont Fire Lookout - Mount Rainier National Park WA
    Mount Rainier was the nation's fifth National Park, established 1899. During the Great Depression the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps greatly aided the park's development. The CCC constructed numerous fire lookout towers, including that atop Mount Fremont in 1934. Elevation: 7,181 feet. Wikipedia: "One of four fire lookouts remaining in the park, the lookout is used for visitor services during summer weekends. The building is about 14 by 14 feet, and was designed by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and designs under the supervision of Acting Chief Architect Edwin A. Nickel."
  • Mount Rainier National Park - WA
    Mount Rainier was the nation's fifth National Park, established 1899. During the Great Depression the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps greatly aided the park's development. NPS.gov: "The Civilian Conservation Corps was busily building and repairing park lands and structures from 1933 to 1941. In addition to landscape work, they helped plant over 10,000,000 trout in the lakes and streams." "Five Emergency Conservation Work Camps are authorized for the park. They are manned by newly recruited Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) men from various parts of the United States. Training is provided by park service personnel. The CCC use inexpensive skills to build and repair...
  • Mount Spokane State Park - WA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop Mount Spokane State Park during the 1930s.
  • Mount Spokane State Park: Vista House - WA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop Mount Spokane State Park during the 1930s. In addition to other improvements the CCC constructed the park's historic Vista House. MtSpokane.com: "The Vista House was constructed in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as “an excellent example of the naturalistic design principles that the CCC inherited from the National Park Service” in which “stone and timber structures were meant to emerge from their surroundings as if they were expressions of the site”."
  • Mountain Loop Highway - Granite Falls WA
    "The new bridge was built at a cost of more than $40,000, made up from county and Public Works Administration (PWA) funds."
  • Mt. Adams Ranger Station Compound, Gifford Pinchot National Forest - Trout Lake WA
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) construction this compound in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
  • Municipal Road Improvements - Vancouver WA
    "Vancouver, Washington will have its $129.584 street improvement project after all! It was announced today by Don G. Abel, State WPA Administrator, following the appropriation of $18,601 by the Vancouver city council for the drawing of engineers plans and miscellaneous expenditures. ... The largest street improvement project in the history of the city, its cost to the taxpayers will be negligible as far as a new tax levy is concerned. The city budget will not bear the brunt of the allotment as funds from the gasoline tax received from the state will be set aside for this purpose. Approximately 170 men, taken...
  • Municipal Sewers - Spokane WA
    In December 1935 the WPA approved $140,680 for a "Manito sewer project and lateral sewers" in Spokane, Washington. Spokane's Daily Chronicle detailed the locations of these sewer projects. The lateral sewer project was allocated $90,080 by the WPA and involved trenching and backfilling the following streets and alleys in Spokane, with concentrations in areas north and east of the city center: "Alley between Second and Third, Havana to Rebecca; alley between Fourth and Fifth, Rossville to Rebecca; alley between Freya and Farrell, Sprague to Hartson. Alley between Olympic and Wabash, Greene to Haven; alley between Hogan and Perry, Marietta to Jackson; alley...
  • Municipal Sewers, Comstock Neighborhood - Spokane WA
    In December 1935 the WPA approved $140,680 for a "Manito sewer project and lateral sewers" in Spokane, Washington. Spokane's Daily Chronicle detailed the locations of these sewer projects. The primary 'Manito' sewer project, located largely within the present neighborhood of Comstock, was allocated $50,600 by the WPA and involved trenching and backfilling the following streets and alleys: "Arthur from Thirty-sixth to Thurston, Thurston from Arthur to Conklin, Conklin from Thurston to Forty-first, Forty-first from Conklin to alley between Conklin and Garfield, alley between Conklin and Garfield from Forty-first to Forty-second, Forty-second from alley between Conklin and Garfield to alley between Garfield and...
  • Naval Reserve Armory - Seattle WA
    From the National Register of Historic Places nomination file: "Built on the eve of World War II, on the southwest shore of Seattle's Lake Union, the Naval Reserve Armory is a historically and architecturally significant structure closely associated with the history of the Navy in the Pacific Northwest, with Depression-era public works programs, with military mobilization during World War II, and with the role of the armed services in Seattle in the 20th century. Completed in 1942 using WPA funding, the Armory was a community-based project that the federal government eventually designated as an official National Defense Project at the...
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