Wyoming Sites

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to improve the conditions at Island Park in Green River, Wyoming. Cassity: "In Green River, Island Park was leveled with traditional cut and fill methods to raise the low spots so that flood water from Green River would no longer stand, and this was followed by installing lawn, roads, and paths."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) developed Jackson Town Square in Jackson, Wyoming. Cassity: "Jackson’s Washington Park, the town square, was significantly improved with excavation to level the ground, replacing the removed soil with loam for seeding grass and shrubbery."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a jail in Dubois, Wyoming. The location and status of the project is unknown to Living New Deal.

Company 1811 of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed the High Park Fire Lookout in 1942. It is a typical Forest Service design of the time, made of stone and wood. The lookout was staffed with paid fire watchers until the late 1970s, but is no longer in active use. It is today a popular recreation spot for visitors to Bighorn National Forest. The High Park Fire Lookout was renamed after James Torrey Saban in 2015 to commemorate his service as a Forest Ranger and foreman in the CCC. He died while fighting the 1937 Blackwater Fire. The lookout was placed on the National...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) worked to improve Johnson County Airport outside Buffalo, Wyoming.

A former junior high school building in Lander, Wyoming was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. The PWA supplied a $52,291 grant for the project, whose total cost was $119,527. Construction occurred between June 1936 and Feb. 1938. Later known as the former Southside Elementary School, the exact location of the facility is unknown to Living New Deal. The building has since been destroyed. PWA Docket No. WY 1019-R

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a community center in Arvada, Wyoming. The location and status of the building is unknown to Living New Deal. Cassity: "The CWA constructed a forty by sixty foot log building on a concrete foundation, with a maple floor, stage, and additional rooms as kitchens or dressing rooms, and finished it with a rubble masonry fireplace. The community named the building Kendrick Hall in honor of the late senator ..."

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crews from the Chimney Park Camp (F-17-W) in Laramie, Wyoming constructed two log structures for the Keystone Work Center from 1939 to 1942. Located on the southeastern slopes of Wyoming’s Medicine Bow Mountain Range, the Keystone Work Center was originally developed as a forest ranger station before becoming a larger workspace for the U.S. Forest Service. The structures represent a distinctive building style of the CCC, with saddle-notched logs and a wood shingled roof. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) sponsored additions to multiple school buildings in Laramie, Wyoming, including to the former East Side School, now the Laramie Plains Civic Center. The building also houses examples of New Deal art.

The WPA's Federal Art Project commissioned a set of murals for what was then the auditorium of Laramie's East Side School, now the Laramie Plains Civic Center. The murals are still housed in the building. "Wyoming schools also benefited from the WPA Federal Art Project , which was responsible for a number of murals painted inside the buildings. Although the list of school murals is incomplete, it includes ... nine panels in the Laramie High School Auditorium by Florence Ware of Salt Lake City ..." "The Laramie panels remain in the auditorium of the school, which is now the Laramie Plains Civic...

An addition to Lincoln School in Laramie, Wyoming was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the Great Depression. "In 1936 Public Works Administration (PWA) funding became available for school expansion. William Dubois of Cheyenne was hired as architect for the addition, assisted by F.W. "Fred" Ambrose, who had worked for Hitchcock. Work was completed in 1939, with two new classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria and a small performance area. The addition's style followed the original. A further addition, designed by the sons of Wilbur Hitchcock, W. Eliot and Clinton, added more classrooms." (Wikipedia, from NHRP form) PWA Docket No....

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and/or Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) constructed a building in Lions Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, most likely in 1934. "Already a city of beautiful parks, Cheyenne erected a red stone building with relief labor at Lions park to house equipment and a wall was raised as well to shut off any unsightly display of implements." The location and status of this project is unknown to Living New Deal.

Casper Star-Tribune: "Convention and social sessions were transferred this afternoon to the Lions recuperation camp for undernourished children on Casper mountain. There in the new assembly and recreational building erected of logs as a CWA project, visitors also learned of the program through a talk given by A. Baker, Casper club member and a past district governor of the Lions. He reviewed both the history and the achievements of the camp, which ministers annually to between 60 and 70 deserving Casper children who are extended the benefits of wholesome and invigorating recreation combined with body-building food and care." The status and...

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to improve the road infrastructure around Mammoth . Cassity: "Mammoth Hot Springs area - Earth fill, sod clumps and sage were brought in to regrade areas of the many old road scars in the complex. The old road section between buildings No. 3 and 4 was obliterated. Most of this section was resodded using sod removed from the proposed road to the Power House, and the remaining area was seeded.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees from Company 841 built Meadowlark Lake Dam in 1936, creating both an essential infrastructure project and a community recreation site. While little information exists on the architectural methods used in construction of the dam, the structure “required significant engineering, planning, coordination, and work hours” (Cassity, 74). The dam is located in Bighorn National Forest, where it remains a prominent feature. Today, people utilize the lake created by the dam for picnics, swimming, and recreation.   .

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees stationed in the Bridger-Teton National Forest of Wyoming constructed the Monument Ridge Fire Lookout in 1941. The structure is the only remaining fire lookout in Wyoming assembled with precut logs. The wooden cabin looks over the Hoback Ranger District and has a sweeping view of the surrounding mountain ranges. The lookout was used to identify and fight forest fires until the 1970s, when it was decommissioned by the U.S. Forest Service. Today, the Monument Ridge Fire Lookout is a common destination for hikers, bikers and ATV-riders who traverse the Hoback Mountain Range. It remains in relatively good...

The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed a fire lookout tower at the top of Mount Pisgah in eastern Wyoming, ten miles NNE of Newcastle. The tower is no longer extant. Cassity: O. B. Kongslie in Weston County described a CCC-constructed “observation tower” built atop Mount Pisgah, the highest point in Weston County. The tower itself was seventy feet tall and it was situated on a point over 6,000 feet in altitude. The tower and the cabin it supported were made of solid steel and plate glass providing an unobstructed view that stretched all the way to the Bighorn Mountains to the west...

The Works Progress Administration built a gymnasium for the Mountain View School in Mountain View, Uinta County. The exact location and status of the structure are presently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) conducted improvement / development work at Casper's municipal golf course, also known as the Casper Community Club. The work was described in a newspaper article as "municipal golf club-house and fairways." Casper Star-Tribune, March 3, 1935: "The new Casper Community club golf house was built at a cost of $21,047. In addition, nine supplementary greens were constructed on the course." Based on recent imagery Living New Deal believes the clubhouse is no longer extant.

TheWorks Progress Administration built a Municipal skating rink in Laramie, Albany County.

The Works Progress Administration built the National Guard Armory in Douglas, Converse County. The exact location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration built the National Guard Armory in Newcastle, Weston County. The exact location and condition of this facility are unknown to the Living New Deal.  

This PWA building was constructed in 1938-1940.  It is a PWA Moderne/'stripped classicism' style ashlar stone-clad building with stone reliefs depicting western images like Native Americans, cattle round-up, and cattle skull.

Multiple New Deal agencies performed work in and around Natrona County High School in Casper, Wyoming, notably constructing athletic facilities. The Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) began construction of "a stadium for the athletic field at Natrona County High School in Casper," work that was completed under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.). Casper Star-Tribune: "CONSTRUCTION of Casper's new $48,000 stadium under the CWA end later the ERA during 1934 rounded out the athletic facilities of Natrona County High school to the most complete and finest of any school from colleges on down in the Rocky Mountain states, and further boosted Carper's eminence...

The Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) sponsored additions to multiple school buildings in Laramie, Wyoming, including to the Nellie Iles School. "A 1939 gymnasium addition funded by the Public Works Administration allowed the school to keep pace with physical education requirements in Wyoming schools."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the Niobrara County Courthouse in Lusk, Wyoming. Cassity: "In Lusk, the courthouse and library were both about a decade old, but had, during the hard times of the 1920s, fallen into disrepair, and the CWA brought to both much-needed renewal."

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted improvement and repair work at the Niobrara County Library in Lusk, Wyoming. Cassity: "In Lusk, the courthouse and library were both about a decade old, but had, during the hard times of the 1920s, fallen into disrepair, and the CWA brought to both much-needed renewal."

From 1938 to 1939, young relief workers from the National Youth Administration (NYA) built the North Casper Clubhouse in the city of Casper, Wyoming. Upon finishing the structure, the NYA noted that the “building was planned to meet a pressing need in the North Casper community and has been extensively used by various organizations and activity groups” (Cassity, 213). NYA workers constructed the building using a unique architectural method known as rammed earth construction. The walls of the clubhouse measure eighteen inches thick and are finished with metal lath, plaster, and stucco. The original design of the building included space for...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) conducted road improvement work along what had been the Lincoln Highway through Rawlins, Wyoming.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to develop a fish hatchery at the Park County Hatchery near Cody, Wyoming. "The 1935-1936 biennium was a heyday of improvements and construction. ... WPA labor built a new log hatchery building with 36 steel troughs, water system improvements, and landscaping at the Cody hatchery." The location and status of this project is presently unknown to Living New Deal.

As part of Civil Works Administration (CWA) efforts in Wyoming "Afton’s park was prepared for planting trees."

As part of Civil Works Administration (CWA) efforts in Wyoming "Riverton’s park (or parks) received a half-mile of irrigation ditches."

"Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped the community... Additional aid came when the Works Progress Administration provided funds that ... supplied the labor for a new brick schoolhouse." Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) documents show that the school was constructed as a P.W.A. project, P.W.A. Docket No. WY 1028, with construction occurring in 1938. Located south of the Sublette County Courthouse, the building served as a school from 1937 to 1987. The building has since been demolished.

The historic post office in Greybull, Wyoming was constructed in 1938 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork inside, is still in use today.

The historic post office building in Kemmerer, Wyoming was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds. Completed in 1936, it was constructed "from standardized plans developed from guidelines provided by the Office of the Supervising Architect in the Treasury Department." (https://wyoshpo.state.wy.us) The building, which houses multiple examples of New Deal artwork inside, is still in service.

The historic post office in Powell, Wyoming was constructed with Treasury Department funds. The building, which was completed ca. 1938, houses an example of New Deal artwork inside and is still in service.

The historic post office in Riverton, Wyoming was constructed in 1940-1 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in service.

The historic main post office for Yellowstone National Park is located on North Entrance Road, just north of Barracks Street in the Mammoth Hot Springs community near the north entrance of the park. The building was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds and completed in 1937. Furthermore, the building is home to an example of New Deal artwork—two stone sculptures flank the front entrance to the building.

The historic post office building in Gillette, Wyoming was constructed with federal Treasury Department funds in conjunction with the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.). The building, which was completed 1935, is now privately owned.

Medium: Oil on canvas, size: 10' x 5'. "The Fertile Land Remembers", by Louise Emerson Ronnebeck (1901-1980) depicts a determined looking pioneer farming family in a Conestoga wagon pulled by oxen heading toward the viewer. In the background/sky are Indians riding horses chasing buffalo, executed in a translucent cloud-like manner. The Indians and the pioneer farming family were both historically dependent on the land and they are shown being displaced by the new, thriving and growing oil industry. The mural was originally installed in the Worland, Wyoming Post Office. It was later installed into the downtown Casper Wyoming Post Office, located...