The WPA helped in improvements at this pool that put 66 people to work in 1939. 53,300 man hours were used. $36,211 went toward labor and $3,129 to other expenses. As of Winter 2015, the facility was extant but being… read more
The school was originally opened in 1878, but was extensively damaged in the 1933 earthquake. During the 30s and early 40s, the school was rebuilt by the WPA. “Architect Albert C. Martin provided the Moderne design for the Lincoln High… read more
The New Deal carried out reconstruction and ground improvements.
This plaque of Alexander Hamilton in military uniform is displayed near the entrance to the administration office of Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. The plaque was created in 1935 by Roger Noble Burnham, the same artist behind the… read more
US highway 101 from Center St. to Mission Rd. Connected the Ramona Parkway (present day Interstate 10) with the proposed Hollywood Parkway (now US 101). Crosses over the LA River as well as numerous city streets and railroads. Originally the… read more
In 1942, the United States Housing Authority (USHA) built the Aliso Village low-income housing project in South Central Los Angeles. The project included over 1500 garden-style (low-rise) apartments designed by eminent L.A. architects. Like many public housing projects around the… read more
“When Franklin D.Roosevelt was elected in 1933, his Works Progress administration (WPA) put Pasadenans to work on park, flood control,and utility projects.They improved Brookside Park for the Chicago White Sox,who set up spring training there.The most momentous WPA project was… read more
The Annual Report of the Board of the Los Angeles Park Commissioners stated in their 1932-1933 report that the Arroyo Seco Parkway was at the time the third largest park in Los Angeles with 276.1 acres. “A new roadway was… read more
Both the WPA and the PWA along with a number of local agencies were involved in the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway which was mostly completed by 1940. It is 8.2 miles long with 18 bridges. “The Arroyo Seco… read more
This narrow concrete sidewalk and stairway connecting Solano Avenue and Academy Road was built by the WPA in 1941. Located along the Arroyo Seco Parkway near the Solano Ave. Elementary School.
This community park in East Los Angeles was constructed by the WPA. The park and its central building are still in use and features a more recently constructed swimming pool and playground.
A 1939 report on the WPA’s progress in Southern California described the agency’s extensive involvement in a major roads project improving Balboa Avenue: “The Balboa Avenue Improvement, Work Project No. 645, was sponsored by the City of Los Angeles to… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing this important Los Angeles waterway. “Ballona Creek is an 8.8-mile-long (14.2 km) waterway in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, whose watershed… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
The federal government in the form of the US Army Corps of Engineers played an instrumental role in developing the Ballona Creek waterway in Los Angeles, which helps drain the Los Angeles basin from the Santa Monica Mountains to the… read more
“Work Project No. 9373, sponsored by the City of Los Angeles is a heavy travelled major traffic artery and extends northerly from Ventura Boulevard to communities in the northern section of of the San Fernando Valley. “Prior to its improvement… read more
This 30.94 acre park in East Los Angeles was built with funds from the WPA. Still a vital part of community life, the park presently encompasses one of the top skate parks in North America in addition to an array… read more
These New Deal tennis courts were built in or near Beverly Hills.
“Soldiers and Sailors is a three panel painted mural [by Arthur Leitner] in the vestibule of Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. Created in 1942 as part of the WPA Art Project, the mural depicts the United States’ military uniforms from 1776 through… read more
This school was originally built in 1910 as the American Way School, and rebuilt in the 1920’s. Along with many schools in the area, the school was damaged in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. It was rebuilt by New Deal… read more
This project involved two separate roads, 48 feet wide (four lanes each way) with Pacific Electric Tracks in the center. It included the Pilgrimage Bridge (Vine St) and adjacent frontage roads, Barham Blvd overcrossing and Barham offramps.
Under project number 5517, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) graded and improved a national guard airfield on the site of Griffith Park where the zoo and Autry Museum are currently. $28,491 was spent by the federal government with $7,489 by… read more
The photo below shows power pumps at a PWA station in Chandler. Exact location and current status of the station not known.
City Terrace Park was planned in 1931 but the park space wasn’t completed until 1933, when crews of workers from the Works Progress Administration* finished cutting into three and a half acres of rugged hillside, creating terrace space for the… read more
The WPA Accomplishment Report of 1939 reports that the WPA constructed an office wing for a school on Tamarind St. in Compton, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles in LA County. Exact location and current status of school are unknown…. read more
The main building and auditorium of this modernistic earthquake-proof school was constructed by the PWA. From Southwest Builder and Contractor, October 8, 1937: “The streamlined appearance of Dorsey High was conceived by architects H. L. Gogerty and C. E. Noerenberg,… read more
The boathouse on the east side of Echo Park Lake was constructed in 1932 with unemployment relief bonds that predated the New Deal program. With the reopening of Echo Park in 2013, after a $45 million renovation, the boathouse now… read more
This statue, entitled “Nuestra Reina de los Angeles” (“Our Queen of the Angels”) but known colloquially as “The Lady of the Lake,” was made in 1934 by Ada May Sharpless with funding from the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP)…. read more
As part of a grant to the Pueblo before it became the City of Los Angeles, Elysian Park is the oldest and second largest park in Los Angeles at 600 acres. A section of the park Montecillo De Leo Politi… read more
From Wikipedia: “Emerson Middle School’s main building was designed by architect Richard Neutra in the International Style of Architecture, and built between 1937 and 1938. It is a two-story, steel-framed structure with strong horizontals. The first-floor classrooms have large, 15-foot… read more
This cast stone sculpture by Donal Hord was funded by the PWAP in 1934. The sculpture depicts a man crouching behind a wheel filled with gears and is variously known as “Man and the Wheel” or “Wheel of Industry” or… read more
“The U.S. Courthouse, built between 1937 and 1940 as the U.S. Post Office and Court House, was the third federal building constructed in Los Angeles. The first, constructed between 1889 and 1892, housed the post office, U.S. District Court, and… read more
