In 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) extended Berrellessa Street several blocks into the waterfront on the west end of town, which was the long-time neighborhood of Italian/Sicilian fishermen plying their trade on the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay…. read more
The Works progress Administration (WPA) installed a new vault and made other improvements to the Contra Costa County Finance Building in 1935-36, and perhaps later. According to WPA Project Cards from the National Archives, the vault was to be built… read more
In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) made improvements to the former Contra Costa County jail, which stands just behind the old courthouse (the present Finance Building) at 625 Court Street. According to a WPA Project Card from the National… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out improvements on the county Hall of Records building in Martinez CA, constructed in 1932, which is now known as the Justice Wakefield Taylor Courthouse (California State Superior Court). There were three different projects… read more
The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the construction of the Mountain View elementary school near Martinez. At the time, the school was located just outside the city of Martinez in an unincorporated area southeast of the city limits at the… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) laid pavement at the base of the flag pole in front of the Martinez Veterans’ Memorial Building. They may have reset the flag pole, as well, and built the curved walkways in front of the building…. read more
The Martinez downtown post office was constructed by the Treasury Department Office of Procurement for the United States Post Office in 1936-37. It is a striking one-story Moderne building built of reinforced concrete, with a central entrance and two windows… read more
The Martinez downtown post office contains an oil-on-canvas New Deal mural, “The Road to Eldorado” by noted California artists Edith Hamlin and Maynard Dixon. It was funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts in 1939. The subject matter of… read more
The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded an expansion of the Martinez public marina along the Carquinez Strait/Sacramento River. The city had sought PWA support for expansion plans to what it called the Yacht Harbor since 1934 but was turned down… read more
In 1943, the Public Works Administration (PWA) (by then part of the Federal Works Administration) funded a new ferry slip and expansion of the public wharf in Martinez. The government grant was for $77,000, but the city accepted a bid… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) and National Y0uth Administration (NYA) aided in the development of Rankin Park, a 42 acre park in the hills to the west of Martinez. The city purchased the land for $12,000 in 1938 and New… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built sidewalks, gutters, curbs and other streets improvements throughout the city of Martinez. There were two main projects, one starting in 1938 and the other in 1941, according to WPA project cards in the National… read more
The Civil Works Administration (CWA) planted around 400 street trees in the city of Martinez in the winter of 1933-34. The plantings consisted of walnuts and sycamores. (Henderson 2014) Susana Park had just been deeded to the city by the… read more
In 1938, the Public Works Administration (PWA) gave a grant to the city of Martinez to help construct a 500,000 gallon water supply reservoir. This is the old Mountain View reservoir (which is no longer in service) at the end… read more