Selected USA Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sites
Give a man a dole, and you save his body and destroy his spirit.
Give him a job and you save both body and spirit.
Harry Hopkins, WPA Administrator
The early years of the Great Depression saw one in four Americans without work and economic activity nearly halved. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) created under the Roosevelt administration hired more than 8.5 million people to work on 1.4 million projects. Nearly a century later, over 15,000 sites remain and many still operate, including schools, government facilities, parks, and murals.
These images comprise a documentary survey of selected extant and abandoned WPA sites in different parts of the United States. The intent of this project is to illustrate at least two benefits, namely, near-term job creation that helped people back then, and the longer-term transformation of place evident today.
Arco City Building, Arco, Idaho, June 26, 2021
City Park Band Shell, Twin Falls, Idaho, June 26, 2021
Garwood Schoolhouse, Garwood, Missouri, September 19, 2020
Vargas Field, Winslow, Arizona, November 23, 2021
Grace Sparks Activity Center (Prescott National Guard Armory), Prescott, Arizona, November 29, 2021
Fort Lewis College, Old Fort Lewis Campus, Hesperus, Colorado, June 29, 2021
Smiley Junior High School (former), Durango, Colorado, June 29, 2021
Post Office, Russell, Kansas, September 10, 2020
Post Office, Hollywood, California, May 9, 2019
Taft Stadium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Illinois National Guard Armory, Rockford, Illinois, September 14, 2020
Will Rogers High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 20, 2020
United States Courthouse and Post Office, Abilene, Texas, March 19, 2022
Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, March 19, 2022
Fort Bliss National Cemetery, Fort Bliss, Texas, October 27, 2022
Elmwood Cemetery, Bowie, Texas, March 16, 2022
Houston Elementary School, Denison, Texas, March 18, 2022
Boys & Girls Clubs, Wichita Falls, Texas, March 17, 2022
Fair Park Rock Field, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Childress High School Gymnasium, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Childress County Courthouse, Childress, Texas, March 16, 2022
Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Municipal Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, November 18, 2022
Jackson County Courthouse, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
City Hall, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Southeast High School, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Lincoln High School, Kansas City, Missouri, November 19, 2022
Soldier’s Memorial Building, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
138th Infantry Armory Building, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
The Jewel Box, Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri, November 20, 2022
James E. Roberts Special School (former), Indianapolis, Indiana, 2022
Central High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 28, 2022
Metuchen Public Library, Metuchen, New Jersey, November 28, 2022
City Hall, East Wing, Columbus, Ohio, November 21, 2022
Federal Building Addition, Wheeling, West Virginia, November 22, 2022
Burrowes Building, Pennsylvania State University, State College Pennsylvania, November 23, 2022
Pattee Library, Pennsylvania State University, State College Pennsylvania, November 23, 2022
Ferguson Building, Pennsylvania State University, State College Pennsylvania, November 23, 2022
Osmond Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, State College Pennsylvania, November 23, 2022
Department of Interior, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022
Federal Trade Commission Building, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, December 1, 2022
Treasury Department, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022
Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC, November 30, 2022