Dillon Montana Post Office

The brick post office in Dillon Montana was built in 1935. Dillon was established in 1880 by the Union Pacific Railroad to service the Montana gold mining area. Dillion is home to the University of Montana Western. 

Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Lochrie painted the mural in 1938, called News from the States.

Arco Recreation Building

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Works Progress Administration workers completed the Arco city gymnasium and recreation build in 1938. The building now houses city offices. In July 1955 Arco Idaho became the first city to be powered with electricity generated by a nuclear reactor. The power came from the nearby Argonne National Laboratory.

 

The building was made from local basalt stones.

Savenac Tree Nursery

The Savenac Tree Nursery in Western Montana was established in the early days of the Forest Service. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corp rebuilt the nursery. It operated until 1969, producing up to twelve million trees a year to reforest the Northwest.

Learn more about the nursery in this Forest Service Publication: Savenac Historic Tree Nursery.

Painted Desert Inn

Painted Desert Inn

Built in the 1920s out of stone and petrified wood. The National Park Service took over the building in the 1930s and redesigned it in the Pueblo Revival Style. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) provided the labor to rebuild the inn.

 

Painted Desert Inn. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona.

 

View from the veranda with the Painted Desert in the distance.

 

Punched tin light fixtures made by CCC workers.

Punched tin light fixtures made by CCC workers.

 

CCC made hand painted skylights using Navajo pottery designs.

CCC made hand-painted skylights using Navajo blanket designs.

 

Learn more about the Painted Desert Inn.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The CCC worked on several projects along with the WPA and the Emergency Relief Administration in what was then known as the Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area. Projects included roads, picnic shelters, campgrounds, and trails.

The CCC-built River Bend Overlook Shelter in the North Unit of the park provides views of the Little Missouri River and the Achenbach Hills.

Picnic shelter at the Juniper campground.

Essex Street Market

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In 1937, New York still had 8,000 pushcart vendors on the streets blocking traffic and creating havoc. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was determined to remove the pushcarts and get the vendors into covered markets. The Essex Street Market is one of the remaining eight original markets. When it opened on January 9, 1940, each of the 475 former pushcart vendors paid $4.25 a week in rent for a stall. The market was built by the city and the WPA.

Today there are far fewer merchants and the market will soon be moving to a nearby location.

Wares from Farmaggio Essex.

Angler’s Lodge and Ponds – San Francisco

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The casting ponds and the lodge were built by WPA workers in 1938 for the The Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club. You can visit the lodge in Golden Gate Park any day that there is a member present. The day I was there several members were practicing in the ponds, tying flies, and welcoming stray visitors with coffee and snacks.

Treasure Island Terminal and Administration Building

posted in: PWA, WPA | 0

 

Originally built as the terminal for Pan Am China Clipper seaplanes, the building also served as a welcome center for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The island itself, the terminal, and two hangars were WPA, PWA and San Francisco City projects. During World War II until 1997, the island was a US Navy base.