Arco Recreation Building

posted in: WPA | 0

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.

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.