“This P.W.A. allotment made it possible for the Quartermaster Corps of the Army to erect 12 field officers’ quarters of the type illustrated on this page. Each building provides heater, fuel, and storerooms, and a laundry in the basement; a… read more
The original Alms House of Prince George’s County on this site dated back to the late 18th century. The Alms House provided a place of shelter for indigents, paupers, disabled and other citizens without financial support. Many of these people… read more
From the National Park Service: “One of the 14 national cemeteries that date from the Civil War, the Annapolis National Cemetery is the final resting place for many Union soldiers who died in the nearby ‘parole camps’ and hospitals of… read more
The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862, and is known as the bloodiest day of the Civil War. General George B. McClellan and his Union forces faced off against General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army… read more
In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) lent $900,000 to the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad, which used it to buy 16 streamlined, lightweight train cars and a new diesel locomotive (see our project page, “Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Locomotive… read more
In 1934, Daniel Willard, president of the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) railroad, “negotiated a $900,000 Public Works Administration loan which would be used to make B & O’s New York-Washington line an industry-wide proving ground for various types of lightweight… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to construct a athletic field at Baltimore City College. Maryland WPA Project #15.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the land that is now Baltimore National Cemetery was once called the Cloud Capped Estate: “Conversion of the Cloud Capped estate to a national shrine was the responsibility of the War Department,… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted repairs on Beechfield Ave. in Baltimore. WPA Project #14.
In 1941, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted improvement work on a grass airstrip at Beltsville MD. The Washington Post reported in April that “clearing, grubbing, grading, draining, construction of runways, seeding and installation of lighting facilities” had begun. … read more
“This senior high school has been built on a plot of ground not only large enough for athletic fields and tennis courts but of sufficient size to allow for future buildings when the school needs to expand. The main building… read more
Robert F. Gates painted the mural, “Montgomery County Farm Women’s Market,” in 1939 for the Bethesda post office, which was closed in 2012. It shows a woman feeding animals next to women selling produce at the Farm Women’s Market, which… read more
In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) achieved considerable infrastructural and land management improvements at the formerly-named Blackwater Migratory Bird Refuge near Cambridge Maryland. Maintained by the U.S. Biological Survey, the refuge covers an area of 8,241 acres, including marshes… read more
The school built by the PWA in 1936, and in 1937, the WPA also did extensive work on the school including: “Improve the high school building and grounds in Bladensburg…by grading athletic field, constructing soccer field, running track, steps to… read more
“One public service site that the public rarely sees because of its very private purpose is in the Catoctin Mountain Park recreational area, sixty miles north of Washington, D.C. This site was developed by the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration… read more
From the National Park Service website for Catoctin Mountain Park: “President Franklin D. Roosevelt created programs to give people a chance to rebuild their lives from the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps gave this… read more
The groundwork for a new, enlarged courthouse for Cecil County was put in place in 1935, when the General Assembly of Maryland authorized the county to “expend $5,000 for a lot of ground on which to build a new courthouse… read more
Contracts for the construction of two high schools in Cecil County (Cecilton and Chesapeake City) were awarded to the Lang Brothers of Baltimore by the PWA in December 1938. The $136,190 contract for the Cecilton high school called for “a… read more
The nearly 2,700 acres encompassing what is now Cedarville State Forest was originally purchased as a forest demonstration area by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 1930. Located in Charles and Prince George’s County, CCC project S-54 was initiated… read more
From a 1993 “Maryland Register of Historic Properties Internal Listing Notice” (prepared by Dr. Conrad Gregory): “The Chambers Park Log Cabin is significant as an example (of) New Deal park architecture more commonly associated with western Maryland parks than those… read more
Under the New Deal, the defunct Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal was acquired by the federal government and restored from Georgetown in the District of Columbia (where it enters the Potomac River) to Seneca MD, a distance of 22 miles…. read more
Contracts for the construction of two high schools in Cecil County (Cecilton and Chesapeake City) were awarded to to Lang Brothers of Baltimore by the PWA in December 1938. The $134,800 contract for the Chesapeake City high school called for… read more
According to a wayside marker at the current Chestertown Firehouse (see photo and source note 1 below), the Chestertown Town Hall, at 118 N. Cross Street, was Chestertown’s firehouse for forty years (1938-1978). The old Chestertown Firehouse was one of… read more
The PWA completed this bridge across the Choptank River at Cambridge in 1935. In 1987, a more modern bridge was built, rendering this bridge superfluous. The steel spans were removed, and the two sides now serve as fishing piers.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney, now a museum ship in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, was built in 1935-1936, with funds from the Public Works Administration. During World War II, the Taney was outfitted with extra weaponry and saw action in… read more
The land that is now Cunningham Falls State Park used to be part of the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area (now called “Catoctin Mountain Park”). The land was turned over to Maryland in 1954. The land was originally worked and developed… read more
In 1938, the Washington Post reported funding allocations for work at the District Training School for the Feeble Minded, which opened in 1925: “About 70 men will be employed on the construction of the hospital and administration building at the… read more
The PWA constructed this building to house the Eastern High School for Girls in 1936-38. In 1979, it became a coeducational school. The school closed in 1986. The buildings were renovated in the 1990s and are now being used for… read more
At Elk Neck State Park, visitors can enjoy swimming in the Chesapeake Bay, boating on the Elk River, fishing, crabbing, camping, hiking, and biking. Hunting is also allowed, in-season. Of course, this recreational resource did not always exist. It was… read more
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) supplied the labor to conduct repairs to the former Ellicott City Jail. Maryland WPA Project No. 181.
Fairlead Academy I is part of the St. Mary’s County Public Schools system. It used to be called Great Mills School and was built by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers in 1936. It originally served as an elementary school,… read more
Jacob Getlar Smith painted three oil-on-canvas murals for the Main Street Maude R. Toulson Federal Building and Post Office in 1939: “Salisbury,” “Stage at Byrd’s Inn” and “Cotton Patch.” From an onsite plaque: “Jacob Getlar Smith was born February 3,… read more
The Salisbury Post Office, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, was originally built in the 1920s. The U.S. Treasury commissioned an expansion of the building circa 1936 “which included a second floor and…an additional two bays on each end of… read more
National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: “The Fifth Regiment was the first armory built by the State for the National Guard. … The original structure cost $450,000 to build and had a barrel vault roof over the drill… read more
“Sites of WPA projects to preserve historic shrines include … Flag House, Maryland.”
In 1936, WPA crews expanded the Forest Park Golf Course from 9 holes to 18 holes.
A HABS Survey Report describes CCC work at Fort Foote Park: “Constructed as part of a ring of Civil War fortifications surrounding Washington, DC, and intended to replace the aging Fort Washington located a few miles down the river, Fort… read more
“The men of the CCC developed this park by building roads, pavilions, shelters, outdoor grills, restrooms, and more. They rebuilt the deteriorated walls of Fort Frederick (now a National Historic Landmark) and the barrack foundations inside the fort (the barracks… read more
The PWA helped in the construction of the main school building, while the WPA was responsible for the school’s football stadium, tennis courts and much of the surrounding grounds. “New Deal funding relating to Fort Hill was formally initiated in… read more
Fort Washington was built to defend the river access to Washington D.C. in the early 19th century. In the 1930s, both the WPA and the CCC made general improvements to the Fort and surrounding park. The WPA made “general improvements… read more