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New Deal Projects in Utah

05 Tuesday May 2020

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The Great depression was extremely hard on Utah, federal agencies gave funding as part of the New Deal for projects to keep people working.

I’ve seen the number of new deal funded buildings/projects in Utah reported usually as 232 but also as 233 and 226 but personally I’ve counted 377.

Below are listed the WPA (Works Progress Administration), PWA (Public Works Administration), CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and other New Deal projects I’ve found and documented.

Projects in Utah – Sorted by County

Beaver County

Box Elder County

Cache County

  • Adams Elementary School
  • Benson Elementary School
  • CCC Barracks at Tony Grove in Logan Canyon
  • College Ward Elementary School
  • Lewiston Community Building
  • Lewiston Elementary School
  • Logan High School Gym
  • Logan Fish Hatchery Caretaker’s Residence
  • Logan Municipal Slaughterhouse
  • Logan National Guard Armory
  • Mendon Elementary School
  • North Cache High School Addition (Richmond)
  • North Logan Recreation Center
  • Richmond Community Center
  • South Cache High School Addition in Hyrum
  • Street Improvements in Hyrum
  • Trenton Water Works
  • USU Family Life Building
  • USU Fieldhouse
  • USU Girls’ Dormitory
  • USU Home Economics/Commons Building
  • USU Lund Hall
  • USU Military Science Building
  • USU – Old Main Hill Amphitheater
  • USU Rural Arts Building
  • Wilson Elementary School Addition
  • Woodruff Elementary School

Carbon County

  • Barrier Canyon Mural (in the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum)
  • Carbon Junior College Administration Bldg.
  • Gordon Creek Bridge
  • Hangar (Price)
  • Helper Civic Auditorium
  • Helper Junior High School Shop
  • Helper Post Office
  • Helper Post Office Mural
  • Mead’s Wash Bridge (Price)
  • Price Municipal Building
  • Price Municipal Building Murals
  • Carbon Junior College Industrial Arts Bldg.
  • Columbia Recreation Hall
  • Helper Junior High School
  • Price City Airport Hangar
  • Price Hospital
  • Utah State University Eastern: Administration Building (demolished) (Price)

Daggett County

  • Clay Basin Elementary School
  • Bridgeport Elementary School
  • Manns Campground in Manila

Davis County

  • Clearfield Boy Scout Cabin
  • Clearfield Recreation Center
  • Davis County High School Brick Garage
  • East Layton Water System
  • Kaysville City Hall
  • Layton Town Hall
  • Syracuse Pump House
  • Syracuse Recreation Center Cabin

Duchesne County

  • Altamont High School
  • Altamont High School Shop
  • Duchesne High School
  • Duchesne High School Shop
  • Fort Duchesne Indian Hospital
  • Fort Duchesne Nurses’ Building
  • Fort Duchesne Doctor’s Quarters
  • Hanna Elementary School
  • Midview Dam in Myton
  • Montwell Elementary School
  • Moon Lake Project at Mountain Home
  • Mt. Emmons Elementary School
  • Myton Elementary School
  • Roosevelt Municipal Building
  • Roosevelt High School
  • Tabiona High School Gym
  • Talmage Elementary School

Emery County

Garfield County

Grand County

  • Arches National Park
  • Grand County Courthouse
  • Grand County Flood Control and Range Conservation
  • Moab City Center (former School Building)
  • Moab Elementary and Junior High School
  • Moab Water and Sewer Systems

Iron County

  • Iron County School Dist. Adm. Bid. and Aud.
  • Cedar Breaks National Monument
  • Cedar City High School
  • Cedar City National Guard Armory
  • Modena Elementary School
  • Overlook Shelter on Brian Head Peak
  • Paragonah City Hall
  • SUSC Creamery Building
  • SUSC Girls’ Dormitory

Juab County

Kanab City Library

Kane County

  • Kanab City Library
  • Valley School (Orderville)
  • Kanab Heritage Museum
  • Kanab High School Shop
  • Kanab City Jail
  • Kane County Courthouse
  • Navajo Lake Dike
  • Soapstone CCC Camp in Kanab

Millard County

Morgan County

Piute County

  • Circleville Elementary School

Rich County

  • Rich County Courthouse
  • Randolph Elementary School

Salt Lake County

Sanpete County

San Juan County

  • Blanding High School
  • Monticello High School
  • San Juan High School (former)
  • Water System Development

Sevier County

  • Elsinore Town Hall
  • Monroe City Hall
  • Richfield Junior High School
  • Richfield High School Shop
  • Salina CCC Camp F-32
  • Salina City Hall and Library
  • Boy Scout House (#1)
  • Boy Scout House (#2)
  • Central Elementary School (Richfield)
  • Richfield City Hall

Summit County

  • Coalville Elementary School
  • Deer Valley Resort
  • Kamas High School
  • Marsac School / City Hall
  • North Summit Grammar School (Coalville)
  • Park City Municipal Building
  • Park City High School Shop
  • South Summit High School Gym
  • South Summit High School Shop
  • War Veteran’s Memorial Building (Park City)
  • Woodland Grade School

Tooele County

Uintah County

  • Avalon Grade School (Randlett)
  • CCC Camps at the Uintah-Ouray Reservation
  • CCC Reservoir
  • Central Elementary School (Vernal)
  • Dinosaur Quarry Expansion in Jensen
  • Fairgrounds Grandstand (Vernal)
  • Quarry Entrance Road Drainage Channel in Jensen
  • Recreation Hall (Vernal)
  • Vernal High School Shop
  • Vernal Post Office
  • Vernal CCC Camp
Alpine City Hall

Utah County

Midway City Hall

Wasatch County

  • Cloud Rim Girl Scout Lodge
  • Heber City Library
  • Heber Waterworks
  • Midway City Hall
  • Midway Fish Hatchery
  • Provo River Project (Wallsburg)

Washington County

  • CCC Camp F-31 (Veyo)
  • Dixie College Mechanical Arts Building
  • Dixie College Vocational Arts Building
  • Dixie High School Gymnasium and Auditorium
  • Enterprise High School Gymnasium
  • Hurricane City Library
  • Hurricane High School
  • Oak Grove Campground and CCC Camp in Leeds
  • Pine Valley Canal
  • Pine Valley CCC Camp F-17
  • Pine Valley Desert Experimental Range Station
  • Springdale Jail
  • St. George Elementary School
  • St. George Post Office
  • St. George Water System
  • Zion National Park
    • Zion National Park: Bridge Abutments
    • Zion National Park: Canyon Overlook Trail
    • Zion National Park: East and South Entrance Signs
    • Zion National Park: East Entrance Check-In
    • Zion National Park: Great White Throne Overlook
    • Zion National Park: Pine Creek Irrigation Canal
    • Zion National Park: South Campground Amphitheater
    • Zion National Park: Superintendent’s Residence
    • Zion National Park: Trail Work and Roadwork
    • Zion National Park: Virgin River Rip Rap

Wayne County

  • Grover Elementary School
  • Wayne County High School
  • Wayne County Courthouse

Weber County

  • El Monte Golf Course Clubhouse (Ogden)
  • North Ogden Elementary School
  • Ogden/Weber Municipal Building
  • Ogden High School
  • Ogden River Project
  • School for Deaf & Blind – Boys’ Dormitory
  • U.S. Forest Service Building
  • Weber Junior College Mechanical Arts Bldg.
  • Central Junior High School (Ogden)
  • Huntsville High School Shop
  • Loren Farr Park Restrooms (Ogden)
  • Ogden Ordinance Depot
  • Ogden Recreation Center
  • Plain City School Gymnasium 
  • State Industrial School Improvements (Ogden)
  • State Industrial School Trades Building
  • Tuberculosis Sanitarium (Ogden)
  • Wahlquist Elementary School

The text below is taken from the nomination form for the national historic register listing (#64000871):

The buildings included in the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resources nomination are significant because they help document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had a unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country, and for the period 1932-1940 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public buildings constructed in Utah, including County courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (MYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA). Almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. Only 33 of the 130 potentially eligible public works buildings currently meet the 50-year requirement for National Register listing, therefore they are the only ones being nominated at this time. Nine public works buildings have previously been either listed in the National Register or determined eligible.

During the decade of the 1930s the United States experienced the most serious economic disaster in its history, and Utah was seriously affected. Every generation before 1930 had experienced a time of mass unemployment. Often it happened several times in one person’s lifetime. Usually the slide into the pit was steep and the climb out slow. But the depression that began in 1929 was different. It came harder and faster; it engulfed a larger part of the population; it 1 aster longer; and it did far more and far worse damage than any before or since. Men groped for superlatives to express the meaning and impact of the crisis. Writer Edmund Wilson compared it to an earthquake. Former governor of New York, Alfred E. Smith, said that the depression was equivalent to war, while Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis declared that it was worse than war. All agreed with Philip La Follette, governor, of Wisconsin, that “we are in the midst of the greatest domestic crisis since the Civil War.”

The chain reaction of unemployment spread slowly. At first those in marginal jobs were hit hardest while those in better jobs moved downward. In time, However, millions who had never been unemployed for any length of time were jobless and unable to find work. In 1929 3 million people in the United States were without work; by 1933 the total was 16 million. In 1939 10 million people were still unemployed. Based on a study of 31,159 jobless men, a Pennsylvania commission reported that the typical unemployed person in that state was 36 years old, native-born, physically fit, and with a good previous work record. A study in Utah found that people employed on Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects had essentially the same kinds of characteristics.

In Utah at the beginning of 1930 a total of 8,700 people out of a work force of 170,000 were unemployed. In 1931 unemployment in the state rose to over 36,000 and in 1932 it reached 61,500. That was 35 percent of the workforce, more than 1 of every 3 workers, and the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation. Between 1932 and 1940 the unemployment rate never fell below 20 percent, and for the period as a whole it averaged 26 percent. Income per person fell sharply as a result of the decline in employment and the reduction in wages for those who had jobs. In 1929 annual per capita income in Utah was $537. By 1932 it had dropped to half that, $276, and in 1940 had risen to only $480. By March 1933 more than 161,000 people in Utah 32 percent of the population were receiving all or part of their food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities from government relief funds.

To some the solution seemed to be a return to the farm, but the economic dry rot of the 1930s afflicted the countryside as well as the city. Between 1929 and 1932 gross farm income in the United States fell by more than half, to a point lower than it had been for 40 years. Season after season individual farmers suffered from the miserably low prices they received for their products, and it made little difference whether they were Alabama cotton growers, Iowa hog farmers, Wisconsin dairy producers, California citrus ranchers, or Utah sheepmen. All of them considered themselves lucky if they could sell their products for enough to meet their costs of production. By 1932 the farm prices of crops in Utah had decreased to 60 percent of the 1926-1931 average and the price of livestock to 48 percent. Overall farm income had declined by 50 percent.

me had declined by 50 percent. Faced with a depression of unprecedented proportions, the people of the United States finally turned to the federal government for help. The problems of industrial capitalism had proven too heavy for individuals, private charities, or local governments to handle. The federal government responded with the New Deal, a barrage of government programs designed to provide relief and jobs, and also to reform the economic system in way that would prevent future depressions.

The Great Depression changed the American people’s conception of the proper role of government in the economy. Buffered and bewildered by the depression, Americans abandoned once and for all the doctrine of laissezfaire. The previous conviction had been that depressions were inevitable, natural disasters, like dust storms, that occurred periodically and about which nothing could be done. In 1931, for example, President Herbert Hoover criticized those who “have confidence that by some device we can legislate ourselves out of a world-wide depression. Such views are as accurate as the belief that we can exorcise a Caribbean hurricane.” Hoover’s views, however, were soon rejected. From the experience of the depression, people came to believe that something could and should be done when economic disaster struck and that the federal government was the one to do it.

Almost everything the federal government did during the depression era made inroads into the hitherto private preserves of business and the individual.

The federal government subsidized farmers, guaranteed bank deposits, provided unemployment compensation and social security payments, subsidized the arts and low-income housing, and assisted labor unions in organizing. Most of those new measures survived the period of the crisis to take their place as fundamental elements in the structure of American life. In fact, much of what is taken for granted today as the legitimate function of government and the social responsibility of business began only with the legislation of the 1930s.

Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs in the state were extensive. Between 1933 and 1939 federal agencies spent nearly $300 million in federal assistance in Utah. That, to the total spent in many other states, was not a high absolute amount but it was 15 times more money than the amount of federal taxes that Utahns sent to Washington during the same period, and overall per capita federal spending in Utah was 9th among the 48 states. Utah, for example, ranked 1st in per capita expenditures from the Home Owners Loan Corporation, second in the amount of benefits per capita from the Social Security Administration, 5th in National Youth Administration (NYA) expenditures per capita, 8th in Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) expenditures per capita, and 18th in Works Progress Administration (WPA) expenditures per capita.

Among the myriad of New Deal agencies established were ones that provided relief to individuals. It was of two kinds: direct relief, that is the provision of food, clothing, medical care, and other services and commodities; and work relief, that is employment on government public works projects for those people unable to find employment in the private sector.

There were 6 main agencies that provided work relief: the Civil Works Administration (CWA); the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA); the Public Works Administration (PWA); the Works Progress Administration (WPA); the National Youth Administration (NYA); and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). With the exception of the CCC, all of these agencies undertook the construction of new buildings (as well as the remodeling of old ones) as part of the work they carried out.

The CWA was the New Deal’s first work relief program. Established in November 1933, it lasted only 5 months but during that time employed more than 4 million people, undertook 400,000 projects nationwide, and spent $1 billion. It undertook a variety of projects including the construction or improvement of roads and highways, schools, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, airports, waterways, in short the kind of construction projects that subsequent New Deal agencies would typically be involved in.

In Utah the CWA employed more than 20,000 people during its few months of existence and spent $5.2 million.

The FERA succeeded the CWA. It had both a works division and a direct relief division and was funded jointly by the federal government and by each individual state. In Utah a special session of the legislature in August 1933 established a 2 percent general sales tax to provide state funds for the FERA (known in Utah as the Utah Emergency Relief Administration, or UERA). It existed from the spring of 1934, when it succeeded the CWA, to the fall of 1935. During that time the federal government provided about 90 percent of its funding and the state of Utah about 10 percent.

To be eligible for funding a project had to be of “a public character and of economic or social benefit to the general public or to publicly-owned institutions.” Projects uncompleted by the CWA were taken over by the FERA and carried to completion and subsequent projects included the range that CWA projects had, from construction of public buildings to building water supply reservoirs.

With the establishment of the WPA in 1935 the projects of the FERA were transferred to it. The longest-lasting and most extensive New Deal relief program, in Utah and the rest of the nation, it continued until 1943. In addition to a construction or “Works” division, the WPA had a vast array of programs: art; music; writer’s; historical, cultural records surveys and inventories; adult education; recreation; library services, clerical assistance; public administration; surveys and investigations; clothing; commodity distribution; food preservation, gardening; school lunch; health; and child protection.

In Utah the Works Division undertook a variety of projects. It constructed nearly 5,000 miles of new roads and highways and repaired another 2,000 miles. It built or improved 13,700 bridges and culverts, 30 parks, 161 playgrounds and athletic fields, and 23 swimming pools. It built 421 new buildings or additions to existing buildings and remodeled or “improved” 746 more.

The peak of WPA employment in Utah was in the fall of 1936 when more than 17,000 Utahns were at work on WPA projects. Average WPA employment for the life of the agency was about 12,000.

The PWA was established in 1933 to stimulate industry and put men back to work by constructing public buildings, bridges, and other heavy and durable facilities and helping state and local governments in building their own public works. During most of the time it was in existence, from 1933 to 1939, projects were financed by a 45 percent grant from PWA funds with the remaining 55 percent of the cost supplied by the local applying agency. In some instances PWA not only advanced 45 percent of the cost by outright grant but loaned the applicant part of the remainder of the cost as well. During its lifetime the PWA spent more than $6 billion and employed 4 million people on over 34,000 projects. The estimate is that it built more than 70 percent of the new educational buildings in the United States during the 1930s and 35 percent of the hospitals and other public health facilities.

The NYA was established in 1935 to provide jobs for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 both in and out of school. From 1935 to 1939 the NYA program in Utah expended $540,000 of which about half was spent for work projects to employ out-of-school youth and the other half for jobs to employ high school and college students. Mainly high school students were employed in such jobs as clerical work for principals and teachers, supervision of playground activities, assistance in libraries and cafeterias, and repair of classroom equipment. College students worked in college offices, libraries, museums, assisted professors with research, graded papers, and were employed in the care and keeping of campus grounds. The NYA undertook only a small building program in Utah, mainly of modest buildings. Under it fewer than half a dozen new buildings were constructed and 2 or 3 that many old ones were remodeled.

The result of this activity by these federal agencies was for more than a decade, throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, virtually every public building constructed in Utah was done so under federal government programs. Those buildings included a diverse group: college and university gymnasiums, dormitories, administration buildings, and classrooms; elementary and high school buildings; buildings for various state agencies including the School for the Deaf and Blind, the State Training School for retarded citizens, the State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, the State Industrial School, and the State Mental Hospital; National Guard Armories; county courthouses; city and town halls; civic auditoriums; community recreation centers; libraries; fire stations; police stations; and miscellaneous buildings such as a city golf course club house and girl and boy scout cabins.

The buildings included in this nomination are significant, then, because they document in a clear, even dramatic way the impact the Great Depression and the relief agencies of the New Deal had in Utah.

February 1986 – Following is a revised statement of significance that justifies the exceptional significance of the resources included in this thematic nomination.

The buildings included in the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resources nomination are significant because they help document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states most severely affected by the Great Depression. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country, and for the period 1932-1940 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. They offered not only temporary work relief, but also provided long-term benefits to the communities and the state in the form of improved public facilities, including county courthouses, city halls, libraries, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah was built under federal programs by one of several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA). Almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. Over 230 public works buildings were constructed in Utah between 1933 and 1943 as part of the federal relief effort. Oust over half of those buildings remain standing and well preserved, and though many of them are less than 50 years old they are considered eligible for listing in the National Register because of the exceptionally significant role of federal public works building projects in Utah’s history.

Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building

30 Thursday Apr 2020

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Built in 1935-36 at 1167 Woodside Ave, the Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resource nomination and is significant because it helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the county, and for the period 1932-40 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent.
Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including county courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of the several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Public Works Administration (PWA), and almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. Built by the Works Progress Administration and designed by Scott and Welch, the Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is also architecturally significant as one of five buildings remaining in Park City constructed in the PWA Moderne style.

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Between 1933-39 federal agencies spent nearly $300 million in federal assistance in Utah. The longest-lasting and most extensive New Deal relief program in Utah and the rest of the nation, the WPA was established in 1935 and continued until 1943. The peak of WPA employment in Utah was in the fall of 1936 when more than 17,000 Utahns were at work on WPA projects. The New Deal era programs offered not only work relief, but also provided long-term benefits to the communities and the state in the form of improved public facilities. The Mechanical Arts building in Park City is one of the 233 public works buildings identified in Utah that were built during the 1930s and early 1940s. Only 130 of those 233 buildings are known to remain today and retain their historic integrity. Of the 233, 107 were public school buildings. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is one of 7 public works buildings constructed in Summit County, 6 of which remain.

Art Deco and Art Moderne buildings are the most conspicuous elements of public works architecture but are overshadowed by a large group of buildings constructed in what David Gebhard has called the PWA Moderne style. During the depression years, Gebhard writes, “architects Streamlined Moderne… These buildings were fundamentally classical and formal, but just enough Moderne details were injected to convey a contemporary Moderne feeling as well as the traditional authority of the classical.” The PWA Moderne style combines the formal symmetrical elements of the Classical roots with Art Deco and Art Moderne details such as masonry wall surfaces, metal sash, vertical molded ornamentation, and decorative parapet. Many of these buildings-schools, mechanical arts buildings, city halls-appear at first glance plain and box-like. Upon closer inspection, however, in their rigid symmetry and abstract classicism, they remain fully consistent with the stylistic impulses of the times. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building is one of five remaining PWA Moderne style buildings remaining in Park City.

Most public works buildings were designed by architects. The most prolific firm was Scott and Welch of Salt Lake City. Carl W. Scott and George W. Welch were both prominent Utah architects. Scott was born October 17, 1887, in Minneapolis, Kansas, and graduated in 1907 from the University of Utah with a degree in mining. He was given credit for the idea of the concrete “U” that is still above the University of Utah campus. Following graduation he began a career in architecture as a draftsman for Richard Kletting. In 1914 he became partners with George W. Welch.

Welch was born in Denver, Colorado, on May 15, 1886, graduated from Colorado College, and came to Salt Lake City to begin work as an architect. Active in political affairs while here, he was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1919 until 1921.

Scott and Welch designed the Salt Lake City’s Elks’ Club Building, South High School, the Masonic Temple, and many public school buildings throughout Utah including Hawthorne Elementary School and Bryant Junior high School in Salt Lake, Park City High School, Tooele High School, Blanding High School and Cedar City Elementary School. They also designed a number of commercial buildings including the Nelson Manufacturing Company Warehouse, the Nelson-Ricks Creamery Building, and the Firestone Tire Company building, all in Salt Lake City. Scott and Welch also designed and built the planned community of Copperton. Copperton was a company town built by the copper mining company, Utah Copper Company, in the 1920-30s. Included in the plan was a Bingham High School, built in 1931. Scott and Welch designed more school buildings during the 1930s than any other Utah firm.

The Park City High School Mechanical Arts building is historically related to the adjacent Park City Education Center, formerly the Park City High School (1926), and to the Marsac Elementary School (1935-36). The Mechanical Arts building was built as an addition to the high school “campus” and incorporates similar materials and detailing to “harmonize” with the adjacent High School structure. The High School was constructed in 1926-27 and renovated in 1993-94 by the City to house the library, a theater, and educational facilities.

The Park City High School Mechanical Arts Building was originally constructed in 1935-36 as a part of the same bond issue used to build the Marsac Building. Approval for funding the building was given at a bond election in Park City on October 19, 1935. Approval was overwhelming: 169
in favor and 12 opposed. The two buildings used the same architects, materials, similar styles and were constructed and dedicated at the same time. The Marsac Elementary School was fully renovated c.1985 and is in use today as Park City’s municipal offices.

At its original dedication the Park City newspaper described the Mechanical Arts Building as follows:

The high school mechanical arts shop was built at a cost of about $15,000. Like the elementary school just described and the high school built ten years ago, it is fireproof throughout. In design and material it harmonizes with the high school building. This shop is the last word in Industrial arts housing. It contains one large room for general shop classes, a drawing room, toilet and locker rooms, paint and storage room. It is equipped with tools, benches and machinery for woodwork, cold and hot metal work, and auto-mechanics. Translucent glass is used in all windows. The drawing room is equipped with individual drawing tables and stools. Other special rooms are furnished with appropriate appliances. The shop is heated from the high school heating plant.

Construction began on the Mechanical Arts Building at 1167 Woodside in the fall of 1935, was opened for use on November 15, 1936, and was officially dedicated on December 4th, 1936.

When the high school program moved to its present location in Park Meadows, the School district began using the building as a bus barn for the City school buses. It was at this time that the structure’s mezzanine and the mechanical systems were striped out to make more room for the buses, plows and storage needs. The 1995-96 restoration of the building is currently near completion and will be used for architectural offices.

In Park City’s history there were few civic and educational structures built. Accordingly, they were and are particularly significant to the community’s history. This is especially true for this structure since it was in service as a school shop as recently as 15 years ago. Many still live in Park City who grew up, took classes, and created fond memories in this building. In a city faced with the pressures of development, the preservation of historic properties as a part of the town’s promotional vision is difficult to balance. The Park City High School Mechanical Arts building retains its historic integrity and contributes to the qualities of the town.

Marsac Elementary School

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

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Marsac Elementary School

Built in 1935-36, the Marsac Elementary School is one of over 230 public works buildings constructed in Utah under various New Deal programs during the Depression years of the 1930s and ’40s. The construction of public works buildings, of which only 130 are extant and well preserved, not only offered temporary work relief, but also provided long-term benefits in the form of improved facilities for a variety of local public programs. The types of buildings constructed included public schools, county courthouses, city halls, libraries, National Guard armories, and a variety of others. The architects of this building were Carl W. Scott and George W. Welch, who designed numerous school buildings throughout the state, as well as a number of commercial and institutional buildings in Salt Lake City. In 1983 the building was purchased by Park City Municipal Corporation and renovated to house the city offices.

Marsac School

Park City, from its earliest days as a mining camp, was conscientious of the educational needs of its children. As early as 1875 private schools were established by the mining companies and churches. The Jefferson and Washington Schools were public institutions built to accommodate the burgeoning student population in the early 1900’s.

In 1936 Park City constructed Marsac School and consolidated its various schools at Marsac. Its 24,102 square feet was designed for 317 pupils. The facility served Park City’s educational system until 1979, when enrollment exceeded available space by about 40 students. Marsac School was deemed no longer viable for a modern educational program, and its structural and mechanical systems were judged to be inadequate or failing. Students were relocated to a new facility on the outskirts of Park City.

In 1983 Park City Municipal Corporation undertook an extensive renovation of Marsac School. It now houses city offices and continues to serve this rapidly growing community by providing adequate space for a consolidated, integrated system of city government and services.

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Historic Former Heber City Library

19 Wednesday Feb 2020

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Historic Former Heber City Library

188 S Main Street, Heber City, Utah

The historic former Heber City library was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project during the latter years of the Great Depression.

Construction occurred between Aug. 1938 and May 1939. The PWA supplied a grant of $13,275 toward the project, whose total cost was $27,529.

The building served as the community’s library until construction of the new Wasatch County Library, completed 2004.

The New Deal facility now houses the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum.

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The plaque for the Historic Home Tour says:

Wasatch Library
1937-1939

After a fire on January 13, 1937, destroyed the Heber Mercantile Store, the Wasatch County Library was built to replace the extensive losses, which The Wasatch Wave reported at $125,000 in damages to library materials. Funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program, the library was designed by Ashton and Evans and constructed by Peter Groneman & Sons. Upon completion, Wasatch County dedicated the building to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, ensuring the preservation of artifacts and histories from Heber Valley’s early settlers, spanning from 1830 to 1900.

Superintendent’s Residence

19 Monday Nov 2018

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2018-10-27 17.49.49

Superintendent’s Residence

1079 East Center Street

Built in 1934, this residence is a one-and-a-half story, brick Colonial Revival style house. The Superintendent’s Residence is historically significant because it helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah. The Superintendent’s House is one of 232 buildings constructed in Utah during the 1930s and early 1940s under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other New Deal programs. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country. For the period between 1932-40, Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was ninth among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal works projects was far above the national average. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including courthouses, city halls, fire stations, and a variety of others, were built under the direction of federal programs.

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Recreation Center for the Utah State Hospital

17 Saturday Nov 2018

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2018-10-27 17.38.38

Recreation Center for the Utah State Hospital

Built in 1936–1937, the Recreation Center (sometimes called the Castle Amphitheatre) is significant because it also helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah during the 1930s and 1940s. This structure is the second public works project built at the Utah State Hospital, the first being the Superintendent’s Residence. The Recreation Center is a three-acre facility consisting of an 800-seat stone amphitheater with attached interior rooms and an accompanying grass-covered play area. The towers and the “battlements” of various sections give the structure a castle-like appearance.

Originally, the center was significant for its important role in providing therapy through play and recreation for the patients at the Utah State Hospital. It was the first such facility constructed at the hospital. This facility is also believed to be one of the earliest and largest amphitheaters built in the state.

Recreation Center – Utah State Hospital

Built in 1936-37, the Recreation Center at the Utah State Hospital is one of over 230 public works buildings constructed in Utah under various New Deal programs during the Depression years of the 1930s and ’40s. The construction of public works buildings, of which only 130 are extant and well preserved, not only offered temporary work relief, but also provided long-term benefits in the form of improved facilities for a variety of local public programs. The types of buildings constructed included public schools, county courthouses, city halls, libraries, National Guard armories, and a variety of others. Plans for the Recreation Center were worked up by Lavar S. Morris, professor in landscape architecture at BYU, who also supervised the construction by WPA workers. The center was to be the nucleus of an extensive recreational area for patients at the hospital, but the creation of such a facility never advanced beyond the completion of this structure.

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Alpine City Hall

26 Friday Oct 2018

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2018-08-07 14.05.41

Alpine City Hall

Constructed in 1936, this building represents the significant impact of New Deal programs in providing both jobs and public facilities. It is one of over 240 buildings constructed in Utah by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and other public works programs. As Utah was especially hard hit by the Great Depression, these programs were of particular importance. The federal government typically paid the workmen’s wages if the city provided the building site and construction materials. The total cost of this building was approximately $18,000, two-thirds of which was paid by the federal government. Local men did most of the work including some volunteers using many local materials such as the stone on the chimney and foundation which was obtained from rock canyon. The new building provided much-needed space for municipal functions. In addition to the large meeting room and city offices, it housed the public library, jail, and fire station. Additions were made to the fire station in 1962 and 1982.

The building is also architecturally significant as an important example of Colonial Revival/Neo Classical styling. Notable features include the bell tower, the symmetrical main facade, and the classically obtained entry with transom and capped stone pilasters, urns and sunburst. Marker placed in 1992.

Located around the City Hall grounds are several historic markers:

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Midvale City Hall

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

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2018-06-09 14.10.36

Midvale City Hall

Built in 1939, the Midvale City Hall was designed by Clark W. Scott and George W. Welch, prominent Utah architects. Rectangular in plan, this two-story brick building with parapeted gable roof is an excellent example of the Art Moderne style. Characteristic of that style is the streamlined appearance archived by the curved windows and rounded corners of the entry, extensive use of glass block, and curved capitals on the buttresses along the side walls.

The Midvale City Hall was the center of local government and community activities from 1939 to 1976 and housed the clerk’s office, city council chambers, city fire and police departments, a public auditorium, and recreation rooms. The cost of constructing the building was supported by a Public Works Administration (PWA) grant of $31,500 and a city bond of $38,500. The impact of the depression on Utah was so great that federal programs, in particular building programs, were important to bolstering the state’s productivity and were widely implemented. The Midvale City Hall was one of over 240 buildings constructed in the state, and one of 20 in Salt Lake County, to be funded under New Deal era programs.

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This photo is from the Midvale Museum

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Midvale Honors Utah Centennial 1896 – 1996
August 5, 1996
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Built in 1940-41 as a WPA-project, the Salt Lake County Library is exceptionally significant the original headquarters of the Salt Lake County Library System, and as part of the Public Works Buildings Thematic Resources nomination. It helps document the impact of New Deal programs in Utah, which was one of the states that the Great Depression of the 1930s most severely affected. In 1933 Utah had an unemployment rate of 36 percent, the fourth highest in the country, and for the period 1932-40 Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 25 percent. Because the depression hit Utah so hard, federal programs were extensive in the state. Overall, per capita federal spending in Utah during the 1930s was 9th among the 48 states, and the percentage of workers on federal work projects was far above the national average. Building programs were of great importance. During the 1930s virtually every public building constructed in Utah, including county courthouses, city halls, fire stations, national guard armories, public school buildings, and a variety of others, were built under federal programs by one of several agencies, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), the National Youth Administration (NYA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA),or the Public Works Administration (PWA), and almost without exception none of the buildings would have been built when they were without the assistance of the federal government. The construction of this library marked an important step in the development of a county library system for Salt Lake County. As headquarters of that system, this building was the center for processing and distributing books for the entire 19-branch system.

Midvale is located approximately seven miles south of Salt Lake City. Together with the nearby area of Murray, Midvale became a center in Utah’s mining industry, serving as a central location for the smelting of metal ores. In 1902 the United States Smelting, Refining, and Mining Company completed its smelter at Midvale, and rendered the town as a primary settlement for southern and eastern European immigrants who were utilized as labor for the plant. “Americanization1 and educational efforts among the state’s foreign-born population, especially during the 1919 national Americanization movement, became important as Utah became one of few states to pass an Americanization law. This act was part of the 1919 Utah Educational Program which also included provisions for county library systems. The reading and writing of English was seen as paramount to Americanization, and as such, libraries became of special significance.

Until 1919, only incorporated cities and towns in Utah could raise taxes for libraries. Consequently, unincorporated areas had no publicly supported library service. In 1919, however, the Utah State Legislature passed legislation providing that county commissions could levy taxes up to one mill to establish and support a county library system. Between May 1919, when the law took effect, and August, 1919, ten counties established library systems: Cache, Grand, Iron, Morgan, San Juan, Tooele, Uintah, Wasatch, Washington, and Wayne. Salt Lake County did not establish its own system until nearly 20 years later. Until then, it had public libraries in only two cities, Murray and Salt Lake City. The rest of the county either had no libraries, or inadequate private library “associations.”

In the fall of 1938, Calvin Smith, Superintendent of the Granite School District, and C. N. Jensen, Superintendent of the Jordan School District, headed a drive for a Salt Lake County Library system, and in the spring of 1939, it was established, with a budget of $33,822; Ruth Vine Tyler as the head; and a staff of four people. The first Library Board was made up of the following members: Superintendents Smith and Jensen, Mrs. Alf G. Gunn, J. R. Rawlins, and J. Hollis Aylett, Mayor of Midvale. Temporary quarters were established in two rooms of the Midvale Elementary School at 575 East Center Street, and plans were laid to construct a new building. The Library Board decided to build it in Midvale, at least partly because Midvale City donated a piece of land 178 feet x 910 feet at the southeast corner of Main and Center Streets on which to construct the building.’ The project became a WPA effort, illustrating the federal government’s role and concern not only in public works, but also in funding buildings to be used for public and educational needs.

The architectural firm of (Raymond J.) Ashton and (Raymond L.) Evans designed this PWA Moderne-style building. Ashton and Evans, a prominent firm, also designed several other public work buildings during the 1930s and ’40s, including the Wayne County High School, the Thomas Library at the University of Utah, and the Wasatch County Library in Heber City, the design of which is very similar to this building.

The architectural drawings for the building were completed by the end of 1939, the building contract was awarded to Jense Bros, in the spring of 1940, and construction began in June of that year. Construction was completed in August 1941 and a grand opening held August 9, 1941. The building was intended to serve as the Midvale City Library, and as the center for processing and distributing books for the entire Salt Lake County system, which by that time had 19 branches: Bacchus, Bingham, Copperton, Draper, East Mill creek, Garfield, Granger, Herriman, Holladay, Magna, Mill creek, Riverton, Sandy (2), South Salt Lake (2), Taylorsville, Union, and West Jordan. Its facilities included an adult reading room, a children’s room, a board meeting room, several offices, a work and stack room, and shelves for 30,000 volumes.

The building served as a library until 1976, when it became the Midvale City Hall.

The Salt Lake County Library is one of 233 public works buildings identified in Utah that were built during the 1930s and early 1940s. Only 130 of those 233 buildings are known to remain today and retain their historic integrity. This is one of 20 buildings constructed in Salt Lake County, of which 10 remain. It is one of six public works library buildings constructed in Utah, of which five are known to remain. Libraries were included in at least five other public works buildings in the state, but the primary function of those buildings was as a city hall.

This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#82004129) on July 26, 1982.

Hostess House / Officers Club

21 Thursday Dec 2017

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2017-11-25 10.44.16

Camp W.G. Williams Hostess House / Officers Club

Constructed 1935-38, the Camp W.G. Williams Hostess House / Officers Club, originally the Hostess House, is significant for its association with the public works programs of the New Deal era.  The building was constructed as a joint Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) project at a cost of $32,735.  Federal relief programs were extensive in Utah because of the impact the Great Depression had on the state.  During the period 1932-1940, Utah had a very high unemployment rate, among the highest in the nation, and was one of the highest recipients of federal finds for construction.  Building projects such as the Officers Club were important during the era since virtually every public building constructed in Utah was completed under federal programs by one of several agencies.  In its original function as a hostess house, the Officers Club was intended as a place where wives and families of officers and men at Camp Williams could socialize and also hold camp functions.  Designed in the English Tudor style by the local architect Edward O. Anderson, the building features decorative split-stone rubble, facing both the interior and exterior; decorative false half-timbering in the gables; and a large split-stone fireplace with opposite halves of stone placed symmetrically at the centerline.  All stone, sand, and gravel used in the construction was quarried from the Camp Williams Military Reservation.  The English Tudor style was popular in Utah in the 1920s and 1930s in both residential and public architecture.  This is one of the larger buildings in the state to feature the style.

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