The Public Works Administration or PWA had a multifold purpose that included large scale construction projects that would stimulate the construction industry, the production and sale of durable goods used in construction, and reinvigorate the transportation industry. The goal was first to put people back to work but with a belief that the economy would also increase. Although the initial goal was obtained, the slowness in construction projects did not put enough workers back to work.

The PWA was formed under Title II of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that was signed into law on June 16, 1933 and was first named the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (FEAPW). Harold Ickes was selected to be its first director and was commonly known as “Honest Harold” due to his management of the budget as Secretary of Interior and his attention to detail. Because the projects methods included large-scale, expensive public projects that involved extensive, rigorous planning, application process, and approval prior to grants or loans were made to city, county, and state entities the “red tape” that went with government approval cause a large delay in the beginning of the agency. Once a project was approved bids and contracts to private firms that would perform the construction would be approved and contractors could then hire skilled and unskilled labor, purchase material from standard suppliers in the appropriate industry thus providing the concept of “top-down” or “pump primping” type of financial stimulus. Since the process was taking longer to get people back to work by 1935 FDR commissioned Harry Hopkins to look into a form of public works that would get people immediately to work. His suggestion was the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that would add projects without the red tape and support local construction materials without needed to move products to site through cross-country transportation.

The state and local governments would submit request for projects and were required to provide 70% of matching funding, later reduced to 55%, but could be given in a bond issue grant from the Federal Government. Many of the PWA projects were funding by the in the beginning but was later also funded by the WPA funds since many of these projects were finished by WPA laborers.

Oklahoma’s first PWA State Administrator was Phillip S. Donell, a former engineering professor from Oklahoma State University, he held this position from August 1933 to March 1936. In 1937 the PWA was reorganized and Oklahoma was grouped with six other states in a Regional PWA and thus maintained a small office in Oklahoma.

From the beginning Oklahoma’s PWA program was constraint due to the local governments difficulty in raising the matching funds, mostly due to a fact that bond issues failed first to passed due to a constitutional requirement of super majority vote and the lost of taxes due to businesses failing. Eventually some bond issues and funds were raised and there still stands many of the structures that were first funded by the PWA. This did not stop the resulting completion of significant projects throughout the state, one of the largest projects was the Grand River Project that was first created in April 1935 by the Oklahoma Legislature, then funded by an authorized grant of $8.4 million and a loan of $11.5 million. The project created the Pensacola Dam and other smaller dams along the Grand, Illinois, and several other rivers and creeks to provide hydro-electric and flood control.

Some of the PWA funded structures:

According to the Daily Oklahoman June 14, 1936 Article on Page 26 between June 16, 1933 and June 13, 1936 a total of $18,558,000 was expended in Oklahoma for PWA projects. Showing a summary of projects throughout the state here is the listing:

  • Schools – Ada, Afton, Alva, Atoka, Berryhill, Blackwell, Brock, Byars, Calumet, Catoosa, Chandler, Cherokee, Chickasha, Chockie, Clinton, Copan, Crooked Oak, Deer Creek (sic near Edmond), Duncan, Earlsboro, Eureka, Fox, Indiahoma, Keyes, Kingfisher, Leedy, Lima, Lindsay, Mansville, Ochelata, Oklahoma City (three), Paoli, Ponca City, Randlett, Savanna, Shawnee, Stuart, Texhoma, Vici, Weatherford, and Wetunka.
  • State Institutions – Ada, Chickasha, Claremore, Clinton, Durant, Edmond, Helena, Langston, Lawton, Miami, Muskogee, Norman (three), Pryor, Stillwater (four), Tahlequah (two), Talihina, Warner, and Weatherford.
  • Water Works – Ada, Alva, Apache, Arapaho, Ardmore, Checotah, Cleveland, Deer Creek, Dustin, Elk City, El Reno, Fairfax, Freedom, Guthrie, Helena, Hennessey, Hinton, Idabel, Jet, Lexington, Muskogee, Nowata, Oklahoma City (two), Ponca City, Pond Creek, Sayre, Seiling, Shawnee, Skiatook, South Coffeyville, Stillwater, Stringtown, Washington, and Wayne.
  • Auditoriums – Helena, Hydro, Oklahoma City, Prague, Seminole, and Shawnee.
  • Courthouses – Antlers (Pushmataha), Arapaho (Custer), Chickasha (Grady), Enid (Garfield), Hobart (Kiowa), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Shawnee (Pottawatomie), Woodward (Woodward).
  • Disposal Plants – Ardmore, Bartlesville, Clinton, Dewey, Durant, Granite, Moore, Oklahoma City (two), Stillwater, and Stringtown.
  • Power Plants – Cushing, Hominy, Loyal, Mooreland, Pawnee, and Wynnwood.
  • Drainage Projects – Oklahoma and Canadian counties.
  • Bridges – Tulsa and Alfalfa counties.
  • City Hall – Oklahoma City
  • paving – Stillwater
  • Library – Ponca City
  • Hospital – Tulsa
  • School Bus – Carter
  • Smokestack – Blackwell

Although some of these structures have been identified and recorded in the site, a majority have not as yet been researched.

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