Grapevine Springs Park TX7043

The Grapeving Springs, which flow into the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, have attracted visitors for more than 2,000 years. In 1843, Republic of Texas President Sam Houston camped here during treaty negotiations with Native Americans. The treaty was later signed at Bird's Fort. In 1936, Dallas County accepted the donation of Houston's campsite as park land, and the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) built rock walls, picnic facilities, footbridges and other features. During World War II, ownership reverted to prior owners. The Baptist Foundation of Texas later obtained the land and donated it to the county in 1991. Today, the City of Coppell maintains it, and efforts to restore WPA features are ongoing.

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Granja Rio Vista TX7714

La 2a casa de caridad del condado de El Paso, conocida como la granja pobre de El Paso, se estableció en este lugar en 1915. John O'Shea, empresario y agricultor rico, tenia su granja a corta distancia, se encargo de las operaciones y su esposa, Agnes, se encargaba de los residentes. En 1929, cuando murió el Sr. O'Shea su hija Helen O'Shea Keleher vino de San Antonio para operar la granja con su madre. En 1929, iba cerrar la granja, pero por los tiempos difíciles de la era de la depresión, su población aumentó. Bajo el nuevo nombre de "Granja Río Vista," a principios de los 1930, varios programas sociales se realizaron en la granja. Funciono bajo el Texas Transient Bureau y Federal Works Progress Administration. En 1936, como base temporal para un cuerpo civil de conservación, la granja siguió de albergue para cientos de adultos y niños desamparados y destituidos. De 1951 a 1964, la granja funcionó como centro de recepción y procesamiento para el programa de braceros, a través del cual personas de méxico venían a trabajar en el valle bajo de el paso y en otras áreas agrícolas de los estados unidos. Con los nuevos programas federales de prestaciones sociales y leyes estatales, la población de río vista se vio reducida a cuatro personas, cuando cerro en 1964. A diferencia de casas de caridad de otros condados de Texas, Río Vista seguía un modelo familiar y no institucional, donde se aceptaban niños descuidados y abandonados y a la población indigente adulta. En sus últimos años, Helen O'Shea puntualizo que los 50 años que paso con más de 4 mil niños huérfanos y abandonados en río vista, fueron su logro de mayor orgullo.

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Armstead Tasker Johnson School JT19
The A. T. Johnson High School was built in 1937 in the Colonial Revival style as the first public high school constructed for African Americans in Westmoreland County. The new school was named for Armstead Tucker Johnson (1857-1944), a black educator and community leader of the grassroots efforts for its construction. Local African Americans raised money to build the school. Additional financing came from the federal Works Progress Administration, the Jeanes and Slater black education funds, and the Westmoreland County School Board. The school was converted to a junior high school in Sept. 1970 and served as a middle school from Sept. 1990 to June 1998. It was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

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Bellville Turnverein Pavilion TX5563

In the 19th century two organizations, the Bellville Social Club and the Bellville Turnverein Gut Heil, sponsored community-wide social activities. The Social Club purchased this property from Herman Miller in 1883 and planned construction of a pavilion. The Bellville Turnverein, founded in 1885, built an opera house in 1889 which became the center of the town's social activity.

In 1895, the Turnverein purchased the Social Club's property and hired local contractor Joachim Hintz to build this pavilion. It was completed in 1897. One of several polygonal social halls built in Austin County, this 12-sided structure required extra long lumber which was shipped directly from the mills. It became the primary site for community celebrations and activities.

The city of Bellville purchased the property and pavilion in 1937 and sponsored a competition among Texas A&M University students to redesign the park. The winning design, along with a grant from the Federal Works Progress Administration, enabled the city to build new facilities and update the pavilion with modern amenities. It continues to serve as a focal point for many community gatherings.

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Cherokee County Courthouse TX6626

This courthouse, the fourth to serve the citizens of Cherokee County, was built in 1940-41 with the assistance of the Federal Works Progress Administration. Designed by the architectural firm of Gill & Bennett, the modern structure is built of native red and white limestone and features a central block with two-and-one-half story wings. Large windows on its to primary facades and decorative art deco grillwork are also prominent.

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Dallas Zoo TX6674

The Dallas Zoo traces its history to 1888, when the city purchased two deer and two mountain lions and placed them in pens in the City Park. In the 1890s, with the support of Dallas citizens, the City Council provided funds for the zoo, and additional animals were bought for the collection. The zoo was located in the City Park (now Old City Park) until 1910, when the animals were moved to the newly acquired Fair Park. Under the leadership of Zoo Commissioner William H. Atwell, the zoo's collection was enlarged and improved, and a new site was purchased in Marsalis Park in Oak Cliff.

In the 1920s a special Zoo Commission was created by the city, and the collection was further developed with the acquisition of numerous specimens from famed game hunter and trapper Frank Buck. During the depression years of the 1930s the zoo facilities were upgraded with the help of the Federal Works Progress Administration Program.

The Dallas Zoo Society was organized in 1955. By the 1960s the zoo had become a popular local attraction, and more improvements were made. Still popular with both Dallas citizens and tourists, the zoo continued to entertain and educate the public.

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Deep Eddy Bathing Beach TX6446

Swedish immigrant Charles Johnson built a large home for his family on 39 ares of land in this vicinity in the 1850s. In 1902 two of his children, Mary and Henry, opened Deep Eddy Resort. The Johnsons named the park for a deep hole in the limestone bed of Colorado River at this site that caused the water's current to from an eddy. Recreational facilities included campsites, picnic areas, rental cottages, and a cable ride into the river.

Mary Johnson sold the park to A.J. Eilers in 1915. He built a concrete swimming pool in 1916 and renamed the resort Deep Eddy Bathing Beach. Managed by George A. Rowley, the resort featured such attractions as silent movies, a ferris wheel, carousel ride, a diving horse show, trapeze swing over the water, a 70-foot slide, and a 50-foot diving tower. The carnival atmosphere attracted hundreds of visitors each summer.

The city of Austin purchased the park for $10,000 on May 31, 1935. Two weeks later a devastating Colorado River flood inundated the city, swept away park improvements, and filled the pool with debris. With assistance from the Federal Works Progress Administration, the city rebuilt the park. It reopened in 1936 as Eilers Park and Deep Eddy Swimming Pool.

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Milam County Courthouse TX7986

This is the fourth structure to serve as the Milam County Courthouse. The local Masonic Lodge laid the cornerstone for the building on July 4, 1891. Designed by architect A.O. Watson of Austin, the courthouse at one time featured a Second Empire style roof and a cupola with a four-sided clock. The clock was removed and the roof altered in a 1938 renovation project by the Federal Works Progress Administration. As the center of county government for over a century, the courthouse stands as a significant part of Milam County history.

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Municipal Swimming Pool TX3536

In September 1936 a devastating flood swept down the South Concho River, inundating much of the city of San Angelo. Among the many properties lost or severely damaged were the city's parks and its public swimming pool. Plans were made to rebuild the parks and construct a new municipal swimming pool, but a bond election held in 1937 to finance the project was defeated by the voters. Once it was determined that the federal government would assist with Works Progress Administration funds and labor for the project, a new bond election was held and passed by sixty-six votes. Work on the project began in March 1938 and was completed in October. Opening ceremonies were held on April 29, 1939. During its first two days of operation, the pool hosted 795 swimmers. Designed by John G. Becker, the Pueblo revival complex features a two-story hexagonal stone structure flanked by one-story wings. Exposed vigas are symmetrically placed on the upper portion of the wings. The complex reflects the 1930's construction and planning activity of the Federal Works Progress Administration.

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Paris Junior College TX8209

Henry P. Mayer, a member of the Paris Independent School District Board of Education, proposed the establishment of a junior college in Paris in 1992. He quickly gained the support of the community, as many leading citizens and local civic organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and the Rotary Club, promoted the junior college movement in Paris. The PARIS MORNING NEWS published favorable ads and editorials, and citizen support was overwhelming. On June 6, 1924, the Board of Education passed a resolution formally establishing Paris Junior College and approved six areas of study: english, math, history, and foreign languages, education and science.

Plans called for the college to be housed in the renovated post office building downtown, but because work on that structure was delayed, the new institution was housed in a wing of the high school for it's first year. Ninety-one students registered for the first session in september 1924, and the college quickly attained accreditation. Enrollment grew to 424 within a decade. By 1940 Paris Junior College occupied a new campus on the east side of the city, made possible by a bond election, Federal Works Progress Administration funds and financial gifts form local citizens. Many students left to serve in the military during World War II, and the college instituted a number of programs for returning veterans after the war. The school continued to grow in the second half of the 20th Century. With expanded facilities in Paris and satellite campuses in several surrounding counties. Enrollment Topped the 3,000 mark in 1998. As Paris Junior College prepared to enter a new century with service to its students and community.

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