Works Progress Administration W.P.A. 1935-1943

Works Progress Administration W.P.A. 1935-1943. Scenic Scioto Heritage Trail. , On April 8, 1935, the United States Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act. The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act was part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Roosevelt hoped that his New Deal would allow Americans to cope with the Great Depression, would help end the current economic downturn, and would help prevent another depression from occurring in the future. During its existence, the W.P.A. prevent constructed more than 600,000 miles of roads and built or repaired more than 124,000 bridges, 125,00 public buildings, 8.000 parks, and 850 airport runways., In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the W.P.A. during the late 1930's By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12.300 miles of roads and streets and construcled 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. W.P.A. employees made improvements to the thousands of more buildings. roads, and parks within Ohio., Although Congress reduced funding for the program in 1939. the W.P.A remained in operation until June 30. 1943. By this point in time, the Great Depression had ended, and unemployment had dropped tremendously due to the creation of thousands of jobs associated with World War II During its short history, the W.P.A.'s more than 1 4 million projects had employed approximately 8.5 million people. The W.P.A. provided a sense of self-worth to American workers who attained jobs through the program Rather than just receiving a government handout these workers felt that they were contributing to the United States and earning an honest and valuable living. The local economy was boosted by the W.PA project which built the Dublin stone bridge in 1935, several area slonemasons Dan Eger Ticky Wing. Eli Pinney served as workers on the construction., WPA Job No 6-21-103 October 8, 1940 , In partnership with the Ohio Department of Highways, this segment of State Route 257 was rebuilt in 1940 by W.P.A. laborers. The project consisted of widening the highway corridor and improving roadway drainage. The work also included construction of a stone fence along the edge of the road, and installing a concrete bridge over Leatherlips Run the edge of the., In 2015, the Ohio Department of Transportation installed a slope protection system lo protect the original W P.A stone retaining wall along the Scioto Riverbank as part of a roadway stabilization project And through context sensitive design a new crash-lesled barrier wall carries on the aesthetic influences of the previous WP.A. stone railing, contributing to the scenic Thaddeous Kosciusko Memorial Highway between Leatherlips Park and Leatherlips Memorial.