Federal Relief Construction Maps

The Archives and Special Collections has a collection of 386 maps that we believe are associated with Great Depression federal relief programs. All the maps are identified to a town or county in South Dakota. Most indicate the type of project they are associated with, such as street surfacing. Most have dates from 1939 to 1942, but some are undated. Some indicate that they are associated with a WPA project.

 

During the Great Depression in the United States, several federal programs were created to stimulate the economy. These programs were both direct relief and work projects; impacted most of South Dakota’s counties, cities, and towns; and resulted in many construction projects. Some of the relief programs were:

1. Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
2. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
3. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
4. Agriculture Adjustment Act (AAA)
5. National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)
6. Public Works Administration (PWA)
7. Civil Works Administration (CWA)
8. Work Progress Administration (WPA)
9. National Youth Administration (NPA)
10. Subsistence Homesteads and the Resettlement Administration
11. Federal Art Projects

 

The author of Federal Relief Construction in South Dakota 1929 – 1941 classified the structures funded wholly or partially by these relief programs into the following subtypes:

1. post offices
2. courthouses
3. municipal buildings
4. police stations, fire departments, and jails
5. military facilities
6. waterworks
7. power and heating plants
8. storm sewers and sewage treatment plants
9. sanitary privies
10. telephone lines
11. libraries and museums
12. primary and secondary schools
13. college and university buildings
14. lakes, dams, and waterways
15. wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries
16. forestry stations
17. fire lookouts
18. shelterbelts, terraces, contour lines, and pasture furrows
19. auditoriums and community buildings
20. fairgrounds and rodeo grounds structures
21. sports and recreation structures
22. swimming pools and bathhouses
23. parks, campgrounds, and picnic grounds
24. resorts and lodges
25. scenic byways
26. hospitals
27. county poor farms and welfare offices
28. housing projects
29. work camp buildings and structures
30. highways, streets, and sidewalk projects
31. bridges
32. airport facilities

 

 

Information from:

Dennis, Michelle L. Federal Relief and Construction in South Dakota, 1929 – 1941. Pierre, SD: South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, 1998.

 

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