Federal Relief Construction Maps

The Archives and Special Collections has a collection of 386 maps that we believe are associated with the 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.