Tag Archives: Georgia New Deal Architecture

Post Office, 1939, Adel

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This historic New Deal post office was saved and is now home to the Cook County Historical Society Museum. Mary A. King writes: My father, James S. Bailey, was in charge of some of the W.P.A. projects at that time and I know some of the work in Cook County was his, and I believe he was in charge of the construction of the post office, too. I seem to remember having seen photos of the construction process and hearing my parents talk about it, but I wasn’t born until 1941, just before the war started and that changed a lot of things, of course. He was doing W.P.A. projects around Ashburn and Sycamore when I was born because I was born in Sycamore and our home was Nashville in Berrien County.

National Register of Historic Places

Irwinville Farms House, 1930s

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Like most of the surviving Irwinville Farms houses, this one has been expanded and modified, but it’s still a great example.

WPA Post Office, 1939, Louisville

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The cornerstone notes that Louis A. Simon was the Supervising Architect and Neal A. Melick was the Supervising Engineer. All the WPA/New Deal post offices have a similar appearance but for some reason this is one of my favorites. A 1941 oil on canvas work by Abraham Harriton entitled “Plantation, Transportation, Education” was interestingly removed from the facility in 1987 on orders of the then-postmaster to a visitors center at the Old Mill in Augusta. I don’t know if is still there or if it’s been returned.

A photograph of the painting by Jimmy Emerson, who has tirelessly documented these for years, can be seen here.

Shannon Building, 1920, + WPA Gymnasium, 1935, Jeffersonville

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Better known as the home of J. E. Beck & Son Hardware (established 1945), the building was built by a Mr. Shannon in 1920. In the distance is the old WPA-built city gymnasium. According to Billy Humphries, it will soon be restored and used as a a theater/opry house.  Jean Clements also notes that for a time after the Jeffersonville school building burned in the late 1940s, it was used as the temporary grammar school.

Peach County Court House, 1936, Fort Valley

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Designed by Dennis & Dennis, this courthouse is likely a New Deal construction.

National Register of Historic Places

City Hall, 1940, Cuthbert

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Cuthbert’s Mid-Century Modern City Hall was a project of the WPA, near the tail-end of funding for the New Deal agency.  It’s a quiet  landmark of governmental architecture and utilitarian design. The bell seen in the first image lists the names of the committee members who oversaw its construction.

Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Lyons Post Office, 1942

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One of the later New Deal post offices built in Georgia, this is also one of the nicest, in my opinion. I’m astonished that this property isn’t listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The eagle sculpture above the entrance is by Sardinian sculptor Albino Manca, who came to the United States from Italy in 1938.

This is part of the terracotta relief sculpture Wild Duck and Deer, also the work of Manca.

Even the original Civil Service Bulletin Board is in excellent condition.

Ruins of Cogdell School, 1939, Clinch County

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The Cogdell School was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939.

Joan Burnett Bond writes: I went to school here 1946 to 1951. Our family lived “catty corner” across the street at the back of the school. Ann Sessoms was my teacher and as I recall she had 1st through 5th grade all in one classroom. I took music lessons and practiced and did recitals in the auditorium. I can’t believe this beautiful brick structure has been left to rot away. I played jacks on the stoop in the back of the school for many years, this is where we girls met to play daily.

Blackshear Post Office, 1944

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This was built quite late for a New Deal post office. A testament to the construction methods and workmanship, many of the post offices built during the Great Depression and World War II are still in use.

Cook County Courthouse, 1939, Adel

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Designed by William J. J. Chase, the “Stripped Classical” design of this courthouse is often mistaken for Art Deco.

National Register of Historic Places