First_Street_School_1941

In response to the stock market crash of 1929 and the hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers, President Herbert Hoover created the Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA) which made cash payments to citizens with no other means of support. When President Roosevelt took office he came up with a new plan that offered wages plus encouraged people to work. In 1935, Congress granted the president’s request with $4.8 billion made available through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the largest relief program in American history.

 

The program focused on the largest group of works with little or no skills who were hardest hit by the Great Depression. By 1941, 8 million relief workers were earning a wage through the programs diverse projects across the country. Many focused on infrastructure building schools, streets, airports and the like. Through the program even artists and writers were given assignments that were deemed for the good of the public.

 

The benefits of some of these projects can be seen in the town of DeRidder today. The First Street School was one such project completed in 1941 was a WPA project constructed at a cost of $182,000. Considered to be of superior quality and engineering, everything excluding the roof and floors was constructed with concrete. Now on the National Register of Historical Places.

 

 

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The Clerk is very interested in publishing more historical accounts and photographs from the entire parish on this website. If you have information or photos that you would like to submit please forward them to us at the following address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Historical Beauregard

Historical Pictures from Beauregard Parish
DeRidder's First Street School - WPA Gem
In response to the stock market crash of 1929 and the hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers,...

Merryville Gunnery Range
  The range was commissioned on October 27, 1943 eight miles southeast of Merryville, approximately 20 miles...

Neches Belle Steamboat
  The Neches Belle was a wooden hull packet paddle boat used to move cotton and wool along the...

1915 Courthouse and Jail
  This drawing came from a post card depicting the newly completed courthouse and jail.   The Clerk is...

Beauregard Parish Courthouse
  The Beauregard Parish Courthouse was the answer to a need for a new Parish. DeRidder beat out...

Sepia Sepia Photograph
   This wonderful old photograph of the Courthouse and Jail appears to have been taken around 1914...

Longville Lumber Co.
  This old photograph of the Longville Lumber Company General Store is dated in the early 1900s.   The...

Post Office WPA Fresco
Post Office WPA Fresco, a type of painting on wet plaster, “Rural Free Deliver."    Mural in fresco style...

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http://www.lla.la.gov/hotline/

P. O. Box 100
DeRidder, Louisiana 70634
(337) 463-8595 - Phone
(337) 462-3916 - Fax
(337) 202-7834 - Criminal Records Fax