The New Deal in Murfreesboro

This is a walking and driving tour of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County

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The New Deal in Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37130, United States

Created By: The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County

Tour Information

Murfreesboro and Rutherford County were like many southern communities during the Great Depression. Money and jobs were scarce, but most residents lived on farms where basic needs for shelter and nourishment could be met.

New Deal agencies carried out both relief and recovery projects in the county. Some projects were large, like the Veterans Administration Hospital or rural electrification. Most projects were small, like community sewing projects, school repair, a football stadium at the State Teachers College, or construction of a new National Guard armory and a Scout lodge. Together, in partnership with the community, the New Deal programs built a foundation for a better tomorrow in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. This self-guided tour takes you to many of those New Deal projects that shaped our community.

Within Walking Distance: As you walk, be aware that many of the main roads around you were paved and/or graded by the Farms-to-Market Road Building Program, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program.

Within Walking Distance: 1, 2, 3, and 4

Within Driving Distance: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12


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What You'll See on the Tour

225 West College Street: Begin here at the Center which provides exhibits and public programming about the history of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, including the Depression era. Walking tours of Murfreesboro’s historic downtown squa... Read more
105 West Vine Street: Visit the Historical Research Room on the second floor. The Federal Writers Project (FWP) made many documents for genealogical research possible by hiring writers and historians to gather the information. Resources inc... Read more
113 East Main Street: City Café opened in 1900 on the south side of the Square. Though it has changed locations since then, it is ne of Murfreesboro’s older businesses. In October 1935, Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer Ben... Read more
415 South Academy Street: In the 1930s, Bradley Academy was the elementary school for black children in Murfreesboro and was an anchor for the middle-class black section of town. The building was painted by the WPA, and the Tennessee Emerge... Read more
1220 West College Street: Construction of this building was funded in part by the WPA; it is now home to the Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency.
435 Rice Street: The collections document marriages, wills, births/deaths, property holdings, court cases, and county administrative history from 1840 to the present, providing a window on the Great Depression locally. ...
3501 Old Nashville Highway: During the 1930s, Public Works Administration (PWA) workers built and improved the infrastructure of many of the country’s national parks, including the newly opened battlefield park at Stones River. PWA worker... Read more
400 North Highland Avenue: The Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based philanthropy, built the original portion of the hospital (which faces University Street) in 1927. It is an excellent example of the Progressive-Era impulse to boost standard... Read more
700 Ewing Boulevard: The National Youth Administration (NYA) originally built the log cabin structure for use as a Boy and Girl Scout Lodge for white children only in 1939. It now serves as a home for the nonprofit community theater. ...
Middle Tennessee Boulevard and Main Street: WPA crews worked on the football stadium and landscaping projects at the then State Teachers College. Additionally, the NYA built the Industrial Arts Building. The Gore Center collection on campus... Read more
619 South Highland Avenue: Holloway was originally the black high school. During the 1930s, the school ran a NYA program called “Conservation of Youth,” which paid students to learn skills such as clerical work, housekeeping, and shop m... Read more
3400 Lebanon Pike: The VA Hospital was the major New Deal project in Rutherford County. The Public Works Administration (PWA) funded the building, allocating $674,000 for it. WPA work crews did much of the construction and landscaping of th... Read more

 

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