By William “Skip” Deegans
Shown in this photo are the first additions of the Greenbrier County Courthouse. Funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), construction on the two wings began in 1937 and was completed in 1938. The cost of the additions was $30,000 (about $620,000 in today’s dollars). The date for the original part of the courthouse is debatable, but it was likely built between 1835-1839. Ruth Woods Dayton, a local historian, pegged the date as 1837 and attributes its construction to master mason John Dunn. Dayton wrote that Dunn made and fired the bricks on site.
The WPA was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that helped pull the country out of the Great Depression of 1929-1933. The WPA provided jobs on public works projects for unemployed workers. Other WPA projects in Lewisburg included the post office, the post office mural, street paving, and a water works project.
Photo courtesy of the West Virginia Regional History Center.
Sources: The West Virginia News, The Greenbrier Independent, Greenbrier Pioneers and Their Homes by Ruth Woods Dayton, www.livingnewdeal.org
