Description: Caption reads; "Viaduct in Akron, Ohio, jerrybuilt like the rest of the city. A poor grade of concrete was used and no provision was for run-off. Spring thaws often break loose large chunks of mortar and bombard the houses below". The Akron viaduct spans the valley of the Little Cuyahoga River. It is approximately 2,810 feet long, 72 feet wide and 135 feet high. It was built in 1922 for $1,227,859 by Harrington, Howard, and Ash. Dated ca. 1930-1939, this photograph shows the Akron viaduct, with a caption that reads "Viaduct in Akron, Ohio, jerrybuilt like the rest of the city. A poor grade of concrete was used and no provision was for run-off. Spring thaws often break loose large chunks of mortar and bombard the houses below." Built in 1922 for $1,227,859 by Harrington, Howard, and Ash, he Akron viaduct spans the valley of the Little Cuyahoga River with dimensions of 2,810 feet long, 72 feet wide and 135 feet high. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F02_010
Subjects: Cityscapes; Viaducts; Bridges--Ohio; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)