Base of the Jefferson County Courthouse photograph   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: This is a photograph of the base of the tower in the Jefferson County Courthouse. It is located at 301 Market Street in Steubenville, Ohio. Construction on the building was started in 1871 and completed in 1874 by architects Heard and Blythe. In 1950, the roof collapsed due to a ferocious snow storm. The top floor collapsed as well, destroying the ornate roof and tower. Instead of replacing the original mansard roof, the county officials decided to have a flat roof on a five story building. 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_B15F03_038_01
Subjects: Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project; Jefferson County (Ohio); Steubenville (Ohio)
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)