For the People : Dyess Colony Public Buildings

Coming in 2019!

Along with providing homes for destitute farm families, the federal government took men off the welfare rolls to assist in construction of necessary structures for all community services. A imposing two-story Administration Building was built in the Colony Circle as a centerpiece and to provide offices for all the government workers. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt stood on the front steps for dedicatory remarks in 1936. A commissary flanked the south side of the Circle, while a cafe and shops building was to the north.

Other buildings that took shape in the Colony Center included a school, hospital, community building, cotton gin, cannery, and other structures necessary for carrying out agricultural operations.Today the Administration Building is the only one still standing that has not burned, deteriorated beyond recognition, been torn down, or altered significantly for other uses.

This exhibit will look at the evolution of these buildings and their uses in assisting federal workers in carrying out this dramatic New Deal social experiment.

Click Here to Start the Exhibit.

For the People