Government Projects in Mineola
Mineola, Wood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the Great Depression (1929-41), Mineola residents were aided by federal and local government initiatives. Federal programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civil Works Administration (CWA) employed workers; provided funds for civic improvement, including street paving and the construction of a federal building; opened government aid offices; and commissioned artist Bernard Zakheim to paint a mural in the city post office. Municipal authorities also helped residents in need, made sewer and water extension improvements, and conducted a malaria control program. These government efforts combined to protect Mineola residents in a tumultuous time in U.S. history.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During the Great Depression, federal and local programs kept the town of Mineola afloat. Agencies like the WPA and CWA put people to work paving streets, raising a federal building, and even commissioning artist Bernard Zakheim to paint a mural in the post office, while city government extended sewer and water lines and ran a malaria-control effort. Together these initiatives cushioned residents through one of the hardest chapters in American life.
Why it matters
Mineola's story shows the New Deal at ground level, where sweeping national relief programs reached ordinary small towns through paved streets, public buildings, and public art.
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Related people
- · Bernard Zakheim
Related events
- · Great Depression
- · New Deal
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First National Bank of Mineola
Mineola, TX
Chartered in 1898 with fifty thousand dollars in capital, the First National Bank of Mineola opened under the leadership of a former county judge and a local photographer-turned-cashier. It weathered the bank failures of the Great Depression and adapted as Mineola shifted after World War II from a farming economy to a retail hub. After nearly sixty years at its original downtown corner, the bank moved to this location in 1965.
Select Theater
Mineola, TX
The Select Theater was the latest in a line of Mineola entertainment venues reaching back to 1886, named by Mattie Hooks in 1920 for a Texas motion-picture franchise. She and her husband ran it for years, and a 1948 remodel added a sloping floor, elevated stage, and a 24-foot neon tower visible for miles. It anchored the town's Main Street entertainment into the late 20th century.
First National Bank Building
Mineola, TX
Chartered in 1898, the First National Bank of Mineola moved through several downtown storefronts before rising in this 1912 building, erected on the ashes of the Mineola Mercantile that burned in 1903. In a booming East Texas railroad town, a permanent brick bank building signaled stability and ambition, its architecture meant to project the permanence that fire and frequent relocation had denied earlier commerce. The site layers a generation of local business history into a single downtown corner.
Site of Public Mineral Water Well
Mineola, TX
Mineola's earliest settlers were drawn to this well-watered spot they called "the Forks of the River," and by the 1880s a public well stood here at the town's center. Crews drilling for salt in 1889–90 struck mineral water instead, and a 60-foot windmill tower and cypress tank soon made this the town's main water supply; a 1913 analysis touted more than a dozen minerals with reputed healing powers. The well was capped in 1924 when the street was bricked over the old intersection.