The world rejoiced at the end of World War I in 1918. It seemed as if life would return to normal. There was no way to know that the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl were right around the corner. Hard times lay ahead.
The bottom dropped out of prices for agricultural products. Wheat was selling for seventeen cents less per bushel than it cost to produce. Farmers who had borrowed money to buy more land and new farm equipment during the boom years found themselves unable to repay their loans. What began as an economic downturn eventually became the Great Depression.
The combination of drought and depression was driving North Dakota into the ground. Desperate for a change, the state voted for Franklin Roosevelt for president. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, he moved quickly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief. His efforts included innovative and experimental programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration. Many of these programs directly benefited North Dakota.
On this date in 1933, North Dakotans learned that the federal government had thrown another lifeline to the state. North Dakota had been awarded $5,804,448 in federal aid. There were some strings attached. All contracts required a thirty-hour work week with a fixed minimum wage. Convict labor was prohibited. Work was to be done primarily with picks and shovels rather than machinery, since that would require hiring more men. Individual projects could not focus on a single area but had to be widely distributed across the state.
A large portion of the funds would be spent repairing old roads and building new ones. Highways would be extended and routed through cities. Safety hazards would be eliminated. The money would also be used for landscaping along roadways. Between 1935 and 1942, Roosevelt’s New Deal programs funded the construction of more than 20,000 miles of roads. This included 721 new bridges and extensive improvements to public highways.
There were projects beyond roads. One person who grew up in Wishek recalled that many of the facilities constructed by the WPA. From playgrounds and tennis courts to a swimming pool that remain in use today. North Dakotans continue to benefit from Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “North Dakota Gets $5,804,488 Federal Aid.” Bismarck ND. 6/24/2033. Page
- 1.
- State Historical Society of North Dakota. “The Great Depression.”
- https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iv-modern-north-dakota-1921-present/lesson-
- 2-making-living/topic-2-great-depression-and-drought/section-1-great-depression
- Accessed 6/4/2026.
- New Geography. “New Deal Investments Created Enduring, Livable Communities.”
- https://www.newgeography.com/content/00166-new-deal-investments-created-enduring-
- livable-communities Accessed 6/3/2026.
