Arthurdale is nationally significant as the first of the 100 federal New Deal "new towns" created in the 1930s to provide a better life for distressed individuals during the Great Depression. It is significant in social history because it represents the humanitarian concerns of the New Deal in its attempt to provide employment and better housing. Arthurdale also represents a federal experiment in community planning and development, since the site was planned as a self-sufficient community.
Much maligned by the critics of the New Deal for its houses that did not fit the foundations, the factories that operated at capacity only during World War II, and the expense of the project, Arthurdale helped to provide a new start in life for the unemployed coal miners of Scotts Run as well as others in the region.
As a National Register Historic District, Arthurdale is significant because all 165 original houses still exist, as well as the Inn, four of the six school buildings, as well as several other buildings.
Vandalia received a Save America's Treasures Grant and is working with Arthurdale Heritage to rehabilitate three school buildings and renovate the former high school to house a New Deal Research Center and Museum.
For more information, please visit the Arthurdale Heritage
web site.
Cafeteria Current
High School Before Stabilization
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