The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 with the signing of Executive Order 7034, as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. It was a "make work" program that provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression. One of its many projects included documenting each and every structure on the West coast of the U.S. Workers would would be trained in photography and library research. They would go out, take a picture of the house or structure, document who was currently living there, how much they paid in rent and other information. They would also research who was the original owner, builder/architect, and how much was paid for the land and house. All this information was then placed on a bifold placard, including the photo, to be stored at a regional archive for future use.

And thanks to those WPA workers back in 1937, I now have front profile photo of what my house looked like back then. Only the front porch rails and lower drop siding has changed, from almost 70 years ago. Not bad.