"Temporary Dwelling Units, Buckeye, Arizona-Soil
and Ground Preparation"
By Lesmer and Mahoney, architects and engineers for the Federal Public
Housing Authority, June 10, 1943
Pencil on tracing paper
26" x 29"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Public
Housing Administration Full citation
World War II Boomtowns: Buckeye, Arizona
The Manhattan Project's efforts at developing an
atomic bomb meant establishing several top-secret sites throughout the
United States. Much of the temporary housing built for defense workers
during World War II was hastily conceived and quickly constructed, but
architects and planners did sometimes attempt to create more livable,
pleasing spaces. One such effort was at Buckeye, Arizona, a war boomtown
west of Phoenix. There, architects added amenities such as lawns, clothes
lines, and space for gardens, flower beds, and trees to a block of apartment
houses.