When you think of the Great Depression back in the 1930s, you think of things grinding to a halt.

And yet, it had just the opposite effect with the plan to build a central library in downtown Rochester. The Great Depression helped propel the project to fruition.

Why? The construction would create 300 jobs to help ease the staggering unemployment rate. Moreover, the Roosevelt administration had created all kinds of federal programs to help put people back to work. One of them, the Public Works Administration, provided the additional funding needed to put the Rundel project over the top.

Ground was broken on Dec. 13, 1933; work began the following year when many of these photos were taken. The Rundel officially opened in October 1936.