Durant Fish Hatchery Office Building – Durant

Address:	Vicinity of Durant, Oklahoma 040, Bryan County 0 13; Sec. 2, T 6 S, R 9 E; 2021 Caddo Highway Durant, OK	County:	Bryan
Started:	1938	Completed:	1940
Agencies:	WPA	NRHP:	No

Current Usage:

Description:

Originally administrative offices and a workshop, the Durant Fish Hatchery building is a rectangular structure, with the lower floor measuring 90 feet by 53 feet and the second floor measuring 53 feet by 45 feet. Walls of glazed tile placed in a poured concrete superstructure are the principal components of construction. Six garage doors provide entry to the lower level, and windows above and below are of the metal casement variety. The roof is hipped, extending over a second story porch that is reached by external concrete stairs. Incised vertical lines decorate the concrete pillars/superstructure on the lower floor, a touch that suggests art deco influence.
The administrative focus of an operation that included ponds, dikes and ditches, the Durant Fish Hatchery Office Building suggests the varied types of projects sponsored by the WPA. In this instance the interest was wildlife conservation, of which the office structure is symbolic and for which it is unique as a WPA building. Its two story design is also unusual for an agency project. Within the area, the hatchery office building is architecturally significant in its allusion to art deco style, materials used and characteristic of workmanship. The building, and the many ponds in the midst of which it sits, provided job opportunities for destitute persons who had no hope for the future until construction began.

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Follow U.S. highway No. 69 six miles northeast of Durant to the entrance of the fish hatchery on the west side of the road, the building being situated 180 feet west of the gate and on property that begins at a point 624 feet north of the SW corner of the NE 1/4, Sec. 2, T 6 S, R 9 E, then runs 208 feet east, 208 feet north, 208 feet west, and 208 feet south.

Sources:

Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination
The Living New Deal
Marjorie Barton, _Leaning on a Legacy: The WPA in Oklahoma_, Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2008. Pg. 23.