Address: Streets unmarked, Achille, OklahomaCounty: Bryan
Started: Completed: 1939
Agencies:WPANRHP:No

Current Usage:

School

Description:

A building of twelve or more rooms, the Achille school and gymnasium is a single story, L-shaped (54′ x 170′ with an 88′ x 72′ extension) structure constructed of red bricks. Over the gym the roof is arched, but elsewhere it is flat with parapets. End and front entryways are recessed; pilasters provide visual relief; metal windows rest on concrete sills.
The school building is significant because it provided work opportunities for destitute laborers in the Achille community who had been on relief and suffered from a loss of self respect. The structure also created a new environment conducive to learning for students previously deprived educationally, providing a modern plant that stimulated an enthusiasm for academics. The gym enabled year around athletic competition, the high school team becoming the focus of much community pride and spirit. As a rural WPA school building, the structure is unique because of its brick construction materials and size (scale.) To the community it is unique architecturally in its faint allusion to art deco and in its type of workmanship.

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Lots 5-13, Block 94 and Lots 1-13, Block 95, Achille original

Sources:

  1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination

Supported Documents:

  1. WPA Properties Bryan County – Achille School and Gym

Photos: