| Address: | Vicinity of Lamont, Oklahoma | County | Grant |
| Started: | 1936 | Completed | 1936 |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | September 8, 1988 |
Current Usage
Description:
The Dayton School is a single-story, rectangular (43′ x 22′) structure constructed of lightly coursed and rusticated native stone of a dark red color and of fair masonry quality. The gable roof is now covered with metal sheeting, and on the building’s north side is an exterior chimney constructed of native stone and brick quoins. The southwest entrance is recessed behind an archway of brick with an inscribed concrete frieze above. Wood sash windows reach to the eaves and rest on brick slip sills. Bricks are also used to “square” the windows to the stone walls.
The exceptional significance of the Dayton School building is related to its architecture. A “streatched” one-room school, the structure perfectly reflects the character of early WPA building projects: unskilled workmen utilizing native materials. In addition to the rather crude masonry, the squaring of window openings with brick and the use of brick quoins on the chimney suggest a work force with little experience in the building trades. They also date the structure as early in the life of the WP A, for over time masonry skills improved. Equally significant is that the Dayton School is unlike most other WPA-constructed schools in Northwestern Oklahoma in that it was built of native stone and that it was only one room. Elsewhere in the region the schools were of brick and of multiple rooms. Construction also impacted the economic and social well-being of the Dayton community in that it infused some 6800 man-hours of wages into the local economy and prevented the further erosion of the self respect of destitute agricultural laborers.[1]
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go six miles south and three east of Lamont to the school site in the west 1/2 of the SWl/4 of Sec. 26, T 25 N, R 3 W, more particularly described as beginning at the northwest corner of said west half and running south 97 5 feet to point of beginning, then east 208.71 feet, then south 208.71 feet, then west 208.71 feet, then north 208.71 feet to point of beginning.
Sources:
Supported Documents:
- WPA Properties Grant County – Dayton School
- National Register Of Historic Places Support Document
- National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form
Leave a Reply