Rein School – Ponca City (Vic) – Oklahoma's New Deal

Address:	Vicinity of Ponca City, Oklahoma	Country	Noble
Started:	1936	Completed	1937
Agencies:	WPA	NRHP:	September 8, 1988

Current Usage

Abandoned

Description:

The Rein School is a single-story, rectangular (47′ x 35′) structure constructed of rusticated and coursed native stone. The roof is gabled, with a small cross gable that, supported by four posts, covers the recessed entryway. An external stone chimney rests at one end; a single door entry opens on the other. Wood sash windows with stone lug sills are single spaced on the front, while window openings on the rear extend to the eaves. The schoolhouse retains its architectural integrity.
The Rein School building is an excellent example of a classic one-room educational structure, only one of two that remains intact in Oklahoma’s northwestern counties. To the extent that most WPA constructed schools in the northwest were multi-room and utilized brick construction materials, the Rein School is exceptionally significant regionally. The facility improved the ability of the rural school district to delivert modern educational curriculum, and its construction provided work opportunities for destitute agricultural workers. Wages from some 5000 man-hours of labor helped to revitalize the local economy. The structure is significant architecturally because it is virtually one of a kind in the region, and because of its construction materials, workmanship, scale and style.

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: From the intersection of U.S. 177 and U.S. 60 in Ponca City, go eight miles south and one-half east to the southwest corner of Sec. 11, T 24 N, R 2 E, then north 200 feet, east 200 feet, south 200 feet, and west 200 feet.

The Rein school is located just east of Highway 177, at Cowboy Road and CR 250. It stands in an open field and was once a vital part of the education of the children in this area.

This is a rectangular, 47 x 35 ft. building constructed of rusticated native sandstone by the WPA in 1936-1937. It is a one-room schoolhouse with an entry on the south, and another on the west. There is a gabled roof with a cross-gabled porch roof on the west.

Prior to 1988 the school had fallen into disrepair (see photos on the Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory database At that time, the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A metal roof was added and the window openings were covered with metal sheeting.[2]