| Address: | Main and 5th Streets, Bixby, Oklahoma | County: | Tulsa |
| Started: | Completed: | 1938 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | No |
Current Usage:
School Property
Description:
This structure is composed of a U-shaped classroom section (79′ x 215′ horizontally, with two vertical wings 55′ x 79′) and a rectangular (73′ x 77′) gymnasium placed next to the classrooms to form a Y. Single story, the building is constructed of both red brick and rusticated sandstone laid in courses. The rear of the classrooms and the sides and rear of the gym are of sandstone, while the rest is in brick. The roof is generally gabled with intersecting gables and valleys, although over the gym it is arched with parapets. Pilasters at the entry in the U and along the sides of the gym provide some decorative relief, as does the quoin-like masonry on the front corners of the classrooms, and the gable designs. Window openings in the gym retain the original casement windows, while elsewhere they have been filled with new aluminum sash windows. Some openings have been filled with small wood inserts and smaller metal sash windows installed. These window changes have not at all affected the integrity of the structure.
The extensive use of both brick and native stone makes this large educational facility especially unique as a WPA structure. It is almost as if the builders started in one medium and finished with another. Within the community of Bixby, the building is also notable because of its style, materials and workmanship. Indeed, no other WPA building remains extant. Situated on the south side of the Arkansas River and with a rich agricultural hinterland, Bixby had a cadre of unskilled workers made destitute by the national depression. The construction ot the large educational complex helped to provide jobs for these unfortunate persons and gave them a measure of economic security. It also infused wages from more than 100,000 man-hours of labor into Bixby’s mainstreet economy.
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Lots 1, 2 and 3, Block 9, Bixby original plat.
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