Address:212 S Water Ave, Tahlequah, OklahomaCounty Cherokee
Started: Completed 1939
Agencies:WPANRHP:No

Current Usage

Community Arts Center

Description:

This County Health Building is “U” shaped (112′ along the front; 84′ along the exterior sides) and constructed of uncut and uncoursed native stone. The mortar is incised. The roof contains clipped gables and intersecting valleys. Wood sash windows, placed singly or by twos, rest between pre-formed concrete sills and lintels. Singly entry doorways on the east are reached by concrete and rock stoops; they also contain concrete lintels. An opening originally a garage door has been filled with a wood insert and redesigned as a single-entry doorway. This alteration does not impeach the integrity of the facility.
The county health building is notable for its economic impact upon the Tahlequah community during the period of its construction. It offered WPA jobs to destitute laborers, enabling them to provide for their families and to regain a measure of their self-respect. Wages from some 54,000 man-hours of labor also were fused into the local economy, helping to prevent the devastation of Tahlequah’s mainstreet. The building is also notable in that it improved the quality of health care offered to the residents of the county. As a WPA building it is unique in type, for there were few health buildings constructed by the agency.

Sources:

  1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination

Supported Documents:

  1. WPA Properties Cherokee County – Cherokee County Health Building

Photos: