Dustin School Campus (Two Bldgs) – Dustin

Current Usage:

Still used as school buildings

Description:

The Dustin School campus includes two WPA structures: a gymnasium and an auditorium/classroom facility. The gymnasium is a high ceiling, single story structure. Constructed of rusticated and coursed native sandstone, it is rectangular (66′ x 90′) in shape with a flat roof and parapets. Window openings, with pre-formed concrete sills and lintels, have been reduced in size and smaller energy efficient windows installed. A frieze and pilasters, the latter around the door and made of poured concret, decorate the structure and suggest an art deco influence.
Situated 210 feet north of the gym, the auditorium/classroom facility is a single story, T-shaped (65′ x 109′, with 57′ x 43′ extension) structure constructed of rusticated and coursed sandstone. Over the auditorium the roof is gabled; over the classrooms it is flat with parapets. A gabled porch with an archway covers the front entry; two archway entries are located at the interior angles; two others are situated at either end of the classroom section. Wood sash window placement is by ones, twos, and fives. One of the larger window openings has been enclosed with a wood insert, as has been one of the entryways. Neither enclosure destroys the integrity of the building.
As rural WPA buildings, the two structures on the Dustin campus are notable for their stylistic allusion to art deco and for their scale. Within the community this allusion makes them unique architecturally as does their type, scale, materials and workmanship. The two buildings are also significant because construction of them provided work opportunities and some economic security for oil field workers long unemployed whose families faced the spectre of starvation on a daily basis. Moreover, it created a new environment conducive to learning, giving the isolated Dustin community modern educational facilities second to none in the eastern portion of Hughes County.

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: The south 130 feet and the north 140 feet of Block 103, Dustin original

Sources:

1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination

Supported Documents:

1. WPA Properties Hughes County – Dustin School Campus

Photos:

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