Mason School Campus (Two Bldgs) – Mason

Current Usage:

School Property

Description:

The Mason School campus has two WPA structures. A building of eight rooms or more, the Mason School class building is a single-story, rectangular (83′ x 128′) structure built with cut, coursed, and rusticated native stone of auburn and buff colors. The roof is gabled in the center and is flat on each side. All parts of the roof have parapets. The recessed entry has a concrete lentil on the door. The windows are arranged in groups of three and extend to the eaves, but wood has been inserted so that new, smaller windows could be added. The school also has a beautiful WPA-built stone fence in front of it.
The teacherage has four rooms and is a single-story, rectangular (30′ x 48′) structure constructed of uncut native stone of auburn and buff colors with beaded mortar. The masonry is random rubble. The roof is gabled. The main entrance is covered by a porch. The windows have concrete sills and reach to the eaves. The trim has been painted and new windows have been inserted. These alterations do not impeach the integrity of the building.
The school building is unique in terms of type, style, scale, materials, and workmanship. No other buildings within the community can compare in terms of scale. Building the teacherage helped attract teachers to the area, which greatly enhanced educational opportunities in the area. These WPA projects enabled unskilled and unemployed laborers to do useful work and provide for their families during the depth of the depression. It also enabled the infusion of wages of some 22,000 man-hours of labor into the local economy. The construction of these buildings also created a new environment conducive to learning for students within the area that were previously deprived educationally.[1]

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go south of Welty on highway no. 48 some 4 miles, then go east on county road some 2 miles. From that intersection, go east 254 feet then north 50 feet to a point at which school begins, and go 83 feet north, 128 feet west, 83 feet south, and 128 feet east in the SW 1/4 of Sec. 27, T 13 N, R 9 E. From that same intersection go east 254 feet then north 60 feet to the point at which the teacherage begins, and goes 48 feet north, 30 feet west, 48 feet south, and 30 feet east in the SW 1/4 of Sec. 27, T 13 N, R 9 E.

Google Address: 374006 E1000 Rd, Okemah, OK 74859

Sources:

1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination
2. https://www.mason.k12.ok.us/

Supported Documents:

1. WPA Properties Okfuskee County – Mason School

Photos: