National Guard Armory – McAlester

Address:	319 East Polk Street, McAlester, Oklahoma	County:	Pittsburg
Started:		Completed:	1936
Agencies:	WPA	NRHP:	September 8, 1988

Current Usage:

City Property

Description:

The McAlester Armory is a single story, rectangular (203′ x 120′) structure constructed of rusticated and coursed native sandstone. With a high interior ceiling, the central portion of the building has an arched roof, while sections on either side with lower ceilings have flat roofs. Parapets dominate the entire roof line, but they are especially prominant on the center segment. Simplified, stepped pilasters and recessed window lintels of pre-formed concret that reach to the top of the wall provide decorative relief and an allusion to art deco style. Segmental arches above doorways and eight garage openings, as well as stone selection and placement suggest high quality workmanship.
As a WPA building, the McAlester Armory is exceptional for its scale and its suggestion of art deco style. These same qualities make it architecturally significant within the community, as does its type, materials of construction, and character of workmanship. Equally important is that the armory was completed in time to help prepare units of the Oklahoma National Guard for duty in World War II. Construction of it, moreover, permitted the hiring of unskilled and unemployed laborers who in 1935 and 1936 had little prospect of income and faced a real possibility of starvation.

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Lots 7, 8, 9 and 10, Block 99, McAlester City original

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places September 8, 1988.

Sources:

1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination
2. National Register of Historic Places
3. Waymarking.com
4. Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Reports
5. McAlester News-Capital article, Old armory gets new life By Parker Perry Oct 24, 2014

Supported Documents:

1. WPA Properties Pittsburg County – McAlester Armory
2. National Register of Historic Places Support Document
3. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form

Photos: