Address: Vicinity of Ponca City, Oklahoma Country Kay
Started: 1941Completed 1942
Agencies:WPANRHP:No

Current Usage

Description:

The Oakview School is a single-story, rectangular (45′ x 30′) structure constructed of rusticated native stone laid in a random coursed pattern. The gable roof has an interior chimney and a cross gable that forms a porch supported by four wood columns over the recessed front entry. Window openings with concrete slip sills reach to the eaves in the classrooms. Despite renovation into a private residence that enclosed the rear windows with wood inserts, the schoolhouse retains much of its architectural integrity.
As a WPA structure in northwestern Oklahoma, the Oakview school is most unique in that it employs native stone as a construction material. Moreover, it is one of the few WPA­constructed, two-room school buildings remaining in the northwestern counties. The structure is also significant because its construction had a direct impact upon the rural community surrounding Oakview during and after the depression. Some 12,000 man-hours of wages were poured into the local economy; jobless agricultural workers earned a paycheck and salvaged their pride; and interest in education improved remarkably. Finally, conversion of the school into a private home demonstrates how suitable WPA buildings are for adaptive reuse.[1]

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go three miles east of the Pioneer Woman Monument in Ponca City and one-half mile north to one acre of land located in the NW corner of the SW 1/4 of Sec. 20, T 26 N, R 3 E, beginning at the NW corner of said 1/4 section, thence east 10 rods, south 16 rods, thence west 10 rods, thence north 16 rods to place of beginning.

Sources:

  1. Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination

Supported Documents:

  1. WPA Properties Kay County – Oakview School

Photos: