Oseuma School – Afton – Oklahoma's New Deal

Address:	S 550 Rd, Vicinity of Afton, OK	County	Ottawa
Started	1936	Completed	1937
Agencies:	WPA	NRHP:	No

Current Usage:

Description:

This one-room structure is rectangular shaped ( 34′ x 18′) with a small wing section. It is constructed of cut random ashlar. The roof is gabled with projecting eaves and extends out over the wing section. The front entryway has a single door covered by a hood with brackets. The windows on the front facade of the structure are grouped into bands and are partially covered with boards. Windows have concrete sills.
The Oseuma school was a particurally significant community resource. Construction of this structure provided employment for local men suffering from the economic depression. The school served as an educational facility for generations of local children and fostered a sense of pride among community residents. Its continued existence as a structure serves to illustrate the commitment on the part of the WPA to the future of the United States. Its small scale makes the school unique as most WPA built buildings tended to be larger in scale.[1]

Located northeast of Afton, Oklahoma, the former Oseuma school building was built by the WPA ca. 1936-7. Built of “cut random ashlar”, the building measured 34′ x 18′.

A building fitting much of the description given in the linked historical survey can be found using satellite imagery, near given coordinates, on the west side of S 550 Rd. Imagery suggests that the building is abandoned and in a state of extreme disrepair, likely crumbling. Additional information is requested to confirm the identity of the building.[2]

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go four miles east of Afton on U.S. highway 59, then 2.4 miles north on a county road and from the SE corner of the NE 1/4 in Sec. 24, T 26 N, R 22 E, go north 208 feet, west 416 feet, south 208 feet, and east 416 feet.