| Address: | Vicinity of Welch, Oklahoma | County | Craig |
| Started: | Completed | 1937 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | No |
Current Usage
Description:
The Russell Creek School is a rectangular (35′ x 70′) building with random ashlar masonry. It has a hipped roof and the double-door front entryway is framed by pilasters with a concrete lintel topped with a pointed cornice capped with concrete. The steel casement windows are singly placed in front and grouped into bands on the rear facade of the structure. All have concrete sills and wide concrete lintels.
The construction of this school in a remote rural area of northeastern Oklahoma is significant in that it characterizes the WPA’s commitment to the future of this country by providing educational facilities, even one room schools, for rural children as well as urban children. The construction of this school provided employment for men suffering the effects of the depression and infused wages from some 6200 man-hours of labor into the economy of the local community. For many of the workers the wages earned through the WPA were the only source of income available to them at that time. The work maintained their pride and saved them the shame of not being able to provide for their families. Architecturally the structure is unique for its austere style and lack of ornamentation.[1]
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go 8 miles north of Welch on U.S. highway 59, then east approximately 1 mile to a point 150 feet south of the NW corner of the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Sec. 17, T 29 N, R 21 E; thence running east 208.7 feet, thence south 208.7 feet, thence west 208.7 feet, thence north 208.7 feet to the point of origin.
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My in-laws bought The school when it was converted into a house in the early 90s and live there until about 2012 when my mother-in-law got sick and went back to Omaha Nebraska.