| Address: | 12th and Parkinson Streets, Wagoner, Oklahoma | County: | Wagoner |
| Started: | Completed: | 1936 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | No |
Current Usage:
Cemetery Fence
Description:
The Elmwood Cemetery Fence is constructed of unrusticated and uncoursed native sandstone. Mortar is beaded on the exterior wall. It is 12 inches wide (although it tends to be somewhat thicker at the base), stands 3 to 4 feet high with a cut stone cap, and is 1070 long. Visually it is an arresting piece of masonry.
Along with armories, construction of cemetery improvements was some of the earliest WPA activity. Given the depressed condition of Wagoner county, construction of this particular fence provided needed employment for laborers who had little hope of making it through the winter of 1935-1936. For this and other cemetery improvements wages from some 200,000 hours of labor were poured into the local economy, an infusion that helped to buffer the Wagoner main street from some of the worst effects of the depression. In addition to symbolizing economic security for the destitute, it reflects the progression of type and nature of projects undertaken by the WPA. As a rule, they tended to be less substantiative, as the fence suggests. Architecturally, the fence is most impressive for its length of nearly 1 /4 mile, requiring an amount of stone that would have built a rather large building. Within the community and the county, there is nothing similar that is as impressive.
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Beginning at the southeast corner of “Elmwood Cemetery” tract of the Wagoner original plat, go west 1200 feet, north 30 feet, east 1200 feet, and south 30 feet.
Visited: 10/13/2023
The original wall structure is still intact but the entrance columns look to be replacements.
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Photos:
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