| Address: | Vicinity of Hoffman, Oklahoma | County: | Okmulgee |
| Started: | Completed: | 1936 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | No |
Current Usage:
Description:
This school is found in a valley that has stone steps leading down to it. It has four rooms and is a single-story, rectangular (71′ x 36′) structure constructed of coursed and rusticated native stone of buff color. The roof is gabled. The enclosed entrance extends out from the school and contains a cross gable with concrete steps. The door is recessed behind an archway. There is also a door with an arch over it on the west side of the building. A square doorway is on the east side. There are three small windows on the west, and two sets of windows that reach to the eaves placed in groups of six on the east side. There is a lunnette window near the eaves at the entrance of the building. All the windows have concrete sills. Some of the windows contain wood inserts.
The Watson School is totally unique in this area in terms of type, style, materials, scale, and especially workmanship. It is significant because this WPA project provided jobs to many black, unskilled, and unemployed workers who needed some type of economic security. The project anabled the WPA to infuse wages of some 9,340 man-hours of labor into the local economy. Public work opportunities became particularly important to these laborers in this rural and remote area. Completion of the school greatly enhanced educational opportunities for black children in this area.
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Go north of Hoffman on county road 1 1/4 miles to highway no. 266 and then west 2 miles; continue west on county road 1 mile to school site on a tract of land in the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec. 23, T 12 N, R 13 E: beginning 1.5 rods south and 1.5 rods west of the NE corner thereof; thence south 313.5 feet; thence west 417 .4 feet; thence north 313.5 feet; thence east 417 .4 feet to the point of origin.
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