- City:
- Shawnee, OK
- Site Type:
- Education and Health, Schools
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Administration (PWA), Public Works Funding
- Completed:
- 1934
- Designers:
- Hugh W. Brown, Jr.
- Contractor:
- Cowen Construction Co.
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
In 1934 additions to Jefferson Elementary in Shawnee, Oklahoma were built with the support of the Federal Public Works Administration (PWA). The building’s cornerstone that is located to the left of the entrance says that this construction project was the first Federal Public Works project in Oklahoma. The additions included an auditorium and more classrooms. These were much needed add-ons to the one-story building that had been hastily constructed on the site of the original Jefferson Elementary in order to replace the one that had been built in 1904 but had been destroyed by a tornado in 1924. A catalogue of Pottawatomie news items from 1940 to 1949 reports that the City of Shawnee paid $15,000 of the $62,000 that it cost to construct the additions.
The Waymarking website for Jefferson Elementary School describes the PWA-constructed building as follows:
“Jefferson School, located at 800 N. Louisa, is a one-story yellow brick building. The entrance portico on the southeast has several lovely bas relief friezes, as do areas over a bay window unit on the east and on the south.
Above the entrance, a name and date frieze shows ‘Jefferson School 1904 – 1933’ which refers to a school formerly on this location. The current building was constructed in 1934 as the FIRST Federal Public Works project in the State of Oklahoma. A newer section to the building was constructed in later years to the west….A large two-sided black granite cornerstone is located to the left of the entrance.”
Source notes
Waymarking.com: Jefferson Elementary School, Shawnee, OK RootsWeb: Jefferson School - Shawnee, OK Pottawatomie County Museum & Historical Society: June 2017 Newsletter RootsWeb: Pottawatomie County News Items Extracts from 1940-1949 Jefferson Elementary School WebsiteSite originally submitted by hamquilter on August 10, 2017.
Contribute to this Site
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal site.
Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site
Jefferson School was one of the four original ward schools constructed in Shawnee in1904. It was hit by a tornado March 24, 1924 and the top floor was torn off. The building was remodeled into one story with a basement and classes continued to be held until, with funds from PWA and a bond issue, a new one story state-of-the-art building was built in 1932-33. It’s also the only school in town to have a tunnel under a highway for the students to access the school grounds from the west. With several additions since then the school is still in use today, one of only two of the four original sites.
What was Ms. Reavis, first name and taught 2nd grade? In the 1950’s and early 1960’s.