McKinley Park Castles – Oklahoma City OK

City:
Oklahoma City, OK

Site Type:
Parks and Recreation

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Marked:
No

Description

The WPA built these unique stone “castles” at McKinley Park in Oklahoma City.

“…[T]he most fascinating thing to see, as you come in the park from the east, are two small native stone buildings constructed to look like small castles. They are located on each side of the main drive into the park. The north building is boarded up and appears to possibly have been for storage. The south building has barred windows and a few tables and chairs can still be seen inside. It was difficult to tell whether these buildings are currently in use.

The buildings are constructed of native red sandstone. Above the first floor walls, four rows of horizontal stones are laid, and above those rows, castle battlements line the roof line. On the southwest corner of the north building, and the northwest corner of the south building, towers rise above the roof line. These tower walls also have four rows of horizontal stones and cut-out battlements at the top, to simulate the defensive structure of medieval castles. These buildings are a delight, and such a surprise in this park setting.

There are no WPA markings on the buildings that we could find, however, the buildings are shown on Page 72 in the book “Leaning on a Legacy – The WPA in Oklahoma” by Marjorie Barton.”   (waymarking.com)

Source notes

1) https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMEWXN_McKinley_Park_Castles_Oklahoma_City_OK 2) Barton, Marjorie, and Bob Burke. 2008. Leaning on a Legacy: The WPA in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Heritage Association.

Site originally submitted by hamquilter on November 30, 2013.

Location Info


McKinley PArk
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Oklahoma County

Coordinates: 35.482033, -97.53545

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2 comments on “McKinley Park Castles – Oklahoma City OK

  1. Akiva Israel

    Who owns these buildings? I would like to contact them about having them restored and open to the public.

  2. Classen Ten Penn

    The buildings are owned by the Parks Department and it would be amazing if they restored them!

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Contribute to this Site

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2 comments on “McKinley Park Castles – Oklahoma City OK

  1. Akiva Israel

    Who owns these buildings? I would like to contact them about having them restored and open to the public.

  2. Classen Ten Penn

    The buildings are owned by the Parks Department and it would be amazing if they restored them!

Join the Conversation

Please note:

  • We are not involved in the management of New Deal sites and have no information about visits, hours or rentals.
  • This page shows all the information we have for this site; if you have new information or photos to share, click the button above.

Your email address will not be published, shared, or sold.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.