Fairview Cemetery Wall - Shawnee OK

City:: Shawnee, OK
Site Type:: Cemeteries, Civic Facilities
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Completed:: 1936
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

New Deal work relief labor constructed the stunning stone wall on the west side of the Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Per one source, in 1936, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the wall. A newspaper article from 1934 suggests the ivil Works Administration (CWA) paid laborers to develop the wall. The wall, which is approximately 1320 feet long, runs north to south along the east side of N. Harrison Avenue. The cemetery itself was established in 1897 and spans nearly 80 acres on the eastern side of the City of Shawnee.

The Waymarking webpage for the cemetery wall describes it as follows:

“This uncoarsed native sandstone wall was constructed along the west side of the cemetery, bordering a main thoroughfare, Harrison Street. It runs North-South for four blocks.

The wall is two feet thick and approximately five feet high. There are three gates in the wall, which have thirteen foot high gate posts….[H]owever, no vehicle traffic enters through these gates. Entrance must be made on the east side of the cemetery on Center Avenue.”