Harmon Athletic Field - Okmulgee, OK - WPA Projects on Waymarking.com

During the 1930s with the Depression in full swing, people in rural Oklahoma were hurting badly. The Work Projects Administration with its local construction projects put food on the table of thousands of hurting Oklahomans. Harmon Athletic Field was one of the projects completed in Okmulgee by local workers, using local materials.

This project consisted of several buildings, walls and structures to provide an athletic field for the local high school. The area consists of 65 acres, five buildings and seven miscellaneous structures. Visitors enter the field from the south, through a 24 ft. wide archway which reads "HARMON FIELD." The arch is supported by two stone-covered posts which are 26 inches square and 8 ft. high. Hanging from the arch is a sign with a bulldog drawing, which reads: "where achievement through sports is a tradition".

The entry is flanked by two ticket booths, and as you travel north on a 25 ft. wide flagstone walkway, you pass a concession stand on eitehr side. These stands are currently used for storage. Beyond that is a concrete grandstand, 96 ft. deep and 242 ft. wide, set in 31 tiers.

Flanking the entry on the east and west of the ticket booths are two stone field houses. Originally, these were dressing rooms, but are now used as rest rooms. These buildings and the ticket booths have buff-colored, rough-cut native stone blocks from the ground to the water table. Above this, to the eaves the covering is flat, smooth randomly shaped stones in varying natural colors. On the front of the east field house, darker stones have been set above each window to read "W P A". A bronze WPA plaque showing 1936 is attached to the south wall at the southeast and southwest corners.

The hipped roof originally had asbestos shingles. Today, it has metal roof siding, orange in color. In 1940, additional WPA work was completed, adding a stone wall, an additional concession building and a band shell which no longer exists. Harmon Athletic Field was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 (#98001588).

This WPA project can also be found on Berkeley's Living New Deal website database: (visit link)

Project type: Other Date built or created: 1936 Location: East side of town in residential area City: Okmulgee Condition: Good upkeep with a little wear and tear Website for additional information: Not listed

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