Sunnyside High School
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member blakelylaw580
N 33° 59.917 W 097° 50.388
14S E 607145 N 3762609
This marker was erected by the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to honor a long-forgotten school.
Waymark Code: WMEX56
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 07/16/2012
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member YoSam.
Views: 10

The markers is a very simple one; a small cement marker set off to the side in the weeds at the intersection of two county dirt roads. The closest town, Ryan, is quite some distance away. The accompanying pictures were taken the 3rd day of June. From the overgrown brush and weeds, we suspect you could pass right by the marker at the height of summer. You can also see the wooded area behind the marker in the photos. If any ruins actually still exist, you certainly can't see them in summer.

The marker's wording:

Sunnyside
High School

Closed
1929

Commissioner
Bill Griffin
1990
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As excited as Team Blakelylaw was about this find, we could find out almost nothing about this school. Mrs. Team Blakelylaw had driven the backroads of this part of the State for almost 12 years and had never heard of this spot, which is a thousand miles from nowhere, or Sunnyside. There is no Sunnyside ghost town anywhere in the vicinity as far as we know.

The only reference we could find was a 15-year-old report to the Oklahoma Historical Society by the Museum of the Great Plains regarding the rural schools of southwestern Oklahoma. Apparently, this little school was not open very long. According to the report, it existed only from 1923 to 1929. It is hard to explain just how remote a spot this is in an area of the State known for its remote spots. Since there were historic towns in the area, such as Ryan, which were the center of the cattle industry and wheat farming, we can't imagine what would cause a school, and a high school no less, to exist in such a desolate spot.

If you are looking for the spot on a map, it is at the intersection of Jefferson County N2890 and E2080 Roads. They form a T-intersection and the marker is almost directly in the middle of the "T's" crossbar, on the East side of the road.
County: Jefferson

Record Address:: OK USA
73565


Web site if available: [Web Link]

Rate the Site:

Date Erected: 1990

Sponsor (Who put it there): Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners

Visit Instructions:

1 - Must visit the site in person.
2 - New Photo required.
3 - Give some new insight to the marker/site.

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Recent Visits/Logs:
Date Logged Log  
blakelylaw580 visited Sunnyside High School 06/03/2012 blakelylaw580 visited it