Cole Chapel School - Hartshorne Vicinity, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 34° 54.337 W 095° 32.547
15S E 267704 N 3865526
This one-room schoolhouse was constructed by the WPA in 1936.
Waymark Code: WMZD83
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 10/23/2018
Views: 2
The Cole Chapel Schoolhouse is located on N420 Road, about 3.5 miles north of Hartshorne, and south of the little town of Adamson. It was a rare WPA construction of a one-room school. As we were taking photos and looking the school over, we were approach by an older man on a bicycle wanting to know if we wanted to rent the building. (Apparently, its owner has converted it into a small residence). We explained what we were doing, and he became very excited. His name is Phillip and he went to this school when it was built. He said it was constructed as a school for the local black children, but all the children in town went there. It was such a pleasant experience to meet Phillip - we were as excited as he was - and we spent about 20 minutes talking about life in those early days.
The school is constructed of coursed native sandstone, with a gabled roof covered in composition shingles. The windows are wood-framed. The large ribbon window at the front has been covered with wood siding, with smaller window openings. There are four concrete steps leading to a single arched door on the southwest corner. At the rear of the school is a small stone pump house.
The Cole Chapel area was first settled by coal miners. This school represented an early introduction to formal education, and building the school gave needed employment to impoverished miners. The school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.