El Reno High School is a set of school buildings in

El Reno, Oklahoma El Reno is a city in and county seat of Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 16,989, marking a change of 1.55% from 16,729, recorded in the 2010 census. The city was begun shortly after the 1 ...

Architectural history

El Reno High School, located at 407 South Choctaw, is a -story horizontally massed, detached building (two stories over raised basement). Measuring 175 feet east–west and 132 feet north–south, the building is oriented in an east–west direction, with the main (1911) entrance facing west on South Choctaw. The school is located in a mixed-use area, with residential areas to the west and southwest, and commercial areas to the north and east. The building was constructed in two phases. The west half, or El Reno High School proper, constructed in 1911, was designed by the Oklahoma City firm of Layton and Smith, Oklahoma's premier architects and designers of the

Oklahoma State Capitol The Oklahoma State Capitol is the house of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the building that houses the Oklahoma Legislature and executive branch offices. It is located along Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City and contains 452,50 ...

as well as many public schools. The east half, originally built for junior high school classes, was designed by an unknown architect and was constructed in 1925–1926. In style, the El Reno High School building incorporates many of the elements of Late Gothic Revival as applied to public buildings, also known as

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

, and resembles later buildings designed by Layton and Smith, such as

Bizzell Memorial Library The Bizzell Memorial Library, known also as Bizzell Library, is a five-story brick structure located at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. It is an elaborate Collegiate Gothic or Cherokee Gothic building, designed by the architecture ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. The major features of this building include: flat roof with raised, shaped, and/or castellated parapet; towers with long, narrow "princess" windows; pinnacles rising from parapets or towers; and polychrome surfaces, or contrasting brick and stone work, with stone work forming copings, window and door hoods, arches, horizontal bands or water tables, and quoins. In general the two defining characteristics of the building were the decorative stonework and, before alteration, the windows. Bedford

Indiana Limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

creates hood moldings that accentuate the openings and bands that emphasize the horizontal arches.

Athletics

El Reno High School's mascot for its athletic teams is the Indians; their school's colors are navy blue and white, although before the 2000s the school colors were royal blue and white. The school's athletic facilities are located primarily at El Reno's Adams Park and the nearby Canadian County Fairgrounds, both of which are along historic

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

. The school's football stadium at Adams Park is named El Reno Public Schools Memorial Stadium; it opened and was originally dedicated in 1949 in memory of the former El Reno students who served in World War 2 and gave their lives. The stadium was rededicated on October 4, 2019, with a new monument unveiled to chronicle the 44 men that it was originally intended to honor. The school's basketball gym, the Jenks Simmons Field House, opened in 1954 as the Thunderbird Coliseum, and is known for its obscure tie to NCAA basketball history: In the

1955 NCAA basketball tournament The 1955 NCAA basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1955, and ended with the championship game on March ...

, the Oklahoma City University Chiefs hosted a regional quarterfinal game there against the

Bradley Braves The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The Braves' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I leve ...

, losing to Bradley 69–65. Bradley would go on to win in the Sweet Sixteen against SMU before losing to Colorado in the Elite Eight that year. For the Chiefs, this was their fourth straight tournament appearance, all losses, but they would turn it around and advance to the next two Elite Eights. The Chiefs also hosted the tournament in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, but this time at Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City.

Notable achievements

*Boys Basketball State Champions in 1921, 1924, 1926, 1932, 1933, 1946, 1949, and 1953; Runners-up in 1920, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1959, 1998, and 2011 *Girls Basketball State Runners-Up in 2019 *Boys Golf State Champions in 1987 and runners-up in 1997 *Baseball State Champions in 1967, 1991 and 1992 *Wrestling Dual State Champions from 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005; Dual State Runners-Up in 1995 *Boys Wrestling Individual State Champions in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2022 (1), and 2023 (2). *Girls Wrestling Individual State Champions in 2023 (1). *Football State Runners-up in 1957, 1958, 1967, 1981, and 1999 http://www.ossaa.net/docs/2022-23/Wrestling/WR_2021-22_5AStateBrackets.pdf?id=1?id=55

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Oklahoma School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Schools in Canadian County, Oklahoma Gothic Revival architecture in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Canadian County, Oklahoma 1911 establishments in Oklahoma