Fewell School is a historic site located in

Fewell, Oklahoma Fewell is a community in eastern Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States. Fewell is located at . A United States Post Office operated here from November 4, 1913 to October 15, 1943. It was named for Benjamin F. Fewell, its first postmaster. ...

. Fewell, 10 miles east of

Nashoba, Oklahoma Nashoba is an unincorporated community in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma, United States, 11 miles southeast of Tuskahoma. A United States Post Office opened at Nashoba, Indian Territory on September 13, 1886. The community took its name from Nasho ...

, is a rural community in the Kiamichi Mountains of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. Fewell School was constructed by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) in 1936-1937 as a

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

public works project. As built, the school consisted of three rooms and measured . An extension measures feet and changed the building's formerly rectangular footprint to that of an "L" shape. The school is constructed of uncoursed and undressed native

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. Beaded mortar sets the stones and, according to an architectural survey in 1988, is of "excellent" workmanship. It is roofed with sheet metal and the roof has intersecting

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s. The front entryway, at the southeast corner, is behind double

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

es. Wood sash windows on concrete sills rise to the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

. At the time of the 1988 survey the building was found to be in good condition and was in use as a private residence—which the survey noted was an "excellent example of

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

". Fewell School was examined in 1988 and nominated for inclusion on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Its nomination was successful. Fewell is in the sparsely populated Little River (Oklahoma) valley, and is adjacent to the river.Google Maps. During the Great Depression the area experienced economic difficulty and the WPA construction project provided much-needed jobs. More information on Fewell and the Little River valley may be found in the

Pushmataha County Historical Society The Pushmataha County Historical Society is a historical society devoted to collecting and preserving the history of Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. It is headquartered in the historic Frisco Depot in Antlers, Oklahoma, which it operates as a public ...

References

School buildings completed in 1937 School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma Works Progress Administration in Oklahoma Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma {{Oklahoma-NRHP-stub