Volume 14 , Issue 41

NW Okie's Corner

We went to the book, The Oklahoma Red Book for a bit of history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Northwestern State Normal in Alva, Woods, Oklahoma Territory. Some of the links listed here lead to the research, history we have on our "OkieLegacy" websites.

Did you know that the Northwestern State Normal School was established by an act of the Territorial Legislature in 1897, and was located at Alva? When the school was established at Alva the town was very small, but it had grown rapidly, until it had a population of over 6,000.

An act of the first legislature of the State of Oklahoma had confirmed the Northwestern Normal School as one of the permanent state educational institutions. The school had been enlarged by the addition of many important departments of instruction, and was prepared to offer its students enlarged opportunities for education such as would enable its graduates to measure up to the modern requirements of intensive, as well as extensive scholarship.

The central heating plant, erected at a cost of $20,000 was designed to furnish heat to the buildings in use or to such as may hereafter be constructed. The boilers and engines were of ample capacity, and the deign of the buildings included room for the electric plant soon to be installed.

The school plant at that time consisted of three buildings situated upon a beautiful tract of forty acres on the south side of town. The first normal building was erected in 1898, at a cost of more than $100,000 and was easily the handsomest school edifice in the southwest. This building was occupied by the departments of English, mathematics, history, geography, oratory, music, fine arts, domestic science and art, agriculture and commercial department, and the administrative offices of the president and registrar. An auditorium with a seating capacity of 800 was the most conscious feature of the interior of the building.

The science hall was a commodious building devoted to the departments of biology, physical science, manual training, pedagogy and training school, and the library. It was fitted with ample equipment in Laboratories for chemistry, physics, zoology, and botany, with the museum of natural history, and with shops of manual training.

VOTE! . . . DEMOCRATS2012 & OBAMA2012!

Good Night & Good Luck researching your ancestry!   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

---