Volume 12 , Issue 37

1935 Burning - Castle On The Hill

This photo on the left was printed a few years ago from an old, worn negative that we found in our grandmothers treasures.

In the Volume 11, Issue 6, of The OkieLegacy, dated 2009-02-08, we found a news article written by Mrs. Jone Sartin, that appeared in The Oklahoman, on page 59, March 10, 1935, entitled Northwestern Prairie Folk Mourn.

The article talked about the calamity that stalked northwest Oklahoma when it faced a disastrous fire with confidence, March 1, 1935, when the Castle on the Hill building standing on the hill south edge of Alva yielded a fire that was fanned by the surly depression-type winds that lighted the country side for miles as the Castle on the Hill burned to a shell of itself.

Sartin's article also mentioned, "Alva was only a village, but the earnestness of Doctor Ament's desire inspired 80 of the pioneer business and professional men to pledge $1,000 each, on private notes, for the erection of the building (Castle on the Hill, 1897). Among these were the late Jesse J. Dunn and S. L. Johnson. Five of the signers still live in Alva. They are: J. W. Monfort, W. F. Hatfield, Anton Shafer, George Crowell, Cap Carrico."

The courage of these pioneers drew condemnation from the territorial and press. While the town and building committee were pushing for its funding and beginnings, the "Castle on the Hill" became known as a "castle from Spain" and the "prairie prince's plight." The Pioneers enterprise to build this Normal School in northwest Oklahoma was generously sneered at, but sneerers soon became cheerers. The distinctive architectural design, the richness of detail, and the perfect completeness of the building impressed the law-makers. They returned to Guthrie and passed the requested appropriation increasing it from $68,000 to $110,000.

It was a beginning of a dream of a great temple of learning. Sartin's article also mentioned, "Northwestern is pre-emiently a poor-man's college. Ten classes had graduated from Northwestern before statehood. Only one other teacher's college is older. In 1897 the territorial legislature appropriated $3,000 for the operating expenses of a school at Alva but it made no provisions for a building. For the first two years the school was held in the Congregational church. It is wrong to think of it as just another teachers' college. This school is northwestern Oklahoma's university. Students who attend Northwestern would be denied educational advantages beyond the high school except for the nearness of this great institution to their homes."

Sartin finishes with, "Institutions are more than buildings. They are the spirit interwoven in the background of a community. Boys and girls of the short-grass country are entitled to opportunities afforded youth in other parts of the state. This conviction is uppermost in the minds and hearts of builders of Oklahoma's commonwealth. Justice to these youths will not be forgotten. Their record, free from stain, is their greatest assurance."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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