By Docker Haub
Student Reporter
In 1935, three men slept on the top floor of Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s administration building, often referred to as the “castle on the hill”.
It was a peaceful night until a loud noise and the smell of smoke quickly awoke all three men.
The second floor of the building had fallen out and the skyline had erupted in a small explosion, but the men didn’t panic. They quickly climbed out of the window and onto the roof. As they did, they could see a fire truck making its way onto the lawn of the campus.
Relief quickly turned to worry as the fire truck had a malfunction with its ladder, and the ladder wasn’t capable of extending all the way to the roof of the building.
One of the men was smaller than the other two, and so they were able to drop him down onto the ladder, but the other two men remained on the roof.
The firemen and the man that was dropped on the ladder quickly came up with an idea; they could use ropes and curtains from
Herod Hall to repel the other men down from the roof. ‘
After providing the two men with the ropes and curtains, the two men repelled off the roof and safely to the ground moments before the infamous castle on the hill collapsed.
This was unknown information until about 7 years ago when John Barton, a former employee at NWOSU, was doing some research in the Northwestern library and a letter from 1972 fell out of the book he was reading.
This letter was written by one of those three men. “It had to have been destiny,” Barton said, “what were the chances of me finding that letter in that book? It had to have been destiny.”
The “burning of the castle on the hill” was both a devastating and revolutionary event for NWOSU. After the castle burned, this gave an opportunity for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) of Alva to provide the campus with some renovations.
The WPA was a government-funded administration throughout the late 30’s and early 40’s. They helped to provide jobs for millions of people and helped to improve many communities throughout America. Alva was one of those communities. In 1936, the state had already acted to provide NWOSU with most of the funding to replace the fire-razed administration building. The WPA had reportedly been expected to donate $175,000 to $300,000 to aid in the rebuilding.
The goal was to build the biggest building on any college campus in the state, and be comparable to any building at the University of Oklahoma.
After the plans were appropriated, it was decided that three new buildings would be added to the campus: the Jesse Dunn building, a science annex, and a training school building.
These buildings, although they all don’t have the same names, are still used on campus today.
The science annex is now known as Carter Hall and the training school building is now known as the Education Center. The WPA was also responsible for a new baseball field, tennis courts, trees, other landscaping projects and paving most of the sidewalks throughout the campus.
John Barton, who was a student at NWOSU from 1960 to 1964, and later a speech instructor and a dean at NWOSU, knows just how important those additions were to the campus and how significant the “burning of the castle on the hill” was.
“It was a horrible thing when the castle burned in 1935,” Barton said, “Of course, Jesse Dunn and Carter Hall have been very useful and beautiful parts of Northwestern, but can you imagine if the castle was still here? People would travel from all over to come see it if we still had it.” The campus wasn’t the only part of the Alva community that saw an impact from the WPA. In 1936, the whole city of Alva saw some change.
After the Great Depression, many communities throughout the country were in desperate need for sources of employment and renovations. The Alva post office was one of the first renovations the town received. Built in 1936, with the help of WPA funding, the post office was an important part of helping Alva connect with the rest of the world. At the time, the postal service was one of the only sources of long distance communication.
The addition of a post office made Alva one of the only towns in Northwest Oklahoma to have a post office and gave an opportunity for more business to come to town.Also built in 1936, was the Armory, a historical part of Alva.
Part of a WPA project, the Armory was used by the Oklahoma National Guard for more than 45 years. Throughout the years, these units were deployed in World War II as well as the Korean War.
Larry Parker, who is Deputy Board Clerk for the Alva school board, recognizes the significance of the Armory. “It’s something that Alva should be proud of,” Parker said, “not every town has the opportunity to help out the military, but Alva did for many years, that’s pretty neat.”
After the National Guard no longer required the Armory, the local school district put it to good use. It is still used today by the school district as an effective place to park the local school buses, which is why it is referred to as the “bus barn”.
The other addition to the community was the public swimming pool.
Every community needs a place that allows the younger population to have some fun, and this is exactly what the WPA helped to bring Alva. Although it is currently closed, the swimming pool has been a great place for families and friends to go during the summer time and enjoy time together while cooling off from the summer heat.
The WPA helped to provide back to the communities of America, in a time when people were in dire need of a helping hand and a positive light.
Whether it was new light poles, new buildings, new streets or even new sidewalks, almost every single community in America saw the aid of the WPA.
It’s hard to think about what would have become of Northwestern after the administration building burned down if the WPA had never became involved.
Without the federal funding and all the workers, Northwestern may have never seen the renovations that provided the University with a spark to keep growing, expanding and improving as a college.
Fortunately, that never became a reality. Instead, the students and faculty of Northwestern get to utilize and enjoy the effects of the WPA that are still seen at Northwestern today.
Whenever someone takes a walk through the campus, they are taking a walk through the history of Northwestern. These same effects bleed into the community as a whole.
Whether it’s on campus at Jesse Dunn, or downtown at the post office, these WPA projects helped to paint the picture for what Alva is today.
They are also a symbol of pride, companionship and patriotism. Sometimes, something has to be burnt to the ground, in order for something better to come out of the ashes.