| Address: | 14590 SE 136th Rd, Red Oak, Oklahoma | County: | Latimer |
| Started: | Completed: | 1940 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | No |
Current Usage:
Description:
A three room building, the Bengal school is a single story, L-shaped (110′ x 26′, with 8′ x 24′ extension) structure constructed of undressed and uncoursed native stone. Now covered with composition shingles, the intersecting gable roof with valley is also stepped. Doors are recessed behind archways, with the one at the interior angle fashioned into a porch. Wood sash classroom windows resting on concrete sills extend to the eaves. Rock selection is especially colorful.
Significantly, construction of the school building provided work opportunities for impoverished laborers in the Bengal area who avoided starvation for themselves and family with their WPA wages. The new building also stimulated an enthusiasm for learning and pride in community that is still apparent in the maintenance of the building. Architecturally the building is unique in the community because of its type, style, scale, materials and workmanship. As a WPA structure it is notable for its colorful rock work.
VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION: Bengal is situated midway on state highway No. 82 between Talihina and Red Oak. The school site is just west of the intersection of the state highway and a county road from the west. The property is described as 208 square foot tract of land in the NW corner of the W 1/2 portion of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec. 11, T 4 N, R 21 E.
Looks to have a teacherage next to the school that is now a private residence.
Taken from Facebook, Latimer County Tourism
Bengal, is a small community just inside the Latimer County line situated between Red Oak and Talihina. During Civil War time Bengal was known as Ivanhoe and was largely populated by southern sympathizers who had fled from the northern part of Oklahoma. By the 1880s when the railroad reached Ivanhoe there were several saw mills and at least one cotton gin in the general area. The story goes that in the process of trying to establish a Post Office it was discovered that there was already an Ivanhoe in Indian Territory so the name was changed to Bengal in the early 1880s. This week’s Throw Back Thursday post features a photo of the Bengal Train Depot around 1910. During this time there were at least six passenger trains a day (three each way), and railroad agents were on duty 24 hours a day. In 1902 the Bengal townsite was laid out along both sides of the railroad. As it developed (at the coming of statehood), two townsite blocks were in LeFlore County and four in Latimer County. The county line ran directly through the Depot. -The Annals of Red Oak by Flossie Chaudoin
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