National Register Listing

Clinton Armory

a.k.a. Clinton National Guard Armory

723 S. Thirteenth St., Clinton, OK

The Clinton Armory (Clinton National Guard Armory) is significant within the economic context of Works Progress Administration projects in Clinton, Oklahoma, 1935-1937, within the military context of national defense requirements of the Oklahoma National Guard's local unit in the era between the two world wars, and within the architectural context of WPA building style and methodology locally and in Oklahoma. The armory was constructed between 1935 and 1937 by local men who were qualified for work relief under WPA guidelines. The project brought $50,000 into the economy of Clinton, Oklahoma, by employing an average of forty-five previously unemployed, unskilled workers for more than sixteen months. The armory also filled a longstanding military need for an adequate, secure drill hall and arms storage building for the Headquarters Battery and Combat Train, 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery, of the 45th Infantry Division of the Oklahoma National Guard, which had previously had no permanent armory. The Clinton Armory is significant architecturally as an excellent, intact example of WPA architecture. The materials, brick manufactured in Oklahoma by convict labor, and workmanship, evident in masonry and cast concrete detailing, reflect both the goals of the WPA Building Program in Oklahoma and the practical considerations of using unskilled labor to construct large public buildings. The armory is one of six WPA structures remaining in Clinton, and it is the town's only example of military-style architecture. As it is essentially intact, the Clinton Armory is able to convey appropriate feeling and association within these three contexts.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1994.