National Register Listing

Clay Hall

311-325 Lakeview Dr., Enid, OK

Clay Hall is a highly-intact example of a mid-twentieth-century dormitory building constructed for a rapidly expanding institution of higher education in the small city of Enid. Distinctive exterior features of the dormitory property type include regular and repetitive fenestration patterns, narrow massing, and a prominent center entry. Interior features include centralized common areas, double-loaded corridors, and small functional dormitory rooms. This unique property type, found on college campuses and military installations across the country, was designed to perform several functions for a large number of people. It offered private or semi-private living spaces while providing communal space for dining and recreation. Unlike multi-family apartment buildings, dormitories did not have self-sufficient units with private kitchens or bathrooms. This type of communal living efficiently housed groups of people while fostering camaraderie. These features that identify the dormitory property type are present in Clay Hall and clearly communicate the institutional residential function of the building.

Designing buildings for expansion was common, particularly for public schools when Roy W. Shaw began his architectural career. It was a highly economical alternative to erecting an entirely new building. Shaw applied the same approach to Clay Hall, giving it a modular layout that was readily expandable when the need arose. The site, the exterior design, and the interior configuration easily accommodated subsequent additions that could be constructed with minimal assistance, if any, from an architect. There was ample space on the large lot for an enlarged structure. The configuration of the original design, featuring three distinct sections each with its own stairwell and exterior entry, bathrooms, and common areas, and the simple architectural features on the exterior were easily replicated in the later wings.

The Mission Revival style developed in California at the end of the nineteenth century. While the East Coast was cultivating the Colonial Revival style based on Georgian precedents, California architects drew inspiration from the Hispanic architecture in their immediate surroundings, specifically the simple buildings from the early mission settlements. Early European settlements throughout the southwest were also established to convert Native Americans to Christianity, and the style became popular in this region of the country as well as in California. The defining feature of the Mission Revival style, the shaped parapet, originated with the Spanish mission churches but was freely adapted for domestic and commercial uses. Likewise, stucco or light-colored brick cladding was used to evoke the adobe cladding of the earlier buildings. The Mission Revival style stations built by the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railways helped to popularize the style throughout the southwest during the early twentieth century. Builders' magazines and publications highlighting the works of fashionable architects also helped spread Mission Revival for domestic architecture.

There are several examples of Mission Revival architecture scattered throughout Enid. Most are small, vernacular residential or commercial buildings from the late 1920s and early 1930s with stucco or buff brick facades and shaped parapets. The Rock Island railway erected a Mission Revival station in Enid in 1928. This brick and stucco building has shaped parapets on every elevation. Two of Enid's public schools, both designed by Roy W. Shaw, exhibit elements of the Mission Revival style. Enid High School at 611 W. Wabash was designed in 1910. Although the primary entrance has Gothic Revival features, including a peaked arch, the symmetrical façade has elaborate curvilinear parapets. The Jackson School at 415 E. Illinois was designed in 1938 at the same time as Clay Hall. The small, one-story school has buff brick walls, curvilinear parapets, and clay tile pent roofs. Other design details shared by Jackson School and Clay Hall include the use of darker orange brick for the base of the building and window lintels. While the Jackson School may be a more elaborate expression of the Mission Revival style, Clay Hall is a good example of how Shaw applied a restrained variation of the style to a large functional building. Buff brick was a common building material in the early- to mid-twentieth century for a variety of architectural styles and was used for many buildings on the Phillips University campus as well as several notable buildings in the Enid commercial district.

Inadvertently, the Mission Revival style complements the historic function of Clay Hall as a component of a faith-based institution. Phillips University was founded as a Christian institution with the expressed purpose of training preachers to work in and expand the region's Christian ministries. While not necessarily intentional, the use of this popular architectural style for Clay Hall references the design of early missionary facilities.
Clay Hall retains all of the interior and exterior features that communicate its historic function and architectural style. The narrow footprint reflects the double-loaded corridor, which remains intact. The configuration of spaces within Clay Hall illustrates the social conventions in place at the time of construction, specifically the designation of visiting parlors for formally receiving guests. Its buff brick exterior and shaped parapets communicate the influences of the Mission Revival style.

The Christian Church founded Oklahoma Christian University in 1906 to train preachers to serve the rapidly growing population in Oklahoma Territory. In addition to being home to a large number of church members, Enid successfully outbid seven other cities to secure the school. University officials immediately began building facilities to operate a coeducational campus. In addition to the primary academic building (the four-story Italianate Old Main), the University erected several Italianate and Classical Revival buildings, including the Fine Arts Building and Athenian Hall, the women's dormitory. Classes began September 17, 1907, two months before Oklahoma was granted statehood. Oklahoma Christian University was renamed Phillips University in 1914 to honor benefactor Thomas W. Phillips.

Through the 1910s and 1920s Phillips University thrived, expanding academic programs, social activities, and university property. The onset of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in the early 1930s halted that pattern, as reduced enrollment curtailed further improvements but left the University with considerable financial debt. A significant drop in the price of wheat in 1933 had a tremendous, negative impact on the income of the region's predominantly agricultural community. Without families able to send their children to college or churches to honor their pledges, Phillips University's income was greatly reduced.

Despite powerful economic hardships, Phillips University leadership maintained a positive outlook and kept the school open. By the end of the decade, the fortunes of the school began to reverse as local and federal efforts to restore economic stability in the region began to take hold. A student loyalty campaign in 1934 consulted students on ways to promote attendance and secure financial support for the University. The following year the U.S. Congress established the National Youth Administration (NYA) as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. This work-relief and employment program provided financial assistance to high school and college students, enabling them to remain in school. The school felt the benefits of these programs almost immediately. In 1935 Phillips University welcomed 87 new students and 38 current students were able to remain enrolled.

In an effort to promote an image of progress and recovery, Phillips University hired a new President, Dr. Eugene S. Briggs, in 1938. Under the leadership of Dr. Briggs and with the help of the citizens of Enid, Phillips University addressed the debt accumulated during the Depression and embarked on a new building campaign. Shortly after his hiring, Briggs announced a five-year plan that included building a new gymnasium and pool, a student union building, a College of the Bible building, and a women's dormitory to replace the outdated and deteriorating Athenian Hall."

To raise funds for the $120,000 dormitory project, Phillips University appealed to women in Christian congregations across the region for contributions. Large and small donations were gratefully accepted, and a variety of programs were announced to encourage pledges. Bricks were sold for $.05 each through the "Buy-a-Brick" program. The first person or organization to donate $25,000 was awarded the honor of selecting the name for the new dormitory. In October 1940 Sadie Clay of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, donated $25,000 and named the building in honor of her husband, pioneer Robert Henry Clay, 19
The University engaged local architect Roy W. Shaw to design a three-story building in 1941. Enid-based Mefford Construction excavated the site and began laying the foundation in the spring of 1941. An elaborate ceremony was held that October to lay the granite cornerstone. By April 1942 all exterior work, including the roof and windows, was complete. However, America's entry into World War II in December 1941 curtailed private building activities, as construction materials were diverted to the war effort.

Work on Clay Hall came to a halt in the summer of 1942 with the interior still unfinished. When the war ended, construction finally resumed early in the spring of 1946, and Clay Hall was quickly finished. The final cost of construction was estimated at $175,000. Following a dedication ceremony on 11 October 1946,24 150 women took up residence at Clay Hall.

Enrollment at Phillips University grew following the war. The demand for housing spurred the University to expand Clay Hall with the addition of wings to either end of the original building. Both were built by Mefford Construction. The new north wing was dedicated on Founder's Day, 9 October 1951, even though the interior of the second and third stories was not complete. The south wing, completed in the fall of 1959, opened with much less fanfare.

The design of the wings mirrors each other and complements the restrained architectural details of the original center block. Each wing housed an additional 54 women, bringing the total population of the residence hall to 258. While the earlier center block had kitchenettes adjacent to the stairwells and opposite the formal lounges, the "kitchenettes" in the wings had multiple built-in ironing boards. Residents raved about these spaces as a way to complete necessary tasks while enjoying the company of other "Clayettes." Students also praised the lighting, tile, windows, and furnishings, especially those who moved from the dilapidated Athenian Hall."

Former residents of Clay Hall and members of the Enid community at large were very involved in funding the expansion. It was a source of pride for the school and its students. "Clay Hall Enlargement Bonds" were sold in values between $10 and $100 to finance the project. Again, the fundraising campaign targeted female members of Christian congregations in surrounding states for financial support.

Phillips University weathered the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s with relative ease. While student protests and changes in fashion and hairstyles marked the passage of time, enrollment remained steady. Clay Hall and Earl Butts Hall, the men's dormitory that opened in 1954, remained at or near capacity throughout this period. Declining enrollment in the 1980s caused the university to consolidate residential facilities. Clay Hall closed in 1985. It partially reopened in 1986 but closed again in 1987, this time permanently. After Phillips University closed in 1999, Northern Oklahoma College purchased the entire campus, including Clay Hall. The building has been vacant since 1987.

Clay Hall is one of two remaining dormitory buildings associated with the former Phillips University. It opened nearly forty years after the first women's dormitory (Athenian Hall) and was intended as a replacement for that aging facility. With the completion of the men's dormitory, Earl Butts Hall, in 1954-1955, and the demolition of Athenian Hall in 1952, Clay Hall remains the oldest extant dormitory on the campus.

ARCHITECT-ROY W. SHAW

Roy W. Shaw was one of Enid's most prolific architects of the early twentieth century. Born on 21 September 1880 in Geneseo, Illinois, he moved with his family to Enid, Oklahoma in 1900. The Enid city directories first list Shaw as an architect in 1910.

Throughout a career that spanned roughly 40 years, Shaw's work exhibited an understanding of the wide variety of popular contemporary architectural styles. He designed buildings in traditional, historical revival styles as well as modern American movement Art Deco and Prairie School idioms. In addition to commercial and religious buildings, Shaw designed public schools and private residences. Shaw designed the red brick Gothic Revival First Presbyterian Church in 1926 and the buff brick Art Deco Bass Building in 1930.

Some of Shaw's earliest known works were Enid's public school buildings: Enid High School (1911), Longfellow Junior High School (1919), Emerson Junior High School, Lincoln School, Garfield School (1919), and Kenwood School. These one- to three-story red brick buildings have limestone ornament and symmetrical front facades with an ornament that reflects a variety of classically inspired architectural styles. Shaped or peaked parapets, columns, or pilasters are common traits, and all have bays or wings that project from the front facade.

Shaw designed his last public school in 1939. This building, Jackson School, is a small, one-story buff brick building with shaped parapets and clay tile pent roofs that interpret the Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival style. It shares many traits with Clay Hall, which Shaw was designing at the same time, including the symmetrical façade with a projecting center bay, the choice of materials, and the use of curvilinear parapets and light-colored façade.

During his career, Shaw also designed residences for some of Enid's notable businessmen. These high-style dwellings include the Neo-Classical McCristy-Knox Mansion (1909), the Prairie School T.T. Eason Mansion (1923), and the expansive Tudor Revival H.H. Champlin House (1939).

Prior to designing Clay Hall, Phillips University commissioned Roy W. Shaw to design the College of the Bible Building in 1938. This three-story Gothic Revival building is a treasured part of the campus. It has load-bearing sandstone walls, pointed arched windows and doors, and a square tower that gives the academic facility the appearance of a church.

Roy W. Shaw was an active civic leader, church member, and Mason. He lived in Enid until his death in 1947 following a prolonged illness. He was predeceased by his wife in 1945, and his children had moved away to Oklahoma City, Chicago, and Wyoming. Following his death, Shaw was widely recognized for his long career and his contributions to Enid's built environment."

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2012.