November 20, 2023
By Landry Brewer
Though known by a different name then, Northeast Elementary’s opening seven decades ago drew some state dignitaries.
Because of Elk City’s population increases in the early 1950s, Northeast Grade School was built in 1953.
Fairview Grade School and a new Lincoln School for African-American students had opened two years earlier, though Lincoln closed after Elk City Schools integrated later that decade.
Northeast was built on five acres of property in the northeast part of town bought from R.S. Martin, and the school located on east Country Club Boulevard was originally named Martin Northeast Grade School.
Northeast was dedicated in October 1953. Event speakers included State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Oliver Hodge and Dr. R.H. Burton, President of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, then known as Southwestern State College.
A gymnasium was built on school grounds in the 1980s.
In the following decade, Northeast and the city’s other elementary schools changed from being neighborhood Pre-K—4 schools to being grade centers.
Elk City Elementary, just southwest of Elk City High School, was built to educate all of Elk City’s youngest students. When the new school opened in 2018, Northeast and Fairview closed their doors.
Today, the Northeast property and buildings are owned by GAS of Elk City.
Seventy years after it opened and five years after it closed, Northeast Elementary still stands.
Copyright 2023 Paragon Communications. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
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