| City/Town: • Yale |
| Location Class: • School |
| Built: • 1922 | Abandoned: • ~1968 |
| Status: • Demolished |
| Photojournalist: • David Linde |
Although the final graduating class at Norfolk High had only 5 graduates, the 11 room brick school closed its doors in 1968. The school grew up in wealth surrounded by a panorama of glistening oil tanks near Cushing. The school was built in 1922 in Payne County. The school has enjoyed a colorful record, heavily fringed in the oil boom wealth of the early 1920s. Oil strikes and an upsurge in the rural population in the area created a need for a high school, and in 1922 a small, frame building went up. In 1925 a fire reduced the school to rubble and caused the school to rebuild with a more up-to-date building. In 1926 they constructed the still-standing brick structure with 11 rooms, gymnasium, auditorium, workshops and dressing rooms. The teaching staff was increased to seven, with a full-time superintendent. A full-fledged athletic program also was inaugurated and special classroom equipment was installed. Norfolk soon became a school to be envied by its city cousins. Then with the passing of the oil play subsided, and the round-bellied oil tanks ringing the school echoed fading dreams and was closed due to financial problems and low enrollment.
Gallery Below of Norfolk School
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The reason she calls the cops is because its private property and it’s very dangerous. I know the lady across the way. She just doesn’t want ppl getting hurt or dieing.
Damn nature sure can reduce all kinds of stuff to nothing
I went to school there until the 5th grade then moved to Ripley. I have very fond memories of this school. Unfortunately it has been completely torn down now. I was in class with Shelia Morton, James Adams, and Randy Lackey. Randy was my first boyfriend. Lol
It’s sad I went to 5th and 6th grade at the school. With Cecil Glenn Sissom, Guy L Wisdom, Julia M Reinhardt and Dewey Reinhardt!
Does anyone know when it was all knocked down and by who? We went yesterday and it is all piles of bricks and ruble, but you can still go underground.
I think some of the information posted here is incorrect … The school didn't close in 1958. I say this, primarily, because I attended Norfolk Elementary School for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade. (My family moved away during the 3rd school year and then came back the next). And I was born in 1958. I can't remember the name of the Principal during my first couple of school years at Norfolk, but Mr. Johnson was the Principal when I was in the 4th grade. There were a couple of houses there on the grounds. Mr. Johnson's family lived in one. A family who went to our church lived in the other for a year or so. Of course, I haven't been to Oklahoma in many years, but my sisters and I stopped by the school once and walked through it. It was falling down by then. Even though these pictures now reveal little more than a few graffiti-covered walls and crumbling piles of bricks, the pics still brought back a lot of memories. Although in the pics, the front doors are missing and the entry-way and steps are covered with vines and bramble, I recognized it right away as the front of the building … I remember sitting there many, many times with some of the "older kids" and talking to them before and after school or during our breaks. The steps that lead upstairs to the lunchroom also sparked a few interesting memories of waiting in line and talking with the other classmates. It's sad to see it has fallen down.
Closer to 1968, I remember playing them in baseball there when I was in 6th or 7th grade. That would have been around 1968.
I graduated eighth grade there in 1962. That was not the last year it was open.
Can somebody please tell me exactly how to get there?!?? Please, I'm by McKinnneys butcher shop
If you were by McKinney's and couldn't find it, there is no help for you
Did you ever find it? It is a pile of rubble now, but you can still go thru the underground rooms.
FYI we went here for a small photo shoot today and the school is no longer standing, just piles of bricks everywhere. 🙁
Anybody know if this is still around and where it exactly is?
Have been there several times , daytime and night time, while it does have a creepy vibe we never saw or heard anything. We have a ton of pics from there.
Do you still have photos? I’d love to see.
Can you tell me were this place is exactly?
I have lived in the area my entire life as far as haunted goes, i hav spent plenty of time there daytime and night time and yet to experience anything paranormal. It is creepy, but what old abandoned building that is falling apart every second of every day isnt creepy, especially after dark when your mind is playing tricks on ya. Lol
My dad (81), & his 2 older brothers & 1 older sister went to this school. I believe my dad attended Council Valley grade school then to Norfolk in 8th grade thru senior in high school. He graduated in 1948. His 3 older siblings all graduated from Norfolk between about 1937 to 1943. Norfolk had some very good basketball teams in the 1930's & 1940's according to my dad and uncles. I remember when i was a kid that my dad had a letter-mans jacket with the big "N" on it.
As a kid I remember visiting my grandparents farm & my dad taking us to his old high school, in the mid 1950's thru the early 1960's. I'm not sure when the school actually closed. But I have several cousins that attended school there at least thru the 1950's. They all eventually went to Yale schools and graduated in the 1960's.
Several years ago (about 2008) I went to find the school but had no luck. I would be interested in hearing from anyone that knows anything about the old Norfolk school, especially if there is any list of students that attended the school. KRATC@COX.NET
My husband and I visited this school a few years ago. I took lots of pictures and these are the best I put on my computer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10854319@N08/sets/72… We went upstairs, and the middle of the floor up there doesn't look too safe. We also visited the boiler room, but I haven't put those pictures I took on here. Anyway it did feel kind of creepy down there and is definately a fire trap with only one way out, so needless to say we didn't linger long down there! BTW, you have some great pictures of this place on here! Thanks for sharing.
yea I was goin to say how funny I remember going out there to party and stuff and never remember anything freaky going on I also remember one of my friends writing that satans house on the wall when you go in so Iam not sure its really haunted!! but who really knows!!
All this is just plain funny. This property has been in my family a long time. There were never any kids killed there, and the only fire was a grass fire when I was a kid. It's just an old school.
Finally some real information. You wouldnt happen to have any old photos of it would you?
Ok I don't do the haunted thing. However we our working on geneology and I am putting together a scrapbook and I want to include the old schools. Do you know where I might find a roster or old yearbooks from here? I found the school and have talked to people but I would love some first hand info. my email is prhamy@gmail.com.
I grew up less than a mile from the school and I've heard many stories from family members that went there. I've always wanted to check it out and take pictures but I've never wanted to trespass. Could you get me in contact with whomever I would need to talk to about permission to be there? You can email me at leslie.e.maitlen@okstate.edu. Thank you.
This is for D Man. Were you in the neighborhood in 1925? Supposedly, that was when there was a fire. The school was rebuilt the next year and then abandoned, I think in the 50's. I have been unable to find anything about the fire or fatalities. So, you are saying, Norfolk School is now on private property? That mean, anyone there would be tresspassing, but it is not posted.
i have been to the norfolk school, i heard the story a little different, is there any kind of state report on this. my grandma grew up in cushing, she said she never heard of it, is it odd that the place still smells like fire. did it catch on fire since it was shut down? what about the small white building just to the south? was that the superintendants house. i heard it was the ground keepers house. and he burnt the school down because the kids were making fun of him, maybe i just heard from the wrong people please e mail me back with more info, maybe an interview from someone that went to that school.
We were there yesterday. So far, I have been unable to find anything out about the fire, or any children being killed in it. Supposedly the school was rebuilt after the fire, though we did find evidence of a fire. Most likely, a result of vandalism.
I'm just wanting to know where it is located. My husband & I want to come have a look. singr1989 at yahoo
I not only went to school there my mom was a teacher there in 1953-54 questions contact.
I went with a group of 5 tonight and I thought that this building was really cool. We decided to go before dark because when we tried to find it last week in the dark, we failed. So we showed up around 8 and found a good place to leave my car and proceeded to brave the brush to find our way to the building. It was bigger than I expected it to be, and there was a lot to explore. The boiler room kind of gave me the creepies, but that is because I knew of the stories going in. Nothing really happened while we were there, but we decided being there after dark might make all the difference.
I don't know how you guys planned on sleeping there or did anything in the dark! There was glass everywhere and spiderwebs at every turn and it was rather difficult to navigate in the sunlight, I am sure the darkness really played that up. Anyway, it's cool that there are some people much braver than me out there, but I decided this was worth seeing just for the fact that the building was totally rad.