A HISTORY

Saint Joseph's Industrial School and Orphanage, and later Home for the Aged, Bethany, Oklahoma.

It opened in 1912 and by the time it closed in the 1965 several thousand children, and aged, had been cared for by the facility.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Original Second Floor Plan


On this floor (left to right) were dormitories, cells for the staff, center area was classrooms, more cells and far right (west end) was chapel space.


The east of the second floor duplicated the dormitory and staff space of the other floor.  The educational core add two small classes to replace the sewing room and parlor of the main floor. Apparently, the other two classes had originally served as a chapel and had a movable partition to allow it to be converted to classrooms when not used as a chapel.

Another section of three cells, bathroom and linen closet

The dormitory ends were apparently added on in the first 20 years.  This plan shows the west "dorm area" designated as a Chapel and the notation that some features were to be moved from the old chapel to the new chapel space.  Strangely, there is an entrance to the 16 sink and 3 toilet wash room from the chapel, so it can be guessed they were thinking ahead to the eventual construction of the exterior chapel in the early 1930's.

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