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Butner Eagles Alumni Association

114 North Broadway

About:

The very first Butner (Oklahoma) schoolhouse was built in  1898, nine years before Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, became  the 46th State of the Union of The United States of America   in 1907. The main street of Butner was the county line between Seminole and Hughes Counties. The school was located nine miles northeast of Wewoka. The first Butner School was actually located just inside Hughes County.

A pie supper auction was held, and $175.00 was raised for the teacher's desk, other equipment, and supplies. The students seats were split logs, and the roof of the school was covered  with shingles split from native timber. The school was unofficially referred to by some as "Hickory Knot," possibly because of the type of wood used in its construction and the many visible knots in that wood. The late J.D. Butner, son of Tom Butner, the pioneer for whom the school was officially named, said Butner was probably the first free white school in Oklahoma. The first teacher was Miss Cherry. She was engaged to be married to George Butner, an uncle of the late J. D. Butner and his brother, Roger Butner, a WW-11 Army officer and former Postmaster in Wewoka, County Seat of Seminole County. However, before the marriage could take place, Miss Cherry passed away, and George Butner never married.