Press Release
July 15, 2025
Contact: Michael Mayes
State Historic Preservation Office, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-4479
[email protected]
okhistory.org/shpo
Van-Sanford Apartments and Moton School Campus Historic District Added to National Register of Historic Places
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society and State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) are pleased to announce the National Register of Historic Places designation for the following properties in Oklahoma. The National Register of Historic Places is our nation’s official list of properties significant in our past.
Seminole County
Van-Sanford Apartments
501 N. Milt Phillips Avenue, Seminole, Seminole County
Erected in 1929 as a response to the housing crisis during the oil boom in Oklahoma, the Van-Sanford Apartments and its Jacobethan style architecture became the first permanent apartment housing solution built in Seminole. The Van-Sanford not only addressed the shortage of dwellings but also mirrored the luxury and amenities found in the finest apartment buildings of larger cities during the period. Today, the Van-Sanford Apartments are seeing a re-birth as apartment-style housing through the use of Historic Preservation Tax Credits provided by the National Park Service.
Muskogee County
Moton School Campus Historic District
208 W. Seminole Street, Taft, Muskogee County
The Moton School Campus Historic District, located in Taft, Oklahoma, is significant for its associations with a defined All-Black town founded to protect and provide opportunities for students in the Jim Crow era. Established in 1949, the Moton School Campus gave the community autonomy for educating its youth and remains a central gathering place for socializing. The campus is evidence of a distinctive
landscape of racial fulfillment and self-realization, and its construction was made possible by the social movement to establish and maintain segregated towns.
The Moton School Campus Historic District was surveyed as part of the All-Black towns survey funded by the National Park Service.
Listing in the National Register of Historic Places is an honorific designation that provides recognition, limited protection, and, in some cases, financial incentives for these important properties. The SHPO identifies, evaluates, and nominates properties for this special designation.
The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve, and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites, and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs, and publications, the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit okhistory.org.
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