Cowden School Building – Ghost Town

I was recently meandering my way back from working in Altus and like usual, was traveling back roads, often gravel covered or paved secondary roads. As luck would have it I ran across a town that I had not heard of and that was not in my “Ghost Towns of Oklahoma” book -Cowden. Located south of Mountain View and north of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Cowden is a small town that began in 1893. A school and church was organized on December 4, 1893 and Cowden became an independent school district C-2 when it was consolidated with schools from Valley View, Bunker Hill and Caddo schools. Cowden remained a school from 1911 to 1968. Today only the school gymnasium remains. At one time the small community of Cowden housed a post office, gas station, blacksmith shop, general store, cotton gin, barber shop, doctors, and a cream station and cafe. Now all that remains is a monument and the old school gymnasium.

GPS Coordinates: 35.2475598048,-98.7088907696

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