Oklahoma State Training School for Boys
| Oklahoma State Training School for Boys at Helena | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1945 |
| Closed | 1982 |
| Current Status | Closed (As a juvenile facility) |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Helena, OK |
| Alternate Names |
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History
The facility was originally established in 1904 in Pauls Valley, OK, and has served as a county high school, a junior college, an orphanage, and training school for boys ages 10-17. The school was moved to the vacant Orphans Home at Helena, Ok and the original building was then used as additional patient housing for the Pauls Valley State Hospital. During this time the school operated on the same grounds as the Western Oklahoma State School for White Children, an orphanage that occupied the former high school after 1923.
Reconfigured in July 1982 as James Crabtree Correctional Center, a medium-security prison, the complex has housed more than eight hundred adult men offenders and continued in that function at the end of the twentieth century. In the 1990s the facility operated a farm and also maintained a quail hatchery for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. During the 1990s the prison's wild horse training program annually brought mustang owners and buyers to Helena.
