Hunter Gymnasium
Marfa, Presidio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1940, Marfa received a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant of more than $15,000 to help build a new gymnasium named to honor athletic director Boren Hunter. The modified rectangular plan building features plastered adobe infill walls, a rare earthen material in buildings of this type. Other elements include concrete for pilasters and a continuous perimeter footing, and steel for open web roof trusses. A projecting entry steps down to the athletic court. The facility has been used for numerous school and community activities, figuring prominently into the lives of generations of students and citizens.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1940 the town of Marfa won a Works Progress Administration grant of more than $15,000 to build a new gymnasium, named to honor athletic director Boren Hunter. Its builders used plastered adobe infill walls — an unusually traditional, earthen material for a structure of this kind — combined with concrete pilasters and steel roof trusses. For generations the gym anchored school games and community gatherings alike.
Why it matters
The gymnasium is a tangible legacy of New Deal public-works spending, which brought lasting civic buildings — and jobs — to small towns across Depression-era America.
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Related people
- · Boren Hunter
Related events
- · Works Progress Administration
Themes & tags
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