St. Joseph Convent and Academy explained

St. Joseph Convent and Academy
Location:Due south of current-day Oklahoma SH-33, Guthrie, Oklahoma
Coordinates:35.8714°N -97.461°W
Built:1892, expanded 1905
Builder:J.T. Brickmap
Architect:Joseph Foucart
Architecture:Second Empire
Added:December 19, 1979
Area:1acres
Demolished:1995
Refnum:79002000

The St. Joseph Convent and Academy was a historic Roman Catholic church convent and school located off of State Highway 33 in Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States. It was added to the National Register in 1979.

The Second Empire-style building was completed in 1892, with a northern expansion being built in 1905. Starting in 1897, it housed the Benedictine Sisters and the St. Joseph Academy, a boarding school for girls operated by the Sisters. St. Joseph Academy was believed to be the first school of its kind in the then-established Oklahoma Territory.

As Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the school grew larger in pupils and sensed a need for higher education. In 1917, the school started a four-year college curriculum and changed its name to Oklahoma Catholic College for Women, achieving another first by becoming the fledgling state's only Catholic college. The school remained open to women of all ages and grades until 1949, when the school once again changed its name to Benedictine Heights College, and began a student-by-day program for men.

In 1965, the Sisters and school moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, forming what would later become St. Joseph Monastery, and sold the original convent and academy property to the City of Guthrie for US$150,000 .As of July 2024, the property and surrounding areas have continued ownership by the City of Guthrie, with the Job Corps building and opening a Guthrie center in 1966, while also utilizing the old St. Joseph facilities until their demolition in 1995.