| Sayre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Former Rock Island Line passenger rail station | ||||||||||||||||||
| Style: | Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | ||||||||||||||||||
| Address: | 106 East Poplar Avenue, Sayre, Oklahoma 73662 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Line: | Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | ||||||||||||||||||
| Platform: | 2 (Formerly) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks: | 2 (Formerly) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opened: | 1901 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Closed: | 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt: | 1927 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified: | No | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owned: | Shortgrass Country Museum | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other Services Header: | Former services | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nrhp: |
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The Sayre Rock Island Depot is a historic railroad station located at 106 E. Poplar Ave. in Sayre, Oklahoma. The depot was built in 1927 along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (a.k.a. Rock Island); it replaced Sayre's original Rock Island station, which opened outside the town limits in 1901. The new station is just two blocks north of downtown Sayre. It accommodated the increased traffic the line had gained in the early 1920s; it also helped the railroad compete with the recently designated U.S. Route 66. The station building was built from and has an Italian Renaissance Revival design. Its design resembles two other surviving Rock Island stations in Oklahoma: the Hobart Depot and the Walters Depot.[1]
From the 1930s onward, railroad traffic on the Rock Island declined as travelers and freight moved on highways rather than trains. The railroad gave the station to the City of Sayre in 1972 after ending its passenger service. In the late 1980s, the Shortgrass Country Museum occupied the building.[1] The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 9, 2000.
The depot was erected on the north side of the railroad tracks. Grain storage facilities of various ages and size are on the south side of the tracks, extending both east and west of the station. The depot building is of one-story, brick and stucco Italian Renaissance Revival architecture style. It has red brick along the lower portion of the walls and stucco along the upper walls, with red, ceramic tile, gable-on-hipped roof and a concrete foundation. A stone stringcourse separates the brick from stucco on the walls. The windows are primarily six-over-one, hung with several four-over-one windows, with flat heads and stone sills. All of the exterior doors appear to be original. The three exterior pedestrian doors are glass and wood panel with three light transoms. There are two large, freight doors on either side of the baggage area, on the west end of the depot. The freight door on the north side is shorter than that on the south, to allow for the above grade dock. Decorative details include wide open eaves, oversize brackets with stone drops, triple windows, and a red brick chimney with a stone cap.[1]
The exterior of the building remains intact. Modifications that have been made since the Shortridge Museum moved in do not impact the integrity of the building:
The interior of the building has been more extensively changed. Although the room configuration remains as constructed, the interior does not retain many historic features.
Despite these alterations, the building maintains a high degree of integrity of location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, feeling and association.[1]
The depot was ruled eligible for listing on the NRHP under Criteria A and C, with a period of significance from 1927 to 1950.