Santa Fe Depot (Amtrak: OKC), also known as the Santa Fe Transit Hub, is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

station located in downtown

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. It is the northern terminus of the ''

Heartland Flyer The ''Heartland Flyer'' is a daily passenger train that follows a route between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fort Worth, Texas. It is operated by Amtrak and jointly funded by the states of Oklahoma and Texas. The train's daily round-trip begin ...

'', a daily train to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

structure was built in 1934 by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

, colloquially known as the Santa Fe. It is the third station to have been built on the site. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2015.

History

Previous stations

In 1887, the Santa Fe constructed the Southern Kansas Railway, which traveled south from

Arkansas City, Kansas Arkansas City () is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States, situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of the county. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,974. Pronunc ...

to modern-day

Purcell, Oklahoma Purcell is a city in and the county seat of McClain County, Oklahoma, McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,651, a 13% increase from 2010. Founded in 1887, Purcell w ...

to connect to the Texas-based

Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) was chartered in Texas in 1873 to build a railroad from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1886, it had built from Galveston to a junction in Temple, Texas, which was founded by the co ...

. Among the stops on the railway was Oklahoma Station, a

water stop A water stop or water station on a railroad is a place where steam trains stop to replenish water. The stopping of the train itself is also referred to as a "water stop". The term originates from the times of steam engines when large amounts ...

. A townsite developed around Oklahoma Station, which evolved into a full settlement during the

Land Rush of 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. T ...

. During the land rush, the railroad was assigned a two-block plot of land for use as station grounds. The first station was built in 1889. It was demolished in 1901 to make room for a larger station. Following a decades-long conflict between local railroads and the city council, the railroads opted to elevate their tracks to reduce the number of

at-grade crossing An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections are ...

s in the city. This necessitated the creation of a new station, as the previous station was built at street level. The second station was closed in 1932 and was demolished a year later. Sculpted limestone bricks from the station were later re-used in the construction of a local church, which itself was demolished in 1988.

Current station

The current station was opened in 1934. The structure was built as a combination depot, containing both freight and passenger operations; the southern side of the depot housed the freight operations, while the northern side housed the passenger waiting room. While Oklahoma City was serviced by four rail lines, the station (like its predecessors) was used only by the Santa Fe. The Frisco and Rock Island railways were based out of

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, while the

Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad was a Class I railroad company in the United States, with its last headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1865 under the name Union Pacific Railroad (UP), Southern Branch, it came to serve an exten ...

had its own station on East Reno Street. Two Santa Fe passenger lines stopped at the station: the ''

Texas Chief The ''Texas Chief'' was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the ' ...

'' and the '' Chicagoan and Kansas Cityan''. The ''Chicagoan and Kansas Cityan'' was retired in 1968, while the ''Texas Chief'' was transferred to Amtrak and later renamed the ''

Lone Star Lone Star, Lone Starr, Lone Stars or Lonestar may refer to: Communities in the United States * Lone Star, Arizona, a populated place * Lone Star, Fresno County, California, an unincorporated community * Lone Star, Humboldt County, California ...

.'' In 1979, Amtrak terminated the ''

'', ending passenger service to the station. While the track continued to be used by the Santa Fe (and its successor,

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

) for freight, the station was left vacant for 20 years and began to deteriorate.

''Heartland Flyer''

In 1998, Jim Brewer, a developer responsible for creating the nearby Bricktown entertainment district, purchased the station from Santa Fe Railway and oversaw a renovation using $2 million funds provided through the

Oklahoma Department of Transportation The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is an government agency, agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for the construction and maintenance of the state's transportation infrastructure. Under the leadership of the Oklahoma Se ...

(ODOT) to make it accessible to people with disabilities and usable as a train station. In 1998, Amtrak and the state reached an informal agreement with Brewer Entertainment to use the station rent-free as the northern terminus of the new ''Heartland Flyer'' line, connecting to

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. The agreement required the state to pay for utilities and other costs associated with station operations. Service on the ''Heartland Flyer'' began in 1999. Another $3.1 million renovation was completed in 2007, and additional accessibility features were added with a $30,000 project funded by the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a Stimulus (economics), stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed ...

. No official lease had been drawn up until at least 2010, when Brent Brewer locked the doors of the depot on September 27 and 29, forcing new negotiations with ODOT. On December 21, 2010, it was announced that the ODOT had signed a lease of the station and parking lot for 25 months, with the option to extend the lease for up to ten years. The station was listed on the

in 2015. A renovation of the station was completed in 2017. On December 14, 2018, the

Oklahoma City Streetcar The Oklahoma City Streetcar (OKC Streetcar), also known as the MAPS 3 streetcar, is a streetcar system in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, that opened in 2018 and is operated by Embark_(transit_authority), Embark. The system serves the ...

commenced operations. The Streetcar has a stop named after the station on Reno Avenue, though it is on the opposite side of the railroad tracks.

References

External links

Oklahoma City, OK - TrainWeb
{{NRHP in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Amtrak stations in Oklahoma Transit centers in the United States

Buildings and structures in Oklahoma City Transportation in Oklahoma City Economy of Oklahoma City Railway stations in Oklahoma Railway stations in the United States opened in 1934 Art Deco architecture in Oklahoma Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma City Transportation in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Buildings and structures in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Railway stations in the United States closed in 1979