Sayre station (Oklahoma)
Sayre | |||||||||||
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| Former Rock Island Line passenger rail station | |||||||||||
Former Rock Island Depot, now Shortgrass Museum, August 29, 2015 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 106 East Poplar Avenue, Sayre, Oklahoma 73662 | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Shortgrass Country Museum | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 (Formerly) | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 (Formerly) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1901 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 1972 | ||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1927 | ||||||||||
| Electrified | No | ||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||
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Sayre Rock Island Depot | |||||||||||
| Location | 106 E. Poplar, Sayre, Oklahoma | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°17′35″N 99°38′19″W / 35.29306°N 99.63861°W | ||||||||||
| Area | less than one acre | ||||||||||
| Built | 1927 | ||||||||||
| Built by | Leake Construction Company | ||||||||||
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance | ||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 00000654 | ||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | June 9, 2000 | ||||||||||
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.
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. The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 9, 2000.