The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I wanted to make a longer post on the Santa Fe Depot in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I introduced y’all to this historic building in my post about the Pottawatomie County Museum, but I want to dive deeper into the history. So, let’s go!

“… this will be one of the most attractive places in Shawnee, as every care is being taken to make it a place of beauty.”

“Railroad News.” Shawnee News-Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), March 24, 1904.

Santa Fe Depot History

The Santa Fe began building temporary depots in Shawnee in 1903. The temporary passenger depot was built on Main Street and the freight depot was built on Highland Avenue.

McLeod was selected as the contractor for the depot project.

The Shawnee Herald reported on February 18, 1904, that “the stone work on the new Santa Fe passenger depot [was] about completed. The tower [was] being rounded off… There is much work to be done, however, and it will not be ready for occupancy for a month at least…”

The construction of the Santa Fe Depot cost around $65,000 dollars in 1904 – that’s around $2,304,980.34 today according to inflation adjustment calculators.

An article published in the Shawnee Herald on March 24, 1904 gives many details about the construction of the building. The stonework had been completed and the woodwork was nearly finished. The roof was nearly complete and then the electricians would come into wire things. Some rooms were intentionally left unfinished so employees could move in and then work could continue.

Santa Fe Depot Restoration Project

The Santa Fe Depot restoration project has been taking place for several years. You can read more about the extensive efforts on the City of Shawnee’s website.

Concluding Thoughts

I visited the Santa Fe Depot in Shawnee several years ago when I was in junior high. I hadn’t been back in over a decade and it was interesting to see how the site had changed and to see the new museum building. This building is neat and I hope the community continues to work together to preserve its history.

Happy traveling! I’ll talk to ya soon 🙂

Visit

614 E Main Street

Shawnee, OK 74801

Sources

Websites

“Santa Fe Depot.” City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Website.

“Santa Fe Depot Rehabilitation Project Commences, Preserving History and Enhancing Community.” City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Website.

“Santa Fe Depot Visioning Process.” City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Website.

Newspapers

“Building Depots.” The Shawnee Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), June 27, 1903.

“News of the Railroads.” The Shawnee Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), February 18, 1904.

“More In Sight.” The Shawnee Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), March 10, 1904.

“Railroad News.” The Shawnee Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), March 17, 1904.

“Railroad News.” Shawnee News-Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), March 24, 1904.

“Shawnee and the Santa Fe.” The Shawnee Herald (Shawnee, Oklahoma), October 6, 1904.

*All newspaper clippings in this blog post were pulled from newspapers.com. All digitized primary sources were found on ancestry.com unless stated otherwise. I am not affiliated with either website. I just wanted to let you know where I found my digitized sources.