Choctaw Route Station

Choctaw Route Station. Constructed in 1899, the Choctaw Route Station served as a passenger depot for the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company, before becoming the property of the Rock Island Railroad in 1902. The station served as a major passenger terminal on the Rock Island line until the mid-1950s. The terminal building housed two waiting rooms, a baggage room, restaurant and dining room. With a highly decorative terra cotta frieze surrounding the second story, this turn-of-the-century railroad depot remains one of the finest examples of railroad architecture in Arkansas., Rock Island Railroad Service along the Choctaw Route officially ended in 1967 and the station went on to house a restaurant, nightclub, and church until the mid-1990s., The area surrounding the Choctaw Station was a warehouse district in 1997 when President Clinton chose this site to construct the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. The Clinton Center opened November 18, 2004, and the Choctaw Station became the headquarters of the William J. Clinton Foundation and home of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, which offers the nation's first Master of Public Service Degree., The Choctaw Station is called Sturgis Hall in recognition of a major renovation grant from the Roy and Christine Sturgis Trust.