Santa Fe Depot

Santa Fe Depot. . , Santa Fe Depot , The Santa Fe Train Depot was built in 1911 at a cost of $22,000 in the architectural style of Mission-Spanish Colonial Revival. The depot building had curved parapets, arched windows and door openings, gabled ends and light stucco walls which were topped off with a green clay tile roof. The romantic style was favored by the Santa Fe Railroad between 1900 and the 1920's. During this time the company was beginning to market its line as a route for tourists to America's Southwest in hopes to lure the mid-west traveler. , The railroad soon began building depots, lunch rooms and hotels across the Southwest. The purpose was twofold: to increase passenger traffic by attracting tourists to the Southwest, and to improve the line's public image at a time when many viewed railroads as monopolistic and called for regulation of their rates. The Santa Fe Railway chose the "Mission" style for its corporate identity. It financed, built and owned all the railway structures and its architects designed most of them. , The Ponca City Depot was extensively remodeled in 1945 to give it a more "modern" flair by squaring up the window and door openings, adding northern and southern wings, building an additional baggage port to the south and creating various other modifications. Fortunately, the original green tile roof was left in place. A red brick parking lot and walking path which reached all the way to Grand Ave. accompanied the building which made it easier for guests to navigate the site and route to downtown. , Passenger lines through this station brought boys to and from the two World Wars and also many an oil baron to Ponca City to do his bidding. Guests of the Arcade Hotel, the Poncan Theatre and the 101 Ranch of the early 1900's would arrive by train at the station and then depart for their final destination be it a block east on Grand Ave. to the Arcade Hotel or Poncan Theatre or ten miles southwest to the Wild West Show at the 101 Ranch. , Santa Fe Depot and Train Mural , The mural depicts the 1920's era Ponca City Depot with train and persons that rode the train often and/or worked at the depot site. Left to right: George Marland (E.W. Marland's adopted son), E. W. Marland (founder of Marland Oil which later became Conoco Oil Co.), his wife Lyde Marland, a luggage boy and various railroad employees. Also included in the mural are train cars "The Ponca City" (E. W. Marland's personal business car), a 101 Ranch office car and a locomotive steam engine. , 2008 Mural Donors , Platinum: ConocoPhillips, Eastman National Bank, Ponca City Main Street. , Gold: Fred and Sue Boettcher, Pat and Jerry Evans Family Foundation, Sherwin-William Paint Co. , Silver: Bank of Oklahoma, Charles and Bayard Casey, Don and Susan Cogman, Farah Wholesale/Fowler Vending, Festival of Angels, Toni Gibson, Tom and Sherry Muchmore/Ponca City News, Sally Edwards Parker, Ponca City Medical Center, Jim and Shanlee Rau. , Bronze: Phil and Ann Bandy, Mary French Barrett, Julie and Brenda Berman, Royce and Kathlyn Caldron, Cherokee Strip Credit Union, Victor and Marilyn Coates, Mark and Jayne Detten Family, The Foxworthy Family, Chuck and Suzie Greenwood, Head Country Bar-B-Q, Ken Holmes, Dr. Bob and Karen Howard, C.D. and Mary E. Hull Family, Terry Huston, Lewis Associates Architects, James McNeese, C.D. Northcutt, Pioneer RCB Bank, Carl and Carolyn Renfro, Sam and Wanda Sheehan, 101 Ranch Collectors Club.