Stillwater | |||||||||||
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Former AT&SF passenger rail station | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | 401 East 9th Avenue, Stillwater, Oklahoma | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | at-grade | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | c. 1900 | ||||||||||
Closed | 1958 | ||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1915 | ||||||||||
Former services | |||||||||||
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Santa Fe Depot-Stillwater | |||||||||||
Location | Payne County, Oklahoma | ||||||||||
Nearest city | Stillwater, Oklahoma | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 36°6′41″N97°3′17″W / 36.11139°N 97.05472°W | ||||||||||
Area | less than one acre | ||||||||||
Built | 1915 | ||||||||||
Built by | Santa Fe Railway Co. | ||||||||||
NRHP reference No. | 80004293 [1] | ||||||||||
Added to NRHP | March 3, 1980 |
The Stillwater Santa Fe Depot is a former railroad station located at 400 East 10th Street in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It served as a rail depot for the Santa Fe Railroad from 1900 until 1958. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, [2] it is an example of adaptive re-use of a historic building, serving as the national headquarters for the Kappa Kappa Psi fraternity and Tau Beta Sigma sorority.
On April 22, 1889, the day of the Land Rush of 1889, Stillwater, Oklahoma became a populous community for the first time. The town was designated as the county seat of the newly created Payne County, Oklahoma, effective on the day of the rush. The Government Land Office for the Unassigned Lands, where participants in the rush were required to register their land claims had also been established there. [3]
However, it was at least 20 miles (32 km) from the nearest railroad track. Soon, a group of leading residents realized that it would be essential for Stillwater to be located on the railroad if it were to survive, let alone thrive. The need was accentuated after the Territorial legislature selected Stillwater as the site for the new Territorial Agricultural & Mechanical University (now Oklahoma State University.) The legislators began considering selecting another city with better access to rail transportation. The Stillwater supporters began a campaign to get the Eastern Oklahoma Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, to build a line to the town. By March 1900, the railway had been laid into town. [3]
From 1915 until the end of World War II in 1945, both freight and passenger traffic grew substantially. By 1950, passenger demand decreased substantially, as potential riders switched to using their private automobiles. In 1953, the Santa Fe stopped offering passenger service to Stillwater. By 1958, long distance freight hauling had converted to road transport. Petroleum and its bulk derivatives increasingly moved through pipelines. In that year, the Santa Fe ceased moving freight to and from Stillwater, and closed the depot permanently. [3]
The oldest section of the building is a 20 foot (6.1 m) by 75 foot (23 m) frame structure, that served as both freight office and passenger depot. On the east side, facing the railroad track, were four doors, two windows, plus a bay window with three glass panes, The exterior was covered with horizontal wood panels. The roof had three gables and wooden shingles, two brick chimneys, and valleys over the bay window. [3]
The railroad constructed an adjoining depot building in 1915. This building was 100 feet (30 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m), with exterior walls covered by red brick, with masonry and wood trim. The north end of the new structure was left open, serving as an open-air waiting room. The new structure also has a gable roof, covered with green-glazed terra cotta shingles, and eaves that extend beyond the walls. [3]
Concurrently with the new construction, the 1900 building was modified by replacing the bay window with a double door, while the ticket window and door were covered with siding. [3]
A brick sidewalk surrounds the entire building and extends 200 feet (61 m) farther north. The bricks are the same as used for the walls of the 2015 structure. [3]
The entire depot complex sits on a plot less than one acre in size. The street address is 400 East 10th Street. [3]
Long-time Stillwater resident Leon Wood read an article in the Stillwater News-Press in 1991 reporting that the old station would soon be auctioned to the highest bidder. He recruited four other residents and persuaded them to help him raise funds to buy the property. They approached the city commissioners, asking them to buy the depot temporarily until they located someone who take permanent ownership and preserve the building. The city commission declined to make such an offer.
The consortium secured a meeting with an official of BancFirst, and made the same proposal. The banker authorized a temporary loan that would meet their needs and told them to go ahead and submit a bid, which was accepted. Within two weeks, Wood and his consortium had met with officials of Kappa Kappa Psi (KKPsi) & Tau Beta Sigma (TBS) [4] [5] - respectively a national band fraternity, and a national band sorority. The two organizations, which shared office space in a building on the Oklahoma State University campus, were already searching for a site off campus for their national headquarters. Only minor internal remodeling was necessary to convert the station into suitable office space. A deal was quickly made that relieved Wood and his consortium of their financial obligation. KKPsi and TBS still occupy the old depot. [4]
North American fraternity and sorority housing refers largely to the houses or housing areas in which fraternity and sorority members live and work together. In addition to serving as housing, fraternity and sorority housing may also serve to host social gatherings, meetings, and functions that benefit the community.
Dartmouth College is host to many fraternities and sororities, and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. In 2005, the school stated that 1,785 students were members of a fraternity, sorority, or gender-inclusive Greek house, comprising about 43 percent of all students, or about 60 percent of the eligible student body. Greek organizations at Dartmouth provide both social and residential opportunities for students and are the only single-sex residential option on campus. Greek organizations at Dartmouth do not provide dining options, as regular meal service has been banned in Greek houses since 1909.
Sigma Alpha (ΣΑ) is a professional agricultural sorority.
Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, is a co-educational service sorority.
Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, now known as Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Santa Fe Depot, also known as the Santa Fe Transit Hub, is an Amtrak station located in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the northern terminus of the Heartland Flyer, a daily train to Fort Worth, Texas.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex is a nationally recognized historic district located in Fort Madison, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. At the time of its nomination it contained three resources, all of which are contributing buildings. The buildings were constructed over a 24-year time period, and reflect the styles that were popular when they were built. The facility currently houses a local history museum, and after renovations a portion of it was converted back to a passenger train depot for Amtrak, which opened on December 15, 2021.
Washington & Jefferson College is host to 8 Greek organizations and a significant percentage of the undergraduate student body is active in Greek life. With 43% of women and 40% of men of the student body participating in "greek life," fraternities and sororities play a significant role in student life at W&J. The Princeton Review named Washington & Jefferson College 12th on their 2010 list of "Major Frat and Sorority Scene" in the United States. As of 2021, the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life recognized 4 fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, and Phi Kappa Psi, and four sororities, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Pi Beta Phi. The fraternities are governed by a local Interfraternal Council and the sororities are governed by a local Panhellenic Council, while the Greek Judiciary manages broad policy violations at the chapter-level. All Greek organizations occupy College-owned houses on Chestnut Street on campus. All members of fraternities and sororities must pay the $100 "Greek Membership Fee," a levy designed to fund leadership seminars and other educational events for Greeks.
Andrew Franklin Martin, born in Akins, Oklahoma, was a saxophonist, a bandmaster and an educational administrator and one of ten founding members of Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity.
The National Intercollegiate Band (NIB) is a concert band, sponsored by honorary band fraternity and sorority Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, that performs every two years at the national convention of the two organizations. Organized in 1947, the NIB is the oldest national intercollegiate band in the United States, and is open to all collegiate band members regardless of membership in Kappa Kappa Psi or Tau Beta Sigma.