Knowles Grain Elevator
U.S. 64, Knowles, OKThe Knowles Elevator is significant because it is the only remaining structure associated with the grain industry and the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railroad, which was taken over by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (KATY) in the 1920s. It was an integral part of the agriculture, commerce, and economy of Knowles. The Knowles Elevator is the sole survivor of the three elevators built in 1913 by the Sappington Grain Company. With the arrival of the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railroad on July 4, 1912, Knowles rapidly became an important trading, marketing and shipping point for eastern Beaver County. The principal crop was wheat, however, kaffir corn, hogs and cattle were also shipped from Knowles to the gulf ports of Houston and Galveston and east to Kansas City via connections with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in Woodward, Oklahoma. The Knowles Elevator was abandoned during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.