Rock Island Depot
a.k.a. Canadian County Museum
400 W. Wade St., El Reno, OKThe Rock Island Depot is significant in the area of transportation because the railroad was a primary factor in the development of El Reno, Oklahoma.
Development of the railroads greatly contributed to the growth of the American West during the last half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the major lines through present day Oklahoma was the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Building south from Caldwell, Kansas in 1890, the line traversed the Cherokee Outlet and the Unassigned Lands (opened to white settlement in 1889) and reached the border of the Chickasaw Nation.
Eventually the railroad extended southward into Texas, and just after the turn of the century, Rock Island acquired an east-west line. The north-south line and the east-west line intersected in El Reno establishing the community as the company's major station in Oklahoma Territory.
As a result, El Reno developed as the regional trade center for west central Oklahoma. The railroad provided a means for shipping agricultural products to market and provided a dependable means for bringing goods and supplies, as well as new settlers to El Reno and the surrounding country side. The business for the El Reno station increased to the point that in 1907 the depot here nominated was constructed. It was one of the largest on the line. The depot served Rock Island and El Reno until the early 1970's when rail transportation waned in importance.
Thus, the Rock Island Depot symbolizes the importance of the railroad to El Reno and the surrounding area. Today, the structures houses the museum of the Canadian County Historical Society.
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.