(rshsdepot) Hugo, OK

[Art Marsh <artmarsh_@_yahoo.com>]

http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=844832&pic=none&TP=getarticle

Depot holds museum
2002-04-07
By Ed Godfrey
The Oklahoman


HUGO -- A century ago in southeastern Oklahoma, life flourished around
the Frisco Depot. 
Once a main hub for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, commonly
known as the Frisco, the restored train depot has been converted to a
museum with a "Harvey House" restaurant. The museum chronicles the
histories of Hugo and Choctaw County. 

Like many Oklahoma towns, the railroad gave birth to Hugo. 

In 1887, the Frisco Railroad carved a path across Indian Territory from
Missouri to Texas. In 1901, the Arkansas and Choctaw Railroad laid an
east-west line that intersected the Frisco track at present-day Hugo. 

Settlers living one mile north in a community known as Good Siding then
moved to the railroad crossing area, said Noel Pence, president of the
Choctaw County Historical Society. 

They named their new community after French author Victor Hugo, the
favorite writer of one of the town's founders, he said. 

At the railroad crossing, the town rapidly grew. Seven passenger trains
ran daily through Hugo. Ten hotels were built. The town became home to
1,500 railroad employees. 

The Frisco Railroad built its first depot in 1903, but it burned seven
years later. It was rebuilt but burned again in 1914. 

In 1917, the Frisco railroad replaced the previous wood structures with
a two-story brick depot. At the time, it was one of the finest in the
Frisco line, Pence said. 

The spacious depot housed several railroad offices, including a
telegraph office. Included in the depot was a ballroom for railroad
parties. 

There were large, segregated waiting areas and rest rooms. Also in the
depot was the Harvey House restaurant and newsstand. Fred Harvey
operated a chain of restaurants and hotels, mostly for the Santa Fe
Railroad. His "Harvey Houses" were the first to offer railroad
travelers elegant dining. 

Harvey recruited young, unmarried women looking for adventure and
enticed them to move to the West to work at his restaurants. Known as
the Harvey Girls, they were properly trained ladies who were prudently
chaperoned in dormitory-like residences. 

Museum highlights include railroad artifacts, an arrowhead collection,
a bootlegger's copper whiskey still, a miniature railroad exhibit, a
miniature circus exhibit, a steam-powered popcorn machine, rodeo
memorabilia and historical photographs. 

The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Admission is free but donations are accepted. 


Researcher Billie Harry contributed to this story. 

=====
Art Marsh
Fremont, CA

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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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