Choctaw Route Station

Constructed in 1899, the Choctaw Route Station served as a passenger depot for the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company before becoming the property of the Rock Island Railroad in 1902. It remained a major passenger terminal on the Rock Island line until the mid-1950s. The terminal building housed two waiting rooms, a baggage room, restaurant and dining room, and with its highly decorative terra cotta frieze surrounding the second story, this turn-of-the-century railroad depot remains one of the finest examples of railroad architecture in Arkansas. Rock Island Railroad service along the Choctaw Route officially ended in 1967, and the station later housed a restaurant, nightclub, and church until the mid-1990s. In 1997, the surrounding area was a warehouse district when President Clinton chose the site for the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. The Clinton Center opened November 18, 2004, and the station became the headquarters of the William J. Clinton Foundation and home of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, which offers the nation's first Master of Public Service Degree. The station is called Sturgis Hall in recognition of a major renovation grant from the Roy and Christine Sturgis Trust.

Little Rock, Arkansas · United States