I was studying Google Earth this morning trying to figure out where the roundhouse and yards were located in Sapulpa. Couldn't find any signs of them. Anybody got a clue where they were? I think they've been gone for many years.
Don - This piqued my curiosity. I went to the "Historic Aerials" site at https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer The earliest aerial photo I could find was from 1955, but it shows what appears to be remnants of roundhouse stalls just south of where North Elm tees into East Jackson: https://www.google.com/maps/place/E...93c398eed5e159!8m2!3d36.0021342!4d-96.1099881 Looks like any remaining vestiges have long been covered up by development. That same photo shows what looks like several tracks with cars stored, so I reckon that would be the yard? Best Regards,
There's a nice article in the FEM https://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/magazines/fem_1927_06/fem_1927_06.pdf
Yes at one time Sapulpa was the hub and terminal for the Frisco. The loss of the Frisco was a major blunder by the City of Sapulpa. Frisco tried and tried to convince the City to cooperate in their efforts to expand the yard which included a large roundhouse. The Frisco even went so far as to pay their employees with silver dollars so the City could see the amount of revenue that flowed from the rail road but it was all for naught. Then Tulsa came in with an offer for free land and that was that. My great-grandpa and grandpa then had to eventually travel to Tulsa to take their trains out as the Sapulpa yard shut down.
