Logan County, OK  Harvey House

Submitted by: Tammie Chada     e-mail:  tchada@cox.net
=========================================================================
USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced 
in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons.  Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative
of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of
this consent.

The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the
file permanently for free access.
=========================================================================

Harvey House, Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma.

Frederick Harvey was fifteen years old when he left England
in 1850 to try his luck in the United States.

Years later he had sampled a wandering life that had seen
him working on several railroads, running his own restaurant
at the Topeka station of the Santa Fe Railroad.

Harvey soon had acquired 15 railroad hotels, 30 dining cars
on the Santa Fe Line, one which was in Guthrie, Logan County
Oklahoma.  This was the first time an american railroad
became famous for its food.

Harvey was a perfectionest.  He demanded sytle and decorum.
If he found a chipped plate he was known to throw the setting
to the floor.  

Rowdy patrons were ushered to the door, often by Harvey 
himself.

Customers not dressed appropriately were admitted only after
donning neat alpaca cotas which the host kept on hand for
the coatless.  A Texas cowboy said of the Harvey House, 
"They make you take off your hat and wear a coat, but the
grub is A-1."

One incident marked the history of the perfect food and
service at the Guthrie Harvey House:

Imagine the train station early in the morning of summer
1893.  Lighting was by lanterns. These lanterns glowing
in the windows, an engine being fire up and a few
passengers standing around.

The train pulls in and the tired passengers walk to the
Harvey House for the famous food and fresh hot coffee.

Sitting at the tables, yearning to "clean up", they watch 
as the "water Girls" came from the kitchen and began to
pour the hot coffee into cups with the Harvey House Shield
on the side.

Now imagine what would happen when baby frogs began jumping
out of the cups onto clothes, into pockets, hats, handbags,
and finally onto the floor, dozens and dozens of them.

Frederick Henry Harvey hired the Pinkerton Agency to find
the culprit who had placed the frogs in the cups, but the
culprit was never found.

There was a brakeman, who had worked in the Guthrie yards
for several years, who was know to have a sense of humor.