Steen Memorial Bridge Named for Edmond's First Pioneer Family

On Thursday, August 5, 2021, Edmond's Cordelia Steen Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, led the dedication ceremony for Steen Memorial Bridge at the Festival Market Place, 30 West 1st Street in Edmond. 

Steen Memorial Bridge, a bridge of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, crosses over 2nd Street in the downtown area of Edmond, and is exactly where the original Edmond train station, and the pumphouse home of John, Cordelia, and Charles Steen, Edmond’s first pioneer family, was located in 1887. Steen Memorial Bridge signs have been installed by the City of Edmond in areas near the east and west sides of the bridge.

At its April 12 meeting, the Edmond City Council unanimously approved the Cordelia Steen Chapter's proposal to name the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's Edmond Road underpass: Steen Memorial Bridge, the first entity in Edmond named for the Steen family.

The DAR chapter collaborated with the City of Edmond, the Edmond Historic Preservation Trust and the Edmond Historical Society and Museum to honor the first entity in Edmond named for the city’s first pioneer family. Descendants of the Steen family attended the ceremony, including Charlene Zielinksi and Virginia Sparks, great-granddaughters of the Steens, and the Steen’s great-great grandchildren, Debra Zielinski Coller and Dr. Steve Zielinski. Elizabeth Barkley, wife of Dr. Zielinski, also attended the ceremony.

Cordelia Steen Chapter Regent Andrea Aven led the proceedings, which included the presentation of colors by the Oklahoma 81st Air Force JROTC Honor Guard from Edmond North High School, the Pledge of Allegiance by Commander David Heald of the Frank H. Collings American Legion Post 111 in Edmond, the Star-Spangled Banner by James Bradford, Minister of Music at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, and the benediction by the Reverend Dr. Chris Shorow of Edmond’s First Christian Church, to which John, Cordelia, and Charles Steen belonged.

The audience was honored to hear from guest speaker Mayor Darrell Davis, who presented coins of the city to Steen family descendants Charlene Zielinski and Virginia Sparks. Additional guest speakers included Stephanie Carel, Chairman of the Edmond Historic Preservation Trust, who unveiled a plaque in honor of the Steen Family. The plaque was installed on the pedestrian walkway next to the Festival Market Place. Dr. Patricia Loughlin, Executive Board Member of the Oklahoma Historical Society and professor of history at the University of Central Oklahoma;Amy Stephens, Executive Director of the Edmond Historical Society and Museum; and Virginia Sparks, great-granddaughter of John and Cordelia Steen.

Mayor Davis and Charlene Zielinski led the ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside Virginia Sparks, Dr. Steve Zielienksi, Debra Zielinski Coller, Regent Andrea Aven, Stephanie Carel, Dr. Patricia Loughlin, Amy Stephens, and Tammy Ross and Deborah Adams of the DAR Cordelia Steen Chapter. 

In December of 1886, John Steen, a water superintendent with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was transferred to Mile Marker 103 in Indian Territory to supervise the construction of a 128-feet deep by 30-feet diameter well for a new coaling and watering station. His wife Cordelia, known as “Cora”, and son Charles, nicknamed “Charley”, lived with Cora’s family in Topeka, Kansas, until the new station was completed. That new station, later known as Summit, was formally named Edmond in March 1887, and in November of that year Cora and Charley joined John.

The Steen family, who lived in Edmond for 17 months prior to the Land Run of April 22, 1889,  supported the Land Run’s “89ers” by providing a dozen large hams, dozens of loaves of bread, and plenty of coffee. The family not only lived in Edmond’s first home and ran the city’s first business, they continued to support the town by being involved in politics and civic endeavors. John Steen was an alderman, served as a Trustee for Ward 3, and then President of the Edmond Board of Trustees.

Cora was actively involved in the formation and building of the Territorial School House and the other first schools of Edmond, as well as the town’s first churches, including the First Christian Church. Son Charley, in addition to being a Mason, was employed as an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman, then a county jailer, and lastly, as the chief of the Edmond Fire Department. 

Charley married Minnie Shoptaugh in 1908, and they had one daughter, Adeline. Minnie ran a boarding house for Central State College students for 40 years. Adeline married and moved to
California, and her descendants now live in western areas of the U.S. 

The DAR Cordelia Steen Chapter plans to place a DAR Historical Marker at the Steen family burial site at Gracelawn Cemetery in October 2021.