The walls are red brick, and the entire building is covered with a clay tile roof.

A notable feature is that the eaves have an unusually wide 8 foot (2.4 m) overhang beyond the walls, because of the relatively high rainfall in this part of Oklahoma.

[2] At the time the NRHP application was submitted, the station was still owned by the Frisco Railroad, which was using the building as a freight office with a one-man staff.

However, the company was already planning to close the office, in which case it would demolish the structure to eliminate future maintenance costs.

The McCurtain County Historical Society argued the building was the center of commercial and social activity for Idabel for 40 years, being the host of four passenger trains daily and also of freight trains, while there were no other common carriers serving Idabel.