Blasterz have visited Fort Stockton many times, and we always stop into the Fort Stockton Visitor Center at the 1911 passenger depot to get our Pasiano Pete pin.
In the 1930s, Fort Stockton had three US highways converging just east of its busy downtown: The US 290, the US 67, and the US 285. (Source: Old Highway Maps section of (
visit link) ). Travelers on the OST passed by this very spot as they continued west on the OST.
Travelers along the OST would always have known the KCM&O Depot building as a working passenger railroad depot, instead of as a modern tourist welcome center and gateway to the historical heritage of Fort Stockton. During the entire lifespan of the Old Spanish Trail this building served rail passengers.
The Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient railroad as a fascinating history in this part of West Texas. Chartered in 1900 with a grand idea to connect West Texas cities that were far from the state's main trunk-line railroads, the KCM&O operated as an independent railway until it was acquired in 1928 by the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
After 1992, the rails are operated by the South Orient Railway Company between San Angelo and Presidio, while the passenger depot, built by the KCM&O in 1911, is owned and operated by the Fort Stockton Chamber of Commerce.
The history of the Old Spanish Trail is as varied as the areas it crosses on its journey from Jacksonville FL to San Diego CA. In Texas, the OST has had many routes, but by 1921 a predominantly southern route from Orange to San Antonio to El Paso had been formalized. Source: The Development of Highways in Texas:
A Historic Context of the Bankhead Highway and Other Historic Named Highways, but the Texas Historical Commission
(
visit link)
"The Old Spanish Trail largely overlapped with the “Southern National Highway,” as the route was named by the Texas Highway Commission in 1917. At that time, the agency formally incorporated the roadway as SH 3 in the new state highway system. (See Figure 183.) However, the route marked by the Old Spanish Trail Association included a wideranging variety of alignments other than SH 3; the most notable was the SH 27 alignments travelling through Kerrville, Sonora, and Junction en route to Fort Stockton.
Regardless of the name or designation used, the route quickly assumed a leading role in the state’s emerging highway system, in part, because it travelled to not only some of the state’s most important nodes of military installations (San Antonio) and industrial centers (the oil refineries in Houston and the Gold Triangle areas of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange), but also some of the state’s best known tourist destinations, parks, and recreational centers, such as the Alamo and Balmorrhea State Park."
By 1926, when the US Federal Highway System converted the old names Auto Tour Routes into a numbered system of US Highways, the OST was well established. At this time, parts of the OST in Texas were co-designated US 90, US 90Alt, US 87, US 80 and US 290.
The OST in Fort Stockton was part of the US 290 alignment that terminated northwest of Balmorhea at US 80 (The Bankhead Highway).
From the Historic Fort Stockton website, some history of the KCM&O RR, and the PASSENGER depot: (
visit link)
"Fort Stockton Visitor Center
Experience our special heritage!
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The Fort Stockton Visitor’s Center is located in the original Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad Depot constructed in 1911. The city secured the depot in 1991 and rehabbed the building to become the community’s official “Tourism Center.” The Visitor Center Depot houses information regarding Fort Stockton and other tourism destinations. The center is currently home to the Fort Stockton Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Stockton Economic Development Corporation and the Fort Stockton Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
The first train arrived in Fort Stockton in 1912 and the rail proved to be successful for many years. The rail changed hands several times before Texas became involved in the preservation and operation of the rail line. In 1989 the Commission provided a $3 million secured grant to the South Orient Rural Rail Transportation District towards the purchase from the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. In return for the grant, TxDOT received the existing right- of-way for the rail line and a security interest in the installed rails and ties. By 1998 the operators of the rail, the South Orient Railroad Company, filed an abandonment application with the STB. In 1999 the Texas legislature appropriated $6 million towards the $9.5 million purchase price of the rail line from SO RC.
The South Orient line is one of only seven rail gateways between the United States and Mexico and has the potential to relieve some of the congestion at other border crossings through the diversion of rail traffic to the gateway at Presidio/Ojinaga. The 391-mile long line is the only significant amount of rail owned by the state of Texas.
In 2008 the City of Fort Stockton undertook the rehabilitation and transformation of the grounds surrounding the Depot. Terraced gardens, interpretive sculptures, a water feature and new lighting and signage highlight the communities past and its roots in the energy industry. The new grounds highlight five important pieces of Fort Stockton’s History; The Comanche War Trail and the Comanche People, The Buffalo Soldiers, Comanche Springs, Early Settlers and Vaqueros.
Each area has interpretive signage to give visitors a brief history of the period and the subjects on display. It is the community’s hope, through the experience of the Visitor Center Grounds that each guest will come away with a unique experience and appreciation of our special heritage.
The grounds offer a great opportunity for photo shoots with friends and family. You may even be lucky enough to catch the Monarch Butterfly migration."