(Former) MKT Railroad Depot - Belton Commercial Historic District - Belton, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 31° 03.430 W 097° 27.750
14R E 646699 N 3436953
The tracks are gone and the building now houses retail shops.
Waymark Code: WM13NJX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/16/2021
Views: 0
NRHP Nomination Form"201 E. 1st Avenue / CBD-10 / Contributing / 1899
Railroads reached Belton during the 1880s, further spurring the development of the business district while influencing the direction of its growth. The depot for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe was built more than a mile north of the courthouse square beyond the city limits and therefore had little impact on the development of downtown itself, other than to heighten the prominence of North Main Street as the north/south arterial. When the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad agreed to build a spur line into Belton, however, the depot was built downtown where the line terminated three blocks northeast of the courthouse. A second MKT depot, built in 1899, survives one block north of the square on North Main Street.
City of Belton
"Belton met its first setback in 1881 when the City fathers, after meeting the demands of Santa Fe railroad representatives and putting up $75,000, found themselves duped out of a railroad in Belton. They sued, but the company built their own town that they named Temple. After many years, the Supreme Court finally ended the case in favor of Belton. Meanwhile, they contracted with the M.K. & T. and by 1882, the Katy's depot was built a block from the courthouse.