From the National Register Application:
(
visit link)
"Wall Street and Scott Avenue. Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad Freight Depot, 1870, moved to this location in 1997, Individually listed in the State Register. Inventory: 01 1-1 830-00165 Status: contributing.
Description: This is a rectangular wood-frame building with a broadly overhanging gable roof. Oriented north-south on the rear of the lot, it stands on concrete block piers. The building has board-and-batten sheathing. There is a wooden pedestrian entrance door at the northwest corner and four loading doors. There is another entrance in the south wall and a tall window.
History: The Missouri, Kansas & Texas (MKT) Railroad freight depot was constructed in 1870 in the flood plain to the north between the downtown commercial district and the Marmaton River. The railroad tracks ran along the south side the Marmaton River and the river frequently flooded the adjacent buildings. The associated MKT passenger depot was demolished in 1958 leaving this building as the earliest freight depot in town. The building was donated to the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County and moved to this location in 1997. Currently, it is used for museum storage. This is the site of the Fort Scott YMCA Building which was demolished in the early 1970s.
Integrity: Criterion Consideration B applies to this building because it has been moved from its original location. The building was moved roughly three blocks south and two blocks east of its original location in 1997. It is the earliest extant railroad-associated building in Fort Scott and one of the earliest MKT-associated buildings in Kansas. Railroads were very significant in the historical development of Fort Scott and this building is one of the few surviving resources illustrating this theme. Although it has lost its integrity of location and much of its association with other railroad resources, the structure retains its architectural integrity including its design, workmanship, materials, and feeling."
From Wikipedia om the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (The Katy)
(
visit link)
"When it incorporated in May 1870 the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad immediately acquired the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch and its 182 miles (293 km) of track. The Union Pacific Railway was, for a period of several years in the late 19th century the official name of the Union Pacific Railroad who later acquired MKT as part of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch had begun operations in 1865.
At the time of 1870 incorporation, consolidations were also made with the Labette & Sedalia Railway Co. and the Neosho Valley & Holden Railway Co. At this time MKT also acquired the Tebo & Nosho Railroad Co., the St. Louis & Santa Fe Railroad Co., and the Hannibal & Central Missouri Railroad Co. Combined with the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch these small, newly built railroads formed the foundation on which the Katy would build.
Congress had passed acts promising land grants to the first railroad to reach the Kansas border via the Neosho Valley and the part of the Katy had been the Union Pacific Railway, Southern Branch was in a heated competition for the prize. On June 6, 1870, Katy workers laid the first rails across the Kansas border winning the race. Ironically the promised land grants never materialized; the courts overturned the grants promised by Congress because the land was in Indian Territory and was the property of the Indian tribes.
Still the Katy continued its push southward, laying track and acquiring other small railroads, extending its reach to Dallas in 1886, Waco in 1888, Houston in April 1893 and to San Antonio 1901.
When the railroad reached Houston joint ownership of the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad gave the Katy immediate access to the Port of Galveston and access to ocean-going traffic on the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1896, as a publicity stunt set up by William George Crush, the Katy crashed two locomotives, pulling loaded trains, at a site that came to be known thereafter as Crush, Texas. The collision occurred before over 40 thousand spectators, three of whom died (and there were several injuries) when the exploding boilers sent debris flying. Ragtime composer Scott Joplin, who was performing in the area at the time, commemorated the event in "The Great Crush Collision March" (which he dedicated to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway).
From 1915 until January 4, 1959 the Katy, in a joint venture with the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway (popularly known as the Frisco), operated the Texas Special from St. Louis to Dallas, Ft. Worth, and San Antonio. It sported rail cars with names like Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, David Crockett, and James Bowie.
The Katy's purchase by the Missouri Pacific Railroad (MoPac) and the MoPac's owner, the Union Pacific, was approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1988. With the merger movement in full swing across the industry by the 1980s, for the Katy this proved to be a major setback as it cost the railroad much overhead traffic, which it depended on. Surrounded by much larger systems the railroad had to find a merger partner. On December 1, 1989 the Katy was merged into the MoPac, and the MKT is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad system.
Much of the Missouri track has been converted into a Missouri State Park, the Katy Trail State Park. A 3.5-mile (6 km) long section, also called the Katy Trail, is being converted into a multi-use trail through downtown Dallas, linking White Rock Lake to the American Airlines Center.
In 1997 the segment linking Katy to downtown Houston was abandoned and stripped soon after. The section between Katy and Interstate 610 was purchased by TxDOT in 1998 for the expansion of Katy Freeway, and the line that went into Houston was purchased by the City of Houston's Parks and Recreation Department. In 2009 it was paved and became the Heights Bike Trail.
In July 2005 Union Pacific unveiled a new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1988, in MKT colors as part of a new heritage program."