Downing Depot Museum - Downing, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 40° 28.953 W 092° 22.142
15T E 553478 N 4481508
Not sure whether to put here on History Museums, but chose this one because most of it is railroad.
Waymark Code: WMKJE1
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 04/21/2014
Views: 4
County of museum: Schuyler County
Location of museum: just W. of Bondurant St., 1 block W. of MO A (Stone St), city park, Downing
Phone:
"A railroad station was the door to the future and,the entrance to the outside world for a small frontier community. This depot continued to serve through the years and today is still as much a part of the history of Downing as when trains were rolling through with passengers & freight. When the Burlington Northern Railroad announced that it has no further use for the depot, the entire Downing community became involved in plans to preserve the building. Due to the fact that the depot sat on the railroad property, this effort was given no choice but to move the building to assure its preservation. The City purchased the structure, moved it on August 17, 1976 to a new park site which is to the S & W of its original location, and established it as a museum, a form in which it could continue to play an important role to the community. Once moved, attics began to produce stored treasures. The Museum is well visited & used by both the community & interested individuals from across the United States. The depot is Downing's center of history, their one great building, and a source of community pride."
- National Register Nomination Form
"The Downing Depot Museum features a wealth of historical items from the area. One of the most recent additions to the museum is the wagon on loan from the Slaughter family. It was used by the Figge Store, located in the Germania area of Schuyler County from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s, which was owned and operated by Fred Figge. The wagon was specially built to make the long journey to the Mississippi River to pick up supplies for the store, as well as to carry local mail. It is rare in its size and dimensions, since it was a special order wagon. Also, the wheels were customized and made narrower for traveling in muddy conditions. Volunteers for the Downing Depot Museum worked hard to restore the wagon to its original paint for its debut at the upcoming fundraiser. Pictured are Jerry Scurlock, Robert Slaughter, and Margaret Scurlock, members of the family that loaned the wagon to the Depot.
"The Downing Depot Museum will hold its annual buffet fundraiser on June 3rd. Free will donations will be accepted and the meal begins at 11:00 a.m." ~ Schuyler Times
A a small piece of info from Google Books