MKT Railroad Depot - 1912 - Boonville, MO - Dated Architectural Structures Multifarious on Waymarking.com

County of station: Cooper County
Location of station: 1st St., Morgan St. & Spring St., Boonville
Built: 1912
Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival

"The Mission style Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (MKT or Katy) Depot rests on a cast concrete foundation over its basement furnace room. A band of brick veneer wraps around the building below its window ledges, while the remainder of the frame exterior walls are covered with stucco. The roughly rectangular floor plan of the station is interrupted by a projecting bay on the facade and, on the rear elevation, an offset ticket office and record room. Terracotta tiles sheath the gable roof of the MKT Depot. The roof extends at each gable end to form porticos which served as passenger and baggage handling platforms. Stepped and arched brick parapets at each gable end are supported by three arched columns which sit on concrete piers with brick quoins. All windows and doors, with the exception of the sliding freight doors, are covered with boards or plywood but are largely intact. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Depot retains sufficient physical characteristics to convey integrity of workmanship, materials, and design, in addition to its integrity of location.

"The Boonville Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Depot is significant under Criteria A and C. Under Criterion A, it is significant in the area of TRANSPORTATION. The depot is representative of the impact of the railroad on the development and growth of central Missouri towns such as Boonville, and of the transformation of the economy accomplished by the necessary reorientation of the economy from the river to the rails. Under Criterion C, the depot is significant in the area of ARCHITECTURE. The only Mission style depot constructed by the Katy in Missouri, the Boonville depot was also only one of four of this style constructed north of the Red River on the "Missouri Lines 11 and the only survivor of the four. Its period of significance extends from its date of construction, circa 1912, to 1939, the arbitrary end date assigned by the National Register of Historic Places." ~ NRHP Nomination Form

"Built: 1910-17
Style/Design: Mission
The depot sits at a NE - SW angle to the lot. The N & S gable ends have a flemish motif and extend out to form a porte-cochere supported on a brick & concrete arcade. The gable copings are concrete and have ornate skews and an egg and dart motif. The circular window on the gable has a rowlock surround. The main block of the building has the typical wide eaves, but no brackets. Also typical is the rectangular projecting ticket bay on the track side. This bay repeats the flemish gable. The S section of the structure was used as the freight area with large doors to the W and to the S where a more recent loading dock is located under the portecochere area. A basement entrance is to the E. Windows and doors are boarded and or locked up. They are generally 6-over-6 with trabeated lintels.

"Significant on a local level, this depot is important for it's historical (commercial) associations. The station was built from plans which were drawn by MKT engineers and was constructed by railroad depot construction personnel. The Boonville station was one of two MKT depots in the country utilizing this design. The second one, in Osage, Oklahoma, was razed in the 1950's. In the era of the 1920's a total of 8 passenger trains and freight trains used the depot daily. Between 1930 and 1942 depot traffic decreased and the station received only four passenger and four freight trains per day. However, with World War II and the years 1942-45, the depot dealt with an average of 60 trains per day. Following the war, traffic decreased to the 1930-42 level and finally ceased passenger operations altogether in 1969. At present the station sits boarded up and is in a deteriorating condition.

"The structure faces W onto the tracks and 1st Street. Herringbone brick platforms and walks are still extant in some areas. A gravel parking area and Rupes Branch is to the E." ~ Boonville Historic Survey  PDF pages 40-44