LAST Ft. Worth and Denver City Railroad Building - Wichita Falls, TX
N 33° 54.882 W 098° 29.387
14S E 547164 N 3752815
Located at 504 7th St, the old Ft. Worth and Denver City office and freight terminal is the last surviving building of their operation here in Wichita Falls. Camera signs note that there is still activity here, but it's not clear as to exactly what.
Waymark Code: WMX86R
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/11/2017
Views: 2
This a contributing building in the Depot Square Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, and their Registration Form provides an excellent overview (slight edits):
The Ft. Worth and Denver City office and freight terminal built in 1921 is the last remaining railroad structure to survive to present day. The two story building with a basement, brick construction is in original condition with freight docks on the west side of the building, offices on the second floor and a former telegraph office with equipment removed. The façade extends above the roof line displaying cut stone window seals, stone ornamentation, and some brick quoin detail. The office windows on the west side facing the District are original. The Ft. Worth and Denver City Railroad, chartered in 1873, laid the first rail in 1882, reaching Wichita Falls in July, and completed into downtown Ft. Worth in 1890. On September 26, 1882 an excursion train with about 250 people from Ft. Worth arrived for the town lot sale the next day held by R.E. Montgomery, agent for the Townsite Company. The Texas Townsite Company, Grenville Dodge, president, was organized to and dispose of lands acquired along the railroad as bonus. J.H. Barwise and A.H. Harris donated the majority of the property. In 1883, A.H. Harris moved a wing from his house on this site next to the railroad and added more rooms, twenty-two in all to become the first hotel in Wichita Falls. The Ft. Worth & Denver Freight Depot was parallel to the tracks. In 1889, the two story Railroad Hotel or "Tin Can" (Windsor) appeared on site. In 1892 a great fire in the "Tin Can" Hotel caused it to fall across on the Harris House, and those other buildings on 7th Street between Michigan and Ohio burned to the ground. In 1890 Morgan Jones and General Dodge chartered the Wichita Valley Railway Company building a rail line to Seymour and to Abilene in 1907. The WVRR offices were located on 7th on this site from 1908 to 1919. Margaret Cousins, nationally know editor and writer, tells of the fun in riding The Valley train in her book, "Uncle Edgar and the Reluctant Saint" (1948). In 1908, The Wichita, a large dining restaurant, was located just west of the passenger depot and across Lee's Alley from the Wichita Hotel. It disappeared before 1912, presumably from fire. In 1921, the present building added and the passenger depot labeled Ft. Worth & D.C. Freight Ho.
There is plenty of parking to be had in the area.