The old depot
Don’t have a date on this photo. It’s the Santa Fe depot in my old hometown.
To learn about Pawnee Rock, check out my brother’s site, PawneeRock.org.
UPDATE: 01-20-10 – Received some research on the railroad through P.R. from Ray Randolph today.
from Ray:
After going back with you in history on the interstates, I returned to your photo of the depot at Pawnee Rock for yet another look and decided to try to put a date on it. Searching for “Pawnee Rock Railroad Depot,” I came up with the following from the KSHS.
“Track laying on the A.T. & S. Fe railroad reached the Big bend of the Arkansas River last night,” reported the Topeka Kansas Daily Commonwealth, July 12, 1872. “Col. Peter contracted yesterday, with Hugo Kullak, to build four depots—at Nickerson, Ellinwood, Pawnee Rock, and Raymond.”
According the Topeka newspaper on July 26, 1872, track had reached Pawnee Rock on July 20, but further progress was being hindered by inclement weather.
The same issue went on to report that “the trackage is now two and one-half miles beyond Pawnee Rock—284 ½ miles from Atchison and six and one-half miles from Larned, which will be reached next Saturday.”
Other reporting revealed that as of August 4, 1872, the depots at Raymond and Larned were nearing completion and the foundation had been laid for the depot at Great Bend. One can assume that the depot at Pawnee Rock was also built during this time.
Now, to try to put a date on the photo. Given the above dates and the dress of the people in the photo, I would estimate somewhere between 1880 and 1910. If the number on the locomotive was clearer, it might help to narrow down the time frame. In any case, thanks for posting the photo and giving me a chance to do some digging, something I have been doing a lot of lately. Digging and having fun but also getting frustrated because too many of the archived photos of, and related to, the IU Med. Center have no dates or erroneous dates and some have erroneous titles. But so it goes.
There is a house out on Hwy 77 south of Douglass (west side) that looks like one of these old train depots. For a long time I thought it was the Douglass depot. It even has a train car behind it. Then the librarian told me that it was just a house built to look like a depot and the real depot is close to the elementary and is used to store materials for the city works department. It’s been painted white and possibly had some of the details removed. It looks so nondescript now that I’d driven past it countless times and never noticed it. Now, somewhere I have photos of that old depot building in Manhattan. I’m not sure if it’s the original building or a replica, but it’s pretty cool.
I can see the Madison Depot out my back windows. Well, I can see it in the winter when the leaves are off the trees. It’s fairly close, just right there (Janet pointing over there.)
Anyway, the tracks are gone. Since I miss the train blasting by in Emporia, I like to think of the phantom train that is surely out there, just outside the bedroom windows, going by in the fog.
The depot here in Madison has been turned into a museum. I’m so glad someone had the foresight to do that. It’s a nice addition to the town.
If you ever come to Madison and want to see it, I don’t think it has regular open hours. It is open during Madison days. I think it *might* be open by appointment otherwise.
I’ll try to find out.