Boonville Depot

Boonville Depot. . When the tracks of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (known as the MKT of Katy) reached Boonville from Sedalia on May 31, 1873, no fancy passenger station stood here, and the bridge across the Missouri River was eight months from completion. As passenger service grew, the MKT built this brick-stucco depot in 1911-1912. The architectural style, Spanish Mission Revival, reflects the company's motto "Katy serves the Southwest." The MKT constructed only four other mission-style stations, one in Kansas and three in Oklahoma. The Boonville depot, the only one remaining, is on the National Register of Historic Places. , An MKT architect known only by his initials "HJB" designed the mission-style depots. Iron rails supported the concrete floor, and ciders and dirt provided fill to level the ground. Boonville's Cochran Construction Co. did much of the fill work. Bricks for the archways and paving came from Coffeyville, Kan. The depot's color scheme of light green trimmed with dark green was standard for many MKT structures. , In the hayday of railroads, the depot became Boonville's transportation and communication hub. Trains carried mail, and the telegraph agent worked behind the window farthest to your right. Spur tracks branched off the main freight line for loading and unloading products. These spurs were often termed "Team Tracks" after the mule and horse drawn wagons once used for loading. , The railroad help change commerce from local transactions to national and global trade. It removed the isolation of small communities and increased mobility for Americans. But with the rise of the automobile, train travel gradually declined. The last two passenger trains through Boonville southbound NO. 5 and northbound NO.6 made their final runs on May 1, 1958. The last train to pass in front of the depot was in 1986. , With time, this icon of Boonville's railroad era began to decay. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources acquired the depot along with interim use of the MKT corridor in 1987 to be developed as Katy Trail State park. Citizens of Boonville lobbied for restoration of the depot and helped raise money. The restored depot opened again in 1997. Today, it is the home to the Boonville Chamber of Commerce.