NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National RegisterSBR of Historic Places Registration Draft Form
1. Name of Property
Historic Name: Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot Other name/site number: N/A Name of related multiple property listing: N/A
2. Location
Street & number: 620 Central Avenue City or town: Temple State: Texas County: Bell Not for publication: Vicinity:
1. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this ( nomination request for determination of eligibility) meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ( meets does not meet) the National Register criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following levels of significance: national statewide local
Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D
State Historic Preservation Officer______Signature of certifying official / Title Date
Texas Historical Commission State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government
In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.
______Signature of commenting or other official Date
______State or Federal agency / bureau or Tribal Government
4. National Park Service Certification
I hereby certify that the property is:
___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register. ___ removed from the National Register ___ other, explain: ______
______Signature of the Keeper Date of Action United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Private x Public - Local Public - State Public - Federal
Category of Property
x building(s) district site structure object
Number of Resources within Property
Contributing Noncontributing 1 0 buildings 0 0 sites 0 0 structures 0 0 objects 1 0 total
Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: N/A
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions: Transportation: Rail-related
Current Functions: Vacant/Not in Use; Work in Progress
7. Description
Architectural Classification: Late 19th and 20th century Revivals: Mission; Italian Renaissance Revival
Principal Exterior Materials: Brick, Wood
Narrative Description (see continuation sheets 7 through 10)
Section 7, Page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. x C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations: N/A
Areas of Significance: Transportation, Architecture (both at local level)
Period of Significance: 1913-1964
Significant Dates: 1913, 1954
Significant Person (only if criterion b is marked): N/A
Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion d is marked): N/A
Architect/Builder: H.J.B. of the Consulting Engineers Office for M.K.&T. Railway Company, St. Louis, MO
Narrative Statement of Significance (see continuation sheets 11 through 17)
9. Major Bibliographic References
Bibliography (see continuation sheets 18-19)
Previous documentation on file (NPS): __ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested. Part 1 approved on (date) __ previously listed in the National Register __ previously determined eligible by the National Register __ designated a National Historic Landmark __ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Primary location of additional data: __ State historic preservation office (Texas Historical Commission, Austin) __ Other state agency __ Federal agency __ Local government __ University __ Other -- Specify Repository:
Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): N/A
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property: 0.4 acres
Coordinates
Latitude/Longitude Coordinates
Datum if other than WGS84: N/A
1. 31.095248° -97.334113°
Verbal Boundary Description: Abstract 14 M. Moreno, Bell County Property Identification Number 316681; bounded by East Central Avenue to the southwest, the Union Pacific Railroad lines to the east; East Adams Avenue to the north, and the western parcel boundary east of North 12th Street.
Boundary Justification: The nomination includes the legal parcel boundaries currently and historically associated with the nominated resource.
11. Form Prepared By
Name/title: Kathryn St. Clair Nunez, Consultant for the City of Temple Organization: Horizon Environmental Services, Inc. Street & number: 1507 S. Interstate 35 City or Town: Austin State: Texas Zip Code: 78741-2502 Email: [email protected] Telephone: 512-293-6895 Date: April 2021
Additional Documentation
Maps (see continuation sheets pages 20-29)
Additional items (see continuation sheets 22-38)
Photographs (see continuation sheets 39-50)
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
Photograph Log
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Passenger Depot Temple, Bell County, Texas Photographed by Kathryn St. Clair Nunez, November 11, 2020
Photo 1 View of the front (passenger loading area and ticket window bay) of the depot, facing south.
Photo 2 View of the depot showing the tower and pedestrian covered portico area, facing northwest.
Photo 3 View of the depot showing the tower and pedestrian covered portico area, facing northeast.
Photo 4 View of the depot showing the western side, facing southeast.
Photo 5 View of the northwestern side of depot, facing southeast.
Photo 6 View of northwestern entrance.
Photo 7 View of the southwestern entrance.
Photo 8 View of the tower and emblem detail, facing northwest.
Photo 9 View of the eaves and freight door on the northern side, facing west.
Photo 10 View of the luggage loading and freight door on the eastern side, facing northeast.
Photo 11 View of the eastern side of the building, facing north.
Photo 12 View of the interior of the southern waiting room, facing southeast.
Photo 13 View of the southern waiting room, facing south.
Photo 14 View of the interior of the ticket office, facing northeast.
Section 7, Page 5 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
Photo 15 View of the ticket office, facing south.
Photo 16 View of the northern waiting room, facing west.
Photo 17 View of the northern waiting room, facing southwest towards the ticketing office and restroom.
Photo 18 View of the interior of the northern waiting room, facing east.
Photo 19 View of the interior of the luggage room and floor scale, facing southwest.
Photo 20 View of the interior of the luggage room, facing east.
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
Description
Constructed in 1913, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway (M.K.&T. or “Katy”) passenger depot in Temple, Texas, has a rectangular footprint (131 feet by 34 feet) and is situated parallel to and west of the associated railroad tracks. The depot is located within the urban core of the City of Temple, a community historically defined as an important railroad shipping hub. The one-story brick depot is in good condition, retaining an eclectic mix of features characteristic of Mission/Spanish Revival, Prairie, and Italian Rennaisance styles. A square brick tower with arched window openings and wide eaves extends prominently from the shallow-pitched roof, displaying the iconic Katy medallion. Deep eaves extend over all sides of the building, providing shelter over the at-grade brick loading platform. Additional character-defining features include loading dock sliding doors, wood-framed windows, a bay ticket window, and an integrated floor scale. The interior plan is largely intact, reflecting the period when state law required segregated watiting rooms in passenger depots. The depot retains integrity of setting, feeling, association, location, design, materials, and workmanship of an early twentieth-century passenger depot designed to display the prominence of rail travel and expansion of the Katy into Texas.
The M.K.&T. Depot is adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks east of the center of the city. Positioned lengthwise and oriented north-to-south in its original location, the rectangular building is bordered by North 14th Street to the east, Adams Avenue (State Highway 53) to the north, and Central Avenue to the south. Central Avenue is the direct corridor linking the depot to downtown Temple. This area of Temple is characterized by residential neighborhoods with houses constructed between 1915-1950s, one-story commercial buildings from c.1925 across South 14th Street from the depot, industrial warehouses to the north, and more recently constructed buildings to the west up Central Avenue. The setting is a light industrial area surrounded by residential development. Small commercial and industrial buildings occupy adjacent parcels to the depot. An at-grade railroad crossing protects through traffic along Central Avenue traveling east-west.
A herringbone-patterned brick loading platform, which is at-grade with the sidewalk and depot entrances, runs the length of the building on the eastern and western sides. Brick pavers are stamped with “Cof’yv’le Vit. B&T. Co” indicating the Coffeyville, Kansas, brick manufacturer, who was a popular supplier of surface bricks in the southwest regions. Original freight spur tracks are no longer present on the western side; however, the brick street remains in place on the western side of the depot. A chain link fence encloses the property around the northern and eastern sides. An expanse of grass and brush, once a landscaped park area associated with the passenger depot, occupies the areas north and south of the depot on the depot parcel.
The depot is described below in its current configuration, with notations made regarding deviations from the original 1912 plans where this information is known.1 A plan rendering of the current condition of the depot is notated and included in the figures for reference.2
Overall, the Katy passenger depot measures 131 feet by 34 feet and is sheltered with a hipped roof, oriented north-to- south adjacent to the railroad tracks. The roof is clad in composite shingles that replace the original terra cotta tiles (as specified in the 1912 elevation drawings).3 The roofline extends over the exterior walls to create characteristic Prairie- style deep eaves to shelter pedestrians along the sidewalks and loading platform. The eaves dip below the exterior walls, creating a steeper slope than the primary roofline, though this is a factor of replaced roof materials and/or shift of rafter loads from the structure to the metal brackets (early plans and photographs indicate there was only one slope to the hipped roof that continued through the eaves). Simple iron angle brackets and iron channel purlins support the characteristic three-foot eaves, and beadboard finishes the soffits. The roofline extends over an open bay or portico on the southern end,
1 1954 M.K.&T. Renovation Plans, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 16 2 See Figure 4 for the current floorplan labeled with room names and modification notations. 3 1912 Elevation drawings produced by the M.K.T. Railroad Company of Texas, by architect “H.J.B.,” Consulting Engineer’s Office, St. Louis, Missouri, See Figure 12.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft which is supported by four square brick piers supported on formed concrete footers. Constructed of red brick on the bottom half (approximately three feet above the foundation) and a darker stained brick above, and laid in a running bond pattern with periodic belt courses of header rows, the building is supported on concrete foundation walls. A canted bay extends from the center of the east façade. This bay form is continued at the roof level with a canted dormer window. The bay once housed the ticket office. One brick chimney stack (for a stove flue) rises from the southern slope on the eastern side of the depot, extending from the general waiting room. Early photographs show a stove pipe extending from the north side of the building, which would have served to provide heat to the the African American waiting room and a luggage room. According to a former Katy depot employee, E.M. Hentschel, who was interviewed in 1999, a pavilion supported on two wooden columns extended from the western side where the main door to the “white” entrace was. The pavilion was later removed, as vehicles increased in size over time and eventually knocked over the structure during passenger pick-up or drop-offs. Evidence of this pavilion remains with two small concrete footings embedded in the brick.4
Though many windows are currently enclosed with plywood, most original windows remain intact. Six- over-one, wood- frame sash configurations line the long sides of the depot, with four-over-one sashes on the short sides. The windows on the southern side at the portico have been replaced with fixed windows. A row of banked headers finished with a thin layer of concrete sit atop of a row of stretchers in a contrasting brick color from the windowsills. Three single-entry wooden doors on the eastern side lead into separate interior rooms of the depot. Three concrete steps lead to the entrances. One door leads into the original “general waiting room,” and the other into the original waiting room designated for African Americans. The door on the far southern end leads into what once was the “white” women’s waiting room. The door configuration is similar on both the eastern and western sides. The transoms and sidelights for the doors are enclosed in plywood. Large, wooden, horizontally sliding, tracked loading/unloading doors detailed with cross-bracing are positioned on the northeastern and northwestern sides of the depot. These doors open onto an elevated platform for luggage loading and unloading. Similar tracked wooden doors open into the freight room on the northern side.
The depot displays a square tower which is a defining characteristic, extending 60 feet from the western side of the roof in line with the bay extension on the eastern side. The Italian Renaissance-style tower is detailed with three round-arch linear window openings (currently enclosed with plywood) on each side of the top section of the tower, finished with a projecting corbelled sill course of brick. According to a former employee (general agent) of the depot, E.M. Hentschel, the tower windows were always open and never had glass in them.5 Dentiled brick and belt courses form the cornice of the tower at the pyramidal roof. Three linear, brick, false-window openings, which mimic the top section of openings, detail the west side of the tower. The arches are delineated with cast concrete. They are enclosed in brick, which appears to be their original condition. The western side is a full panel of brick above three rectangular brick window openings (currently enclosed in plywood). These rectangular openings are also found on the western side of the tower. Two identical cast- concrete emblems prominently display the M.K.&.T. monogram on the northern and eastern sides of the tower between the window openings. The original design for the stone emblem remains as part of the drawings collection for the depot. The emblems reflect the period when all railroads in Texas were required by law to be headquartered within the state. Therefore, even though the M.K.&T. ran through three states, a separate branch had to be developed with a headquarters in Texas. The stone emblems reflect this Texas branch, with “M.K.&T. Ry Co. of Texas” prominently displayed.6
The interior is finished with smooth concrete floors and plaster on metal lath walls. Baseboards and chair rails are found in the general passenger waiting spaces, and the ticket office and ceiling heights are generally 14 feet throughout. Interior doors are five-panel wood with divided triple-light transoms. Window openings are finished with simple wooden casings. A central ticket office separates the “general waiting room” from the African American waiting room, with separate ticket widows opening into each area from opposite sides of the ticket office. The “general waiting room” located south of the
4 E.M. Hentschel, personal account on record at the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives, Temple, Texas, May 14, 1999. 5 Ibid. 6 1913 M.K.&T. Railway Company of Texas Passenger Station, Tower Medallion Detail, Office of the Chief Engineer of Maintenance, Dallas, Texas, Architect Albert T. Canfield.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft office is detailed with three-degree crown molding and a support post finished with a Corinthian-order column cap. The women’s waiting room to the far south was divided into two rooms during the 1950s. Ticket windows open into the “general waiting room” to serve patrons. Two large glass panels with the word “white” stamped across were found stored in the luggage room. This panel was once mounted over the southeastern and southwestern entrances (now enclosed in plywood). Light fixtures throughout the depot are drop, string-pulled, fluorescent ballast trays. The central ticket area continues the same finishes and has built-in cabinets and shelving. A narrow, enclosed staircase leads up to the top of the brick tower. The base of the brick tower is occupied by a small storage room (once the Porter’s Locker Room) and the restrooms designated for African American patrons (accessible from the north-side waiting room).7
The north-side waiting room (once designated for African American patrons) is considerably smaller than the southern waiting room and lacks chair rails and crown molding. There is no separate waiting room for female patrons in this area. The separate restrooms are accessed through two doors (one for men, one for women) from this main waiting room. A ticket window with a small extended sill to serve as a counter is accessed from this room. The article published by the Temple Daily Telegram in 1913 descibes the interior as “next to the ticket office is the waiting room, then comes the ladies resting room, located just south of the white waiting room. The rest of the building consists of small apartments placed here and there, and fitted up with lavatories for both sexes of each race and other purposes.”8
The adjacent luggage room has a wood floor and exposed brick walls. The floor on the eastern side appears to have been raised to meet the elevated western section, where passengers and freight would have been loaded approximately three feet above-grade. The eastern sliding door appears as if it were modified (shortened) to meet the new height of the interior floor. A floor scale remains installed near the west-side sliding door. Numerous wooden folding chairs, benches, desks, and other furniture are currently stored in this section. These were likely for the passenger waiting areas. The interior of the freight room was not accessible.
In 1954, the depot’s roof was reinforced with additional King Post trusses and steel beams installed horizontally at the ceiling level. An interior wall, where the ticket windows for the southern room are located near the ticket office bay, was removed and extended into the “general waiting room” by approximately six feet. The original terra-cotta tile roof was replaced after the 1950s with composite shingles.9 In 1993, Architect Donald F. Logan of Belton, Texas, produced revised as-built drawings to reflect some interior alterations proposed for the depot when the City was gifted the building from Union Pacific in 1990. The city planned to utilize the depot for archival record storage and a public museum.10 However, the changes to the building were not made. Early photographs also show that the grass areas north and south of the building were landscaped with park-like settings at one time, consistent with the 1913 site plan.11
The Katy Depot at Temple, Texas, reflects the general design of small stations of the early twentieth century across America and illustrates how function dictated the design. Like the Temple depot, many of early passenger stations which remain exhibit features which are characteristic of early twentieth-century railroad stations and articulate a specific railroad company either in design, paint scheme, emblems, or a combination of features. Some common characteristics of these stations, all of which are exhibited by the Temple depot, include: the of standardized designs, with variations, for depots; replacement of early wooden frame depots with buildings of brick, stucco, concrete, terra-cotta or stone construction; use of stone, terra-cotta and concrete trim; use of red roof tiles and wide, overhanging eaves; installment of reinforced concrete floors rather than wood floors; the inclusion of a basement to house the heating unit; and a decorative tower projecting above the roofline. These defining characteristics are also found on other extant Katy passenger depots,
7 1913 M.K.&T. Passenger Depot Plans from the Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, City of Temple 8 “Katy Passenger Depot Finished,” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), June 11, 1913. 9 Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection; drawings date from 1913, 1954, and 1993. 10 “Temple Gets Historic Katy Depot,” Temple Daily Times (Temple, Texas), Randy Ray, February 17, 1993. 11 M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas, Layout of the Buildings and Grounds for the Temple Passenger Station, produced by Office of the Chief Engineer, Dallas, Texas.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft including the Columbia, Missouri, depot also designed by architect “H.J.B.” as well as the Union Pacific depot in Salina, KS (merged with Katy at the time of construction). Similar to the Temple depot, the 1916 Union Pacific depot in Salina also features an Italian Renaissance Revival tower and Prairie stylistic features.12 However, the Katy depot in Temple is unique in the preference for an Italian Renaissance-style tower rather than the Spanish Colonial or Mission Revival styles that were often employed throughout Texas, with the most prominent, high-style example of this in the Katy depot in San Antonio, Texas (which is no longer extant). There are no known extant Italian Renaissance Revival passenger depots in Texas.
Temple’s Katy/M.K.&T. Passenger Depot retains excellent historic and architectural integrity. Historic fabric and features, such as original freight openings, historic doors and windows, the brick tower, ticket bay windows, roof overhangs, the brick passenger platform, and the interior room divisions, remain. Although some window openings have been enclosed, many historic windows remain intact. The depot remains in its original location and in an industrial setting. The most significant alteration to the immediate setting is the loss of the railroad tracks that serviced the freight depot and ran along the western side of the passenger depot, as well as the loss of the associated freight depot.
12 Coffin, Frank et al. “Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Depot, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 1977.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
Statement of Significance
The 1913 M.K.&T. Railway passenger depot is a landmark building in Temple, Texas, and is a tangible link to a period in history when railroads were the principal means of transporting goods and people and served as important gathering spaces. The depot incorporates an eclectic mix of architectural styles, including Italian Renaissance Revival, Mission Revival, and Prairie School, that were popular in the first decade of the twentieth century. The influence of the Mission and Italian Renaissance Revival styles can be seen in the square tower and arched brick details, and the Prairie School influence is seen in the roof’s deep, overhanging eaves. The prominent cast concrete M.K.&T. emblem clearly displays the function of the building and the presence of the railway as part of the historic Temple landscape. The prominent tower is the dominant character-defining architectural feature of the building and is an uncommon feature among extant Texas railroad depots. The M.K.&T. depot is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the local level of significance under Criterion A in the area of Transportation as an integral part of Temple’s key transportation network and link through Texas during the first half of the twentieth century. Aside from rail corridors, it is the last standalone remnant of the Katy Railway’s presence in Temple. It is also significant under Criterion C as an excellent local example of early twentieth-century architectural style influences adopted for railroad architecture, with a plan (reflected on the exterior with entrances/exits as well as on the interior with divided rooms) that is indicative of statutes that mandated separate spaces based on ethnicity. The period of significance is from 1913 (the year the building was completed) to 1964. This period encompasses modifications made in 1953 and acknowledges its continued use for the purpose for which it was constructed until 1964, the last year that the building was used as a passenger depot.
The City of Temple, Texas, was originally defined by the two railroads: The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe (the “Santa Fe” or “G.C.&S.F.”) and the M.K.&T. The Santa Fe Railroad established a railroad junction construction camp, called Temple Junction, named for the chief construction engineer Bernard Moore Temple. Railroad companies were eager to expand their reach to the Gulf of Mexico, and the prairieland of Temple was in the path to do so. The Santa Fe Railroad, having purchased 187 acres that would become the City of Temple, is credited with surveying the land and establishing streets and blocks which were auctioned off to settlers, and eventually established Temple as the railroad’s division headquarters. The history of the railroad companies throughout the region in the late 1800s and early 1900s is a story of mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring driven by political and economic influences. The development of the Katy line and foray into Temple, Texas, is part of this story.
Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway (M.K.&T. or “Katy”)
In 1865, the Union Pacific Railway-Southern Branch (later merged into the M.K.&T. and not to be confused with the Union Pacific Railroad of the present) began operations originating from Fort Riley, Kansas. Construction of the line began in 1869, with the intended railway planned from Junction City, Kansas, to New Orleans, Louisiana. The expansion was facilitated by the federal government’s authorization that right-of-way through Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and land bonuses would be given to the railroad that first reached the Territory’s northern border. In addition, Texas recommended that Congress allocate funds to ensure the Union Pacific was built through the state.13
In May of 1870, the M.K.&T. was incorporated and immediately acquired the Union Pacific Railway-Southern Branch and its 182 miles of track. The railway was the renamed the M.K.&T. to advertise its reach into Texas. In 1872, the M.K.&T. was considered the first railroad to enter Texas from the north, crossing the Red River at the City of Denison, and the first railroad to cross the Red River through Oklahoma. The first M.K.&T. Texas depot was constructed in Denison, and the city was platted with lots sold solely based on the establishment of the M.K.&T (Masterson 177). At the time of the 1870 incorporation of the M.K.& T., consolidations were also made with several additional small, newly constructed railroads to form the early lines of the Katy, under the direction of renowned railroad tycoon Jay Gould.
13 Handbook of Texas Online. Hofsommer, Donovan L. “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad,” accessed November 10, 2020, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/missouri-kansas-texas-railroad
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft
In 1853, the Texas legislature decided that all railroads operating in Texas should be headquartered in the state; when outside companies began acquiring control of Texas railroads in the 1880s, they were required to retain the Texas corporations. In response to this legislation, the M.K.&T. Railway operated as the M.K.&T. Railway of Texas. The railroad was intended to direct business from Missouri, Kansas, and the north and east through Indian Territory to Texas. In its earliest days the M.K.T. (the railroad’s reporting mark) was commonly referred to as "the K-T," which was its stock exchange symbol; this common designation soon evolved into "the Katy.”
In 1881, directors of the Katy determined that Jay Gould’s Great Northern Railway, 622 miles of which ran through southern Texas, should become part of the Katy lines into Texas. The merger was completed by May of 1881 and was considered part of the master plan to connect Gould’s Missouri Pacific (MoPac) lines through major cities of Texas. In March of 1882, the Katy completed the line through Temple, and continued south through Taylor, Texas, where it then connected to International and Great Northern (I&G.N.) main lines (also under the control of Jay Gould). By 1888, the Katy resumed independent operation from MoPac and Jay Gould. The Katy Railroad eventually continued southward, in large part under the influence of Jay Gould, acquiring other small railroads and establishing key connections to St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Waco, and finally San Antonio by 1901.14 Eventually the Katy's core system would reach its goal to link Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, to Galveston, Texas.
The Katy in Temple, Texas
The 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Temple display the dominant presence of the G.C.&S.F. property and buildings, with the M.K.&T. lines depicted to the east of town, adjacent to the Temple Compress Company where the M.K.&T and the G.C.&S.F. met at a switching point. An M.K.&T. depot is not indicated on the 1885 map. The 1993 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows an M.K.&T. depot south of the location of the subject depot, and just north of the intersection with the G.C.&S.F. line. Operating out of an office in Bell County, the M.K.&T. officials purchased land east of the city center of Temple and west of the existing tracks for the construction of a freight depot and a passenger depot in 1895 from an A.F. and Minnie Bentley.15 Additional land was purchased from O.E. Shipp for the same purpose.16
The City of Temple quickly grew into an important shipping and processing hub for cotton and grain from regional farms. The 1900 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows the Katy line running north to south through the eastern side of town. Along the Katy railroad line within Temple were several industrial facilities, including the Central Texas Cotton Oil, Empire Mill, Temple Compress, and American Cotton Gin companies, all of which depended upon the Katy for shipping. By 1905, the Katy line ran through the Murrell Slack Cotton Gin, the Central Texas Oil, and the Central Texas Compress companies in Temple. Infrastructure to support the growing population followed suit in the rapid development of the community. The railroads also supported the influx of people drawn to the City’s early healthcare facilities.17
Before the advent of automobiles for travel, communities relied heavily on rail transportation. Passenger depots were constructed in response to this demand, often utilizing standardized plans produced by the railroad companies and modified with architectural details to suit regional aesthetics. According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of 1900, a passenger depot was constructed in the location of the current depot by this time. A rectangular frame building, divided into a single waiting room and baggage room, is shown adjacent to the M.K.&T. line at the eastern end of Central Avenue. By 1910, this depot was replaced with a slightly larger frame depot, consistent with a linear rectangular form and wide eaves. Near the depot were a lodging house, a hotel, and numerous residential areas, an indication of the healthy
14 Masterson, V. V. The Katy Railroad and the Last Frontier. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, reprint 1988, second printing, 1992), p. 221. 15 Bell County Deed Records, Book 104, page 168. 16 Ibid: Book 36, page 17. 17 Handbook of Texas Online. Smyrl, Vivian Elizabeth, 2004. “Temple, Texas,” accessed on November 5, 2020.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft population of the city. The Katy Railway Company was trying to keep up with the influx of people and demand for rail travel through Temple. In 1911, an article ran in The Temple Daily Telegram entitled “Officials of the Katy Want More Business and Are Proposing to Find Out Just What Temple Needs and What She Wants.”18 The article notes that local business officials approached Katy agents regarding the “deplorable condition of the railroad’s property, especially in the matter of the passenger depot,” and that “people passing through the city must necessarily form a very unsatisfactory opinion regarding the city, judging from the surroundings at the depot.” The article also notes that despite the condition of the depot, the Katy still retained much business from shippers, though the City wished to demonstrate to Katy agents the desire for a new depot and upgraded facilities in order to showcase Temple as the “prettiest and best kept secret in Texas.”19 Competition with the G.C.&S.F. and pressure to maintain a presence in Temple is also evident in a follow-up article summarizing the Katy agents’ visit to the newly constructed G.C.&S.F. passenger depot. Katy agents were “deeply interested and impressed with the new Santa Fe depot and improvements which are in rather strong contrast to their own.”20
The 1913 Temple Katy Depot
The current depot is the third iteration of passenger depots constructed by the Katy and the earlier Union Pacific at this location. In 1913, the current depot replaced an earlier Queen Anne-style-influenced frame building. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1896 indicate a smaller rectangular frame depot at the location adjacent to the Katy lines along the eastern edge of town, which was the predecessor building to the Queen Anne-style depot. The 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map illustrates a depot of a differing configuration from the subject building, reflecting the footprint of the second depot. A two-story frame freight depot was located just north of the passenger depot, though this is no longer extant. This freight depot is depicted on the 1915 Sanborn Map and in early photographs.21 The original 1900 Union Pacific station confomed to the long narrow plan common of many trackside passenger depots, according to the 1900 Sanborn Map. When the station was in operation in 1900, the Katy line in Temple served local industries positioned adjacent to the tracks, including the Central Texas Cotton Oil Company, the Empire Mill Company, Temple Compress Company, and the American Cotton Gin.22 With the freight depot located just north of the passenger depot, this rail trainsportation hub became a gathering spot for travelers and businesspeople and the source of news as well as the shipping and receiving of goods, making it instrumental in the economic development of the Temple community.
A June 1913 Temple Daily Telegram article entitled “Katy Depot Finished” notes the current building was commenced on January 3, 1913, and was ready to serve travelers on June 4 of that year. The article states “From the standpoint of aesthetics no reasonable criticism can be urged against the new depot. It adds another to the many costly and beautiful buildings which are the pride of the City, and which go far as symbol for a live, progressive Temple.”23 According to the same newspaper article, construction of the depot took six months, at a cost of $30,000, and the first passenger train arrived June 4 at 6:30 p.m. The article provides the following description of the depot:
“The huge roof covered with red Spanish tiling, extending far beyond the walls of the structure on all sides, thereby creating very pleasant handy spots outside of the depot, and supported on the south side by three great pillars of brown ginger brick; the great sixty-two-foot tower, visible several blocks before the structure itself comes in view, and the woodwork painted white, with artistic green trimmings. In going up the tower one ascends three successive flights of stairs, each which carries them from one platform to another. Removing a trap door and climbing up to the
18 “Officials of the Katy, Want More Business,” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), April 8, 2011. 19 Ibid. 20 “Katy Officials Make Brief Visit,” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), April 22, 1911. 21 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, Bell County, Temple: 1910 and 1915 (Library of Congress Online Collection); See Figures 2-3. 22 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, Bell County, Temple: 1900 (Library of Congress Online Collection) 23 “Katy Depot Finished,” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), January 3, 1913.
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floor one finds himself on the platform tower itself. It is open on all sides [with a] magnificent view of the whole city on the southwest.” 24
The original plans, copies of which are available at the City of Temple’s Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, were produced by the M.K.&T. Railway Company of Texas in 1912 and labeled as the “Passenger Station Temple” from the Consulting Engineers Office in St. Louis, Missouri.25 The architect credited for the depot design is “H.J.B,” an architect who also designed three depots in Oklahoma and two in Kansas reflecting the Spanish Colonial and Mission Revival Styles (and eclectic mixes of these styles). The architect, with only his initials known at this time, worked for the Katy Railroad Company and produced standardized plans for specific types of depots and their construction. This architect is also noted on the plans for the 1910 Katy depot in Columbia, Missouri.26 Albert T. Canfield of the Dallas Katy office is listed as the Architect on a detail rendering of the concrete medallion on the depot’s prominent tower. A contractor from Cleburne, Texas, named H.D. McCoy constructed the depot. H.D. McCoy constructed several buildings within the region, including the First United Methodist Church in Temple.27
The Katy Depot at Temple reflects the general design of small stations of the early twentieth century across America and illustrates how function dictated the design. Characteristic features of early twentieth- century railroad stations often are indicative of a specific railroad company either in design, paint scheme, emblems, or a combination of features. Some common characteristics of these stations include: the use of standardized designs with applied style variations; the replacement of early wooden frame depots with buildings of brick, stucco, concrete, terra-cotta or stone construction; the use of stone, terra-cotta and concrete trim; the use of red roof tiles and wide, overhanging eaves; the installment of reinforced concrete floors rather than wood floors; the inclusion of a basement to house the heating unit; and a decorative tower projecting above the roofline.28 All of these characteristics are exhibited by the Temple depot.
Most Texas railroad stations loosely conformed to rectangular plans with wood or brick construction and hipped roofs with deep eaves, and adhered to standardized plans produced by the railroad company active at the time. Stylistic features were then applied, often to complement the local or regional aesthetic. In the southwest, the Katy and other corpororations or railroad conglomerations adopted the Spanish Colonial or Mission Style of architectural influence for depots. This was demonstrated with the application of characteristic parapets, towers, arched window and pavilion openings, stucco cladding, and Spanish or terra-cotta tile roofs. When the Katy lines reached San Antonio in 1904, a large passenger depot was constructed displaying iconic features of the style. However, the Temple depot deviates slightly from this aesthetic and displays characteristics of the Italian Rennasaince, Mission, and Prairie styles, with an iconic square tower and pyramidal roof.
The 1912 plans and elevations specify the original design and materials of the Temple Katy depot.29 Remarkably, the current condition overall reflects the same original plan and materials, with some minor modifications and repairs made over time. The brick depot is one-story with a partial basement that houses the original boiler. An almost-square brick tower rises from the roofline and is considered a significant character-defining feature. Prominently displayed on this tower is the original M.K.&T. cast-concrete emblem.30 The linear building is oriented with the passenger loading platform
24 Ibid. 25 1912 M.K.&T. Passenger Depot Plans from the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, City of Temple 26 Coffin, Frank et al. “Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Depot, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 1977. 27 “Katy Passenger Depot Finished,” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), June 11, 1913. 28 1908 Depot Plans for an Addition, the M.K.T. Railway Company of Texas, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 12. 29 1993 As Built Drawings Revised, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, revised by Donald Logan, Architect, Belton, Texas, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 14 30 1913 M.K.&T. Railway Co. of Texas Passenger Station, Tower Medallion Detail, Office of the Chief Engineer of Maintenance, Dallas, Texas, Architect Albert T. Canfield, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 18.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft facing east, a portico extending from the south, and entrances and freight and luggage loading areas along the western side. The northern end has access doors that lead into the freight room.
The interior plan clearly conveys the operations of an early passenger depot; most notably, the separated waiting room, restroom, and ticket counters for African American and white patrons (as specified on 1954 plans in which these areas are denoted as “colored” or “white”).31 This configuration, with designated areas based on race, was also present in the preceeding frame depot in the location of the current one, as indicated on the plans that were developed for an expansion in 1908.32 The freight and passenger loading platform extend along the length of the eastern side of the building, though passengers could enter from the front (eastern) or the back (western) sides. The original plan includes a ticket office separating a “general waiting room” from a women’s waiting and restroom to the south, as well as a freight room, luggage room, and waiting and restroom designated for African American patrons within the northern section.
In 1913, Temple officials were likely pleased when Katy agents replaced this earlier frame depot with the current building. The replacement of the depot was not only instigated by influence from City officials, but in a direct response to legislation that required railroad companies to revise standard passenger depot plans. By 1915, a frame M.K.&T. freight depot was constructed north of the passenger depot in Temple. An associated water tower is visible on the 1915 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and in some historic photographs. From 1915 until January 1959, the Katy, in a joint venture with the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, operated the Texas Special, a luxury passenger liner that ran from St. Louis through Texas, including a stop at the Temple passenger depot.
Segregated Accomodations in the Temple Depot
In the last decade of the 1800s, Texas passed several segregation statutes, with public transportation becoming tightly regulated. In 1889, Texas law required railroad companies to maintain separate coaches for African American and white passengers and those refusing to sit where assigned could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and fined. Prior to state statutes requiring the separation of spaces in depots, the Texas Railroad Commission’s policy highly encouraged compliance with “Jim Crow” laws, a colloquial term for both de facto and de jure segregation practices. In 1909, public lobbying against interracial mixing at train depots resulted in a state statute requiring railroad companies to provide separate waiting areas for African American and white passengers, and considered this requirement an “imperative public necesssity.”33 The statute stated that railroad companies were required to “keep all their passenger depots well lighted and warmed for the comfort and accommodation of the traveling public.” It was a law that would directly influence the architecture of depots throughout the state moving forward. However, the practice had been in effect by custom and company policy for some time previously. Legislation led to a flood of depot replacements beginning in 1910, as railroads replaced older, single-waiting-room depots with ones having two waiting rooms. Waiting rooms in large metropolitan depots were further segregated, with one waiting room for white women (and their families) and another for white men. Segregation in depot designs in Texas included separate waiting rooms, restrooms, and ticket windows. Because compliance was expensive for railroad companies, spaces for African American customers were generally smaller and less adorned with architectural details, as exemplified in the subject depot in Temple.
Like many larger rail companies, the Katy corporation produced standardized plans for depot construction that advertised their logo, displayed regional stylistic preferences, provided attractive gathering spaces (including landscaping and
31 1954 M.K.&T. Renovation Plans, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 16 32 1908 M.K.&T. Renovation Plans, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas; See Figure 11 33 Osborn, William. “Curtains for Jim Crow: Law, Race and the Texas Railroads,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 105, No. 3 (January 2002); Railroad Companies Requiring Suitable Passenger and Freight Depots, S 13, 31st Legislature., 2nd session, General Laws of Texas (1909): p.402-425.
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas SBR Draft platform areas), and conformed to requirements set forth by the Texas Railroad Commission.34 The standardized plans included the specifications for separate areas based on race, particularly in depot construction in Oklahoma and Texas, as demonstrated in the 1925 standard plans produced by the Katy corporation.35 The M.K.&T. depot clearly was designed and constructed to address Jim Crow legislation that started with the segregation of coach traincars and ultimately carried over to waiting areas, ticket windows, entrances and exits, and restrooms in depot architecture (much like other public or civil buildings constructed during this time in the American south). Beginning in the 1920s, the railroad industry was faced with a severe reduction in passenger train travel as people began to purchase personal vehicles, while public and private funding was funneled into roadways. The enforcement of Jim Crow laws became an administrative burden to railroad companies, as lawsuits intertwined with requirements for infrastructure and personnel proved to be financially straining to an already struggling industry. Though the impacts and sentiments of Jim Crow laws lasted well throughout the twentieth century, the enforcement of these laws unraveled. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 struck down racial segregation laws, all Texas passenger depots used a single waiting room for all passengers. However, buildings with rooms designated to separate races, remained on the landscape.
Similar to the Temple depot, the currently extant and National Register-listed Rockdale, Texas, International–Great Northern Railroad (I&GN) passenger depot’s original plan designated the southern waiting room for "White" customers and the northern waiting room for "Colored" customers.36 Ticket windows connecting the agents’ office to each waiting room allowed the staff to serve both races while maintaining the separation required by state law. Similarly, the 1908 M.K.&T. depot in Waxahachie, Texas (on the same line as Temple), not only resembles the Temple depot in plan, but also in architectural stylistic features, including an Italianate Renaissance Revival inspired tower, albeit one much shorter in stature.
Postwar History of the Depot
Temple’s Katy Depot not only provided a hub for transportation, but also served as a communication forum for local news, information exchanges, and political campaign opportunities. The depot was a destination for President Harry S Truman’s 1948 Whistle Stop Tour during his campaign efforts for a second term in office. Historical photographs depict the President and his staff on the caboose of a train and spectators gathered on the depot platform to welcome him.37 The Texas Special was the main line that served the Katy passenger depot in Temple. The second World War required the transport of people and materials in unprecedented numbers. Though the cotton industry faltered due to a labor shortage, foreign production, and other factors, the transport of oil and gas to fuel production for the war effort was of paramount importance. Former Katy depot employee E.M. Hentschel recalls selling over $5,000 in tickets in one day prior to the holidays during the Korean War. Mr. Hentschel attributed the sales to soldiers traveling from nearby Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on their way home.38 According to timetables from 1955, a passenger train could leave Temple at 3:15 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 8:30 the next morning. Fourteen passenger trains would stop at the Temple depot within a 24-hour period.39 The railroad industry played a key role in these efforts, though after the 1950s, dependency on rail travel dwindled. Passengers now had options for air travel and car ownership became commonplace. In addition, the Katy was competing with larger rail service lines (such as the Burlington Northern and Union Pacific) and the Katy lines were much shorter in comparison. However, in Texas, the Katy continued to be a strong presence in freight service.
The 1970s brought substantial changes to passenger and freight rail service, with independent regional carriers being consolidated into national networks. The Union Pacific unified the Western Pacific and the Missouri Pacific, in effect
34 M.K.&T. Railway Corporation. KATY Railroad Standard Plans, Colorado Springs: MAC Publishing, Inc., 1981. 35 Ibid; see Figure 18. 36 1954 M.K.&T. Renovation Plans, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Temple, Texas. 37 Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection: Photograph Collection for Katy Depot. See Figure 8. 38 E.M. Hentschel, personal account on record at the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives, Temple, Texas, May 14, 1999. 39 Ibid.
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Conclusion
The M.K.&T. Railway was instrumental in the establishment of Temple, in providing both freight and passenger rail service, and in serving as a link in an important north-south transportation corridor reaching the port of Galveston. The 1913 depot is a historic building integral to preserving a tangible part of Temple’s development story. The original plan, reflecting the commonplace ideas, practices, and laws of segregation in civic and public buildings, remains largely intact, with the separate waiting rooms and restrooms clearly distinguishable. The Katy depot in Temple is an excellent example of a building constructed as a direct result of the 1909 Texas statute requiring separate waiting rooms, restrooms, and ticket windows for African American patrons during a boom in passenger rail travel throughout the south, and is considered eligibile for listing in the National Register under Criterion A.
The depot is a distinct, prominent feature in the landscape and situated in its original setting on the original M.K.&T. lines. Linked literally and historically with the prominent role of the railroad in the community, the depot is considered a unique example of applied Italian Rennasaince, Mission, and Prairie stylistic details, and displays remarkable preservation of the original and prominent M.K.&T. medallions, illustrating the Katy’s establishment of a headquarters in Texas. The depot is the only known extant passenger depot in Texas that retains the Italian Rennaisaince and Mission style-influenced tower and Prairie-style features. The exterior features (single-entry and loading door placements, central ticket bay window, and platform areas) reflect the divided interior space. The depot is considered eligibile for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C as a remarkable example of applied styles in a passenger depot. In an era when intercity travel usually involved taking a train, the M.K.&T. depot facilitated travel to and from Temple. One of two historic passenger depots in the city, this depot is in good condition and retains a high degree of historical integrity. The depot generally conforms to the long, narrow plan common of many passenger stations and features a distinctive tower displaying the M.K.&T. emblem that quickly became a landmark in the community.
The depot retains integrity of location, association, setting, and feeling as a passenger depot located adjacent to railroad tracks within the Temple community. With minimal changes made to the building over time, the depot also retains integrity of design, workmanship, and materials in both its interior and exterior. Despite the replacement of some materials, the depot retains enough of its integrity to convey historical significance as an important architectural landmark in Temple, integral to the community’s development and character.
40 “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, The Katy,” www.american-rails.com, accessed January 8, 2021.
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Bibliography
“The Architecture of Racial Segregation: The Challenges of Preserving the Problematical Past,” The Public Historian 27, no. 4 (Fall 2005): p. 19.
Bell County. County Clerk’s Office. Deed Records. Book 104, page 168; Book 36, page 17.
Glasrud, Bruce A. “Jim Crow’s Emergence in Texas,” American Studies 15, no. 1 (Spring 1974): p24; 53.
Handbook of Texas Online. Hofsommer, Donovan L. “Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad,” accessed November 10, 2020, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/missouri-kansas-texas-railroad.
Handbook of Texas Online. Smyrl, Vivian Elizabeth, 2004. “Temple, Texas,” accessed on November 5, 2020, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ articles/view/TT/hdt1.html.
“Katy Depot Finished.” Temple Daily Telegram (Temple, Texas), January 3, 1913.
Masterson, V. V. The Katy Railroad and the Last Frontier. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952; Columbia: University of Missouri Press, reprint 1988, second printing, 1992.
“Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, The Katy,” www.american-rails.com, accessed January 8, 2021.
M.K.&T. Railway Corporation. KATY Railroad Standard Plans, Colorado Springs: MAC Publishing, Inc., 1981.
Coffin, Frank et al. “Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Depot, Columbia, Boone County, Missouri,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 1977.
National Park Service. Kittrell, Lannie. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, Temple Commercial Historic District,” 2018.
Reed, S. G., A History of the Texas Railroads, St. Clair Publishing, Houston, Texas, 1941.
Obsborn, William S. “Curtains for Jim Crow: Law, Race, and the Texas Railroads,” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 105, no. 3 (Jan. 2002): 400. Railroad Companies—Requiring Suitable Passenger and Freight Depots, S 13, 31st Leg., 2nd session, General Laws of Texas (1909): p.402-425.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Company. Bell County: Temple: 1900, 1910, 1915. Accessed on November 19, 2020 from the Perry Castaneda Library, UT; www.legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/t.html
“Temple Gets Historic Katy Depot,” Temple Daily Times (Temple, Texas), Randy Ray, February 17, 1993.
“Officials of the Katy, Want More Business,” The Temple Daily Telegraph (Temple, Texas), April 8, 2011.
“Katy Officials Make Brief Visit,” The Temple Daily Telegraph (Temple, Texas), April 22, 1911.
Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780, A Guide to the Styles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1992; reprint, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1996.
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Documents Archived at the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives in Temple, Texas
1912 M.K.&T. Railway Company of Texas Passenger Station, Foundation Plan, Consulting Engineering Office, St. Louis, Missouri.
1913 Elevation drawings produced by the M.K.T. Railroad Company of Texas, by architect “H.J.B.,” Consulting Engineer’s Office, St. Louis, Missouri.
1913 M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas, Layout of the Buildings and Grounds for the Temple Passenger Station, produced by Office of the Chief Engineer, Dallas, Texas.
1913 M.K.&T. Railway Company of Texas Passenger Station, Tower Medallion Detail, Office of the Chief Engineer of Maintenance, Dallas, Texas, Architect Albert T. Canfield.
1954 M.K.&T. Renovation Plans, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Temple, Texas.
1993 As Built Drawings Revised, M.K.&T. Railroad Company of Texas Passenger Station, Temple, Texas. Revised by Donald Logan, Architect, Belton, Texas.
Hentschel, E.M. Personal Account of Temple Katy Depot: Former Katy Employee from 1945 until 1980, May 1999.
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M.K.&T. (Katy) Depot Aerial Photo Source: Google Earth, Accessed August 3, 2021
31.095248° -97.334113°
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Map 2: Aerial Image of M.K.&T. Temple Depot Location
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Figure 1: 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Temple, Texas. The map shows the earlier passenger depot (with baggage room addition); Perry Castaneda Library, UT; http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/t.html.
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Figure 2: 1915 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Temple, Texas. The map shows the current passenger depot (designated in brick) and the frame freight depot; Perry Castaneda Library, University of Texas, http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/t.html
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Figure 3: 1922 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Temple, Texas. The map shows the current passenger depot (designated in brick) and the frame freight depot; Perry Castaneda Library, University of Texas, http://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/sanborn/t.html.
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Figure 4: Current Floor Plan with Room Notations, Kathryn St. Clair, Horizon Environmental Services, Inc., 2020
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Figure 5: View of the depot, facing west, c. 1955 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple)
Figure 6: View of the freight depot north of the passenger depot, c.1955 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Figure 7: View of crowds awaiting President Truman during his Whistle Stop Tour in 1948 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas).
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Figure 8: View of the depot, facing southwest, c.1970 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
Figure 9: View of the depot, facing southwest, c.1975 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Figure 10: View of the depot with an M.K.&T. train positioned in front, c. 1975 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) RailwaySBR Passenger Depot, Temple, BellDraft County, Texas
Figure 11: Image of a copy of the 1908 plans for an addition to the frame depot that was on the property prior to the current depot; produced by the M.K.& T. Railway Company of Texas (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) RailwaySBR Passenger Depot, Temple, BellDraft County, Texas
Figure 12: Image of a copy of the elevation drawings produced by the M.K.T. Railway Company of Texas by architect H.J.B in February of 1913 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Figure 13: Image of a copy of the modified as-built drawings. This drawing was produced in 1993 at the time when renovations were planned, though the renovations did not happen. This plan is generally consistent with the current plan condition of the depot. (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
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Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) RailwaySBR Passenger Depot, Temple, BellDraft County, Texas
Figure 14: Image of a copy of the “Layout of Buildings and Grounds” for the Temple Passenger Station, produced by the M.K.&T. Railway Co. of Texas, 1912.
Figure - Page 33 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) RailwaySBR Passenger Depot, Temple, BellDraft County, Texas
Figure 15: Image of a copy of the foundation plan for the depot, produced by the M.K.& T. Railway Company of Texas, 1912
Figure - Page 34 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and Texas (MK&T/Katy) RailwaySBR Passenger Depot, Temple, BellDraft County, Texas
Figure 16: Image of a copy of 1954 Renovation Plan, produced by the M.K.&T. Railway Company of Texas, 1954 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas)
Figure - Page 35 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Figure 17: Image of a copy of the tower emblem detail, produced by the M.K.& T. Railway Company of Texas, October 1912 (Compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas).
Figure - Page 36 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Figure 18: Copy of the M.K.&T. Standard Plans for Combination Stations, produced in 1925 in St. Louis Missouri by the M.K.&T. Railway Corporation (KATY Railroad Standard Plans, Colorado Springs: MAC Publishing, Inc., 1981).
Figure - Page 37 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Figure 19: Image of the Santa Fe Depot (top) and M.K.&T. Passenger Depot (bottom). Image from the Temple Daily Telegram, May 12, 1937 (compliments of the Fred M. and Dale M. Springer Archives Collection, Temple, Texas).
Figure - Page 38 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photographs
Photo 1: View of the front (passenger loading area and ticket window bay) of the depot, facing south (11/19/2020).
Photos - Page 39 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 2: View of the depot showing the tower and pedestrian covered portico area, facing northwest (11/19/2020).
Photo 3: View of the depot showing the tower and pedestrian covered portico area, facing northeast (11/19/2020).
Photos - Page 40 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 4: View of the depot showing the western side, facing southeast (12/15/2020).
Photo 5: View of the northwestern side of the depot, facing southeast (11/19/2020)
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photos 6 and 7: View of northwestern entrance (left) and the southwestern entrance (right) (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 8: View of the tower and emblem detail; facing northwest (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 9: View of the eaves and freight door on the northern side, facing west (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 10: View of the luggage loading door (left) and freight door (right) on the eastern side, facing northwest (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 11: View of the eastern side of the building, facing north (11/19/2020).
Photo 12: View of the interior of the southern waiting room, facing southeast (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 13: View of the southern waiting room, facing south (11/19/2020).
Photo 14: View of the interior of the ticket office, facing northeast (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 15: View of the ticket office, facing south (11/19/2020).
Photo 16: View of the northern waiting room, facing west (11/19/2020).
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Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 17: View of the northern waiting room, facing southeast towards the ticketing office and the restroom (11/19/2020).
Photo 18: View of the interior of the northern waiting room, facing east (11/19/2020).
Photos - Page 49 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places REGISTRATION FORM NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018
Missouri, Kansas and TexasSBR (MK&T/Katy) Railway Passenger Draft Depot, Temple, Bell County, Texas
Photo 19: View of the interior of the luggage room and floor scale, facing southwest (11/19/2020).
Photo 20: View of the interior of the luggage room, facing east (11/19/2020).
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Photos - Page 50