Nostalgia & History > Arkansas City freighthouse revisited

Yesterday Larry Byers posted a vintage shot of the Santa Fe freighthouse in Arkansas City, KS. It was another image from the vast collection on the Kansas State Historical Society website. The original photographer’s identity is long-lost in the mists of time. But there was some discussion about how long this building lasted. I thought I had shot the building in the late 1970s, but it took a while to dig up the slide. Here it is along side the same image Larry posted. I took the liberty of dressing up the KHS image a bit, which is viewed looking SW. (My shot is from the opposite corner, looking NE.) Also in my shot the Santa Fe/Amtrak passenger depot is plainly visible behind the red-brick structure.

I don’t recall when this building was finally torn down. Perhaps Evan can help us out here, but I’d wager it disappeared about the same time a lot of Santa Fe’s branch line depots were disposed of in the early 1980s…

1. AT&SF Arkansas City, KS freighthouse circa 1900. (Photographer unknown, Kansas State Historical Society collection)

2. AT&SF Arkansas City, KS freighthouse on November 28, 1978. (Ektachrome slide)

Thanks for looking back (again)!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/22 21:49 by santafe199.

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Thanks for sharing. Looks like the platform was a lot longer in the old days.

Thanks for the comparison shot, Lance.

Lance, I think these are two different buildings. The more recent freighthouse in your photo is on the north end of the old office building. I found this diagram of the Ark City RR layout from about 1912, and it shows the freight house a block south of the present crew facility, about where the grain elevator is now, must be the same building as in Larry's old photo. The most recent one must have been built when the older one was torn down.
http://www.ausbcomp.com/%5C~bbott/ArkCity/firemaps/arkcity/acit037.jpg

And while on the subject of the Santa Fe's presence in Ark City, here is a map of the round house area from the same site.
http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/arkcity/firemaps/arkcity/acroundh.jpg

Looks like the same building to me. You can see that little roof dormer sticking out in Lances shot. Also that massive chimney! Is that the modern ATSF passenger depot at the other end Lance?

mp51w Wrote:
> Looks like the same building to me.

I have to agree. It looks to me like the red brick structure in my slide is identical to the building in the b/w photo, again, shot from opposite corners. I'll also agree with Victor: The freight dock section of the freighthouse in my slide has been shortened up from what we see in the circa-1900 shot.

Lance

santafe199 Wrote:

> I have to agree. It looks to me like the red brick
> structure in my slide is identical to the building
> in the b/w photo, again, shot from opposite
> corners.

It also appears to be on the same spot as the freight house on that 1912 map - on 5th St. just south of the passenger depot.

If Santa Fe had anything like a standard "county seat" freight depot to complement its passenger depots, this was it. Shawnee, OK, Dodge City, KS, and Chanute, KS at least had structures with nearly identical headhouses, and Hutchinson and Topeka, KS had freight depots in the same style, but larger.

Shawnee: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~okpcgc/postcards/santa_fe_with_freight_depot_postcard.jpg
Dodge City: http://atsf.railfan.net/depots/Dcfd.gif

The KSHS site also has this photo showing the "Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway park and offices, Arkansas City, Kansas."

http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/218399

The style is similar to the freight depot's head house, but the windows don't match. A Postcard History of the Early Santa Fe Railway says it was built north of the passenger depot in 1905.

Yep, I think you guys are right, same building. It's making more sense to me this morning.