Nostalgia & History > Depot Friday: Chapman, KS

I never shot or even recall seeing UP’s Chapman, KS depot while it was still in Chapman. The depot was moved from Chapman to nearby Abilene to become part of the “Old Town Town” historic throwback to the Wild West days when Abilene was a rollicking cowtown at the north end of the Chisolm Trail. But according to one unconfirmed report, this old depot building building burned down some time ago.

Here is a throw-together look at Uncle Pete’s various Chapman, KS depot scenes. If someone has a shot of the Chapman depot in its original trackside location, feel free to add it here. This author would love to see it!

1. & 2. UP Chapman Kansas depot, now the ‘Opera House’ building in Old Abilene Town in Abilene, KS in June of 1978.
(2 photos by William A [Art] Gibson Jr.)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/22 21:29 by santafe199.

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I see that the depot is now an iron horse opera house.

Sorry, too much coffee...

-E.O.

Lance,

The Chapman depot at Old Abilene Town was blown down in a thunderstorm.

Mike

unclebob Wrote:
> The Chapman depot at Old Abilene Town was blown down in a thunderstorm.

Ahh... Ok, I'll change my info. I had a weird feeling when "so & so" told me it burned down. I even searched on line for a news story in the Abilene paper, but couldn't find anything. Thanks.

Lance



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/14 15:22 by santafe199.

Lance,

I couldn't remember the entire story, but I had put the dates/info on in another TO post a while back. Here it is:

(At some point the old wood depot (first photo) was moved to Old Abilene Town in Abilene, KS just to the west of Chapman and used as an opera house. It had been left in a sad state of repair over the years and toppled in strong winds on June 11, 2008, the same night that the tornado hit the town of Chapman, 14 miles to the east.)


Mike

Lance,
I had heard or read the same thing about a wind storm taking down the Chapman Depot. upkpfan

3. UP Chapman [boxcar] depot looking NW on June 16, 1979.

4. UP Chapman scene looking west from the original depot location on May 29, 2012.
(photos #3 & #4 are mine, taken in Chapman, KS)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)

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