Historic Ottawa Tour Stop 1

The Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston was the first railroad built south of the transcontinental Union Pacific which passed through Lawrence. Building the 30 miles of track to Ottawa in 1867-8 was difficult. Veterans of the UP construction, including Chinese laborers, struggled with terrible weather during the fall of 1867.

The LL&G went into receivership in 1873. The Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Kansas Railroad emerged from LL&G's failure. The new rail line operated throughout the 1880s and built the Ottawa depot in 1888. By that time, the Kansas City, Lawrence and Southern Kansas was leasing much of its line to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. By 1895, the Santa Fe Railroad purchased the line, and in 1962, donated the depot building to the Franklin County Historical Society for use as a museum.

In 1995, the AT&SF merged with the Burlington Northern to become the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

[Photo captions read]
The LL&G Railroad locomotive "Ottawa" is ready to carry rails and ties across a temporary bridge over the Kansas River in Lawrence. Image taken by Alexander Gardner, a famous Civil War photographer.

A free pass for the Honorable D.M. Valentine, Associate Justice of Kansas Supreme Court, highlights the LL&G's reputation for corruption - it was nicknamed the "Lazy, Lousy and Greasy." Ottawa town father Isaac Kalloch, a one time president of the LL&G, used his influence to locate the railroad "shops" in Ottawa.

George P. Washburn, architect of the Ottawa depot and fifteen county courthouses. He began his career by supervising the construction of Union depots in Kansas City, Atchison, Denver and Peoria, Illinois.

Sam Campbell, first AT&SF agent at the Ottawa depot.

From the LL&G through the SK and the AF&SF, railroad shops were located in Ottawa, just northwest of the depot. Railroad cars were manufactured and locomotives were serviced with a roundhouse and turntable.

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Show me all markers in:  Ottawa, KS  |  Franklin County  |  66067  |  Kansas  |  United States of America

Old Depot Museum
1951 Marais des Cygnes Flood High-Water Line
Marais de Cygnes River
Company K, 20th Regiment Kansas Volunteers
Main Street, 200 Block South
Shepherd & McQuesten Building
Pickrell Building
The Down Town Ottawa Historic District
Franklin County Courthouse
The Franklin County Courthouse

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